jbonne

i think they're doing one as a straight BdN and one as a blended brut. but i should go home tonight and check the bottles again ...

many thanks to wesza (and others) for suggesting Hae-Nam. and welcome, mmmFood! despite thinking i'd try Four Seasons or Hosoonyi over the weekend, we went to Hae-Nam yesterday. i was impressed -- they've got a nice setup. including their take on tatami rooms. several larger tables do have inset grills, including the one where we were seated, after i explained we wanted bbq. the marinade on the kalbi ribs was very flavorful, and we sucked them down. i appreciated that they brought some onion and mushroom with it, and didn't flinch when i angled my way to taking the tongs. we also had the calamari and pork belly with potato noodles, for which they brought a separate tabletop grill. i'd probably skip the potato noodles next time, but the flavoring was a nice balance of heat and savory. great panchan, including the kimchi. it's still new, very clean and pleasant. will most certainly go back. now to try Hosoonyi. and Akasaka, when i can successfully make the case for a trip down to Federal Way ...

some post-NYE notes ... we tried the Gruet brut and Roederer Estate again last Thursday night, plus an Argyle '99. the Argyle was the clear winner, mostly because its mousse was sturdier than the others, which had bubbles that started strong but sort of died early. not to say i didn't enjoy 'em all, but it was interesting to compare them head to head. also, i picked up a few more deep, robust notes in the Argyle, which is funny because it's 85% chard, more than Roederer and (i think) Gruet. as we drank, one of the folks reiterated his preference for the Gruet blanc de noirs, making me think i should line the brut and the BdN up toe to toe next time. ranged across a lot of NV Champagne on Friday night, but the crowd-pleaser ended up being our magnum of Mountain Dome, with which we toasted in the new year. had a bit fuller profile than most of what we were drinking, some nice secondary notes and a mousse that approached those complex bubbles the French seem to have mastered. i chalk it up to the 65% pinot composition, but maybe it was the virtues of a magnum -- or just the party setting. in any case, all of these should be pleasing enough and worthwhile. Chef Friese: enjoyed your piece very much just now. my only thing with not going down the cava route is that i've already drunk so much cava this year, and it's not wanting for attention. though the tapas-riffic cover story in last week's NYT food section makes me think it's about to get another round of plaudits. how did anyone else toast the new year?

right on. will put Akasaka on the list, and no surprise that south county has great offerings. will put Hae-Nam on too and Jin Mi tentatively, though the tabletop grills are less fun. and totally agree about the assumption re: non-Koreans and food cooking. i've nearly had to wrestle tongs out of peoples' hands. but then, that's the case with almost every ethnic cuisine in Seattle.

agree, sort of. it's just weird he said that. if nothing else, wouldn't even a modestly encouraging server go a bit further: "we don't serve any Champagnes by the glass, but would you be interested in a bottle to go with your meal?" doubly so since it's a good hint he might be up for a nice fat 18-20% on top of a bottle cost, which presumably would be $65+. you might want to drop them a discreet note. Carsberg is pretty focused on service (we found it to be one of the few places in Seattle with proper European-style service), which makes it even more surprising. i'd lay even money he'll get to the bottom of it. (one sidenote: was the Champagne listed on the wine list?) p.s. extra points for your grace in handling the situation and politely inquiring about the fact that other patrons were sucking down Champagne right near you. i'd have been seething, and i never seethe.

i'm again trying to expand my restaurant rotation, and looking for new Korean places to try. the two that got good nods from my Korean colleague were Four Seasons for bbq, and Hosoonyi for traditional tofu soups. i intend to try both. others i've already considered are Old Village (i like but find uneven) and Shilla (i used to like more but took out of the rotation). key factors for consideration: -quality of the BBQ; i'd love real coals, but gas-fired is fine too -number and variety of panchan (the little dishes that accompany the meal) -a menu not tailored to pasty white folk like me -sushi is OK, but shouldn't be the focus of the food any other finds out there?

Google reveals it in at least one other UK restaurant. Wine-Searcher turns up zip, unfortunately. sounds like La Agricola owns a number of other Argentinian properties, and there's a bit more here in Spanish on the winery, owned by the Zucardi family. strangely, i see nothing on the Zucardi web site about the Villa Vieja. (more on Agricola here too.) otherwise, sounds like a mystery wine ...

amen. it's truly pathetic how bad espresso service is in even good restaurants, which is precisely why i've made it one of my little details that helps show me a chef's commitment to excellence across the board. i find it a sad but inevitable reality in the average restaurant, but an Italian joint really has no excuse for bad espresso (though i had a couple lousy restaurant espressos in Italy) and even less so here in Seattle. if you're an Italian restaurant in Seattle with bad espresso ... shame. as to the Starbucks issue, i'm standing mute.

Laurel grabbed my idea, though B&O is sort of beyond just a coffee shop. my espresso-shop travels are limited these days, but will brainstorm ...

simply for reference purposes, i'm including a link here to the Association of Food Journalists' Food Critics' Guidelines.

Duck fat. No-wax floor. Shoes with flat soles. That Thanksgiving now has near-legendary status among my friends.

when i tried the '93, i thought it had actually passed its prime. but now i'm thinking i may just have had an off bottle. (which would be weird, because i tasted it at their tasting room.) haven't had the '91, but i can only imagine ... i was surprised how much we liked the Lindauer, seeing as i had pretty modest hopes for it. makes perfect sense, though, given how well NZ does with its pinots and unoaked chards. that price point's hard to beat, too.

bouillabaisse. then bouillabaisse leftovers. then, last night, osso buco. with a 1998 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja. the other day, i cataloged a whole heap of peoples' holiday meals. check the final entry, especially.

and how. just to confuse things, we indulged in a bottle of Argyle 1994 extended tirage brut on Friday to go with bouillabaisse. i wasn't so keen on the '93, but this is the 2nd time having the '94 and it's just a wonderful wine. layer after layer, and all in balance. great stuff.

more in the "weird and curious" category. in one scene in "About Schmidt," which we finally saw this weekend, the main character (Warren Schmidt) drives past a movie marquee that lists the theater's two screens. the first: closed for renovations. the second: "Sideways." note that "About Schmidt" came out in 2002. has been noted in the usual Internet circles.

what Redwinger said. i also outlined some general strategies a couple weeks ago. though no one looks a gift Champagne in the mouth.

anyone else try the pork ear? i like to think i'm pretty open to stuff, and i don't get grossed out. but that was just unpleasant to eat. it's mostly cartilage, and a weird mix of slimy and elastic. the seasoning was great, but i would've preferred tongue. the sandwiches are generally addictive, though.

we went the other night. the place itself was very cute, though a few decibels less on the Sinatra would have been appreciated. we liked the wine selection, and found a nebbiolo from an azienda we stayed at in Italy. i didn't try the sandwiches, and maybe i should have. the braised goat i had (capretto rustico) was pretty good, though the sauce didn't seem to have fully infused the meat or potatoes. the pasta was ok, but the ragu seemed to lack punch. the risotto our friends had was big on the saffron, but it was hard to taste the white truffles (!!) in it and it lacked that creaminess so key to a great risotto. the ricotta cheesecake was very good. i'd be curious to go back and try the sandwiches. i really like the vibe. but the takeaway from this thread was spot on: nice, but just nice.

i really enjoyed both those Bouillots. and Roederer, though i'm sort of Roederered out right now. i really wish i could source a Limoux or a sparkling Jura that i liked. keep trying, with no luck. suggestions welcome. on the Giacosa above, we tried to get a bottle of the '97 Giacosa brut (on the list for, like, 17 euros) as an apertif during my birthday dinner in Piedmont. and they were SOLD OUT!! i've been craving some of that ever since. part 2 of my walk through non-Champagne published today.

just curious: what's the current tasting menu? we didn't have the apple tasting menu last time, and now i regret it. i don't regret our food choices at all, just that the apple menu was astounding ...

my other thoughts on VT were well documented in the other thread, so i won't restart that battle. one note on the wine prices -- i actually thought the markups there were pretty good. often less than 100 percent over retail, which is my benchmark. the real issue is the bottle prices in relation to the pizza prices. not sure a high-end Barbaresco is an optimal match for a $12 pizza, though it sure is a fun and decadent one. and i liked the impromptu shrine to Spinetta in the NW corner of the restaurant. a larger selection of inexpensive ($20-30) barberas and Chiantis would be welcome. more problematic, as discussed above, is the handling of these relatively expensive bottles. i don't get the sense there's any cellaring at all and the wine service isn't at a level to justify the wines they've stocked. hot, badly served wine is not worth it. but they do have relatively cheap glass prices for house wine which, if not good, isn't any worse than elsewhere.

assume it's the same Dick's as the one on 1st Ave. South -- but have they moved, or are they opening a branch in the scenic Eastside?

oh, i'm not worried about MY ground beef. (part of a one-eighth cow order.) but ground beef is one of those things for which it's worth spending a bit extra to get the good stuff. (thus endeth my food-scold moment. )

ragu, seconded. i've got about 15 pounds of ground in my freezer right now (long story) and every time i look at a package, i start thinking fondly of ragu. my bigger concern is the SOURCE of the ground beef, but that's another story.

produced on a mountaintop outside Spokane, Wash., by Michael Manz and his family. he's a child psychiatrist and just an amazingly nice guy. his commitment to French methods is really a pleasure, too. more on them here. in addition to the winery, there is, in fact, a geodesic dome that lends its name. sourcing can be a bit tricky on the right coast, but worth hunting down. NV is great, but if you can pick up a bottle of the '97 brut, it's got a real depth and balance to it. i just brought home some bottles of the 1990, a magnum of '94 and a bottle of their tete de cuvee. Manz also just got licensed as the state's first distillery since Prohibition and is starting work on cognac-style and fruit brandies, as well as ratafia. no immediate luck finding a list of tri-state retailers or distributors. best i found was the Pa. LCB, which isn't much help at all.