1/22/2011 Staple&Fancy Mercantile, Ballard, WA

we finally managed to book and hold the auction dinner party from 2008! yay! we only have 2 more to book LOL.

i wasn't writing this blog when we 1st won this lot, so let me try and fill you in.

we have a local newspaper called 'the stranger' and every december for i don't know how long they've run this auction that benefits a different charity each year. you can find items from local celebrities and stores, from porn to family friendly. 2006 was the 1st year we saw and bid on 'chef ethan stowell will come to your house and cook dinner for 8'. and we won. we held the dinner a week before my mastectomy actually. he and his (at this time girlfriend) angela came to the house, and not only cooked and served dinner but washed and cleaned up after. (they have no idea how grateful i am for that!) along with this came a case of wine from wine-maker mark ryan. anyway, we've won this every year since. in 2007 chef renee from boat street cafe also ran a similar lot which we also won, but i don't recall seeing any other chefs doing this since.

due to scheduling, and various other things, we never got around to being able to hold the 2008 dinner.  in april angela and i have plans to sit down and figure out when we're going to hold the 2009 dinner. if we're lucky we'll hold the 2010 dinner just in time to bid on the 2011!

as chef's opened a few more restaurants in the last couple years, instead of coming out to the house, we went to him, which is totally fine. in fact, at his newest place, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, there's a wine cellar company in the basement and the 2 have an agreement to rent out a couple rooms that are set up as a gathering place/bar and dining room.

with bubbles:

prosciutto and

salami nostrano














with mark ryan's viognier:



smoked mackaral rillette

never thought i'd like mackaral

pork and beef meatballs with parmesan

always a fav

muscles with chorizo

fried oysters with horseradish aioli

smelt - ok, it just doesn't work in print as it does if you could hear me say it. :)

barrada with shallot agro dolce

yum!

butternut squash soup

i so love this

geoduck crudo

that's pronounced GUI-duck.















with mark ryan's dead horse:

pork ragu with mint

again a fav

butternut squash agnolotti

best tasting little maggots i ever had. JK! they're not maggots but a gnocchi type dumpling

grilled durrad (seabream) over chickpea, cucumber, radish and olives

housemade lamb sausage with parsnip puree, onion, cabbage and mustarda

polenta w/topping of which i can't read my writing of  in something i can't read...???















with mark ryan's fancy pants:

cranberry ricotta cheesecake

1 of the best cheesecakes i've ever had.

chocolate pudding cookie

extremely good and tasty. i could've eaten a whole one of these after my cheesecake













and there you have it. i love chef ethan's food and philosophy with the small plates family style. the 1 thing i don't like is the fact that at the start of the meal the plates come fast. there could be 4 on the table at the same time and you eat a lot in a short amount of time. as the meal progresses the pauses get longer in between and the plates come 1 at a time.

i'm looking forward to the next to auction dinners. with luck we'll get them both in before december 2011!