cupcakequeen

East coast nostalgia: Carvel ice cream cakes at QFC. Not as good as getting it from the actual store, but they does the trick. Fudgie the Whale, how I miss thee.

essential had it last year, as did grand central, i believe. i saw some at the bakery in pike's place today.

cremant has a great house made saussison sec on their charcuterie plate.

lola had a nice dungeness crab with curry sauce and almonds.

rover's (price up there with mistral but DEFINITELY worth it), sitka & spruce, i agree with the "any good chef".

i'd ask one of the bakers that already sell there...for real-world info. what you can get away with. not that anyone out there would do that sort of thing.

Found this old gem from The Weekly: Tacos Patzcuaro truck (8303 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.) while snacking on pupusas revueltas—Salvadoran corn cakes stuffed with pork, beans, and cheese and topped with a kicky cabbage slaw. Maybe still there? ← there was a show on KUOW last friday about taco trucks and someone mentioned this place as their favorite.

cheaper isn't the only consideration. theo's may be more expensive but their products are organic and fairly traded.

Across from city kitchens, right next to See's, "New York Cupcakes" opened up. Has anyone tried it? The signage looked like it might be a chain? i will investigate tomorrow...

el portal is indeed closed.

well, i did see crush's ad for a pastry chef on craigslist...maybe that has something to do with it? if only they had chilean sea bass, ling

i'm heading to vancouver with a vegetarian friend. i checked the best of thread, but i didn't see anything. is there any recommendations for a great veggie place?

stopped by crush for a drink. we had a wonderful dessert: a little apple tart tatin with "amish blue cheese ice cream" and candied bacon! actually...we couldn't decide which dessert to try, the menu is overwhelming. the cooks were discussing both ichiro's and michael mina's dinners that evening. it was late, i don't know if either was still there. the bartender also treated us to some "salt & pepper" chocolates filled with caramel. very interesting. great cocktails. too bad we were too late for dinner! i'm going to work on making that candied bacon at home. it'd be so good with waffles.

the new chef at the Sand Point Grill is doing some nice stuff. He says he has to keep some of the old menu for the regulars,but the last meal i had there was great.

i cannot find anywhere online to purchase versa whip. does anyone have a source?

it's a chain, and not a very good one. i'm wary of an upscale restaurant that doesn't even spell Seattle correctly in their website link. you can read more on their main site Six Tables. Mr. Kee and an associate was at Rover's last fall to check out the Seattle dining scene and see if it was "worthy" of a Six Table.

lunch and dinner have total different kitchens run by seperate chefs and staff.

there's kir/firni rice pudding on alot of indian menus. queen of sheba (ethopian) on broadway has not particularly good tapioca. maybe you should expand to include pot de creme...there's quite a few of those at the french places around town.

i went to cremant last night. it was fabulous! i love the way the pate and terrines are served in little glass canning jars. the poached foie is delicious. the roquefort pate and the chicken liver mousse were excellent. we also had: charcuterie plate: blood sausage and tongue, jambon, saussion sec rillettes bone marrow, which i can't get enough of. poulet mussels onion soup halibut (overcooked) hangar steak cassoulet cognac au chocolat creme brulee-outstanding! i would go there again and again for the appetizers. the mains weren't as strong.

When I looked at area culinary schools, I decided to go to one of the community colleges because they were SOOOOOO much cheaper, and still had knowledgeable teachers and good programs. South Seattle Community College has a huge new facility, but they focus on mass production and crap products. They have one of the only good wine-making programs in Seattle. Seattle Central is focusing on local ingredients and sustainability. They even started a farm in Skagit Valley that the students will be bussed to. They use alot of organic ingredients, and the pastry program is excellent...if she's interested in that. The facility is much older and smaller. Good luck! And make sure she works in a restaurant before she decides to enter this line of work. Line work is a lot less romantic than Anthony Bourdain makes it seem. Look at any cook's hands and arms.

i'm sooo jealous. have any of you sampled the Pralus single-origin chocolates? they're french, and i've tried a few, and i think they're outstanding. you can really taste the terroir in each one. (available in Seattle through Peterson's). any thoughts?

what other restaurants got awards? i don't have a subscription and i'm dying to know!!!!

lark's wine bar should be opening within the week, and cremant opens wednesday!

it took some getting used to, but i have no problems now. you have to slash quickly and use light pressure. don't dig in. and change your blades often.

if you want to get a little formal French training, I would go to Rover's. Crush is a great place to extern...work with lots of different products that you don't see anywhere else. I second Harvest Vine and Lark for small kitchens. maybe Union?