thelastsupper

Is Marcha really closed? I have walked by several times and seen people eating inside . . . I heard that someone from Cactus is the chef at Gitano (Spanish for Gypsy) in the old Gypsy space. Hopscotch is now Jake's bar and grill. And I thought the Painted Table was just loosening up a little. Last I heard it was going to be something like: The Painted Table: An American Bistro.

Yeah, when they were redoing it, I was terrified: both by the name and by the enormous palm tree/interior pond decor.

Paseo Caribbean Restaurant 4225 Fremont Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98103-7221 Phone: (206) 545-7440 Here is the citysearch link for what it's worth: Paseo Review I haven't been since the begininng of summer but lunch sandwiches are around 7 bucks. The pork sandwich is the best by far in my opinion. On nice bread (Macrina I think): spicy, tender pork; a ton of grilled onions; cilantro and lettuce; mayo. Plus corn on the cob when it is in season. Definitely worth a drive across town.

That's how I felt abot the Paradise Noodles. Nothing there, not even very spicy. Thanks for the info mb7o. I don't know much at all about SE Asian cuisine. But I do know that despite the similarities between the soup I had and pho, my soup had nothing of the delicate flavor or comforting attributes that pho does. It was just boring.

Has anybody on this board talked about Paseo? On Fremont Ave. Just about the best sandwiches in the city-- Cuban pork . . . (Klink?) Yum.

Hey all, This is the new Thai/Laotian restaurant on Broadway. I had their Paradise Noodles (promising but not very good- one added pho-like stuff to rice noodle soup). However the Sausage App. was most tasty. I also liked the description of the Tearless Tiger. Something like: "The tiger does not cry because he eats the most tender meats." Reports?

Naw, Man. You can't mess with the Ouefs Plats.

I agree that his "Food . . . Cool!" persona is annoying and laughable, but I suspect it was dreamed up for the TV show. He definitely wasn't moussed up a few years ago. As for Feenie's food: if it is derivative, it is not diminished.

Sorry, I should have said that the Elliott has a new Executive chef by the name of Matthew Smith. And Kyle Nelson is Chef de Cuisine of 727 Pine. Kriss Harvey (old Pastry chef) has gone to the Hyatt in Chicago last I heard.

Has anyone eaten at the Heathman in Portland?

I'm digging the new you nightscotsman.

No chance. I am just usually too lazy to cook burgers at home. If I make burgers, I have to make fries and that ends up being a bit too much grease and condiment for a tiny apartment kitchen. But grinding your own meat does wonders.

Up on Capitol Hill I go for the Six Arms Pub (the Dungeonmaster w/bacon!) and the Deluxe, which has reliably good fries but only sometimes great burgers. Dicks is good for bad burger pleasure. Where else do people go for the primo beef? (Not to sound dirty or nuthin')

Wow! Thanks for the detailed report. I have been curious about Genoa for awhile but somehow end up going to Vancouver rather than Portland whenever I want to splurge on a meal/short vacation. Well, I know why--> Canadian dollar. In any case, though you point out all the weak points, your review kind of makes me want to go there and see for myself. I am not sure if that is the correct reading but . . . I guess I really enjoy tasting menus.

I believe Rachel was originally referring to the 2001 Gourmet Best Restaurants list. Someone provided a link earlier in the thread: http://eat.epicurious.com/gourmet/restaurant_reviews/ And yes, The French Laundry is still at #3.

Yes, Au Bouchon used to be this awesome Spanish restaurant called La Bodega. Well . . . not awesome perhaps, but very good and authentic (copious amounts of olive oil, garlic etc.). Apparently Au Bouchon has the same owners (Basque husband, French wife), but the place went French. Sounded promising. I need to get to Harvest Vine also! I can't believe I haven't been yet. It has to be better than all these "small plates" and cute "shareable" tapas joints that are spreading like leprosy. I mean, Mexican and Spanish food are, like, the same thing, right?

One or two of the Whole Foods cheese folk seem to be pretty knowledgeable. Too bad I never made it in to La Tienda Cádiz. Oh, FIRA on Queen Anne is closed too apparently. Dropping like flies . . .

Yeah, I didn't think the neighborhood was that sketchy either. We walked across town to our hotel and didn't notice any creepy types in the immediate area.

Okay. . . La Tupina. There was a terrible, sudden rainstorm on our way to the restaurant, so by the time we got in the door our hair and clothes were dripping all over the place. We were promptly seated though. The chickens turning on the spit certainly warmed us up if in spirit. While we read the menus, a little plate of radishes and cold cooked tripe appeared. We also got a small dish of fried crispy tripe. Really good. We put in our order and recieved bread and butter. The bread was taken away again after a couple minutes. A waiter had noticed that it wasn't warm enough. I came back nicely toasted. To start, I had foie gras sauteed with grapes. This was monstrous! Certainly big enough for a main course. It was magnificent though. I realized that such a large portion allowed you to really concentrate on all of the complex flavors going on even though the dish itself was simple. It was also interesting to taste the difference in flavor as the dish cooled down. The sauce was (I think) the fat from the pan cooked down with a lot of grapes and then strained. It was extremely rich, unctuous (oh how I hate that word but that is the best way to describe it). Partner's starter was duck boudin noir with sauteed potatoes. Also wonderful. But only had a bite or two. Main courses were: Roasted Chicken with a garlic crouton, pommes frites cooked in goose fat. Slow cooked Lamb shoulder with whole garlic cloves and a casserole of White beans (also lots of goose fat). Both were amazing! The beans themselves made the place a destination in my opinion. Both were absolutely simple and tasted exactly like you would imagine them, but as close to perfect as I have ever eaten. There was a smal sprig of dried thyme on the plate with the lamb which deeped the flavor as I took a bite of beans or lamb. Little whiffs of something that was cooked with both things. Yum. Dessert was nothing special. We had Prune and Armangac Ice Cream. Good, but not memorable. The fat cooked in every thing was not a problem for me. But the staggering portions were. There was enough for two portions on each plate at least.

Notes to follow.

Yes, 727 has a new executive chef by the name of Matthew Smith.

To clarify once more (I've had some trouble defining my thoughts on this topic), I feel like these basic points that you note simply aren't being met in some higher end restaurants. I wonder if that was what Jonathon was referring to earlier?

At the Centre Pompidou in Paris we met some Catalans who proudly told us that because their language was so similar to French, Spanish and Italian the CIA was training its agents how to speak it. That way they could quickly learn all three. (?) Maybe the top secret agents are trained to speak Euskera?

I enjoyed this quite a bit as well. Most notably the juxtaposition of styles on the pork belly and caviar. It was sort of shocking, exciting and comforting all at once. I enjoyed the lead up to our main course which turned out to be nothing but a perfectly done, but very simple braised veal shank. It is interesting to think of the actual structure of the restaurant in this respect also. From the outside one could walk by without noticing it was even a restaurant. It looks just like the other buildings in the town. The room is quite homey, stone walls, exposed beams etc.

And the anemones were definitely not espadenyes or goose barnacles. There was a specific word used to describe them that we had to look up later. It was a regional name. Argh, I wish I could remember. Anyway, we were pretty amused at the description of them being frightened off the rocks (and baffled). We finally got our barman to describe them and he came out with the comparison to flowers. We were never quite sure what they were until we looked them up. They tasted somewhat like fried oysters . . . A bright shot of brine. A friend eating with us described them as deep fried bird shit (she didn't like them much) . . . unfortuantely that is exactly their texture, unpleasant as t is to imagine But really! they were good!