12/19/2010 Cafe Juanita, Juanita, WA

when matt's mom came up for christmas we took her and another friend of ours to cafe juanita for dinner.

jack rose with soft cooked quail egg and smoked sea salt.

we asked chef to make another egg so the other 1/2 of the table could try it and they were spot on.

 prosecco with parmigiano reggiano

our wine

 alaskan red king crab with green apple sorbetto and crab butter powder

 carne cruda of blackmore wagyu with crostini

 butternut squash polenta sformato with butter fried sage and pomegranate

 seared foie gras with quince and candied ginger

zuppa della sera, house brodo, bits of wagyu

barbera risotto with parmigiano reggiano

 maltagliati with lamb subo, honeyed ricotta and black pepper

 carlton farm pork cheeks with polenta, pomegranate and fried rosemary

scallops, parsnip puree, bits of pancetta, salmon roe

 steamed lemon cake - ok, there's a really great story that goes with this.

almond cookies

















last year we were in for dinner and had the steamed lemon cake. the next time we went in it was off the menu.  after a little while we asked because it's so good! we wanted it again. david came by the table after we were discussing it and let us know that if we tell them 2-3 days ahead of our next reservation that they would try to make it for us. fantastic! but that means i have to remember something. when we made the reservation for this night i kept telling myself all week "call on friday. call on friday" to let them know we wanted a couple. i remembered that every day that week. except friday. it was sunday morning when i realized i had forgotten. sigh. oh well. when we were seated i told david about it and we had a laugh.

as it turns out that was a really strange night because chef was in the kitchen while lauren, CJ's chef de cuisine was at the corner table. it took me their entire meal to place her. i kept looking over, and i know she knew i was trying to figure it out. but it was when on their way out she stopped by another table where head waiter jim was also dining. seeing the 2 next to each other it clicked.

anyway, we ate our meal, waved 'hi' to them, and when dessert came around we ordered something off the menu. coffee came, and then david comes over with 2 plates and says 'surprise!'. 2 steamed lemon cakes. we cancelled our other order. lori also came over to share in the story. i give him credit, he didn't give anything away when i was telling him about my forgetting earlier. he said he came in, saw we were on the books and asked chef if they could do up some. and they did.

apparently they had been selling it all over the floor with the exception of the table next to ours. in fact, lori said we were originally slated to be seated at the table between jim and lauren! so when they had come in they were told about it ahead of time so they wouldn't have to say anything at the time and give it away.

so kudos to the entire crew, kitchen and floor for pulling one over on us. and if you're wondering, yes, it was just as good as the 1st time!