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Everything posted by thelastsupper
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I do, too. For me, Spain is the most exciting place for food I've ever been. Perhaps a bit unfortunately, my greatest passion and expertise is limited to an area most tourists don't go, namely northwest and north central Spain. It's not much fun waxing rhapsodic about things no one is interested in! Then, of course, there's Portugal.....also pretty interesting in the food department....
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BH! Thanks for the good read!
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Girl Chow, To clarify: 1- I am not calling for stuffy service, nor am I necessarily even calling for formal service. But I am often annoyed that many Seattle servers are content with going through the motions to get a paycheck, not caring if they are doing their job properly (one of the reasons that Le Gourmand, on the other hand, is exciting to me). Thoughtfulness is the important thing that distinguishes formal service (usually). I love Seattle to death, that's why I haven't moved away to NYC or wherever. But if you work in a restaurant you have to push, you know? And it seems a lot of folks in this town are just getting lazy. 2- Also, I realize some of these comments of mine seem bitchy and hyper critical lately, sorry. And maybe I'm just having awful luck, but the past three times or so that I have gone out to eat at a nice, unfamilar restaurant I've had a completely mediocre experience. That's the thing that drives me insane . . . I can understand awful more easily than mediocre. Striving is tops. Movement, desire. J.
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C'mon now. Obviously there are gaps between the precision that a three star resturant achieves in the Michelin guide and the mindblowing, complex rabo de toro that you eat in a corner bar (by the way, the thing that was so amazing about El Racó de Can Fabes was that they did both. My main course, the veal shank was not an Frenchy-french dish. It was Spanish cooking heart and soul.) The virtues of both are vast. American, British . . . and the real eating comes in about now, right? I wish this board got more posts. Does no one think of Spain as an exciting place for food outside of El Bullí? How sad. I enjoyed Sevilla for tapas. I remeber eating átun en adobo there as well as a seafood that the barman explained to us as things on the rocks . . . when the divers come up they get scared and fall off. They turned out to be sea anemones. Interesting fer certain.
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Seattle's Underrated Restaurants
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
Blue Heron: New topic? It might be interesting, since people are in the mood to talk about Seattle vs. World restaurant stuff lately, to start a thread about hotel dining . . . -
Old thread, but I thought I add my two cents. THE REEF!!! (In Olympia) The greatest bar of all time. A total dive, complete with speed freaks and an awesome digital jukebox where you can download just about anything as long as it's not too obscure. The best! Worth a trip. Eat at at Osaka Sushi and then hit up King Solomon's Reef! A great blend of the hi and the lo.
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Seattle's Underrated Restaurants
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
I was thinking about this in terms of Cafe Juanita as well. I hear a lot of people go out there and eat and say, "Great food, but not really Italian, you know." It seems that precision and careful presentation have become the exclusive domain of the French? I should get into Lampreia soon. No picky eaters here! Alas, no cash. Is it just tasting menu there nightscotsman or do they also do ala carte? -
I think the thing I miss about Sammie Sue's wasn't even the food (though it was tasty, the grits!) but the staff and the room. It was a real neighborhood place where they got to know you and weren't afraid to chat, even when they were busy. I'd totally forgotten it closed also, tighe. I was just trying to think of new restaurants and the things that used to be there before.
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And Sammie Sue's!
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Seattle's Underrated Restaurants
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
Nightscotsman-- What did you eat at Lampreia? I must admit I've been hesitant to eat there after stories of the Soup Nazi-esque Chef. Would love to hear the details of the meal if you can recall them. And I thought it was Italian? . . . -
Seattle's Underrated Restaurants
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
Over-rated. Oh man, are you sure you want to open this one up? Campagne, Tango, Palace Kitchen (I find Douglas' restaurants suspect in general but I've only been to the palace) Bistro 1200 (ach), eva . . . off the top of my head . . . underrated: Le Gourmand (People talk about this as a good meal for the city of Seattle. This restaurant is unique and wonderful. The type of place you just don't find elsewhere, anywhere!) I liked La Bodega alot before it closed . . . haven't been to Au Bouchon yet. Still curious though. -
Northwest Cuisine -- is Cascadia it?
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
The dinner that you had does sound interesting, Laurie. I confess that my skittishness about Cascadia came mainly from friends who have worked/trailed in the kitchen as well as reports of terrible meals. I think that the problem that I have with Cascadia (theory here) is not that their emphasis is on local, seasonal ingredients. That's great. I wish more people paid attention to that idea. But rather that Sear's cuisine . . . the things that are uniquely his (i.e. mushroom soup in a can or "fish and chips") seem to be gimmicky. The people who have developed their own food from these wonderful ingredients we have here in the Northwest-- Naftaly of Le Gourmand, the chefs at The Ark, even Tom Douglas-- have something that is distinctly theirs, not leaning on or borrowed from Food Arts. That is my main gripe. But then I really can't talk much as I haven't eaten there. (zip) -
Northwest Cuisine -- is Cascadia it?
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
Don't forget Bruce Nafataly of Le Gourmand. He has been hunting down locally grown produce since the mid seventies. I consider his role in the formation of what is now "Northwest Cuisine" as vital and often overlooked. Organic produce, regional artisanal cheeses etc. He was doing all this from way back when-- a time frame just about parallel to Chez Panisse. -
I don't think I would like to support a restaurant where the chef is rarely present in the kitchen. Besides, I think his "Decidedly Northwest" cuisine is gimmicky.
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I would not recommend Mr. Sear's Cascadia. Bad, bad news.
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This continual reference to the dog and pony show is extremely amusing to me. Christ, it seems so awful! I'm laughing at the computer!
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Southern Girl- Thanks for the detailed description of your experience! A theory on the odd texture of the shrimp: A friend of mine ate there last year and sat at a table with a clear view of the kitchen. He noted that all of the prawns had been pre-seared and were resting, covered with foil, on a sheet pan in the oven. (?) Also, ever since I heard about the "dog and pony show" with the red curtain and an introduction of the whole staff I've been pretty incredulous. 40 minutes between the first and second course is a long time to wait, especially if you are hungry. I'm curious (in a morbid way). Did it change your overall impression of the meal? Any observations of the room, service? Was it easy to secure a single table for yourself? Thanks again for the detailed notes!
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Has anybody heard of Adria's recent ventures into the realms of "Espesso" and "Bulliolor" ? . . . I have not seen heard anyone mention this side of the leader of the New Vanguard of Catalan cuisine.
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Bux, We were coming from France. We stayed the night in Perpignan and woke up early to get the train to Port Bou and then San Celoni. We stayed at a place called the Hotel Suis (around 80 euros a night). It seemed luxurious to us. Air conditioning is a magical thing after sleeping in tiny, (read: stuffy) hostels. The next day we took a train to Barcelona. We had two bottles of wine, the aforementioned rum and nothing else. It never occured to us to ask for anything else. I think we didn't want to forget the rum. They are working on expanding the kitchen to double its size. They are also adding five suites to the restaurant. I can't remember precisely but I believe our server said the project would not be completed for another three years. Oh, I believe that toro refers specifically to a bull killed in a bullfight. The flesh is supposed to taste differently because of the adrenalin present in the blood, a little bitter. Thus the long braised rabo de toro.
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Salmonejo is good too! It is similar to a gazpacho, but thicker (more bread). And it has a hell of a lot more garlic. It's traditionallly topped with chopped ham and boiled egg. Some people find it too strong, but I like it alot. Though it's certainly not a very good precursor to romance.
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Whew! Okay, so here it comes . . . the big report. I will start with the food and post notes on the room and service later. We ordered the "Seduction" menu, which consisted of a series of unlisted courses 1st- A glass pedestal with various Hors d'oeuvres: a) Little Whelk-like snail (cañadilla) lightly marinated, refreshing and pleasantly vinegary, reminiscent of shellfish en escabeche that I've eaten elsewhere; b) tiny tartlet with tuna and tomato; c) bacon wrapped scallop, this was fairly amusing; d) sauteed chicken gizzard (?), great flavor, reminded me of gizzards anyway, the texture!; e) barely smoked salmon with tobiko on toast round; f) prune stuffed with rillettes, my guess was rabbit, smooth and deep; g) a little palito of phyllo wrapped in serrano ham, interesting texture wise, superb ham, the perfect bite; h) a sort of spring roll with lettuce, mint and creme fraiche, also refreshing and playful, but not terribly interesting. 2nd- a cold cream of cauliflower with olive oil, cream, a few perfect clams and tiny croutons. This was a great follow up to the opening amusements. Cool and velvety. I was especially taken with the contrast between the cream and olive oil. A small thing certainly, but it added a nice little puzzle to the otherwise fairly straightforward dish. 3rd- "Ravioli" of shrimp stuffed with mushrooms, with a cepe oil. This is one of the signature dishes from the restaurant. The "skin" of the ravioli was comprised of thinly sliced shrimp rolled around sauteed shiitake and other mushrooms. I felt that the flavor of the mushroom overpowered the delicate shrimp. It reminded me of dimsum rather than ravioli, though of course both are dumplings, neh? This was perhaps my least favorite of the meal. It wasn't bad, just diminished by the high quality of the other dishes. Perhaps I was looking forward to it too much? However, I did enjoy the concept of the dish within the sequence of the menu. 4th- Lobster; both butter poached claw and carpaccio. The carpaccio was laid over a raw egg yolk which made for an amazing presentation . . . the transluscence of the lobster with the golden yolk, the play of light . . . just lovely. The lobster was surrounded by two lobster sauces and sprinkled with bits of just done asparagus and (I think) chervil. This dish was truly remarkable. Extremely intense flavors. I found the dish was a bit too rich towards the end to to the yolk. I enjoyed the reappearance of the ravioli motif. 5th- Carpaccio of buey (I have always understood this to mean ox, does anyone know if this is correct?). Our waiter explained that the chef like to mix things up a little bit, this cut (contracorriente) was thicker than traditional carpaccio and barely seared around the outside. I believe I have seen something similar in a Japanese resturant (Anyone else know of this?). The meat was incredibly tender. It was topped by a brunois of tomato, zucchini and what appeared to be more croutons but turned out to be almonds. Also baby basil leaves. The spice of the basil complemented the meat well. I enjoyed this dish quite a bit. I also appreciated the presentation of ingredients in their raw form, the contrast of later and similar flavors in their cooked state. 6th- Caviar atop pork belly with a perfect potato puree. The waiter explained to us that the cut came from the throat of the pig (cansalada). It was surrounded by a fish fumet reduced with cream. This was a bizarre dish, but successful (if rich). A clever take on "mar i muntanya." 7th- Turbot stuffed with butter and ñora (an intensely colored red pepper); with squash blossoms, fennel and espardenyes. At this point my partner and I were beginning to be a bit overwhelmed by the richness of each dish. It was a treat to get to try the esparenyes as I had seen discussion of them elsewhere on the board. I found them to be very delicate in flavor, sweet and a little earthy. They complemented the meatiness of the fish well. This dish was masterful, perhaps my favorite. At this point we had a little break. 8th- Braised veal shank served with a veal jus and braised endive. I was surprised and pleased at the utter simplicity of this dish, homey and comforting. A perfect traditional preparation. I thought it was a clever thing to reference this type of cooking so many times in the meal and to finally present it as the crowning glory. But it was a HUGE amount of food! We took another break before cheese. 9th- Cheese. Two waiters come by bearing an enormous litter full of cheeses between them. Spanish cheeses were prominent, with a few French and a beautiful Stilton. We asked for a selection of cheeses from the region. We had a cow's milk, sheep's milk and goat. I also requested a piece of fougeres. Pleasant. I was glad to see that the cheese program had been taken back up by the restaurant. 10th- Sorbets: Pineapple, stawberry and pear. All perfect. The pineapple nearly made me cry. 11th-An assortments of pre-desserts: a) Canelles (The pastry chef is from Bordeaux). These were lovely, crunchy and caramelized on the outside, soft and moist inside. b) Orange zest dipped in chocolate, then coconut. c) Chocolate truffles. Exquisite. d) Different tuilles in long squiggly shapes: vanilla, chocolate, citrus, red pepper. I tasted all except chocolate. Red pepper was not great, a bit too sweet for my taste. Nothing impressive here. e) a silver tray with five pieces of each of the following: Turron; Passionfruit jellies; lemon tartlets in a chocolate crust; macaroons (also in the style of Bordeaux); little chocolate tartlets that were more like just chocolates. All of these were exquisite, esp. the turron, the macaroons and the jellies. I enjoyed the repetition and variations of chocolate, lemon and almond in these little bites. 12th- Baba au rhum. With Martinique rum and Chantilly. The very best baba I've ever had. Not too sweet, with a perfect melting texture. The sommelier walked by at some point and then rushed off to get us a glass each of a 1983 Jamaican rum, that it would be beautiful with the baba. It was. As we ate the baba another (!) dessert came. Caramel and a light, light custard evenly layered in a shot glass. Fabulous and simple. Then coffee. Okay, that is enough for a bit. To be continued.
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I decided to post here instead of starting a new thread as El Greco is known mostly for brunch (too bad, nice dinners there). Has anyone noticed that El Greco changed ownership? I talked to one of the servers there and it is supposed to be the same old place . . . but . . . I didn't see anyone there that I knew. And it just won't be the same without Tomas. There are these odd overwhelming blue walls now, sort of like that baby blue GAP color that was popular a few seasons back. Curious to see what happens to the food. Anyone been by lately?
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Hey everyone! Just flew in from Madrid after 6 weeks through Bordeaux, the Perigord, Catalunya etc. Will post notes on Raco and others soon. Sorry it took so long to reply Cabrales-- for some reason my password was not working while I was away. Cheers.
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Okay, some of this may be a little off, but I will indicate where I am unsure about stuff. It was last December. So, the room is nice. I like the exposed kitchen, casual and all with the cooks in regular clothes. Though halfway through the meal I was extremely annoyed when the kitchen radio started playing Neil Young (shudder) and it was all that I could concentrate on . . . So we came in stood in the doorway for several minutes. Usually I don't care about that sort of thing but they were not busy at all. Our waitress saw us and walked into the bar, came out after awhile. It was sort of funny, like she didn't expect us to still be there, but yes, we were there and yes, we had reservations. So we were seated. We decided to do a three course thing because as girlchow mentioned it was fairly inexpensive: salad, apps, etc. I chose borscht (it was COLD out), the famed cabrales flan and venison. My companion chose a salad, a smoked trout roulade and veal shank. As I write this now I'm kicking myself over what happened with wine. We were all set to choose a nice Rioja- the wine list certainly is interesting, a lot of unusual choices and we were pleased to see some nice Spanish bottles- but then I turned to the section labeled: "This is what we enjoy drinking this month" (or something like that). I had heard that Amy McCray's husband (James?) was the wine director and knew his business. So we went with this Washington Syrah instead. What a mistake! When the bottle was opened and I had a taste, I sort of had to double check because I thought the wine was off. No, it wasn't off, it was just bad. Stupid me should have complained about its nastiness, but I didn't. I guess it was my fault for not sending it back, but I ended up feeling rather betrayed by the whole issue. If I go to a restaurant that I admire and the folks say try this, you will like it, I try it without hesitation. In any case, Strike One. (I should add that the wine was opened as we were finishing our first course by a very bored server. I don't think she once approached our table after she took our order unless she need to clear plates or give menus. Neither did she attempt to talk to us at ALL except to take our order. She refilled water once.) Whew! Onto the food. My borscht was excellent. It was perfectly seasoned with lots of beets, cabbage etc. I was surprised to find shreds of veal throughout the soup. Yum. My partner's salad was tasty, nicely flavored greens with the odd shavings of manchego (extraneous) and (I believe) candied walnuts . . . or maybe it was spiced pecans? It was dressed correctly with a pleasant sherry vinaigrette (More on that later). Second course: The cabrales flan was interesting at first, savory and a bit sweet. But as it cooled it lost quite a bit of the subtle taste of cabrales and just tasted heavily of egg. The pear relish was not very interesting as I recall, little more than overcooked pear and a bit of spice (a little too sweet for me). The walnut wafer/cracker was badly textured and seemed close to stale. It did not hold up to being spread or dipped. I left it on the plate in favor of bread. Partner's roulade was BAD. Smoked trout DOUSED in mayo-like goo. This was rolled up in potato bread with a suspicious lack of flavor. He said it tasted like bad tuna sandwiches of his kid-hood. I wouldn't give it that much credit. The worst part of this dish seemed fairly innocent: on the opposite end of the rectangular plate rested a small bunch of frisee tossed in . . . sherry vinaigrette. The same vinaigrette from the green salad. Annoying (Still more to come on that). Entrees: Partner's "Rioja-braised" Veal shank was not braised in Rioja. It was the color of boiled veal, not braised in red wine. It tasted totally unseasoned, like meat cooked for a long time in simmering water, with maybe half an onion thrown in. The doneness was right on, just without any flavor. My venison was nice and rare. Its huckleberry sauce had a few huckleberries strewn about, flavorless except for the heavy, heavy taste of veal demi-glace. It came with plain (unbuttered, unsalted) steamed veggies (?) including broccoli (??). I like broccoli and all, but it was very odd with the venison. And then, again, the frisee centered over the slices of venison dressed in (you guessed it) the same sherry vinagrette. I could go on about how mad that made me, this is rather long already. I will just say- aside from leaving the restaurant with my mouth filled with the flavor of raw shallot- that sherry vinegar and red wine (I was still taking sips from the first glass, hoping it would somehow improve, that something would give me a bit of comfort [no one asked why the bottle sat there untouched]) are an exceedingly unpleasant combination. Yeah, and I am still pissed off. Oh! One of the dishes came with very good squash spaetzle. I forgot if it was the veal or venison, but they were the best part of the whole experience. Delicious. Dessert: By then we both were very unhappy (still unnoticed) and got dessert to complete the grim experience. Taleggio Cheescake was much less interesting than it sounds and my chestnut ice cream was fine, but I have had better at both Le Pichet and Le Gourmand. It is a sad, sad thing when normal drip coffee is one of the brightest spots in a meal. And yes, the chef was in the kitchen. I have no idea, maybe it was the evil Harvest Moon?
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Deux Tamales in Columbia City
thelastsupper replied to a topic in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
El Gallito is on 20th and Madison. So, it's not exactly the convenient Capitol Hill restaurant like Galerias, but it isn't far at all. If you ask, your server will give you a little El Gallito calendar with a smiling girl who proclaims: ¡Por La Pátria! (!) Check it out!