Gastrolust

At a recent dinner, Madison Park Conservatory offered my kind of menu: liver pate, foie gras terrine, roasted bone marrow, grilled beef tongue, wild boar ragu, and grilled octopus. Ordering was easy: “One of each, please.” As Cormac Mahoney was top chef during Tako Truk’s summer fling two years ago (he’s also worked at Sitka [...]

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Dish: House Noodle Soup Place: Gourmet Noodle Bowl, International District, Seattle Price: $8.95 In the bowl: Hand-made, shaved wheat noodles in chicken broth with pork belly, chives, seaweed, green onions, and a fried egg. Supporting cast: It’s all in the bowl. What to do: Eat solids with chopsticks, and liquid with spoon. It’s that simple. [...]

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Productivity is probably down in Seattle this morning in the aftermath of yesterday’s pork-filled Cochon 555. There were butchers breaking down pigs, sampling from whole roasted heritage breed pigs, and even chicharrones dipped in chocoloate. All this after the opportunity to eat plates of pork prepared by five competing chefs cooking five heritage pigs (with [...]

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As much as I’ve been enjoying the chance to lead the commentary during live Sexy Feast dinners at area restaurants, I was equally looking forward to actually eating last Saturday’s “sexy” meal at Willows Inn, which The New York Times recently named one of the world’s “ten restaurants worth a plane ride.” Blaine Wetzel recently [...]

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When I’m not on assignment and can choose a restaurant of my own, I face the same question as everyone else: Where, oh where, to go out to eat? Here in Seattle, those who know me know I gravitate toward Asian cuisine, which is also what I’m likely preparing if I’m cooking at home. I [...]

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Dish: Ten ingredient sautéed rice thread noodles Place: Uptown China, Queen Anne, Seattle. Price: $9.25. On the plate: A heaping pile of stir-fried rice stick noodles with, as promised, 10 other visible ingredients. Supporting Cast: Nothing else. Unless you ask for something more. Which is what you should do. Read on. What to do: Just [...]

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Ready to pig out? If you missed it the past two years, the good news is that Cochon 555, Taste Network’s national pig-cooking, pig-eating, and pig-educating tour, is returning to Seattle this coming Sunday. On February 20th, as in the past, five chefs will cook five heritage pigs in whatever way they’d like: braised, grilled, [...]

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For the first half of a two-part anniversary dinner (the second half at Sushi Kappo Tamura, already given the Sexy Feast treatment), my dining companion and I visited Cicchetti, the intimate eatery tucked behind Serafina in Eastlake. Early is the right time to go, as it affords the opportunity to get one of the view [...]

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Sometimes I get so obsessed about comparing restaurants that I do crazy things. Like creating a sushi (financial) spreadsheet. I did this in comparing the three restaurants that reside in my top tier of favorites in the Seattle area: Kisaku, Shiro’s, and now Sushi Kappo Tamura, in Eastlake. The third is Taichi Kitamura’s new place, [...]

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Dish: Braised crabmeat and dry scallop yee mein Place: 663 Bistro, International District, Seattle Price: $9.95 On the plate: A mound of soft-looking noodles with slices of shiitake mushrooms, small pieces of crab, and even smaller pieces of dried scallops. Supporting Cast: Nothing more than what’s on the plate. What to do: Just eat the [...]

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