1/8/2011 the Lamplighter, Vancouver BC, Canada

we had planned on eating lunch at the best fish & chips place in town, olympia seafood market and grill. on thurlow just off robson. we walked the 2 blocks over only to find a pizza place! SO BUMMED! so we walked down to gastown and ate at the lamplighter public house instead.


it was pretty good - pub fare you know. matt had the burger i ordered the fish & chips which were a passable 2nd. 

1/7/2011 Lumiere, Vancouver BC, Canada

when we decided to make a weekend out of the hockey game in vancouver we decided to get reservations at lumiere.  the chef was a winner on iron chef, top chef, james beard winner... something like that. i tried to find the tv show link and couldn't, but the owner's a chef and the executive chef's a chef so maybe i was looking up the wrong person. anyway, this is a foodie place so off we went.


this page is the only thing i can find that lists chef boulud, but on returning i couldn't find the entry :-S.  another quick search turned up lumiere+chef feenie. so perhaps the current chefs/owners aren't the ones who appeared on the show. however executive chef macKay has worked in chef gordon ramsey's kitchen, and the food was fantastic.

 there's only about 12 tables in this place, so it's very small. we walked in and were taken to the only round table, situated in the corner closest to the kitchen (it's down a hall so no, none of the stereotypical double doors with wait staff going in and out like mad. in fact it might be the largest table in the room without moving 2 tables together. the head waiter came over and started talking with us. he referred to the reservation - "you indicated you were interested in the chef's menu..." which is correct. online they have a couple tasting menus but don't mention a 'chef's table/menu' specifically, so i wasn't sure what we would end up with. we decided to start with a glass of local sparkling wine from the okanagan area of BC which was pretty good. and he brought over a menu for me to take pics of and for us to look through for fun. as it turned out there were a couple plates that were listed. while enjoying the brut we noticed that there were a number of 'little benches' and a lady at a nearby table was using one for her purse. yay! unlike 11 and ceil bleu, the tables were much closer together.

amuse- or as they referred to it, "course zero"
pacific coast oyster, cafir limei velate, sturgeon caviar

the lime velate is like a thin layer covering the oyster. and i couldn't taste the caviar :-(
otherwise i'm sure it was good but i'm just not into the oyster thing.



the bread was brought around and matt picked up sourdough, green olive, and a 7 grain

course 1 -

citrus cured hamachi, red & yellow beets, white sturgeon caviar, and tofu

that white sheet underneath everything is a thin layer of creamy tofu. while it didn't really have any taste, it added a wee bit of texture to everything. THIS is how tofu ought to be used!

there was nothing left on this plate when we were done with it. i guess i'm getting a taste for hamachi... but i'm sure it also depends on the fish used and what it's paired with on the plate.  served with:

course 2, 2a -  was actually 2 different preparations of foie gras, so we also got 2 wines. matt and i split these plates in 1/2 so we could each try both.

quebec foie gras mousse parfait sundae, brioche waffle, red wine reduction, apricot, hazelnut toppings

this was absolutely frikken amazing! it was (sorry chef) better than the foie gras ice cream we had at harvest vine. 

while i'm not a huge apricot fan, the acidity was cut by the foie gras. and it had a bit of 'caramel' texture. this was so light! it was served with

the other plate was a country style pate - a fraser valley venison pate to be exact. with cranberry jelly, cauliflower and a mustard sauce.

this was also quite excellent! it was my 1st venison pate. while there was nothing left on either plate, the mousse won my vote. this was served with 

course 3, 3a -  pan roasted qualicum bay scallops, potato puree, parsley, romaine lettuce, persimmon, scallop jus

the scallops were really good, but i could've done without the lettuce. it was a bit too bitter for me. there's a wee bit of truffle on top of the orange stuff which is persimmon. it was served with the












matt was handed a plate with a  marinated BC black cod, diced pear, cashews, brussels sprouts, and  5 spiced pork jus.

it was also quite nice. so far we've both managed to clean all the plates. this was served with











course 4 - fillet of arctic char, celery root 'spaghetti', braised red cabbage puree, black trumpets.

the celery root spaghetti is the rolled bit on the left, the puree is on top of the fish on the right.

my 1st arctic char. it was pretty good. nice texture for me, pretty mild in flavor, it was served with gasp! a red wine!







course 5, 5a -
we opted at the start to pay extra for the addition of truffles on several of our plates. we also opted to include the foie gras course. this next course we had an option of a mascarpone risotto with white or black truffles. we chose to each get 1 so we could try both. after all the 2 truffles have distinctively different flavors. i only have a picture of the black truffle plate as matt couldn't wait and forked up several bites before i even picked up the camera! - but they looked the same except 1 had white 'dots' and you'll see the black 'dots' from the black truffles.

the 2 plates were so different i was amazed. i knew they'd be different but not by that much. the white alba truffles added depth to the risotto while the black added more flavor. if i had to vote it'd be tough but i think the black truffle won. but i might need to try both again to be sure :-)  they were served with














course 6 -
on the left is a duck foie gras with pepper glaze and on the right is a spiced glazed fraser valley duck breast, lentils, lam jus, diced radishes, apples. i think this was the 1st bit i didn't finish and let matt have the honors. i realized i wouldn't be able to keep going much further if i didn't start pacing.

these were quite good. i really liked the flavor of the breast. in fact my notes say "love=the duck skin, skin of duck phenom!" sadly the seared left me a little flat. they were served with






course 7, 7a -   i was handed the roasted canon of opal valley lamb (shoulder), bulgar wheat, pickled radishes, black garlic lamb jus

uh yum! served with 

and matt was handed the duo of AAA prime beef, red wine braised short ribs, potato fondant, and seared rib eye, romaine, hen of the woods mushrooms


this was nice but i prefered the lamb. served with

then more and different bread came around. this time it was fig, star anise, and a cherry walnut.

matt tried every one of the breads but i only had a wee little taste. i agree bread is 1 of the best food inventions, but i have a small enough tummy i don't want to fill up on the bread. you never know what the next plate might contain.

course 8 -
a nice selection of artisanal cheeses

from left: blue, quince gelee underneath, almonds, dem burre? from quebec, a goat - st. something, comte on top, sheep manchego underneath  i couldn't grab the name of all of them. our server said he'd email me a list of everything we actually ate but i haven't seen it. could be he got so busy he forgot, or it was filtered out by my spam and the subj line was something i didnt' recognize. oh well. luckily most of the plates i caught most of the details and are very similar to what was on the menu somewhere. anyway, the cheese was served with

 course 9, 9a - "citrus" blood orange, orange, and pink grapefruit, candied(?) meyer lemon slices, merengue.

oh so good!

pink lady apple pave, ginger cinnamon panna cotta, speculoos - that's the little jellies.

served with

course 10 -
hot and cold tiramisu sundae - deconstructed. in fact it was only during the writing of this post that the light bulb went off!  here's what happened...

by this time we were both so full. even 1 of the servers at one point maybe about 1/2 way through said to us "chef won't be offended if you don't finish everything. it's all about tasting and trying new things".  so we get this, the "hot" part of the tiramisu. it's got a wafer thing layer of chocolate on top which melts (as you can see it starting to do in the picture) when the hot chocolate cremeux is poured on top, and inside the little cup is a mascarpone mousse.

we're also given this bowl of warm citrus (lemon or orange??) ladyfingers. fresh out of the oven they were! yum! sadly we could only stuff 1 down into our very over-full bellies at this point and had the rest boxed to eat for breakfast.

these are the ladyfingers that you find in your tiramisu. this version had no coffee anything in it which is fine with me. they were served with

course 11 -   coffee arrived somewhere during course 10. but these mignardise we also took away with us.

top row left to right: chocolate macaroon, apricot or peach(?) gelee, lemon merengue

bottom row left to right: banana nutbread, lemon curd, chocolate with gold










so we actually had 11 courses, but several had 2 different plates, so we really had 16 courses. it was also during this dinner that we decided in the future we ought to just get 1 flight of wine with the food pairing and we can split that, too. there were quite a few glasses i didn't drain, and matt even let them take some away before he emptied them. we had wine with every course, JIC you hadn't noticed. really, go back up and check if you don't believe me. that was a 1st for us. had we known we probably wouldn't have had the glass of bubbles up front but oh well. and while i don't think we were ever given a 'refill' on anything but water and coffee, they were very generous pours to start with.

i would definitely go back, and recommend to anyone who wants a really nice meal in vancouver.

1/2/2011 Luc, Seattle, WA

We've been to rovers, and we've been there for brunch, but Thierry has since opened Luc, same basic food idea but more accessible to the masses and walk-ins. since jan 2nd isboth my dad's birthday and his and mom's anniversary, matt and i took his mom to Luc for a nice brunch to celebrate.

ma had the wild mushroom-comte cheese omelette, parsley, potato rissolee and baguette

matt had the fish of the day: steelhead with crab bits, potato, crab bisque, lemon frisee

he said it was great.

i had poached eggs, ciabatta, ham, harissa-lemon hollandaise, served with potato rissolee and some greens

a fancy eggs benedict it was, and man was the sauce orange. that was a little bit overpowering visually, but the taste was great.

for dessert we shared the beignets, whipped cream and season fruit which was apricots.

these were so good! everyone should order these for dessert if not for breakfast itself!

12/31/2010 The Herbfarm, Woodinville, WA

another new year's eve at the herb farm. this time we had 2 opera stars entertain us. and chef chris is now executive chef. matt had been back in october and noticed this change but it was the 1st meal he was totally in charge of for me.

dinner was fantastic. in fact it was the 1st time we've dined here where i didn't have a food coma the next day, i didn't feel i needed something to steady my walk as i left, and i ate more than i think i have at any other meal here! not entirely sure how i did that...

(click on pics to view larger)

outside scenes of the Herbfarm

carrie giving the garden speech by the fireplace; everyone's in the mood 

 placesettings 

our table name holder; our table

the Herbfarm for New Year's Eve, 2011

Caviar Eclair

White sturgeon caviar eclair with cultured creme fraiche

wow

Oyster Metamorphosis

Oyster progressive tasting: Half-shell oyster with white wine mignonette
Warm oyster with butter soup, tarragon & oregon wasabi root
Warm oyster beignet with celery root & spinach in oyster liquer

i tried it, i handed them over. except the beignet. that was fantastic!

song: from Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, Fiesco sings il Laureato











Bobwhite hen and Black Truffle

Milk-fed bobwhite quail hen with perigord black truffle-sunchoke puree,
Sunchoke cream and sunchokes, winter leeks, poached quail egg and new radishes

i don't really get sunchokes. the quail was fantastic, as was the egg. and check out those knife skills - that's a radish in front of the egg!




















song: from Puccini's La Boheme, Musetta sings Quando me'n vo'
















Song of the Chitarra

Citarra-cut farm-egg pasta with fresh sea urchin butter, sea urchin roe
Uni tongues, shaved alba truffle and chives









i've had uni as foam, liquified in sauces, but this is the 1st actually un-tampered with. finally! yay! i wouldn't want an entire bowl of it, but a bit with each bite in this dish was quite tasty!

patricia doing what he does best

song: from Man of La Mancha, The Impossible Dream









Hoppin' John


Seared duck foie gras, terrine of mangalitsa sausage, puffed ankney lake oregon wild rice,
Cranberry beans, brussels sprouts, our own sugar beet molasses gastrique

still not convinced i like brussels sprouts, but if i have to eat them i hope it'll be at the Herbfarm.
















song: from Lehar's The Merry Widow Hanna sings Velia o Velia

 Dom Perignon 'Martini'

Lemon geranium "olive" on lavendar stem

song: duet: from Mozart's Don Giovanni sung by Don Giovanni and Zwerlina La Ci Darem La Mano

New Year's Wagyu

Seared mishima ranch reserve wagyu new yeork strip with potato-parsnip risotto, syrah-candied onion, watercress puree, yorkshire pudding with marrow, black trumpet mushrooms and beef jus









ok, i didn't finish this plate. the only food tradition i can think of that wasn't covered between this and the plate 2 courses previous is the black-eyed peas (boston).















i had gotten up from the table and matt didn't realize he could have the rest so the kitchen took my plate to keep it warm, then re-plated it for me!

now that's class.












song: from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess: Summertime

Cheese and Charcuterie

Whipped camembert with apple jack, feuille de brik, Herbfarm prosciutto and apple

that's a mangalitsa pig they used for that prosciutto.

very good!
















song: from Hammerstein and Kern's Showboat a dock worker sings Ol' Man River

a refreshing, hot, lavendar-scented towel

It's Midnight!

Auld Lang Syne: Welcome 2011!

led by Sally Wolf and Kevin Langan

Chocolate Tsunami and Wine Origami 

Dried cherry and red wine jam, crunchy chocolate streusel, chocolate-juniper cream, pickled dried cherries, red wine origami and creme fraiche sponge

molasses-thyme biscotti

















Mignardise

(from left to right)
Chestnut honey cake with rogue creamery caveman blue
Valrohna milk chocolate with caramel and gold salt
Candied tangerine and sage financier
Nutmeg creme brulee











and they sent us home with a 'goodie bag' of rosemary-flavored hot chocolate which we prepared a couple days later.

Sally Wolf, Kevin Langan, Me, Matt