chefwendy

Visited Porcella Urban Market for the first time-Stunning! Noticed a charcuterie class is being offered on Sunday, August 13th. "Pate Campagne, Rillette, & other French Classics," will be included. Bon Appetit !

Some friends & I went a few weeks ago-since there are no reservations taken & it is a very small restaurant, we met there about 5 mins to five. Alas, the wind was blowing as we waited for the place to open & it was with relief we noticed the guy who owns it walk by & open the front door-momentary relief, as scrutinizing our windblown, hopeful faces, he told us rudely to wait (we didn't ask to be seated at a table, only to stand indoors). Well, I too am in the profession that is based on hospitality, so this, I felt boded ill....). As we had arranged to meet others there who hadn't arrived, we stood outside and were finally allowed in. Then the nazi supervised the seating arrangements, only 2 4 tops were available & we were not allowed to push the tables together. Too exhausted to leave (& some of the others had not arrived yet, we settled into isolated tables. Briefly, the drill is he chooses (modus operendi of the control freak, hee, hee) the alcohol, not revealing what it is until you have tasted & speculated on its' origins-his choices were interesting & well done, I felt. You choose dishes from columns, with casual names, eg. the "meatloaf" (only description) contained foie gras. The dishes, eg. lamb's tongue over a brioche, were excellent, but lacking varied, textures, colour, etc. on the individual plates. A couple of the sauces were amaturish in my opinion & didn't make sense. For me, as a one nite stand, it was sorta interesting to see how they worked out the fact they had one cook-could'nt see any saute, just prepared dishes ahead, like braises, etc. The lack of hospitality was reprehensible-Intimidation doesn't impress me. Masochists enjoy! p.s. the restaurant was not swamped-weeknite

Hanger steak $7.99 # Roosevelt & the artisan trofie pasta-yummy with a fresh pesto, green beans & potatoes....

Hey! Homies (sorry, I wk in the bk of the house with several rappers, hip-hoppers & maby the soon to be famous/infamous drummer, Dread-see sledgeback.com or recently released CD Sledgeback, the People's Choice-please buy his CD-I need him to become famous, so I can sell stories & pics. to the Star Mag, etc. to finance my future restaurant), Big nite!!!-as I said that evening, "a bright light shone above Ballard in the darkness of our present world"-some choice memories for me: a group of aquaintances & strangers come together, from all walks of life and cook up a storm in harmony, with four burners and two ovens "smoking," producing such highlites, as the pea soup, use of "caliente" woks to produce super Spanish dishes, on the part of two parties, Sea gal & Abra's dishes, the cauliflower gratin, bread, chocolate, sea salt, olive oil combo, chicken with dried fruits, White lotus' beautifully pared down leeks, cooked to perfection, Steve's yummy garlicky prawns: everyone of us was brillant! I'll never forget Fwed's ingenious shrine to scrumptous fruit jellies, the witty conversation, Steve's musical selections in the background & taking a moment to play catch with Elllie, Steve's dog, on the front lawn, in the dark, while the gourmands, were in the house... Hey, Hey, White Lotus (carnivore: I've eaten many a meat dish with you...), whats up with the "I wonder how many animals died??? for my dish??? 18 to be precise. My dish was a simple one, so I needed to get some sort of challenge out of it-frenching the legs took 17 mins-. Sigh, if you're eating meat, let's face it, at one time it was alive. Taking a former farmer's view of it, the birds came from Whole Foods:humane living conditions: eating, running etc. to their heart's content, they assure us & my nephew, who worked at a quail farm, while attending Moo U, can testify, their intellectual capacity, is slighty more than a turkey, maby less at times-did we not eat lamb, pork,etc. at the same dinner? As far as plating, I often like to eschew the hypocrisy & see the whole fish, head on, etc. So hopefully, the dish was not too traumatic for ya .... Sigh, good thing I didn't have access to the heads, or I might have done something "European" with them.... Well, it's back to kitchen chaos in the morn, Take care all & remember " for that brief moment in time & space "we rocked" Chef Wendy

Hola, Abra, Muchos Gracious! So looking forward to the Spanish Feast. Have dug out my Ferran Adria approved isi profi whip, so hopefully (complex ) will also attempt to do an espuma for all. With anticipation, Chef Wendy

Hey, Abra! Is it too late to sign up for the Spanish tapas cook-in??? If not, I'd love to do Quail escabeche (as given on their Feb. website for Spanish tapas). I can bring Ferran Adria's book on his philosophy, etc. with photos that some cooks might be interested in perusing (interestingly, he discusses his failures, too). Also have tongs for sparrows fall... Warmest regards, Chef Wendy P.S. Happy Birthday Shel !!! (I oft quote, while doing expo cooking, to the customer, your observation "every cook needs an audience.")

Hey, Connie, Count me in, if you have reservation sucess... As ever, Chef Wendy

Hi, Abra & fellow foodies, Fun to speculate, as to the host for Thomas Keller. Obvious suggestions come to mind immediately- Rovers, or the Herb Farm, but I'd weigh in with Johnathan Sundstrom & Co., at Lark. Any other opinions as to who could stand the heat in Seattle???