Gastrolust

I’m a bit discomforted by my recent experience at Southern Kitchen, the beloved Tacoma famous for its screen door. I was making my first visit in many years, holding memories of delicious deep-fried dishes and big Ball jars of mango lemonade. Friends (fine dining types) from California wanted to meet for brunch, so I steered us away [...]

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Gastrolust-y congratulations to our local chefs for being named finalists for James Beard Foundation awards for 2010.
Finalist again for the Outstanding Restaurateur award is Tom Douglas (Dahlia Bakery, Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s, Lola, Palace Kitchen, Serious Pie).
Seattle boasts two returning finalists for Best Chef Northwest: Ethan Stowell (Anchovies and Olives, How to Cook a Wolf, Tavolata, [...]

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Reading Playboy for the articles? Then you won’t want to miss Playboy’s list of the best pizza places in America. And, yes, the pictures that accompany the article are hot.
Some excellent selections in the list. Seattle’s even represented – by Tom Douglas’ Serious Pie. I generally like my pizza, well, a little less “dressed,” but [...]

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I’m ready to make the declaration: Trellis is one of my favorite restaurants in the area – and is well worth the drive from Seattle.
I’ve liked this farm-to-table restaurant, located at the Heathman Hotel in Kirkland, for a long time. Chef Brian Scheehser maintains a farm just a few miles from the restaurant, so you’ll [...]

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Happy New Year to everyone!
As we slide into 2010, I present my Top 10 restaurant experiences of 2009 (click on photos to enlarge):
1. Most Memorable, I-Wish-I-Could-Have-One-More-Bite Dish: Local King figs at Spur.
For my City Arts Dish-Off gig, I’m lucky to have local chefs creating fantastic, off-menu dishes inspired by songs. The figs that Dana Tough [...]

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A few “drinking establishments” to report on, and then I’m finally caught up on my restaurant posts for most of 2009.
I had a first foray into Tini Bigs (back when Jamie Boudreau was tending bar) and discovered the danger of too many compelling cocktails: A vague memory of what I ingested that evening. I failed [...]

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Chef Kerry Sear of ART Restaurant embraced the year-end Dish-Off challenge so much that he asked me to come in and experience his vision for a multi-course meal based on Pink Floyd’s album The Wall. Sear’s creative (he’s a longtime painter, and before becoming a chef, he wanted to design album covers); his menu based [...]

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The scene is the back bar at Bastille, where food groupies writers have gathered for a meet-and-greet with reknowned chef Thomas Keller. Actually, it turns out to be less of a meet-and-greet and more of a simple “eat” with Thomas Keller – if being in the same room is eating with the man. Let’s call [...]

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Many people asked, so I did it: a list of restaurant reviews by category. You can find this permanently posted in the right column.
It’s a work in progress. I’ll keep it updated, but if you find any problems or have any suggestions, please let me know.
Compilation was a bit of work, but now that it’s [...]

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Lack of posts this week, but no lack of eating. We’ve been in Portland for five days, enjoying a real feeding frenzy. I’ll have photos and more sometime soon on our experiences at: Ping, Bluehour, Biwa, Ken’s Artisan Bakery, Ten 01, Departure, Andina, Broder, Nostrana, Teardrop, Pok Pok, Tanuki, Beast, and more – including the [...]

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