Lark

[tighe]

From time to time, we’ve discussed/debated here why/if Seattle falls short of other cities in terms of the quality of restaurants at the top end.  So here the question I’ve been pondering since going to Lark, “is the revolution upon us?”  With Union and Lark opening at the same time, and both being so much better than most places in town (IMO at least), is this the leap forward that some of us have been hoping/waiting for?

What in the world are you talking about. Nothing is passing you by, it's sitting there right under your nose. Get thee to Lampreia.

Ned, you are absolutely right that I need to go to Lampreia, but...

I believe the thrust of what I was saying was that maybe we are finally experiencing a move towards having a critical mass of really good restaurants at the middle/upper middle part of the spectrum. Eating at Lampreia, Mistral, Rovers or the Herb Farm is a significant investments for me and if I can eat at Union or Lark a number of times for the same price, I'm going to take that deal....

Edited June 3, 2004 by tighe (log)

[ned]

Tighe,

hear what you're saying and I would tend to agree with you, not about missing any visits to Lampreia which I'd rather go broke than do, rather about there being a roaring chasm where middle-high end restaurants are. To that I offer a possible explanation.

Despite that Seattle has been around in one form or another for better than a hundred years, it has yet to really get a sense of what it is from a culinary perspective. Yeah we all know about fresh veg and salmon and morel and coffee and eastern Wa. wine and micro-brewed beer and fusion and Tom Douglas and his silly James Beard awards but in terms of a real local cuisine that explores the dialectics of the area as a whole, well I agree with your claim that Lark may be signaling the dawn of that era. I ate there about three months ago and had an excellent experience. Think the interior design is dodgy but look what they had to start out with. And I assume since the chef is young and this is his first solo venture that he was a bit under-capitalized. My overwhelming feeling was that they should fire whoever is currently running the show at Canlis and hire Johnathan Sundstrom. Give him the run of a restaurant that historically and architecturally (Roland Terry) reflects a central gestalt of Seattle. Let the rest follow him and we are off to the races.

[reesek]

i like the space at lark. it's small which i can see having been limiting - but they did a great job. i also think it fits what they're doing...i love that we have options for high-end fine dining, but if lark were at canlis - it just wouldn't be lark. i imagine one of the reasons sundstrom can offer such a variety of dishes for what i think are reasonable prices is that his rent is much less expensive than a downtown (or superb architectural) space would have been. i think that lark's location (and parking lot! how quaint!) add to its charm. seattle needs to develop it's neighborhoods a little better (bleed it's independent retail and restaurants off of ballard ave, broadway, the ave, etc) and integrate into the neighborhoods.

i hope lark sets a trend that other new talents follow.

edited for clarity

Edited June 3, 2004 by reesek (log)

[tighe]

Ned, your idea for Canlis is intriguing, although I think one of the reasons Sundstrom opened Lark was to have his own place. I don't think the Canlis' would be will to take the chance of pissing off their long-term customers either.

reese, that parking lot doesn't actually belong to the restaurant. I believe some people have actually been towed.

[reesek]

that parking lot doesn't actually belong to the restaurant. I believe some people have actually been towed.

glad i got street parking when i was there...

[reesek]

so...had a celebratory dinner at lark on tuesday. we arrived at about 8 and got a table right away - though a couple of other deuces who came in right after us had to wait.

my bf was slightly less impressed this time than last - but that's only because one dish (of 5) was kind of a dud. i just can't stop thinking that lark is a tremendous value...in no small part because it's an oasis in a culinary desert. as a former hill resident, i would have wept with joy had lark been around in my time there. street parking is still pretty easy and the pacing, wines and quality were all top notch. i feel relaxed just thinking about lark...and having lobster salad and joel robouchon's potato silk on my birthday didn't suck either.

one question - and this is a little strange - largely because of comments on egullet one of the dishes called to me. thing is - i'm a pescetarian, and the dish was the pork belly with grits and pea vines. bless the bf - he (a ten year veggie) said we should order it. clearly the appeal of a dish like this is multi-layered...crispy top, meaty, tender bottom...obscene amount of rendered fat (which was oddly ungreasy) to flavor the grits and greens. but the spongy thick fat...are you supposed to eat that? i hid it under grits and vines...that part was not appealing at all to me. the waiter asked when i ordered "have you been here before?" i said, "yes. why, did i order well?" he kind of smirked and said, "yes, well, only people who "know" order the pork belly." so clearly...i couldn't ask him what was up. so...school me - please.

by the way - the crispy and meaty parts, the obscenely coated grits and accompanying bathing vines - ridiculously good. i will be having that again...but i think the "tempurpedic fat part" (per bf) was too traumatic for him. i'll be going it alone.

[laurel]

I don't really like the globby fat part either. Maybe the key is to have it in small pieces with the other stuff, like bacon...

[tighe]

I think its really a question of personal tastes. I've been known to eat the fatty part of pork belly and other meats while scrat gasps in horror across the table...

[mamster]

I find that sometimes I'm in the mood for it and sometimes not. Probably it's related to how virtuous I feel I've been that day. Then again, red-cooked pork belly over rice is something I can almost always go for.

[halland]

Last night I had the supreme privlige to be invited to the Patricia Green Wine Dinner at Lark. This was a semi-private occasion, and I'm not sure how one would learn about it unless they were a regular Lark customer or a friend of someone on the Lark staff. This was the first wine dinner Lark has ever had and so I think they, as well as the diners were not sure how the event would turn out. There was certainly no question that the food and wines would be outstanding.

Unlike normal service, they had all the curtains pulled back to create one large room. This created a very different atmosphere in the space than the intimate feel that Lark usually has. Seating was all tables of 8 except for the booths around the room, and everyone just seated themselves with their party or at a table with available seating.

I'll present the menu in its entirety:

Reception

Serrano ham, chorizo Soria and guanciale with marcona almonds and marinated olives

Chateau Calabre Bergerac Rose '03

First Course

Dungeness crab salad with heirloom tomatoes, corn, and tomato-lovage gelee

Patricia Green Sauvignon Blanc '03

Second Course

Wild striped bass with summer vegetables and truffle vinaigrette

Patricia Green Chardonnay '03

Third Course

Guinea hen duo: breast with choucroute and leg with changrelles and foie gras

Patricia Green Estate Pinot Noir '02 and Patricia Green Quail Hill Pinot Noir '02

Fourth Course

Poached beef tenderloin with sweet onion confit and summer truffle toast

Patricia Green Estate Pinot Noir '00

Cheese

Baldeon, Robiola and Lamb Chopper with honeycomb

Patricia Green Eason Pinot Noir '00

Dessert

Chevre souffle cake with nectarines and blueberries

Gatti Piero Moscato '03

Its hard to pick a star from the meal, I think the concensus was that the poached tenderloin stood out the most.

Before each course John Sundstrom (the chef) would explain how each dish was prepared, which was a treat. Patricia Green also spoke at length about each wine, the terroir of that particular vineyard, the aging, etc.

All of this was $75 with tax and tip, and the meal lasted almost 4.5 hours.

Hal

[tsquare]

and you are awake to write this up! WOW! Guess I should have been hanging out more.

[SeAAttle]

Last night I had the supreme privlige to be invited to the Patricia Green Wine Dinner at Lark. This was a semi-private occasion, and I'm not sure how one would learn about it unless they were a regular Lark customer or a friend of someone on the Lark staff. This was the first wine dinner Lark has ever had and so I think they, as well as the diners were not sure how the event would turn out. There was certainly no question that the food and wines would be outstanding.

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Hal

We will dine at Lark for the first time next week. Are any of these items on the regular menu? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[halland]

I'm not sure how much of what I'd eaten is on the regular menu. I know the menu changes seasonally if not even more regularly than that. Because this was a special dinner the service was somewhat different than how its handled usually.

If you see any Patty Green wines, I'd recommend them, but I have no idea what the price would be.

Hal

[richards1052]

Halland: All I can say is hooooeeee!!! Sounds like GOOD eatin'!

[jbonne]

finally, very belatedly, made it to Lark last night and all i can say is ... eh.

i like John Sundstrom's work, and i had the highest hopes for it, despite a whole lot of lukewarm feedback. nothing seems unfixable, save possibly the atmosphere -- the open space was so deafening our server couldn't hear us.

there were some real standouts -- the foie gras terrine is heartbreakingly good, and even the Landjaeggar with two mustards was a beautiful little starter. but on balance -- not enough food, even for small plates, prices too high and a few things were just plain bland.

chilled yellow tomato soup (with yogurt and herbs) was another beautiful starter, but for $7, i expect more than about 5 spoonfuls. c'mon folks -- it's pureed tomato. i know you're going for small portions, but there's no reason to be stingy.

butter lettuce with Maine lobster was fine, and actually large enough (thanks, lettuce!) but it's a bit extravagant for a salad, and not really a standout. would have loved it without the lobster for about $7, versus the $16 it cost. of course, lettuce with green goddess dressing is a bit of a plain offering, so i can see why the lobster made it in there.

the duck leg was lovely with black plums was lovely. would have been a winner if i'd been dining alone. (at $9 it's a decent deal.)

the squab salad was pretty good, but again, it's $14 for a salad. with pigeon. some additional greens would have helped it.

there's lots of other stuff on the menu that intrigued me, and i may yet go back and browse through, but at the prices they want, i don't have much incentive. i was so hungry after leaving i was ready for a burger at Dick's. this is not what a restauranteur should want in their patrons after a 1.5-hour dinner. especially after we waited 40 minutes to be seated.

my *real* gripe, though, is the wine list. for small plates, it's essential to have either half-bottles (which they don't) or an extensive by-the-glass selection (nope), since diners will be switching up every course to something new. we even contemplated a bottle of Champagne, but i won't order Veuve Cliquot in a restaurant, i don't feel like paying $55 for a bottle of Iron Horse, and despite my several attempts to enjoy the Blanquette that's going around Seattle right now, i just can't do it. and i won't pay nearly $30 for $6 cava.

that was pretty much the tenor of the list -- not a bad selection, but far too small for the caliber of place and markups wildly divergent. Januik syrah isn't a bad deal at about $55, but not a great one either. McCrea syrah should by no means be over $70, unless it's secretly his top cuvee (which i doubt).

the lack of good by-the-glass is really inexcusable in my book, given the menu. i actually asked the server to clear my Eyrie pinot gris half-finished. the other options were equally blah, including the Cotes du Rhone i prayed would be a decent salvation. nope. the only thing i might have overlooked was the gruner, though that wouldn't have helped me with my foie gras. one companion was rather unhappy they didn't have a Sauternes or similar to match with the duck liver, and i could barely discern a dessert wine list.

my other dining companion convinced us to get a bottle of Amador County sangiovese for $28, which ended up being the wine highlight of the evening.

i'll probably go again at some point to test the other menu items i'd found interesting. but i'm frankly amazed at the level of hype, given i think there's a lot of work to be done.

[little ms foodie]

My husband and I dined at Lark last night for the second time. This was to celebrate our 1 yr wedding anniversary and it was great! Being there on a weeknight there was no wait to be seated and the noise level was quieter. The restaurant stayed pretty full all evening though.

We started with kir royals and a dish of almonds and olives with a square of quince paste.

Ordered the bottle of JKCarriere 01 Pinot Noir, excellent but we've had this many times as we go to the winery. One thing that I noticed this time was that we just had regular glass wine glasses. I prefer a nice Riedel.

Started with the charcuterie of guanciale with mostarda di uva. Had never had this before and it was good, not great but very good. House made bacon wrapped around wheat breadsticks and toasted served with grape chutney. Interesting smoky taste, crunchy texture and then sweet. $8

Next the Butter lettuce, Maine lobster, avacodo and green goddess dressing. Again very good, I wish the lobster pieces would have been a bit bigger but then again who doesn't always want more lobster?? $16

Since we ate at l'Atelier du Joel Robuchon last month we decided to try the Pommes de terre Robuchon. I love that they use the little Staub cast irons to present this. The potatoes were wonderful and nicely salted. They really don't compare to the originals which I think of as a butter bomb but they were great and we cleaned the Staub pot! $7

Also had the Rotisserie leg of spring lamb with summer chanterelles and lavender salt. The flavor of this was just perfect, the lamb was done rare/med rare. It had a bit more fat on it than it should IMO but the flavor was really superb! $16

Service was great although there was a large span between our salad and the main course.

Had a plate of 3 cheeses $11- Tete de Moine which was our favorite. Nutty little Suisse cheese that was shaved into almost flower petal type of shapes. St. Marcellin which has the consistancy of creme fraiche and has a nice subtle pugency and for my DH the Blue d'Auvergne which he really enjoyed. I ended up asking for a few pieces of their normal wheat bread for the cheese as I thought the crackers they served were a bit too strong in flavor for me.

We each had a glass of the McCrea Late harvest Viognier $12, I hadn't had this wine before and loved it!! And for dessert my very romantic husband had brought our wedding cake (frozen for a year) to the restaurant earlier and had them serve it to us. It was so sweet!!

I really enjoyed Lark again. I have to say that I think the portions are quite enough for 2. We are always full and wanting to come back to try more. Chef Sundstrom was not in the house last night, we missed seeing him out in the front of the house as he is known to do.

[skyflyer3]

Husband and I did Lark last Saturday to celebrate getting my grad school applications out, after trying to get a last minute reservation for 9:00 at Union and given an abrupt "no" for the entire evening (and they are open until 11:30 p.m, or something like that). So we walked in at 9:00 p.m. and had the good fortune of being seated right away. I'm not recommending you do this, as I'm sure during the summertime this would have been near impossible, but it can happen. Please forgive me if I get some of these wrong as I recount the dishes, but here's what we had:

Some Heritage Vermont cow cheese: This was described as rich and creamy but nothing like we thought. It seemed to me more like an Iraty sheep's milk cheese than from a cow - firmer and dryer than most cow's milk cheeses I've had. (Please note, I'm not a cheese expert, just listing some similarities). This came with a dollop of honey and some citrus rind, which complimented the dryness and saltiness of the cheese. We ate the cheese with the bread, irregular slices of a very plain white and a rye with raisins (really unremarkable bread, but the butter was top notch).

Rosti potatoes: A puffy hash brown pancake topped with a dollop of cream. These were good, and I liked the crispy bottom. They came in a cute little cast-iron pan, similar in shape to one I might have used with my Mini-bake oven as a kid.

Robuchon mashed potatoes - I really wanted to try these as well, since so many people have raved about this dish. This was the clearly the best dish of the evening. Smooth, yet silky, not grainy at all, but not gluey. Very buttery, with a subtle tangy note, like there was a little sour cream or cheese in the butter. I loved this, and can't tell you why, except that it was like getting ultimate comfort food from the finest restaurant in the world. Truly good stuff.

Squab and little rolled pasta, with parmesan - This was tasty, and the pasta was nicely done. It had the texture that only freshly made pasta has, in an unassuming buttery sauce accented by chanterelles. The squab portions were tiny, as expected, and I wish they had de-boned the little leglings, as it was super hard to get the near-rare meat off without a little tussling. Thankfully, I remained ladylike throughout the evening.

Hangar steak, on a bed of lentils and chard - Steak was nicely done, lentils were seriously ehhh compared with everything else that evening. The wine sauce was what really made this dish, but even it could not save those blah lentils.

Chocolate madeleines with chocolate sauce - Wow, there were like, 20 little 1-inch madeleines with a little crock of nummy chocolate sauce. I was full before dessert came, but these puppies really threw me for a loop. Seriously, in relation to the entrees, this dish alone was twice as big and filling as the squab. No joke - three people can do this dessert and come away satisfied. The madeleines were fairly chocolate, but not very sweet, and came tucked in a napkin to keep them warm, which was a nice touch. Chocolate sauce made the dish, and made our ice cream (see next) even better.

Malt ice-cream - A perfect end to this meal. Cool, refreshing and a really generous portion. This actually tasted more like condensed milk to me than anything else. It had a smooth, caramel flavor, not like burnt sugar but more like buttery sweetened cream. Good on its own, awesome with the madeleines' chocolate sauce.

Overall, a very nice, surprisingly filling and affordable dinner - we paid $62 before tax for all of the above, plus my tea. Room was a little noisy, but the staff were attentive and down-to-earth. We'll definitely return, especially for the Robuchon potatoes!

[vengroff]

Stopped in last night and had some exceptional treats, and one or two disappointments, but overall a great time.

There were three particular shining stars: the caviar, cream, and roesti potatoes; the squab with smoky bacon; and the chaource cheese.

The potatoes had a crisp exterior which gave way to a center filled with potato slivers the size and consistency of perfectly al dente pasta. The salty caviar and rich cream melting on top complemented them perfectly.

The squab was crispy and salty on the outside, with a warm but rare center, served atop diced super smoky bacon, onions, and crosnes (tiny little tubers that I have never had before).

The chaource was a well-aged sample so runny it had to be served in a tiny little bowl of its own, with just a bit of honey and honecomb on the side. For my tastes, this was one of the most perfectly handles servings of cheese I've had in Seattle. It was right at the tipping point between creamy and pungent, with neither side overwhelming the other.

Aside from these we also enjoyed carmelized salsify and a special white bean, clam and chorizo soup. Except for the beans themselves, the soup was excellent, with a rich stock and tasty ingredients--the beans, however, were too underdone.

Hedgehog mushrooms were the other disappointment. They were very much on the watery side, as if not enough cooking time had been devoted to expelling their natural moisture, or perhaps they were too crowded in the pan and steamed rather than pan roasted.

I like the lighting and the general ambiance a lot, and there is some exceptional food here, even if it isn't uniformly so. And I definitely have to dig deeper into the cheese list next time.

One other minor nit to pick is that they don't have stemware with large enough bowls for some of the more serious reds they offer. Two men at a nearby table actually resorted to decanting theirs into brandy snifters.

[jrt]

This place has, of course, gotten a ton of praise and buzz, but as I just treated myself to a dinner there last night I thought I'd say one more thing about a particular item on the menu.

Christopher, the sous chef there (I believe), allowed me a tatse of the duck prosciutto as I had already eaten more than any human has a right to. All I can say about it is wow: I plan to go back this week just to have another taste of it. A little oily, with some citrus (orange?), and a few Spanish almonds (I forget the name of those things now) on the side... it was sliced so thin it was nearly translucent. The texture was just a little creamy... Beautiful.

The full portion is a ton of meat.

Just a few days ago I had a bit of the duck prosciutto they have at DeLaurenti in the market, and Christpoher's knocked my socks off.

[Blue Heron]

Just a few days ago I had a bit of the duck prosciutto they have at DeLaurenti in the market, and Christpoher's knocked my socks off.

←

I saw lamb proscuitto at DeLaurenti's today that is from Salumi.

[tighe]

Just a few days ago I had a bit of the duck prosciutto they have at DeLaurenti in the market, and Christpoher's knocked my socks off.

←

I saw lamb proscuitto at DeLaurenti's today that is from Salumi.

←

When I saw it at DeLaurenti's it was $40/lb!!!! FM!

[little ms foodie]

Dinner last night at Lark with some fellow eG'ers. Another great meal, I love that everytime we go there are a few standards but always new and interesting things on the menu.

Last night we had Dungeness Crab Fondue, polenta intagrale, duck proscuitto (made in house, I checked), rosti potato with clabber cream, braised shortribs, cheese plate and desserts- vahlrona chocolate pot du creme was the winner, followed by chocolate madelines with dipping sauce, armnac bread pudding and quince tart tatin.

the four of us all shared the dishes, generally giving eveyone a bit or two but when you order so many little dishes everyone still gets enough to eat.

[jrt]

Has anyone seen Lark's inspection record? Yikes. When did they open? I wonder if the terrifying inspection was done right around then...

[vengroff]

The one about, "food workers not minimizing bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods," is slapped on fine-dining establishments all the time. It has never bothered me much. The simple fact is that there is a tactile element to cooking certain foods. A quick touch of the finger can tell you a lot the doneness of a steak or piece of fish. I trust these guys to be professional about their manual hygene.

And do I understand "Hot potentially hazardous foods not properly cooled," properly? Does this mean they serve some of their food too hot? Does every Tex-Mex joint that puts refritos and cheese under a heat lamp get the same violation? What about pizza places that serve pies straight from a 900 degree oven?

Some of these are legitimate problems, but many are trumped up.

I'd rather eat some place that I can get perfect medium rare lamb and a good gray-market raw milk cheese* than a place with a spotless inspection record and a menu of pre-packaged heat-and-eat crap.

*I have no idea if Lark serves such cheeses or not, in case anyone is wondering.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

...

And do I understand "Hot potentially hazardous foods not properly cooled," properly?  Does this mean they serve some of their food too hot?  Does every Tex-Mex joint that puts refritos and cheese under a heat lamp get the same violation?  What about pizza places that serve pies straight from a 900 degree oven?

...

←

It means cooked food isn't being cooled properly according to sanitation guidelines. It's at the lukewarm temperature where pathogens develop fastest. Basically hot food should be either held hot above 140F or cooled down to 40F or below, because the temps in between are (dundundun) the Food Temperature Danger Zone.

That being said, I agree about a lot of this stuff being trumped up. I could really go on, but will spare you all. Only latex glove companies are getting anything out of the glove regulation.

Pat