hhlodesign

I stopped by the kitchen of Mistral on NYE. They showed me some of the ingredients they were using for the $200 a head dinner. Lobster, real Iranian Osetra Caviar (I didn't know Beluga was illegal until William told me), and a huge chunk of real white truffle from Piemonte (the smell was absolutely incredible!) Did any of you get the privelidge of enjoying this tasting menu? Schielke? I'd love to read a report.

I went there last week and had a very good meal. Started with the wild mushroom mac and cheese. Very rich, but very worth it. My main was the cod dish. Not as memorable as the mac and cheese. It was good, but not anything groundbreaking. The service was great. Moxie makes for a nice addition to the neighborhood. I like all the new places with weeknight-don't-want-to-cook-drop-in-friendly prices doing good food in the Lower QA neighborhood. Crow seems to have started this trend. And $20 for a goat cheese salad and 3 mini lamb burgers is quite the deal at Veil.

As in "bridge & tunnel" ... a derogatory term referring to people who live outside the city. ← Can also stand for Bellevue & Tacoma in this region.

Looks like they're gonna run the new place called Venom in the old Medusa space (bought by the Cowgirls Inc. people, not sure what the connection is.) Just what we need, another B&T hangout in the neighborhood.

Why? You can get really good sliced pizza in Napoli. ← It's more like you can't get really good sliced pizza anywhere. The nature of the beast is that pizzas being sold by the slice tend to sit around waiting for people to order them. Then they invariably go through the conveyer belt oven and get reheated to an inedible texture. Pizzas should be made and eaten fresh. Or right out of the fridge for that hangover breakfast. And the only places that sells pizza by the slice in Italy are the corner Bars with all kinds on bad food in the glass cases waiting around for tourists (although I lived in Florence, not Napoli so it may have been different over there.) They should also come uncut with a knife and fork. Which La Vita e Bella still does. Caveat: I am speaking about Italian style pizza only. NY style is a whole 'nother animal, and should be a huge slice that can be folded over. This means that they must come from huge pizzas which make it difficult for 1 or even 2 people to order and eat an entire pizza and make it necessary to sell by the slice. In this case, I opt for room temp and no conveyer belt.

If they start selling by the slice, they should definitely lose their Napoletana certification!

Got some takeout last night for an evening of XBox 360 action with some friends. Showed up around 7pm and the place was completely packed! The host station is right in the middle of the room, which makes for difficult flow pattterns I would imagine. The tables are definitely from IKEA, but I wouldn't hold that againsts them since my dining table shares the same maker. Lots of families and kids running around, and the place was very loud. I wonder if the Napoli certifaction thing considers atmosphere? The building looks very nice considering they kept the budget low. The sandblasted exposed rafter ceilings looks great! They are also using exposed MDF at the host station (which I don't think will wear very well in such a high traffic area). I ordered 4 pizzas that they said would be ready in 15 mins. and they were ready on 20. Not bad for a swamped opening night at prime time. The pizza is remarkably similar to the Columbia City branch. I guess they trained the staff pretty well. Maybe a bit on the under-cooked side (I like mine almost burnt on the bottom as I recall the way I got them in Italy.) But still a very good pizza and comparable to some pizzas I've had in Florence and Naples. All in all, I would rate Tutta Bella just below La Vita e Bella and above Via Tribunali and am very excited they have one close by. Although I still have to make the drive to CC for La Medusa. BTW, is it just me, or is the pizza at Via Tribunali always soggy in the middle?

There are myriad goat cheese salads in town that I "like just fine." Isn't Veil shooting for something higher than that? If not, then I definitely don't need to spend the time and money.... ← The goat cheese salad is, agreeably, the most pedestrian item on a very interesting menu. Although the pickled grapes differentiate the Veil version. They are absolutely shooting higher and, in my opinion, succeeding. Some if the items I had at a meal last Friday night included: 1. Yellow foot mushroom soup with matsutakes, beef cheek ravioli, and black truffles. Very creamy, hearty, and rich, and a beautiful saffron like color (although I'm not sure there was saffron in the soup.) A perfect winter dish. 2. Roast squab with foie gras (I forgot the sauce, but it was yummy.) 3. Venison loin with spaetzel and red cabbage kraut. Great combination, I loved the contrast in textures of the three items. 4. Salted peanut butter ice cream. This is one of the best desserts in Seattle right now. Some dishes I tried from my dining companions included: 1. Citrus cured salmon with meyer lemon segments 2. Very creamy risotto (just like the wonderful risotto the chef used to do at 727) with mascarpone cheese. 3. Valencia orange and blood orange sorbets with some kind of cake I don't quite remeber.

I made a grilled panino with lamb prociutto, aged provolone, fresh basil, truffle salt, ground pepper, and caramelized onions and peppers. All ingrediates bought from the Pike Place Market in Seattle, except for the lamb prociutto which I got from Salumi.

Is this Shaing Gan Rho Szi (sp)? I've been trying to make this at home for years and it never comes out quite like at the best Chinese restaurants. Do you have a recipe you can share?

Some of the more interesting salts I have are: 1. Italian truffle salt. It's italian sea salt sprinkled with bits of crushed black truffles. Amazing taste and smell. 2. Ultra Fine Korean sea salt. Feels like very fine sand and has an very intense salt flavor (extra surface area per volume) 3. Korean Sea salt infused with green tea leaves. 4. Japanese salt from water harvested from the bottem of some deep trench off the coast of Japan.

Foie Gras stuffed squab with black truffles

Mini lamb burgers on the Veil bar menu. $11 for 3. Yummmmmmmmm! I'm also a fan of the Kobe beef burgers from Oceanaire. But the best burger in the history of burgers in unavailible in Seattle....the Double Double Animal Style from In-N-Out.

I love the falafel and shawarma sandwiches at Zaina. But the one thing that bugs me about the place...napkin stinginess. Just one of my pet peeves.

This one's hard to beat! Have you heard the "This American Life" episode when they describe eating ortolan at Francois Mitterand's last meal. Very entertaining! http://207.70.82.73/pages/descriptions/98/116.html

As a Chinese-American (parent's from Szechaun and Hunan). I love this book! Its the only authentic Szechaun cookbook written in English that I've found.

I made fois gras ice cream. It tasted like vanilla ice cream with congealed fat in it. I threw it out.

One of my chef friends gave me some fois gras scraps from his restaurant. I made potstickers with duck confit, fois gras, shitakes, and shallots. They were good!

I agree that the bread to meat ratio is a bit off for the salumi sandwiches. But the hot sandwiches I feel need the extra bread to soak up the juices from the meat. My only bread complaint from Salumi is that it sometimes cuts up the roof of my mouth. I prefer the baguettes from Le Panier that The Baguette Box uses. They have just the right amount of crustiness and density for a perfect sandwich. BTW, one of my favorite sandwiches to make at home is a Le Panier baguette filled with aged provolone and Prociutto Di San Danielle (from DeLaurenti), fresh basil and heirloom tomatoes (from Frank's Produce) and a dash of white truffle oil (from La Buona Tavola); grilled on my panini grill. I call it my Pike Place Market Special.

I tried the prawn sandwich twice and both times I thought the prawns were a bit overcooked and rubbery. I'll give it one more chance for good measure. I am a huge fan of the grilled chicken and tofu (with plenty of spice) sandwiches though. And is it just me, or did the place have more character before the remodel?

And it looks like Ling ordered it with the gorgonzola. I prefer it cheeseless myself. Also, tell your brother, if he's lucky enough to be there on one of the weeks when they are serving the Pork Cheek Sandwich as a a special, that's what he has to order. It's slow braised pork cheeks with just the right amount of seasoning. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! I'd say the porchetta is #2 behind the pork cheek sandwich on my all time list.

It's worth the trip. Maybe you can bring me one of those DB Bistro burgers with Fois Gras, braised ribs, and truffles. Is that worth a trip to NY?

It would be too easy to just move something up from the honorably mention list. Also too easy to add one of the many wonderful sandwiches I failed to mention on the Salumi and Baguette Box menus. So for the new resident of my #8 position...... 8. Pastrami on Rye from Cascioppo's in Ballard I will acknowledge that this is not a classic NY deli pastrami sandwich. I prefer Langer's in LA myself. But for a pastrami on rye in Seattle, this place is hard to beat. There's also not much competition on that front. If anyone can suggest a better PoR in Seattle, please let me know!

Totally agree!!! I used to go there at least twice a week. When I got the sandwich to go, the owner used to always tell me to make sure I ate it hot. I love people who aren't just concerned about making a sale, but truly care about how people enjoy their food.

What do you guys think of I Love Sushi on Eastlake? I haven't been in a few years, but remember it being pretty good.