6/22/2010 Cafe Juanita

matt decided he wanted to treat janet and michael to a nice dinner at cafe juanita after our whirlwind day in seattle. we introduced them to some foods janet had never tried, and most of which michael had never had before. it was a fun night.

we started with

house smoked sablefish with frisee, verjus pickled fennel and toasted horseradish viniagrette

carne cruda of blackmore wagyu with crostini

 

seared foie gras with rhubarb, candied ginger, and cocoa nibs

madhatcher squab breast with escarole, confit squab, walnut and balsamico















2nd course:

matt and michale had the zuppa della sera - her famous chicken parmigiano brodo









 

baby beets with marcona almond butter and la tur bombolino












 

cattail creek lamb sugo with minted peas, housemade ricotta and maltagliati















and for entrees:

blackmore wagyu tenderloin with porcini and a red wine reduction?

poussin with fingerling potatoes, umbrian lentils, morel pan sauce of sherry and cherry vinegars, served on arugala salad








 

and matt and i both had the scallops - diver scallops, a green puree, shaved asparagus and bacon pieces
 

this was the 1st time we've been when scallops have been offered. it was the fish of the day in case anyone's curious. and wow. i mean wow. they were perfectly prepared.





 

 contorni:

barbera risotto mantecato


none of this came home this trip! but we did order a small to share. note to self always get the large LOL









 

grilled local asparagus with fried duck egg adn parmigiano reggiano















for dessert:

apricot sorbet

chocolate truffle cake with chocolate tuile and peanut butter gelato.

i swear holly's gelato's are great. this reminded me of a candy (not buttercups) that i used to love as a child.

sour cherry and white chocolate gelato

each was good on it's own,  but together they're fantastic.

6/22/2010 Beechers

every time we have friends or family visit from out of town we spend a day down at pike's market. and we never leave until we've been to and ordered some of the world's best mac and cheese. none of your orangey stuff here, let me tell you. eecher's handmade cheeses is where it's at!

it's a small place with usually long lines, but don't let that deter you. it's worth the wait. we always get the mac and cheese but they have sandwiches to order if you desire. the only downside to beechers is there is never enough sitting room. there are about 6 or 8 milkjugs turned barstools along a window which overlooks the cheese-making process.

most times we're there something's going on in that room, and it's kind of fun to watch. if you don't like (heaven forbid) mac & cheese they make a cheese curd, butter, and a variety of cheeses they sell onsight. and for our guests - they can always order what they want online when they get home.

6/18/2010 Canlis

we've had a number of new readers join us so i want to take a minute to say hello, welcome to my humble blog. i'm your average run-of-the-mill american gal who was a very picky eater as a child. in the last 5 or 6 years, with the help of my guy, i've learned to open up my mind and expand my horizons. this blog is me telling you what i thought of new tastes and dishes. if i'm willing to try them so can you! i have my favorite restaurants as you'll learn if you hang around here long enough, sprinkled with new adventures.

it's been a long time since i was at canlis. matt took me for my birthday maybe the 2nd year we knew each other. it was a great night. he says we had a 3 course 'tasting' menu. i only remember steak. but it's known as a steakhouse. the best steakhouse in town - at least as far as the view goes for sure. and it remains to this day the only restaurant in town we know of with a dress code. - men, you *must* have a jacket. tie's optional however. anyway, what we both remember most from that night is it was mid october, where it's dark at 6pm. and it was cold. we asked for the check and gave our waiter the coat check ticket, and by the time we got outside - it's valet park only - our car was there with the heater running and warm. now that was service!

so we experienced canlis. or so we thought. we learned recently that they hired a new chef, so back on the list it goes.

this night was quite different. aside from dining with a couple of good friends, it was light when we left so we could actually look out the window, had we been seated right next to one, throughout our meal.


as much as it was a steakhouse the last time we were there i'd say it is definitely not a steakhouse anymore. yes there is steak on the menu but there is quite a lot of variety. there was a tasting prefixe menu, too, with flight of wines if you desire. but what gets me is you still feel like you're in a 1970s steakhouse. a high-end steakhouse to be sure, but a steakhouse non-the-less. we were seated in the section behind the piano bar area. there was a pianist performing that night, and while i appreciate live music, there's no way to adjust the volume in a room this large. i felt as if we were almost yelling to converse and straining to hear the conversation. not like we could go up to the pianist and ask him to turn it down some.

but the service is excellent. napkins were folded and chairs were held - if there was a staff present when christa or i returned to the table. otherwise we were on our own. and while they folded the napkins when we left, the Herbfarm is the only place we've been so far that actually gives you a new napkin every time you get up from the table.

we started with the veuve cliquot ponsardin, brut rose, reims, france (no i didn't take a picture of this - it was in a chiller a couple tables away. i guess so we at the table wouldn't be tempted to pour it ourselves.

the amuse bouche arrives:

cherry gazpacho: pistachio, cocoa nib, olive oil, port reduction, calendula (that's the flower petal)

yum!

country pate: chocolate, cherry

i know, it sounds like it won't work but it did. pretty tasty, but if there had been even the tiniest bit more chocolate it would've been too much.

we didn't order for the table but we did share around quite a bit. after the champagne we moved to the 1999 bouchard pere et fils, chevalier-montrachet, grand cru with our 1st course(s).

dungeness crab cake: cilantro, curry, granny smith apples

quite tasty

foie gras terrine: rhubarb, celery, granola

matt says this was good. i'll take his word for it, i didn't care much for it, but i'm not so big on foie gras terrines as i am for the seared or pate.

canlis salad: romaine, bacon, romano cheese, mint, oregano, dressing, coddled egg

christa swears this is the best salad.

canlis prawns: dry vermouth, garlic, red chilies, lime and nasturtium.

wow. these were chilled to at least room temp. quite tasty! definitely something to have again. and nasturtium is quite good. i actually have had them at the Herbfarm a few times.






but that wasn't good enough. we had to have 2 first plates each.

steak tartare: canlis' recipe with wagyu tenderloin

not bad, but i still like holly's best. think it's just a spice thing. she also uses wagyu. but i think the tartare has egg in it and holly serves it carne cruda which doesn't - i think...don't quote me on that.

lamb: ramps, taggiasca olives, lemon confit

i'm sure this was good, but 4 days later and i really don't have any memory of it!

matt and i both ordered
pork belly: bing cherries, baby fennel, coriander.

yum! i think that was a wine/cherry reduction swirled on the plate.


i should mention that at the start of the meal i was scribbling down a few notes for myself; i've found i don't trust my memory most of the time and rarely do chefs have the entire dish - if any descriptions on the menu. at kai when i was frantically scribbling away they said they'd give us a copy of the menu to take home, but i was glad i scribbled anyway as a few things had been different. at canlis when i started scribbling the director of service was actually at our table and offered, when he found out the pictures and notes were for a blog i write, to write down everything everyone was ordering for the night. fantastic! if it wasn't too much trouble that'd be great! by the end of the night i sometimes have a hard time reading my scribbles (no i'm not exaggerating with that word) if we're consuming wine. anyway, he did - but it's basically what the menu has. so my question to chefs is this: if you are going to serve pork belly with cherries, fennel and coriander, why does the wait staff present to the table a dish of pork belly with bing cherries, baby fennel, coriander and a cherry port reduction?  ok, before everyone gets on my case, this dish was used as an example! but the reduction is not on the menu, and i'm pretty sure the waiter told us what it was when we were presented with the plate. if i can't trust my memory i need to know what it is because maybe it was drop-dead fantastic but i can't remember what it was called. if it's important enough for the wait staff to mention it why isn't it on the menu? just sayin'... 

on to the entrees. we ordered the 2006 buty peter canlis syrah, walla walla washington. this wine is bottled specifically for canlis and nowhere else.

as a side we had the truffle fries. 'fine herbs and fleur de sel'. loved the taste of these, but the fries themselves are 'wimpy'. you can tell they're shoestring as opposed to a home fry or country fry cut. i prefer the shoestring. but when a long fry of 3+ inches in length is held upright by 1 end, i want the thing to stand up, not 'wimp over' on me. i had 1 to taste, but when it was wimpy i had no more. it's a texture thing. i get this. i know many people who like those 'wimpy' fries, and that's fine.

wagyu tenderloin: caramelized onion puree, oyster mushrooms (those little white balls on the plate), and foie gras butter.

it's a steak. mind you wagyu is the 2nd best next to kobe beef you'll get so the steak will be darn good. but it's still a steak, so i didn't try it. at least i don't think i did.

lamb chops: israeli couscous, fresh garbanzo beans and tarragon.

matt says this was tasty. i know i tried it but again i can't remember. maybe that's a sign, maybe it's just a very faulty memory right now.










christa had mentioned there was a duck for 2 on the menu that she was tempted to try. i thought it was a divine idea, so we shared. they brought it out for presentation before carving it up. we got the whole duck. you bet it's for 2!

not sure what all that is stuffed in it's ahem. :-) nasturtium and lots of other herbs...

1 half of the duck. really? that's the breast sliced up, leg used for the rillette, but where's the wing and leg? and isn't there a back? oh well.

muscovy duck: morel mushrooms, pearl onions, kumquats

and yes, there's stuff on the plate not mentioned in the menu.

the selection of sugars for our coffee: very fine, fine, coarser and turbinado.







matt and i had the grand marnier souffle with creme anglaise. delicious! never turn down the chance to have a souffle is what i say.

 

apple pie: creme fraiche and cinnamon. this is definitely not your grandma's apple pie. think of it as deconstructed?

chocolate covered chocolate: molten chocolate cake, cocoa nib shortbread and chocolate-covered salted caramel ice cream.

if there was ever a thing called chocolate overload this is it. there's no way i could've eaten this after a meal here, but if you need chocolate this will cure your fix!



case and point...

thanks, guys!

and for mingardises, we were given more chocolate. TBH i didn't have mine. i couldn't do it. i think this was a chocolate merenguey thing with salt and cookie...









over all it was a superb dinner. i know there are a bit i can't remember, but i know none of it was negative. i can honestly say i had a great time, and while i'd give the interior a 2010 make-over, i no longer will refer to canlis as a steakhouse, unless they stop serving the variety they had last week. mind you, it was an expensive dinner, but about half was the wine.

the biggest downer for me was when the director of service, who seemed sincere about writing down notes for me, brought them over at the end of the meal. he uttered a comment that maybe he was trying to convey humor but it did not come across as such. if he said it in sarcasm, which is how it was received and ignored by me at the time, then here's me calling you out. be careful what you say, how you say it and who you say it to. you never know who's listening - or reading.  when i got home and opened the envelope containing the dinner items, it was wrapped with a note thanking us for dining with them and a promotional (read $$$) book on canlis.

6/15/2010 Mayfied Brewing Company 'Iconoclast' Beers

I'm proud to introduce a guest blogger this post. my guy, matt is a big fan of beer. not just any beer, but those microbrews, small boutique breweries. he managed to find some new beers on the market, and he promises to tell you all about them!



Hello readers, I'm privileged to be a guest blogger on my favorite dining blog in the world. It is my favorite, of course, because I'm usually along for all of these great meals that Libby blogs, but for today she's let me take over the reins to talk about some extraordinary beers that we tried. But first a little about myself.

Many years ago, I was a graduate student in the department of Microbiology at the University of Washington. Being a graduate student is a lot of work, and we all liked to bitch endlessly about it while down at the pub drinking a pint or a pitcher of the finest beers that Seattle had to offer. Back in the early 1990s, Seattle was a bit of a Mecca for hand crafted beer, and I was lucky enough to get to try the great brews of that time. Breweries such as Hales, Pike Place,
and Maritime Pacific taught me what good beer tastes like, and helped me to appreciate the complexity and nuance that this beverage can encompass.

Since the fermentation of beer is at its core a microbial process, and many of the techniques used are based upon similar techniques that we used in the lab every day, we students would often muse about giving up the day-to-day grind and just starting a brewery. And, indeed, many of my friends became excellent home brewers, and I recall many a fond saturday sipping a tasty homebrew with Brian Cantwell while playing Space Marines or some other nerd-based tactical warfare game. That was the life.

But we grew up. As much as I always intended to, I never even brewed a single batch of homebrew (though I suppose there is still time). We all graduated or moved on, and gave up silly fantasies of owning our own breweries. We were employed now, and would have to make due with the beer that we could buy.

Then along comes Facebook, and I reconnect with my friend John Alderete, a former fellow grad student. He's Dr. John Alderete, now, but much to my surprise, he didn't give up the fantasy of being a brewmaster. He's taken that dream and made it his reality. When I first heard that he has started a business called Mayfield Brewing Company I was intrigued. I was willing to bet he made some pretty good beer, and was determined to get my hands on some. I expected a fine, well-crafted beer that could stand with the best of what I'd sampled in my heyday of beer drinking, so I sent John a note to say hi and see about arranging some beer. Nothing could have possibly prepared me  for what followed.

"Hey Matt, it's John" the voice on the phone said. A mere 5 minutes after I'd sent off my note I was talking to John for the first time in years. And I listened with growing curiousity, and I will say a little bit of skepticism, as he told me about the beers his brewery produces. There are three Iconoclast beers, name Aurora, Eclat, and Nocturne. Each of them is aged 10 months or more in seasoned wine barrels, imparting nuances of wine and oak in each brew. They are very small batch, bottled only in champagne bottles (750 ml) and they retailed at a heart-stopping price of $43 per bottle. Seriously? $43 per bottle? Most people don't spend that much on their wine, much less their beer. Hell, you can get an adequate bottle of scotch for less than that. Additionally, as John told me, he is the only employee of the brewery. He does it all from the brewing, to the bottling, to the corking and the waxing. Is it worth all that time, effort, and for us consumers, money just for beer? Well, curiousity overwhelmed my skepticism. I needed to get some. And through methods that I will not disclose, I was soon in possession of two bottles of each variety of beer that Mayfield brews.


So I had my beers. Time to drink! But this was not an experience to enjoy alone, it was better shared. So, in addition to my erstwhile dining companion Libby Landy, the regular author of this blog, I asked my friends Lisa Rongren and Jake Kossof to join me. Lisa, the former sommelier for the Herb Farm Restaurant is now sommelier for John Howie Steak, (see previous blog entries for blogs on both of these fine establisments-both highly recommended), and Jake is the wine director for the Wild Ginger and the Triple Door in Seattle. I could not imagine a better pair of palletes to share this experience with.

   
So they arrived at my house for a late evening after an orchestra rehearsal. I'd bought a selection of varying and contrasting cheeses to try with the beer, and had chilled it to 55 degrees Fahrenheit as per John's instructions. Well, the moment has arrived. Lets drink!

Ok, a little easier said than done. The tops of each bottle are coated in wax, for a very elegant presentation. When the wax is removed, a traditional beer-style bottle cap covers the mouth of the bottle. Under THAT is a cork. Wow. Good thing we were sober :) Being the consummate beverage professional, Lisa quickly had the bottle of Aurora open and poured into glasses.

Mmm. Complex bouquet. The taste of this beer was quite remarkable-light in body with distinct oak notes and I think I tasted a bit of vanilla at the end. Unfortunately, while I know what I like, I find it hard to put tastes into words. But it was delicious. This beer is aged in American oak barrels that previously held Chardonnay wine, and the white wine subtlety was clearly detectable. In fact, I felt that this beer could perhaps stand up to a slightly colder temperature-not ice cold like you might drink your Budweiser, in hopes of killing the flavor before you can choke it down, but perhaps a few degrees cooler to let the gentle, subtle flavors play on your tongue and change as they are warmed by your body heat. No matter. A very impressive start. I'd warned Lisa and Jake that I  might quote them, but the only quote I can remember for this beer comes from Jake: "Wow". Libby would later name this her favorite of the three.

But I'm not really too sure what I can compare this beer to. I have NEVER had beer like this before. It almost defies classification. I detected practically no hops in this beer, but I did not miss them. I matched nicely with the brie and the goat cheese, not so well with the Stilton. While it is labelled an Altbier, that really doesn't do justice to the brew. In fact, I'd prefer, gentle reader, that when you sample these beers as you surely must, that you not approach them with expectations or pre-conceived notions, as they will surely be put aside. John tells me that he is required by California law to put a particular variety of beer  onto the labelling, and his named varieties are more for legal compliance than for actual descriptions of what to expect from the beer. And while I think everyone would agree that the Noctura is indeed a stout, I'd just as soon call the other two ales and be done with it, for they are like nothing I've ever had before.

Far too soon, we'd finished our glasses of Aurora, and moved on to the Eclat. Though the picture does not show it too well, I found this ale to be richly red in color with (again) a complex bouquet. The taste of this beer was quite a bit bolder, with detectable but not overpowering hops. Also American Oak aged, this time in Cabernet/Zinfandel barrels, the essence of the red wine was also detectable in the lingering, complex taste. When I say complex, what I mean is a taste that has many different layers, and changes over time in your mouth. I've had many great beers that aren't complex-they taste like one really good thing, and that's great. But these take some brain power to enjoy to their fullest-the different flavors develop and change from the first inhalation of vapour to the final lingering hint on your palette. And that's a beautiful thing. If you like that kind of thing.

The Eclat was brilliant with the goat cheese, the cheddar, and not bad at all with the Stilton. At the end of the evening, Lisa would remark that this was her favorite of the night.

So far, the beers he'd had had been fairly light in terms of alcohol. I believe (just going from memory, as I'm to lazy to look it up) that the Aurora was about 4.5% alcohol, and the Eclat was 5.5%. Nothing too heavy. Time for the third bottle.

The Noctura stout weighs in at about 11% alcohol and is stout indeed. I'd really been looking forward to this one, because I love a good stout, and I've tried a bunch. So far, these beers have lived up to the hype-would the stout  do the same or would I taste bitter disappointment in my final glass? We opened and poured.

As soon as I smelled it I knew we were in for something special. Jake took a whiff of his glass and just started laughing. Laughing was all he could manage. It smelled so good.

Black as night with a firm head of tiny, substanial bubbles, you could tell by looking that this was not a beer to be trifled with. This was a beer of impressive body and doughtiness, and seemed to have an aura that said "Bring it." Jake tasted first. "Oh. Wow. Wow." I could see from the look on his face that he was impressed. Impressed isn't the right word-what do you say when a man who makes his living tasting fine beverages is speechless, even if for just a moment? I took my first sip:

Wow.

I took another sip. It's like if Guiness and Young's Double Chocolate Stout had had a forbidden romance, and their illegitimate love child grew up and hitchhiked in his youth, working at various stout makers in England along the way, before finally going to France and falling in love with a bottle of Petite Syrah, and THEIR child emigrated to America and absorbed the finest of the West Coast beermaking scene. It was the best stout I've ever tasted. By far. Nothing else has even come close.

Noctura is aged in French oak barrels that held Zinfandel/Petite Syrah, and the Petite Syrah influence is quite notable. There are exquitiste sweet, fruity, carmelly, and dark notes all over this liquid symphony. I wish I could describe the taste in words, but it cannot be done. It was a knockout with the Stilton, and great with the Cheddar as well.

So there it is. Lisa had been joking about 'The world's most expensive beer' but Jake informed me that it wasn't even close in terms of expense-there were plenty more expensive bottles out there if you really wanted to just spend money on beer. But is it worth the hype? Is it worth $43 dollars a bottle? 

Uh, yeah.