le rouge gorge

Thanks to all...at least I have a place to start.

Kaspar's used to have a "dine in the kitchen" option on weeknights (cuz it's less busy, I imagine) that was great fun and very personal. Do any other Seattle restaurants have chef's tables?

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 Tables. Well, sixtables is mediocre...trying hard, but nothing extraordinary. We bought along one of our own bottles of wine (a 2000 Bordeaux, which was a stellar year and is approaching drinkability) and that was one of the highlights. Started out with a seared scallop with a bit of brown butter drizzled around it...very nice, but it needed something more to make a more elegant presentation. Oh, yes, we were greeted with a glass of champagne, but no little amuse bouche to accompany it. Next was a very nice lobster bisque, but again, it needed something to boost the presentation. Then they brought a nice salad of fairly finely chopped greens that looked like romaine and butter lettuce along with a couple of spears of trimmed asparagus and topped with a very tasty creamy dressing. Next was a lemon-lime sorbet that was sublime. For entrees we were given a choice of rack of lamb, chateau briand, venison chop or halibut. RKP had the venison with green peppercorn sauce and I had the chateau briand with bearnaise. Both were done well, being nicely seared on the outside, pink, but not raw in the middle. These were served with identical veg., a couple of 1/2" thick slices of fried potato and something else that I can't remember. Next came a cheese course which consisted of a couple of slices each of brie and stilton (Wallace's favorite, you'll recall) with 1/2 port wine poached pear and some champagne grapes. Dessert was a trio of tiny cream puffs with perfect, plump blueberries scattered about. The chef is VERY young and a grad. of the New England Culinary Institute; I figure he was in the middle to lower half of his class, in that he is competent in the basics, but certainly has no flair for creative presentation. He's not quite ready to be out on his own yet. For $85/p plus the $25 corkage fee, it's a bit high for what you get. Oh, yes, a word about decor/ambience...sure enough, six tables with a small table in the center topped with a flower display and on which the maitre d' kept some tables' bottles of wine (others had their wine on their tables) and a succession of plates for the various courses. Linens weren't linens, just some sort of not too elegant synthetic. Glassware were antiques for the most part and nice as was the china, cutlery was high end new stainless. There was soft piano music in the background that was not at all intrusive. Temperature was a bit chilly, glad I had on long sleeves. As I said, trying hard, but lacking finesse. Even though the sixtables concept is by license and there is a formula experience, with a more creative chef and owner, it could bring another fine dining spot to the eastside. And there you have it.

Patisserie Valerie in Knightsbridge has my vote for #1...absolutely delectible...eat in or take away. It's always my first stop for breakfast goodies and late night treats.

Kanishka in downtown Redmond is wonderful! We've never been disappointed and they also do takeout if you want to pick up something on your way home from work.

Yes, the food at Pomegranate is innovative and tasty and a wonderful neighborhood venue. However, I do have a major gripe. They SAY they don't take reservations for less than 6, but that is not exactly the case. We arrived at 5P the start of the dinner service, and requested the table for 2 on the outside wall in the bar area of the bistro. We were told that the table was reserved and we were offered the other deuce by the reception desk. We asked if they would separate one of the other 4 tops and we were told no, so were seated at the one table we didn't want. Not 10 minutes later, one of the 4 tops was separated to make a deuce and a 6 top. Well, there are 2 problems...they either take reservations for less than 6 or they don't and it certainly shouldn't have been a problem to separate a 4 top to keep a couple of neighborhood guests happy. They have now managed to alienate a customer who has now told others about the apparently flexible reservation policy and exhibited an inability to make even the smallest accommodation for a guest VERY early in the evening service.java script:emoticon(':angry:') smilie Will we be back? Probably, but after a long cooling off period.

Nuts! Wish I had called them to check on progress of repairs. Had reservations at Splendido on the 8th, our first day at the film festival, and they called to cancel, saying they'd had a flood and would be closed for the week. Splendido was going to be a highlight of our dining choices.

Thanks for the mention of YellowTail...I'd been avoiding it due to a mediocre review in the past, but will now give it a try. BTW, have you tried the shiraz/viogner blends from Oz? Shiraz/viogner, you say?? Yes, 3-6 or 7% max. viogner added to shiraz...adds a wonderful mellowness and fruit. Very tasty indeed.

Well said, Swiss...nothing gives me greater pleasure than to prepare a "feast" and share it with family and/or friends, hence the quest to do Babette's feast again. Also, a bit selfishly, I like to a., show off and b., it's great mental therapy. Again, thanks to all for contributions to my query.

Thank you to all, and especially to Dan for his very thorough offerings. He's absolutely right...it's all in the details...just look at Thomas Keller. I thought I'd make his beef bourguignon (from Bouchon) this Saturday, but after reading the recipe, realized that I had to start a couple of days ago, not the morning of...all in the detals, so will make it for next weekend. Back to Babette's, though..my shopping list is 2 pages long, but it will be worth it in the end. Mmmmm!

I've made the menu from Babette's Feast in the far distant past and, of course, my original recipes and notes are long lost. Has anyone else done the menu and have any comments on or copies of the recipes?

If you like Italian definitely try Il Terrazzo Carmine...absolutely wonderful and a divine wine list. Rover's is a must as well, but make reservations well in advance. On the eastside, i.e., Bellevue, Seastar is an elegant seafood oriented restaurant. If you want to take a delightful drive up I5, get off at Chuckanut Drive and go to the Oyster Bar (www.theoysterbaronchuckanutdrive.com) (reservations also recommended) for a great view of Puget Sound and fabulous food. Another favorite is Zoe for elegant bistro type food. We really have some great dining in Seattle, but it's nothing like NYC or London.

Ha, have you beat...left over spinach/cheese pizza (homemade, though) and scrambled eggs using eggs that just HAD to be used soon. Will do better tomorrow. Hope you feel better soon.

Mmmm...Copper River salmon, but buying it from Pure Fish or Flying Fish means paying for parking at the market...nuts and no thanks. Actually, Larry's Market also said they'd have it tomorrow.