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| Dine Around Seattle March 2008 Re-cap |
Did you Dine Around in March? I visited lots of packed restaurants, so I'm guessing more than a few of you headed out to enjoy the great selection of restaurants. Why not? It's a fun way to do some fine dining without wrecking your budget. I checked out a few local foodie blogs and read with interest comments from folks who posted their experiences and opinions to see how your experiences compared with mine. I've read over my own notes, talked with my dining companions, considered what I saw, ate, drank and experienced to give a highlight tour of the month:
Best Overall
Best performance in the Dine Around format goes to Veil. Veil was one of my earliest visits. Would its brilliance shine through the haze of two dozen more meals? Yep, it sure did. Creativity with ingredients, pristine food quality, striking presentations and friendly informed service added up to a terrific evening. We were also impressed with the spot-on wine pairings, each well-suited to its partner dish and a good value at just $15.
Walla Walla on my mind
Ponti gets my vote for best Walla Walla wine promotion. With a flight of red (College Cellars Pepper Bridge cab, Nicholas Cole "Graeagle" blend, Latitude 46 "Vindication" merlot) and a flight of white (Rulo viognier, Beresan semillon, Poet's Leap riesling) for the bargain price of $12 and $10 respectively, diners got an interesting lineup to sample alongside their food. The same wines were available by the glass and the restaurant also featured a select list of Walla Walla bottles at a 30% discount. Ray's Boathouse did a great job too, pairing wines with individual dishes like Stephenson Cellars viognier with grilled king salmon and Otis Kenyon merlot with short ribs. Their wine flight featured Amavi's semillon, Stephenson syrah and Five Star cabernet. Yarrow Bay Grill's flight included Seven Hills riesling for apps, a choice of Bergevin Lane's Calico white orL'Ecole No. 41's syrah with the entrée and Three Rivers' Biscuit Ridge Vineyard late harvest gewürztraminer for dessert. L'Ecole & Three Rivers showed again up at Earth & Ocean too, in a flight preceded by Basel Cellars rose. Campagne stayed true to its Francophile soul, offering a flight from Forgeron Cellars' French winemaker Eve-Marie Gilla with her Pepper Bridge Vineyard cabernet and a late harvest gewürztraminer plus Dunham Cellars Shirley Mays chardonnay. Between glass specials and bottle promotions, there was a good representation of Walla Walla wines from Dine Around restaurants.
Both newcomers and old favorites got some attention including: Couvillion, Whitman Cellars, Tertulia Cellars, K Vintners, Canoe Ridge Vineyard, Yellow Hawk Cellars, Dusted Valley Vintners, Gramercy Cellars, Leonetti Cellar, Northstar, Couvillion, Sleight of Hand, Amavi Cellars, Syzygy, and Spring Valley Vineyard.
Best service
How do you gauge good service? I look for tableside manner that's suited to the restaurant's environment, good menu knowledge, comfortable confidence when making menu suggestions and wine recommendations, the ability to anticipate a table's needs, non-intrusive delivery and removal of dishes and genuine interaction with guests. And it's not just the server; a great busser can make a huge difference, as can a warm welcome and farewell from the host desk. Bonus points for those extra touches that are standard operating procedures from the restaurant's standpoint but set it apart in the guest's mind like hot towels, a complimentary "amuse bouche", chocolates with the check, slick coffee and tea presentations, etc. Mission accomplished by:
Andaluca
Campagne
Eva
Earth & Ocean
Fish Club
Nishino
The Oceanaire Seafood Room
Restaurant Zoë
Six Seven
Steelhead Diner
Yarrow Bay Grill
Veil
Best supporters of Dine Around Seattle
With favorable mentions by servers, specially printed menus, Walla Walla wine promotions, check inserts, front desk displays, web site mentions and weekly menu rotations, the following restaurants really stepped up to the table to promote their participation:
Andaluca
Campagne
Earth & Ocean
Etta's
Fish Club
Nishino
Ponti Seafood Grill
Ray's Boathouse
Restaurant Zoë
Six Seven
Yarrow Bay Grill
Favorites from a month of dining
After sampling five dozen different appetizers, entrees and desserts during the month of March, these are the dishes that lingered in my mind and on my palate…
Appetizers
The immaculate "green salad" at Veil
Delightful heirloom beet tartare with Oregonzola and spicy yucca chips and the killer pork shank carnitas at Steelhead
Fish Club's 3 Cheeses / 3 Honeys made playing with your food fun
Silky duck prosciutto and a beautifully cooked egg on the elegant petite charcuterie at Campagne
Meaty pork rillette with crunchy grains of sea salt and a refreshing celeriac salad at Earth & Ocean
Creamy-centered burratta gilded with peppery extra-virgin olive oil at Barolo
Entrees
Restaurant Zoë's pork loin with polenta, lardons, cabbage and figs was a modern twist on a classic German pairing,
Golden pan-roasted halibut with crispy polenta and a silken tomato beurre blanc at Andaluca
Salmon was king at both Ray's Boathouse and B.O.K.A. where both were paired with earthy lentils; Ray's version showcased the unique white king with lemon aioli while B.O.K.A paired the fish with a rich red wine sauce
Simple and exquisite sauteed trout with brown butter and almonds at Campagne
A comfort food standby, braised short ribs were given a Pacific Rim jolt with sesame soy jus and coconut rice at Yarrow Bay Grill
Desserts
Swoon-inducing maple pecan bread pudding with buttermilk ice cream at Eva
Icy lemon tart with fragrant thyme syrup at Fish Club
The creative reimagining of the Creamsicle at Veil
Crispy, creamy leche frita (fried custard) with macerated figs and candied lemon at Brasa
Chocolate chip strawberry ice cream that made you long for summer at Ray's Boathouse
Trendwatch
Remember the 80s, when we first learned about squid ink pasta, crème brulee and pesto? Food, like fashion, cycles, so now that we're back to skinny jeans and moving towards big hair again, it seems only right that monkfish and sea bass appear on menus. Szmania's offered pan-seared monkfish as an entrée while Andaluca wrapped chunks in bacon and served it as an appetizer. Sea bass showed up at Barking Frog in a delectable Meyer lemon cream sauce. I got a kick out of the beggar's purse at Ponti - it was so Bonfire of the Vanities. I'm all for revisiting the old and making it new. Let's hope this time we can skip the black linguine.
Our daily bread
My friend the chef insists that bread should always be served warm. My friend the restaurant owner says that's great as long as you've got a warming drawer, but tough to pull off otherwise. I find some bread is great warm, like sourdough, while others don't fare as well, like baguette (unless you get it straight from the bakery oven). Some people like butter with their bread, while others prefer olive oil. I was interested to see the wide variety of bread presentations throughout the Dine Around event. To get his warm bread fix, I'd send my friend the chef to Six Seven for green olive rolls, to Oceanaire for sourdough with whipped butter and to Barolo for the addictive black olive tapenade with the distinctively Italian unsalted bread. My friend the foodie loved the crisp pappadams and marinated olives served with the rustic loaf and olive oil at Brasa. I'm crazy about the rosemary crackers from La Panzanella that Yarrow Bay Grill serves. B.O.K.A. whips butter with olive oil and serves it alongside a pot of balsamic jelly for a twist on the oil and vinegar format, while Andaluca offers hummus instead of butter or oil. Ray's Boathouse sprinkles their butter with crunchy grains of sea salt. Sazerac's basket includes onion focaccia and cornbread. Earth & Ocean bags the basket format entirely and goes with French service for their olive bread. One small detail and so many versions.
The Belle of the Ball, or what we saw most…
Custardy desserts. Between crème brulee, pot de crème, flan and panna cotta, there was creamy goodness just about everywhere. Panna cotta was the winner in my book with a textbook example at Six Seven. Andaluca served up a sinfully good milk chocolate version, while both Wild Ginger and Steelhead Diner flavored theirs with espresso. The lemon pot de crème at Zoe was dreamy while the crème brulee at B.O.K.A. had the crisp sugar shell and silken egg custard you always hope for but rarely find together.
The Wallflower, or what we saw least…
Offal. Okay, I get it. Not everyone's into organ meats. Mixtura was more daring than most, offering savory grilled beef hearts. Fish Club did advertise pig brain fritters and head cheese with their online Dine Around menu but we didn't see them listed the night we were there. Was that for real or was it a post from sly hacker?
Best meatless options
Serafina's linguine with zucchini, leeks, lemon and mint was a delight, tasting bright and fresh. The roasted vegetable lasagne at Ponti was well done too, with housemade sheets of pasta cradling the veggies and a luscious fontina béchamel. I'm glad I tried the baked tofu at Nishino. Layered with Japanese eggplant, chard and mushrooms, it was a delicious change of pace. Their vegetable tempura appetizer was exceptional too. The combination of rich gnocchi, oven roasted tomatoes and buttery artichoke puree at Veil knocked my socks off.
We All Scream for Ice Cream
Another strong point was the amazing array of ice creams, many housemade. Most were an added component to a dessert, but so good they stood out on their own merits. Favorite flavors: tangy buttermilk versions at Campagne and Eva, spicy ginger at Wild Ginger, coffee at Zoë, butter pecan at Barking Frog, maple at Ponti, mint at B.O.K.A., strawberry chocolate chunk at Ray's and prune (gelato) at Earth & Ocean.
Hope you enjoyed your Dine Around experiences as much as I did. If you found a new favorite, I hope you'll continue to patronize them and refer your friends.
Until November,
Secret Diner
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