malarkey

ohhhhh but they are... they are.... Well, in reality, its probably a toss-up. But I adored the honey-syrup doughnuts.

chile verde, loaded with roasted anaheims & jalepenos, tortilla chips, melted cheddar & jack, zucchini blossoms stuffed with queso fresco and fried.. dessert: grand marnier soufflé. I might need to get a digital camera so I can join this thread in earnest!

...must have dungeness...must have dungeness.... chant it 20 times and then go to Elliott's on the waterfront and have steamed dungie with drawn butter, and see why people get that glazed over look when talking about it. Classic Seattle. Have some oysters too while you are there, the season is just cranking up and there should be some good eats. Most here don't recommend venturing too far off the traditional seafood menu at Elliott's, as there's been a few not-so-wonderful experiences, but everytime I go there, I can't stop myself from having dungie and/or oysters. Another classic would be Ray's Boathouse in Shilshole. Killer view of Puget Sound and the Olympics beyond, and usually very competently made seafood dishes. Other notables: Matt's in the Market: put quite simply: GO HERE DON'T MISS IT. Must make a ressie as its a ~20 seat house and you'll do a LOT of waiting if you don't. Anthony's, one right next to Ray's in Shilshole OR there's also one on the waterfront downtown. Some people don't like it, it is sort of corporate, but I've had some decent food there, and on a nice sunny day, either location is a good spot to sit and soak in some salt water vibes. High End: Mistral, Lampreia, Rover's. French: Cafe Campagne. Its almost a sin if you visit here and DON'T have brunch at Cafe Campagne. Will your visit include a Saturday or Sunday? Then GO. If not, consider dinner or lunch there, as they are also lovely. Also consider a visit to Le Pichet, a great little french bistro on 1st Avenue, known and loved by many. You might also want to consider checking out Salumi, Armandino Batali's place in Pioneer Square, small, always jam-packed at lunch time, but great for grabbing a sammy and some cold cuts to go. If the mole salami is on the board, get some for knoshing in your hotel room. That's a good start !!

heh! I've read this book, but its been awhile. Yes, I liked it!

oh my god, the picture of the butter chicken is killing me...

yum, this sounds great Susan!! I just might have to try this... Recently I was at a friend's house for dinner and they made a sorrel pesto for the oysters, lightly broiled them, then put the pesto on, then served. They were incredibly delicious. hmmm I should get that recipe too

no digital so can't share pix... and what I made tonight was pretty! BUT! I can tell you about it...I had Vietnamese Spring Rolls: butter lettuce, a bit of chopped mint, cilantro, and basil (went to 4 grocery stores looking for Thai basil and everybody was OUT and then I realized my little hunt was ridiculous so I settled for regular..) slivered green onion, alfalfa sprouts, some chopped roasted peanuts.. topped with the protein of the evening... duck confit. my own, homemade. Roll those suckers up and dip 'em in nuoc cham. YUM.

GEEZ is everyone going to Paris in September?! You are the fourth I know of, lalala....

Il Bistro, definitely, the bar at the Sorrento qualifies for a great rendezvous. I think Cafe Campagne & the upstairs Campagne qualify in the evening hours... Marjorie's (used-to-be Lush Life) always seemed really sexy/romantic to me, especially the outside seating, Marco's Supper Club too. To me booths and/or banquettes are sexier than tables & chairs, so that to me is the El Gaucho appeal. Well, plus the lighting The outside patio at Il Terrazzo Carmine on a warm summer night... And I've always loved the space at the Pink Door, inside and outside, but their food & service has always taken all sexiness away

its baaaaaaaaack. Get it now while you can: The cornbread is back at Dahlia, and its just as fabulous as it was last year.

I gotta agree, but what RN has suggested here also sounds sorta like "Into the Fire" which IMHO was a fabulous series, WAY too short. ...Why didn't that one continue???

A Lane Cake is a southern tradition and my favorite recipe is the one in the book "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock. Its basically a simple white cake that serves as a delivery system for the incredible cooked frosting/filling consisting of: pecans, coconut & raisins + a dozen egg yolks + sugar + some bourbon It is, hands down, my absolute favorite cake in the world.

oh my god that is GORGEOUS. GGM, I want you to know that I have new confidence now, because I plan to make this very thing which I've never made before, for our own Julia Memorial Dinner (aka A Childish Dinner). In my case, it will be a Grand Marnier souffle. Glad to know you had first time success !! Our dinner isn't until 9/19. Thanks for the inspiration, and thanks for posting the pic. We'll try to do the same.

LOL! The Neiman-Marcus cookie story has transfered to the Red Velvet Cake!! I've had this cake once. The flavor was surprisingly light and very good, with hints of chocolate and vinegar coming through. IMO doesn't beat a Lane Cake though....

How 'bout a stand that sells both? A Dungie roll and frites. hot damn!!

Indeed, here's to Julia. If/When we do a memorial dinner, shall we post the pix here?

New rumors recently heard: 1. There's a french bistro sorta place at 1st and Stewart called.. Bacco? 2. Blue Onion Bistro sold. Anybody got the scoop on either one of these?

oh, its not really a "scare". I haven't been there in years, but I used to know someone who LOVED the place, it was her hangout, and not entirely because of the food. Let's just say she got lots of male attention there.

Salute on 55th closed?! When did this happen?

go now while its still light at 8pm. And most definitely go during happy hour. (5-7) Its a killer deal.

yes, but the two sometimes tend to overlap on a great rendezvous .... Absolutely. In fact, a rendezvous without food would rank WAY under a rendezvous with food, um, for me, anyways. Champagne is a natural, chocolate, perfectly ripe fruit, this could be peaches, pears, mangos, avocados, tomatoes, when they are good, they are incredibly sensuous. Great bread, high fat butter and sea salt. Ice cream or sorbet. Anything you can feed each other. In fact, a really good caprese could work. Tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, sea salt, mozz, basil, some awesome bread and some olives.. I'm already in heaven. Things that are messy are not necessarily bad...

Met up with a few eGulleteers at the S.I.B. We went on Sunday, which isn't ideal, because a lot of the beers were already gone, even though we got there at opening time. We shared, in an attempt to, 1. taste as much as possible, and 2. not get too blasted. Hitachino Nest - Japanese beer, belgian wit style. I really like this, and this was the first time I had it on tap. Not as much spice as what I remember from the bottled version. Still, very nice. Leavenworth Blind Pig Dunkelweizen - This used to be my absolute favorite local brew. It looked like muddy water and tasted like heaven. I can still remember the first time I tasted it 11 years ago in Leavenworth at the brewery, that's the impact it had on me. Well, Leavenworth has changed brewers multiple times and I believe they've also changed owners. But I thought I'd give it a whirl. IMO, it was a mistake. I want to believe that this keg was mislabeled. It is so dramatically different that what it used to be. It might be truer to a real german dunkelweizen, but damn, I still miss the old BP. Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pils - We really liked this one. Apple-y flavors, clean, crisp, bright. I'll seek this out again. They also had the soba earlier in the weekend but were out Maybe that's an indication of how good that one is...? Lagunitas Sirius Cream Ale - YUM, very slight spice, creamy. Really liked this one. (ok, you might notice that we were sticking to the "american imitation of international styles" side of the table, but hey, we eventually worked our way down) Salopian Entire Butt Porter - Leave it to the Brits to come up with a name like this, apparently its a term used for a porter blended from a variety of ales, this one uses 14 different malts Dominant flavor: chocolate malt and coffee. I liked it, but not everyone at our tasting table did. Porters always make me think of ice cream floats especially the roasty, toasty ones. Okocim O.K. Bohemian Pils from Poland - soft and light. Not much body. Nice, not remarkable. Urthel Triple: huge contrast to the Okocim! sweet, full bodied, full alcohol, but nicely balanced. 9% yippee! Regenboog t'Smisje Calva Reserva - WOW oh wow. This one was fabulous. Fruity, big round flavors. Almost wine like. Aged in calvados casks for 6 months. I need to taste this one again. Would be magnificent with food. At a wopping 12%, its a sipper. Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor - Candy-ish, with an alcohol burn, this one was lost on me following the Reserva. Or maybe it was the Kerkom Bink Bloesem that I found so cloying. Things were a bit fuzzy at this point. Maredsous 8 - on tap! Slightly sweet, but plenty of toasty malt. Seemed less intense than the bottled versions I've had. Alpine Pils - a local brewery's take on a Czech Pils - MsRamsey thought this one was skunked. It tasted and smelled fine to me, if a bit unexciting. North Coast Pranqster - mild version of a belgian golden. almost lemony. I liked this one. LaChouffe Golden - what's not to like? Kastelanski Polish Mead - a honey mead. Like dessert wine. Thick. Tasted like baklava. Really not bad at all, but very sweet. Beers they were out of that bummed us out: Belzubuth, Yeti, Monty Python's Holy Ale, Wye Valley Buddy Bach, Regenboog t'Smisje BBBourgondier, Cantillon Fou'foune, Dogfish Head Midas Touch, Riva Lucifer, Fantome Pissenlit, Ridgeway Bad Elf, and a few others. Our fine panel of tasters took this opportunity to discuss & plan to attend the Cask Beer Festival, coming up in October. We'll be posting notes on that one, you bet.

*sigh* Bridgeport...

that's a really wonderful typo, steve.

had dinner at Lola tonight. Had two dips with the fresh pita: skordalia and tzatziki. The skordalia ROCKS. tzatziki is pretty damn tasty too. Had the greek salad, lovely. Big ole hunk of tasty feta on top. heirloom toms, seedless (english) cukes. Had the Egg-Lemon soup. Not thick like a traditional avgolomono, and no rice, but peapods, dill and a couple of meatballs. Great soup. You can taste the (very good not canned) chicken broth its made with, hint of lemon, a bit of olive oil drizzled on top. Had two skewers, the lamb and the shrimp. Liked the shrimp the best of the two. The lamb was ok, but not really exciting. I expected bigger chunks, rare inside. Didn't get that. hrmph! Had the short ribs with harissa and preserved lemon. Wowowowowow. Here's the deal: chewy, tough, fatty. But the flavor? Outstanding. BUT this comes with the caveat that I'm a harissa junkie. Between the harissa and the preserved lemon, I'm hearing the angels sing. Dessert: Had the Lola take on doughnuts. No bag shaken at the table ala Dahlia. Just brought to you hot out of the fryer, with gooey honey drizzled over the top, nestled in some ground pistachios. Oh My God. At this point, I died and went to heaven. I'd go back just for these. In my pajamas. barefoot in the snow. LOL