2/14/10 Cafe Juanita Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was great. a friend had come over the night before to be here early to get out on the bike. the plan was to ride around lk sam at 11. i had heard a weather forecast stating morning rain clearing to sun in the afternoon. i was thinking we were taking off for the ride around noon like we did last week but i was wrong. it didn't matter though, as christa bailed on the ride. matt and i hung out and watched some olympics, but around noon it had cleared up, stopped raining, and yes the sun was starting to peak through the clouds. so we decided to get on the bike.

it was a great ride. we saw 8 eagles, a couple which were yearlings. + we had brunch at the IHOP. we made it around the lake to the house in about 90 minutes (not counting the food stop). i took my camera but realized i forgot to put the chip back in it so i had no 'film'. oh well. it did turn out to be a gorgeous afternoon. the roads were still wet in the shade, but in the sun were completely dry. and upper 40s for temps.

we got home, i hopped in the shower and when i turned on my computer at 3.35pm i saw an email from holly. she had posted up on the cafe juanita site about some canceled reservations. i yell into matt who was in his office about the email and he shouts back "let's go!". so he calls and we get a table at 5pm. reservation made at 3.37pm. wow. this is going to be close. at least i had already showered! we get there maybe 5 minutes late, but dang that was record time!

valentine's dinner is a special menu. in that there is no menu, just the chef's menu. i guess we could have skipped a course, but why would we want to do that? we opted for 1 of the wine pairings, too. so here we go.

Alaskan King Crab with Green Apple Sorbetto and Crab Butter Powder

this portion was about the size we get and share around the table! with each of us having our own portion we had a lot of that crab butter powder and boy does that enhance the flavor of this dish! i think in the future we'll need to request an extra dish of that butter powder!

served with: Rose, Philipponnat, N.V., Reserve

Housemade, Hand Cut Tajarin with Sterling Imperial Caviar.

that 4th word is pronounced Tye-reen, i'm told, but i could only find 1 reference to it online for this post, but believe it or not i could only find 1, and it said it was pronounced tah-jah-reen. so who knows. but it is not tah-JAR-in :-).

this is an egg yolk pasta, so a little heavier, but it's also cut really thin, like capellini. and a special thank you chef! for a great big glob of caviar! the pasta on it's own was fab, but add the saltiness of the roe really brought it together. just wow. i could've had a whole bowl of this, only this and been in heaven! i really hope we'll see this on the menu - of course i realize the caviar may not be included, or at least at a much lesser amount. :-(

there was a choice of wines with this course. we chose 1 of each since there were 2 of us, and shared them.

Pinot Noir 2007, St. Innocent, Temperence Hill Vineyards, Willamette Valley

the red was heavy and contrasted with the dish while the white, a

Pinot Biano 2007 Mario Schiopetto, Friuli

was lighter and blended well with the dish

Winter Citrus Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Foam and Arbosana Olive Oil

until i re-read the menu i didn't realize (remember) that i was eating fennel! it had none of that licorice flavor. there's also very thin pumpernickel crackers. blood oranges, regular oranges, pink grapefruit were among the citrus.

Arneis 2008 Vietti, Piemonte

Blackmore Wagyu Tenderloin with Parsnip Crema, Seared Foie Gras and Barbera Reduction

wow. i'm going to have to start ordering beef! this farm is down under, and it is definitely a keeper! i love the foie gras - this was prepared as she does her appetizer of it, but it was a smaller portion :-( oh well. i could barely eat it i was already full! i did end up bringing most of my meat and dessert home.

that was something i did notice about dinner service that night. it was much faster. i can understand the desire, in fact need in some places, to turn the tables at least 2x a night, but that many courses of that size, i need a lot more time for my meal. i think that meal lasted about 2 hours for 5 courses, in comparison to 4.5-5 hours for a 9 course meal at another of our favorite places.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Betz Family Winery, Pere de Famille, Columbia Valley

Milk Chocolate Ganache with Frosted Cacao Nuts, Passion Fruit Sorbetto and Galangal Caramel

this was yummy! but i had to eat the sorbetto since it wouldn't make it home, and the rest made a great dessert to the leftover steak!

Vin Santo 2000, Fattoria di Felsina, Toscana

we also had coffee, and then little heart shape mignardise to finish the night.

2/6/10 Cafe Juanita

this was my 3rd cancer-free anniversary dinner. i've really enjoyed celebrating at cafe juanita. maybe it's because we've been there so often that most of the staff on the floor know us, so it's like they can celebrate with us. in fact, this time the 6th fell on a saturday, and there were easily 5 or 6 other celebrations - birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, who knows what all. we ended up getting there early since we went straight from the movies, so we had to wait a few minutes for our table. oh gee.

while we were waiting for our table mason headed past with arms full of plates when he did a double take of matt. he hasn't seen matt since last october i guess it was, and as he's not on FB he didn't know matt cut his hair for me at christmas. we all had a good laugh. we were seated in jim's section, and had a lovely corner table.

oh, and before you get all a-flutter that ring was a gift from matt on my 1st anniversary of living cancer free. i just didn't have an outlet for being able to share it before this blog. due to the reasons behind this dinner out, this post has a little more story to it than other dinner outings we've had. if you're here just for the food, look for the pictures and you'll get your fill.


on saturdays jason serves and david sommeliers, which gives them a nice little break. while we were waiting for our table matt looked up the wine list and saw they had the bolly back in the cellar, so he let sarah know we wanted that. we weren't seated for long when david brought the champagne over to us. he congratulated me on my 3 years as he popped the cork. matt had momentarily forgotten he had let sarah know what we wanted a bottle of this. as david was wrapping the napkin around the neck of the bottle i made a comment on making sure the cloth was far enough away from the candle flame. he looked at me a little off-kilt and i retold my seeing someone accidentally catching a menu on fire from a candle. he laughed and told us about a client at a former restaurant who had 'big hair' (read lots of hairspray) who ended up with her head on fire! yikes!

but enough small talk. let's get onto dinner.

there was a new appetizer on the menu. and wow was it tasty! not a hot dish, but warmer than room temp. but then, whatever temperature a room is is room temp, isn't it?


if given the opportunity, order the
House-Smoked Sablefish with Frisee, Cara Cara Oranges and Toasted Horseradish Vinaigrette.

as a special last saturday they had an appetizer on special. jim was hinting pretty hard that we needed to try it, and when he described it that's all it took to convince me.

Lamb Sugo with House made Ricotta, Cara Cara and Navel Zest, Heather Honey and Mint Hankie. Oh wow. i hope both of these become a permanent fixture.

i wasn't really in the mood for a full 'primi', so i asked jim if we could get a bomboloni. normally served on a beet salad with a brown butter sauce, i didn't want the entire plate. We started to get into the plating of it, and i said they could just bring it in the little individual dish if they wanted to.

so here is a single La Tur Bomboloni with a little sea salt on top. YUM

now we had to have something other than champagne, didn't we? David suggested this wine for us. we hadn't had it, and it opened up quite nicely. the bouquet was quite different from the taste. it had wonderful notes. ok, so i don't really know exactly what i'm saying, but it was good.

we split a primi course of

Citrus Risotto with Pumpkin Seed Oil.  there's a little parmesiano reggiano shaved on top.

there was lemon and orange zest along with a few other things in this. i thought i had asked them to write it down but i find looking at my notes that i don't have it. it was good. i wouldn't want this entire plate to myself as the lemon gave it a nice sharp bite. (i really need to start remembering to take in a little notebook with me.)


anyway, we must not forget the reason we were there. while a happy occasion, it's an emotional reason and several times throughout the course of dinner i started to cry. one of my trips to the ladies' i passed lori who was getting wine glasses and she congratulated me on my 3 years. we joked lightly about it but i wanted to cry again. yes i've been open with everyone about this, and the crew at CJ is not an exception. don't get me wrong, i have never wished i kept it secret. i guess part of me wished the whole restaurant knew so i could just start bawling and not draw stares or whispers.

we ordered dinner 1 course at a time on saturday. the fish of the day was a steelhead trout and i decided to pass on that. matt landed on the quail and i chose the lamb for our secondi. it wasn't long after the risotto was on the table when the main course was delivered to the table next to us. jim put down this plate in front of the lady seated closest to us. we knew it wasn't the rabbit, and it didn't look like the lamb, way too big for the quail... not sure if jim overheard us trying to figure it out or if he's just good. well, he is that good, even if he did overhear us :-)  he turned around after serving them and says to matt "there's 1 more pork chop left do you want it?" "OOOOHH yessss!" so he scampers (am i allowed to say jim scampered?) off to change matt's order. and yay, he got the chop. pork, that is.

i think we were in the middle of the risotto when matt asked jim if chef would be able to swing by and he didn't think it likely as the other tables would also want to talk with her - and they were very busy. there were 5 other celebrations that we saw, but that we could stop by the counter on our way out. but on 1 of my many (yes i have a tiny tank) trips past the kitchen to the ladies' i hear jim repeating my name. when i finally get my brain to process that he's calling my name and respond, he points to the bar and says "holly". when i look over she's looking at me, waiting for me to come over. so i get over there, skirting everyone trying to prepare drinks and pick up plates. she was so nice, complimented me on my dress, and thanking us for allowing them to be a part of this important night. i thanked her and let her know matt wanted to to say hi before we left. i knew she was busy and didn't want to take up a lot of time. i was hoping we could get a few minutes as we were leaving. so after a couple minutes i figured that as busy as she was that was probably it (turns out they were down a chef that night).  but she said she'd come out. "are you sure? we're all the way back in the corner". "it's fine, i'll say hi then run back and hide in my corner." or something like that. i thought it was really nice. on the way over to the table i let her know matt had posed a question to me that i didnt' think he'd ever voice to her. "what's that" she asks. little does she know.. no, nothing bad. "he's wondered if you'd be willing to give him some cooking lessons". when we get to the table she just pops out with "you should come cook in the kitchen!" wow! now we do have a friend who paired up with the pastry chef at the time and made the zabaglioni during dinner service. i think it would be great if matt did that. i'll definitely let people know so we/you get a chance to book a table that night! then matt surprised me. he blurts out "we've been holding some dinner parties and we'd love it if you would come over and let us cook for you". she was very gracious and thanked us and said she'd love to. and i let her know her son was also invited. i called him on it a little later - he was a nervous wreck with the thought of chef Ethan coming for dinner and here he is inviting chef holly! LOL.  we talked a little bit longer and then let he rget back to work.

here's the pork chop. it's not as pretty as the one he had last summer when you compare plating, but mat it was delicious! next time chops are on the menu i'm going to order it!

as it wasn't on the menu we didn't get the run-down of the description. but matt says "it had rosemary and it was delicious".

it did have deep-fried huckleberries, and we think parsnips, plus a little spinach. not sure of the sauce, and probably pan-seared first by the looks of it.

i had the Oregon Saddle of Lamb with Semolina Gnocchi, taggiasca Olive Tapenade and Grand Marnier. yum.

i've had this in the past but it'd been a while, maybe even a little over a year.









we had to leave room for dessert, so about 1/2 the risotto, 1/2 my lamb, and a little of matt's chop went into boxes to come home for leftovers. i swear chef Holly's risotto is almost better the 2nd day!

we had david bottle up the rest of the red wine and ordered coffee and dessert.

a new item on the dessert menu was matt's choice, a

Goat Cheese Bavarian with Frosted Walnuts, Meyer Lemon Coulis and Citrus Salad

it was quite tasty.

i went with something  a little more traditional.

Blood-Orange Sorbetto on the left,
Chocolate Port Sorbetto on the right, and
a Blend of the 2 in the middle

on a plate that reads
"happy 3rd anniversary libby!!"

yes, i think i started to cry again.

as a parting mignardise we got a chili (or spiced) chocolates/













as i was getting my coat from the hook sarah came over to say goodbye and Chef Holly came out of the kitchen, which i definitely didn't expect after she came to the table earlier. i thanked them again for a great dinner and gave them both a teary hug as i was starting to cry again.  we talked with Chef for another 10 minutes or so before we took off.

i'm closing this post with 2 pics of matt and myself because i can't decide which i like more.

I want to say a very heartfelt *Thank You* to all the people at cafe juanita. you really know how to treat your customers and make a special night really mean something.

1/30/10 Fonte

Tysan, former sommelier at the Herbfarm, started a new endeavor, fonte. it's a coffee house in seattle, but they also serve real food and alcohol. we spent a morning at SAM viewing the michelangelo exhibit, and had the muchies after so we went across the street for a light lunch. they're in a great location. 1st ave and union. they are actually located between fran's chocolates and the lusty lady. (and if you  have to ask about that yes, it is what you think it is).

fonte means fountain in italian (french? both?)



we actually ordered sandwiches when we found out they had 'real' food. you pick up a menu, find a table and someone comes out and takes your order. all very civilized!

 

i had a smoked bakon, gruyere, dijon and carmelized onion panini with a side of apple slices. it was *very* good

matt had a roast pork sandwich, with something and something. he promised me he's remember and it turns out he doesn't :-(  but his came with a side of 'pasta' carrots. (i do remember it was the 3rd item on the list)

i think they're paying homage to their next door neighbor. 

i was really tempted to get the pink shirt "between lust and chocolate" LOL if you're not getting it, re-read paragraph 1.

1/30/10 How To Cook A Wolf

tonight we joined our friend Jeff who had yet to dine here, and one of his friends from high school who also had never been. it was a fun night. lots of good food was eaten.

but the night didn't start out too great. there were cars pulled over to the side of the freeway just north of the i90 merge on i5, as well as several cars pulled over onto the shoulder of the mercer street exit. we were about 20 minutes late. matt pulled up and i hopped out since we didn't know if jeff was there yet, he went to park the car. i didn't see him and the hostess came up i was saying "angela said she left a note - i'm libby". at the same time i hear this blond on my left telling 1 of the chefs "i'm supposed to meet jeff [last name omitted]" i turned around and said "you're with us!" we laughed, introduced ourselves, and were led to the table. apparently she, anna, had called and told them she was running late, but didn't really know whose name the reservation was under. our hostess told me jeff had called and he was stuck in traffic - the opera traffic from closing night. matt and i were for a block, then took a shortcut to avoid about 4 blocks of that traffic. what, you think i would actually say what that is? sorry! i thought about calling but matt had left his cell at home. oh well. it didn't take jeff too long to get there.

it was fairly low key night. matt and i had a glass of wine each, while jeff and anna split a pellegrino.

Spicy Coppa with pear, chestnut honey, pine nut

the sweetness of the honey really set off the spicy of the coppa. thumbs up!

Beef Carpacio with white anchovy, celery, pangratatto, lemon

Columbia City Bakery Demi Baguette with sicilian olive oil, arbequina olives

Escolar Crudo with chili, avocado, lime

i liked the flavor of this, but i had a slight issue with texture. (a common theme among a lot of fish dishes)

Roasted Sardine with fingerling potato, bacon, aioli

ok, here's a question. eat the bones or no? that was discussed when this arrived. yes it had head and tail on and was looking at me when our server set it on the table. but i 'nut uped' (watch zombieland) and anna cut a small piece of the belly for me to try. wasn't really my thing. to me it was pretty fishy tasting, but the others seemed to like it, so who am i to say anything?

Arctic Char with farro, sultana, arugula pesto

now this was pretty darn good! as you've come to realize i'm not a huge fish person, but this i liked. i wouldn't have wanted the entire plate to myself, but divided into 4 it was just the right amount.

Bruschetta with chicken liver mousse, sultana, saba

i think chef's trying to get creative with plating the bruschetta LOL. i mean it's 'toast' with a liver mousse on top. doesn't lend itself to the most creative or colorful, but this was nice. and if you haven't had Chef Ethan's bruschetta, get some today!

Semolina Gnocci with butter, sage, parmesan

YUM!

Beef Tongue with ceci bean, aioli, horseradish

i skipped this one. i decided i've had tongue served both hot and cold, and it just doesn't do it for me. but every last morsel of this dish was gobbled up so it must've been good.

Strozzapretti with pancetta, onion, egg

Chef Ethan's known for his pasta, and this one was fantastic, as always.











then on to dessert and coffee

Matt had the

Pear Almond Cake with cream, caramel

it wasn't bad, but i liked what i had better...

Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake with blackberry sauce

1/17/10 How To Cook A Wolf

i have to admit i really enjoy dinners here. the smaller plates being served family style just really are my thing. matt and i had dinner here before il trovatore. christopher and christa bailed. we thought about it, after the Herbfarm last night we spent most of this day just lolling around. but we hadn't seen that opera so we decided to go ahead on out.

 

looking south to the newport hill on our way out to wolf

Bruschetta: chicken liver mousse, pear mustarda

chef ethan's pate/mousse bruschetta i think are the best overall i've ever had. i have to give chef renee credit for hers (chicken liver mousse with pickled plums and dijon) they were pretty good, but there was just enough bite i only wanted a few, but i could make a meal on chef ethans.

Duck Confit: faro, parsley pesto, sultana

we've had this one before, but it was still just as good as the 1st time.

Baked Radiatori: fontina cream, pangratatto

oh wow. this was killer! there was a little kick of spice in it that just made this work. i kind of wish we had 2 of them.

Panini with salomi gentile, pickled pepper, taleggio

that was it this meal. we had water to drink and no dessert! i know! but after all that food and wine the night before, we were simply on food overload. don't worry though, we knew we had reservations for the end of the month and we made up for any lack of over-indulgence on this trip.