LEdlund

This is very motivating to see everyone's great liquor cabinets. Ours is housed in an old stereo cabinet right now and it's way too small. We have just remodeled our house and have a closet off the dining room that is no longer being used. We're trying to draw up the perfect cabinet to build in there. It won't have ice or running water but I can use pitchers and ice buckets for that. But I can see where having a place to dump the used ice from the shaker would be handy. Maybe we will have to build in a drain of some sort. Of course a small refrigerator is a must. Oooh I'm so excited!

How many calories is that?

Cheese

I meant La Romantica when I said La Rustica above. My co-worker said her neighbor went there for drinks on Thursday. My co-worker walked in on Saturday but didn't stay to eat.

I used to love Etta's for dinner but the last couple of times I was there I wasn't so impressed. And I have never liked their breakfasts. Every time my food has come to me lukewarm. Maybe I am getting too picky in my old age.........

Does anybody know anything about the new tex-mex place on Market Street in Ballard? It's where La Rustica used to be. A friend of mine heard that it's owned by the same people that own Paseo.

Paul and I had lunch at Persimmon on Saturday. I didn't have it, but they have a Reuben on the menu there. Paul did have the pastami sandwich and it was mighty tasty. I had the caprese panini with proscuitto. Yum. I will definitely go back to this place.

I ordered mine yesterday. Four center cut sirloins and four rib steaks will be delivered tomorrow. Eight steaks for the price of four!

Mr. Ledlund and I went to Union before the symphony last night. After all the talk about the décor, I was surprised to find that I really liked it. I mean it’s a little “Pottery Barn” but certainly not ugly. The amuse was a seaweed salad tossed with sesame oil. It went really well with my martini! We started with the brioche and duck egg frisee salad. The duck egg was baked perfectly – the whites were cooked through and the yolk was warm and runny. Yum. Next we shared the seared foie gras with braised oxtail and oxtail consommé. Talk about died and gone to heaven. Believe it or not, the consommé made the dish for me. Everything tasted better because of it. I had roast haddock with sautéed hedgehog mushrooms in port sauce and my husband had the duck breast on a bed of celeriac. Both were fantastic. We finished with the cheese course. I don’t know if they planned it this way, but all were cow’s milk cheeses. Nothing really wowed me on the cheese course. I will definitely be back when I have more time. I’d love to do the tasting menu.

I bought some right before the holidays and it is fantastic. Very sweet and well-rounded with just the right amount of salt. That makes it a bargain in my book!

I think I'd be sick if I had to eat that quickly! I much prefer a leisurely pace to my dining. Meals at Lumiere and Tojo's in Vancouver and Mistral in Seattle easily topped the 3 hour mark and I loved it.

I saw this on the "news" last night. Isn't that just Cowboy Steak? Why is that newsworthy?

I'll go with you I love Lampreia.

Oprah had this recipe in her November issue. I'm making it for New Years Eve Seared Sea Scallops with Spicy Clementine Sauce

We had a fabulous dinner there last night. There were five of us and we tried much of the menu. We started off with cocktails and a couple of appetizers. There was the grilled calamari with cherry tomatoes (which were also lightly grilled) and mint sauce and the speidini of bread and mozzarella and white anchovy. I was very impressed to see that there were five pieces of each on the plate so we didn't have to cut things in half to share. That was a nice touch. Next was the pasta course. We tried the trofie with the veal sugo. I loved the touch of nutmeg in it and the pasta was the most perfect size and consistency. All of the pastas except the trofie are made in-house. Next time I will try the ricotta gnocchi. It sounded wonderful. Each of us had a different entrée. One friend, who doesn’t eat meat, chose to have the pasta in spicy lobster sauce for her main course. That was the only disappointing dish of the evening. The pasta was way, way overcooked – to the point of being mush on the plate. And the sauce was too fishy for my liking. We also had the duck, the beef rib, the veal chop and the braised pork. Evidently all the grilling is done over coals, which gives the grilled dishes a wonderful sweet smokiness. All these entrees were fantastic but the standout in my mind was the pork. I’m a sucker for braised meat anyway and this was perfect. Sweet with carrots and savory with spices. I’m having the leftovers on my salad for lunch today. We also shared two sides: the braised greens and the roasted beets. Both were very good. We then had three cheeses which were all good but I have forgotten what they were. For dessert we all shared the walnut torta. It has a nice warm spice to it, but was unremarkable. I know I’m not a good judge of what is considered expensive because I am willing to spend more for food than I probably should. But, for all that food, cocktails and a couple of bottles of wine, it came to $70.00 per person including a 20% tip. I didn’t think that’s out of line, is it? I have to admit, I didn’t pay as much attention to the décor as I meant to. Although one of my friends loved the soap dispenser in the restroom so much that we all had to go check it out. A Nicole Miller design in case you are interested! It looked like they were doing good business for a Monday night. Most tables were full. A conversation with Walter Pisano confirmed that the business has been better than anticipated. All in all it was a very nice dining experience and I will definitely return.

Great review! We're going there tonight, so I'll have mine to post in the next couple of days. I'll make a point of noticing the decor when we're there!

Have you gone yet? I just got a call from some friends who want to meet there for dinner on Monday and I'd love to hear what you have to say before I make my reservations.

Try ChefShop.com. They are located in Seattle and they ship to Canada. I have been to their store many times and love it. ChefShop.com

Grilled escarole salad with warm pancetta dressing, aged ricotta and quail egg Crispy duck with duck confit, corona beans, and sauce of dried figs, plums and cherries Braised spicy winter greens This is a fun game!

My mom is convinced that the weather in Washington is too wet and mild to grow good potatoes. She always complains that they are too gluey. I don't know if there is any validity to this but I thought it was interesting that you used the same word as a description.

I first had these at heyjude's house too. They are soooooo good. I checked them out at Whole Foods yesterday, but they felt a little mushy so I didn't get one.

When we went to Portland last month we stayed at the Fifth Avenue Suites. It is a Kimpton Hotel, as is the Vintage Plaza. I really like Kimpton Hotels, they have a sort of european feel to me. We wanted a restaurant within walking distance of the hotel so we ended up at Higgins. It was a very uninspired meal and, in hindsight, we should have gone to Southpark or Bluhour.

I could be up for that, it's only a block from my office!

Au Bouchon in the Wallingford Center also does cassoulet. I haven't had it this year, but when I had it last year, it was fabulous.

The fleur de sel truffles that Fran's makes just have the fleur de sel on the top. I sure hope I get to taste one of these