dandelion

I spoke to the owner about it, and she said they haven't really been doing well for awhile... she thinks Fremont, with it's focus on pubs, just wasn't the right location from a creperie. So she's selling the place, and quitting the restaurant biz altogether.

She was signing books at the University Bookstore last night. The place was mobbed! P.S. No, I didn't go to the signing! I just happened to be walking by....

I took a knife skills class last year at RainCity Cooking School in Bellevue. The intructor has an extensive cooking background and hosts the school out of her well-equipped home kitchen. The one night (3 hour) class included information about choosing the right knives for the job, proper techniques, and how to care for your knives. Students were welcome to bring their own knives or use the intructor's extensive collection. Everything we chopped up for the class came together in a meal that we ate together at the end, with wine. The atmosphere was great, and the instructor was very generous with one-on-one help and answering questions. I thought it was a too basic of a class for me, but a friend that took it with me learned a lot. http://www.raincitycookingschool.com/

It's called Bambinos... I think it's supposed to be NY style.

Tutta Bella, which serves excellent Neapolitan pizza, is very kid friendly. Whenever I go it seems like at least 25% of the people in the restaurant are under the age of 10. They've got a million high chairs and they'll even give kids a hunk of pizza dough to play with.

You can get individual duck eggs at Pike Place Creamery. They also sell Sea Breeze Farm's milk and cream.

They're in the U-District on Saturdays, and Ballard on Sundays.

For eggs, the best are at the farmers markets. My favorites are from Stoney Plains. The mostly sell produce, but their fresh eggs are amazing with a deep yellow, sometimes even orange yolk and a dense white. $4 a dozen. You really notice the difference with farm fresh eggs when you poach them -- these hold together, while the whites from store bought eggs go all over the place. Grocery store eggs, I've heard, are often several months old. (Yuck!) There was a new vendor at the U-District market today selling duck eggs, which were unfortunately sold out by the time I got there. Sea Breeze Farm, from Vashon. They're mostly a dairy, with milk, cream, ricotta and creme fraiche, but also wines and eggs. It was nice to see some new stuff, because a lot of the summer vendors were gone this week.

Celeriac, apple and blue cheese soup Serves 8 as Soup. Highlighting two fall flavors, celeriac and apples, brought together with blue cheese. 1 tsp butter 1 tsp olive oil 2 onions, diced 1 carrot, diced 3 celery ribs, diced 1 celeriac root (approximately 8 oz), 1/2" cubes 1 russet potato, 1” cubes sea salt pepper 6 c vegetable or chicken stock 1 apple (Granny Smith or something tart), diced 2 sprigs thyme 1/2 c whole milk blue cheese (such as Maytag, Danish or Stilton), crumbled fresh parsley Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan over medium heat. When butter is melted add onions, carrot and celery. Cook for one minute, stirring, then add one teaspoon of salt. Turn heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep onion from burning. Remove lid, add celeriac and potato, and stir until the root veg are up to temperature. Add stock and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add thyme (don’t pull the leaves, just leave the sprigs whole). Bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes. Add apple, then cook for 4 more minutes. Remove soup from heat, and take out the leftover thyme sticks. Blend in batches until smooth. Pour back into the pan and add milk. Reheat, but don’t allow to boil. Sprinkle in a little blue cheese, and stir to combine. Depending on your preferences and what type of blue cheese you’re using, the amount will vary, so just add to taste. Stir in chopped parsley. Serve, garnished with sliced apple, crumbled blue cheese and parsley. Keywords: Soup, Vegetarian, Easy, Vegetables, Dinner, American, Blender ( RG1865 )

I went and checked out the new Whole Foods today... lots of great finds! Fresh marshmallows in the bakery, a well-stocked olive bar, piles of good chocolates, and a machine that makes fresh peanut butter or almond butter right before your eyes. Plus free samples all over the place. There are three sit down mini-cafes in the store, including one that had American comfort classics and one that had Asian food (sushi, tempura, etc.). The most interesting one, though, was way in the back by the fish counter -- it has a menu of fish and steaks, but they also have this cool service where they'll grill to order anything that you buy at the fish counter.

It's very good. If you go for brunch, it's better to go earlier than later. I've gone after 1pm a couple of times, and they have a tendency to have run out of things. Dinner is absolutely divine. I would die a happy girl if their goat cheese gnocchi was served as my last meal.

I tried doing that once... but it was full even at 10pm. The bar is VERY small.

The Alibi Room. It's never really mentioned on this site, but they got a new chef over the summer who totally revamped the menu, and I think it's pretty tasty (they do the modern comfort food thing). Yes, it is kind of a bar, but during the week and relatively early, most of the customers will be there to eat, not just drink. And the atmosphere is fine for dining alone. Typhoon. It's a Thai restaurant below the Market, on Western. The food isn't the best Thai I've ever had, but it's good. What's really amazing though is their tea menu. I'd guess that they have well over 100 teas to choose from, from all over the world. The tea is beautifully served in those small Japanese cast iron tea pots, so it's nice to just sit for a bit and try a few different teas.

The new Whole Foods on Denny and Westlake has a sign up saying their grand opening will be November 8.

Zoka has Yergacheffe? I had no idea! I'm going to have to go and grab a pound of that.

Ling, I'm excited to hear that you're moving to Seattle! I'm going to have to admit that my favorite beans at the moment are from the grocery store... Metropolitan Market's organic French roast. I first bought it when one night at midnight I didn't have any beans for the next morning, but it's really good. Nice and dark, but not over-roasted, and I love how oily it is. I use a stovetop espresso maker, so I'm not sure if the result will be different with your electric machine.... My second favorite is the French Sumatra from Lighthouse in Fremont. --- Kiliki are you serious??? Do you know how long until she's gone?

Sorry, pet peeve, but for the bazillionth time: It's called "Pike Place Market" not "the Market at Pike's Place" or "Pike's Market".... I'm not sure where the confusion comes from, but it's named for the street it's on, Pike Place.

Pair is excellent, but yeah... closed on Sundays. More than once I've peered woefully into their darkened windows on a Sunday night. There's a new upscale comfort food place in Ravenna called Hot Dish in the space that was, for a short time, the Magnolia Bistro. I haven't been in yet, but I've looked in and it seems worth trying. It's at 65th and 24th, across the street from the Ravenna Alehouse. Most of the reviews on Citysearch make it sound promising.

From an email, an annoucement about a sister company to Beecher's Cheese and Pasta & Co located on Mercer Island: Bennett's Pure Food Bistro, an all-natural Northwest bistro and deli featuring the Northwest's finest fresh and seasonal ingredients. Most of the ingredients used at Bennett's are deeply rooted in the Cascadia region ... you won’t find artificial preservatives, colors or sweeteners. There are no flavor enhancers, hydrogenated oils or processed foods ... We buy from producers who share our commitment to whole foods and handmade fare. www.bennettsbistro.com

I was so glad to meet the two of you on Thursday at Senso Unico. I'm happy that you liked the coffee and the infamous Mario. I really enjoyed the banquet tonight, both the food and the great company. Thanks so much for making the vegetarian dishes, they were truly tasty. Those beans especially -- amazing. And the finishing touch of the chocolate cake, I loved the caramel in there. Goodnight!

Ling, did you ever make it over to Caffe Senso Unico? I still really recommend their Americanos (I just finished one myself), and the Italian owner, Mario, is a real treat. If you go in, be sure to mention to him that you're from Vancouver -- he LOVES Vancouver.

Back to Iron Chef for a minute... Iron Chef #1: 8 first: 9. Beautiful colors, textures and presentation, but I'm a little scared of the Stilton/avacado combination, although in my mind each would work well with the peaches. second: 7. I really like the idea of braising in peach lambic, and i think that the gorgonzola is a great flavor complement. Points lost on presentation though, it's too circular and piled, and I can't really tell where the polenta ends and the ribs begin. third: 8. Love the trio of peach, curry and mint. Don't love the presentation. Too much ice cream, and the caramel swoosh seems to be trying to hard to pull everything together. Iron Chef #2: 7 1/3 first: 8. Love it. To me though, the peach looks more like a scallop than foie, or would if it were round. I bet the soup is crazy delicious, especially if it was inspired by any of the fresh summer soups at Union. I'd wish for a little more color here though. second: 7. Applause for going comfort rather than nouveau on the main, and for all of the veggies in there. Agreeing with some others though, this guy looks a little lonely on the plate. (Did you each take your own pictures? Maybe the plating is better than how it looks in the picture, but I just can't tell.) third: 7. I bet this is tasty, but it seems more like a palate cleanser than a dessert. And as a "deconstructed" bellini, I guess I'd want the peaches to be more whole than pureed. ----- So #1 wins by my count, but just barely. Also the first menu seemed a little more cohesive to me, the second jumped from fancy to comfort to nouveau, which while each piece is probably very good, doesn't really work for me as a menu.

Lark!! And have a drink with a pairing next door at Licorous.

On Organic Wednesdays, there'll be a bunch of smallish organic stands lined up on the bricks on Pike Place, starting at Pine Street and going north. It's definitely more farmers market-ish than the high stands that sell produce every other day, as in you'll see only stuff that's seasonal, local and organic. Still, it's nothing like the real farmers markets in other parts of the city, like in the U-District on Saturday, or Ballard on Sunday (both highly recommended if you haven't been).

Regrading Larry's: In short, too much competition, too much debt, not enough capital. They filed for Chapter 11 earlier this month. There's been a lot of talk about this on the PNW board and in the Seattle Times if you want more info. (edited to add link)