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01/12/08 - Seattle: More Kaleberg Reviews

We have lately been amazed at Seattle as an great food town. Restaurants have been opening at a good clip, and our list of places we just have to try keeps growing longer. We took advantage of the holiday season, and some Kenmore Airline flight discounts to get into town and try out a few new restaurants.

We've posted FIVE new reviews, and that took some serious eating. Three of these are in Pikes' Place Market, which is just riddled with dining options, so it was high time we checked a few of them out. Which was our favorite? It might have been Quinn's. After all, we are suckers for meat, but Matt's and Chez Shea are up there as well.


Chez Shea - a romantic and elegant restaurant with romantic and elegant food in Pikes' Place Market

The Local Vine - a stylish champagne joint in fashionable Belltown

Matt's in the Market - the classic hole in the wall is worth looking for, even if they've remodeled

Quinn's Pub - more than a neighbor hood eatery, a true meat city

Steelhead Diner - a promising contender, a tribute to the 1980s

Keywords: restaurants, seattle, kenmore



12/04/07 - The Little Oven

Ever since Bonny's closed some years back, Port Angeles has been without a really good bakery. A friend of ours noticed The LIttle Oven a few days ago. It shares a building with the laundromat on Peabody Street, and, as you can see from the picture, it doesn't look like much from the outside.

Our friend said they were pretty good, but since they only have a little oven, they only bake bread for their own sandwiches. They smelled right when we dropped by, but we haven't tried them yet. Still, their menu includes croissants, sandwiches and cinnamon rolls, so we expect to review them soon enough.

Keywords: port angeles, restaurants



Another fine pizza, with baby tomatoes

09/05/07 - Alder Wood Bistro Pizza

Here's a shot of one of Alder Wood Bistro's pizzas. This one has lots of little tomatoes on it. Of course, this picture does not do the place justice, but it does give you some idea. For more details, see our Kaleberg review.

Keywords: food, restaurants, alder wood bistro


08/24/07 - Our Review of Alder Wood Bistro

We promised to post our review of the Alder Wood Bistro as soon as we could figure out how to spell their name correctly. (It's "Alder Wood", not "Alderwood"). If you saw our earlier post, you have probably gathered that we liked the place. Read our rave review for more details.

Keywords: restaurants, alder wood bistro


08/23/07 - Alderwood Bistro

We've just come back from the Alderwood Bistro, and we have to give it a rave. We'll try and get our review posted in the next day or two, but right here we'll note that the pizzas are fantastic, with good, crisp crusts, and a clear mixing of strong, well balanced flavors. The moussaka was excellent, as good as, or better than the one at Molyvos, with a good lamb flavor, no lamb fat, and a great balance of eggplant and cinnamon flavors. They are right in the heart of Sequim, so we'll be heading in to Sequim a whole lot more often.

The outdoor dining room at the bistro

Keywords: restaurants



The view from our table

08/04/07 - Rover's Summer of 2007

Rover's, home of the chef in the hat, is as good as ever which means that it is quite spectacular. Among the high points:
  • smoked duck with a green olive tapenade
  • a ripe red tomato with bucheron goat cheese - It's tomato season people, hint, hint.
  • salmon with fava beans
  • soft shelled crab with mussels
  • lobster with corn kernels - Was this a tribute to the late Jean Louis Palladin?
  • lamb medallions with flageolet and a grilled onion
We aren't usually dessert people, but we have to mention the sublimely tart and creamy lime panna cotta and the crunchy napoleon-like bitter chocolate praline pastry. We've been big fans of Rover's for a while now as you can tell from our review. It is expensive, but Thierry Rautureau is a genius, and Rover's is one of those personal restaurants where a meal is like a performance rather than simple sustenance.

Keywords: restaurants, seattle, salmon



View from the Queen Anne Hill

07/25/07 - Exploring Seattle and The Local Vine

We we in Seattle for a quick overnight trip, and this time, we explored a new neighborhood, at least for us, Queen Anne Hill. Seattle Center was our usual turning point on our urban wanderings, but this time we wandered past the stadium and up the hill. It was a climb worthy of San Francisco as we passed a series of increasingly upmarket apartment buildings and condos. As we approached the oversized antenna on the top, we found a charming little staircase through an Northwestern garden that lead to another level, a huge parking lot, an apartment building, and yet another huge radio tower.

The walk down was spectacular, with Seattle's version of the painted ladies, perhaps a quarter of them being remodeled, and some spectacular views of the city and the sound.

We made our way down to the city below, following the back streets and taking little staircases when we could. We staggered into Belltown, and collapsed at a recently opened wine bar, The Local Vine. It was a pretty place, with big glass windows, high ceilings and a fantastic wine collection as you can see in the photo to the right.

It is often tricky to get a good glass of champagne in Seattle. The Hyatt hotel doesn't serve beverages in their lovely lobby, and most restaurants don't serve more than one or two types by the glass. Our best bets have been Cafe Campagne and the Sorrento Hotel. The local vine had seven or eight types of champagne (and sparkling wine) available. We tried two:

  • Gossert Brut Excellence - a wonderful, rich champagne with an extra bite and a magnificent nose
  • Gonet-Medeville Extra Brut Rose - an unusual pink champagne with a fascinating kumquat note
We were quite impressed with the champagnes. The rest of the extensive wine list looked fascinating, and the food menu, mostly small plates, looked promising. Even better, they serve all afternoon. This might be a great place for a pick me up.

The wine selection at The Local Vine

Keywords: seattle, restaurants, wine


06/09/07 - The Kalebergs Check Out The Harvest Vine

Rover's is right across the street, so we kept putting off dinner at The Harvest Vine. We finally made a special trip, and we have to admit. The cuisine may be Basque, but maybe the Basque are just better cooks. This was the best Iberian meal we have had, ever. There was the expected, squid in its own ink, and the unexpected, venison with oyster mushrooms, and then there was the perfect, and we could go down a long list here starting with the sea urchin and porcini revuelto. Read our review to learn more.

Keywords: seattle, restaurants


04/12/07 - The Beaver Statue in Beaver, WA

It looks as if the Sappho maiden is gone for good. Our closest consolation is the carved wooden beaver statue in Beaver, WA. It's right by the diner. (Tuesday is Taco Night).

Keywords: animals, restaurants, sappho maiden


02/18/07 - San Francisco Update - Clearing Our Plate

We have finally gotten around to posting our San Francisco restaurant reviews. We were in San Francisco back in December and January, and we have just been too busy to post anything about it, until now. And about time.

We hadn't been in San Francisco in six years. That's a long time, and things have changed. The great food adventure of the 80s and 90s seems to have vanished, and, to be honest, we were a bit disappointed with the food in one of our favorite food cities. Seattle is a much more interesting food town these days. In San Francisco, too many restaurants seem to be just going through the motions.

This isn't to say that one can't get a good meal in San Francisco. We had plenty, but something has changed. Read our San Francisco page for more, or check out the individual reviews: Boulevard, Dosa, New Asia, Nopa, Terzo, Ton Kiang, Tres Agaves, Yank Sing, Zuni Cafe, and Marinus in Carmel Valley.

Cable Car

There are also some pretty pictures of San Francisco, if you like that kind of thing.

Golden Gate BridgeFilbert Street House

Keywords: san francisco, restaurants, food, seattle


02/07/07 - Douglas Fir Based Eau d'Vie from Clear Creek

We first heard about this product at Coupage, a Korean fusion restaurant noted in the item below. One of their dishes was arctic char marinated in a Douglas fir based liqueur. We had expected it to be overwhelmingly pine flavored, perhaps even resinous. It was not. The flavor was clear, but unusual, and rather hard to place.

The very next day we saw the bottle on the right at a Washington State Liquor Store. Clear Creek, based in Oregon, makes the unusual alcoholic beverage shown to the right. According to the little tag, they use grape based brandy and young, hand picked douglas fir buds. They soak the buds in the brandy, then redistill the batch.

As for the flavor, it tastes a bit like rose water with that rich tang. It's a very clear, clean flavor. Think woodsy, not pine-y. We can't find it at the state web site, so it is probably a one shot item, or perhaps being sold illegally. We don't care. We like it.

Douglas Fir Based Eau d'Vie

Keywords: seattle, restaurants


Nishino Restaurant

02/07/07 - Three and a Half New Seattle Restaurant Reviews

We've been rather remiss on our reporting, but we've been visiting new restaurants including three in Seattle. We've reviewed three of them on our website:

  • Coupage - a wonderful Korean fusion place; surely a cuisine that has come of age
  • Nishino - Japanese classics with a modern touch by a student of Nobu Matsuhisa
  • Tilth - an organic country kitchen in the big city

The one half a restaurant is Tom Douglas's Serious Pie, his new pizzeria. We had to admit that the pies were very, very good, but we just had a slice or two and have to go back for more testing.

Keywords: seattle, restaurants


12/11/06 - Our Review of Fra'Mani Salumeria

We have long been fans of Salumi in Seattle, so when we heard about Fra'Mani in Berkeley we had to check out the competition. The comparison was not as simple as we had thought, and Fra'Mani is a serious contender. Can you guess our favorite? We are being deliberately coy here in hope that you will read our review.

Keywords: food, restaurants, seattle


07/06/06 - Amazing Yukon Salmon at Bella Italia

We just had dinner at Bella Italia, and we had some of the best salmon we've ever had, and living out here in Port Angeles, that's saying a lot. According to our usually reliable source, this was salmon from up in the Yukon, a bit expensive, but worth it every bite. It was rich and fatty, and cooked very simply. There were no left overs. According to another of our other usually reliable sources, what made this salmon so special was that it was summer salmon, all fattened up, but not very far up stream yet. That's the kind you almost never get in restaurants, let alone at the supermarket. But, we do get it out here in Port Angeles. The word is that this salmon will be on the menu for the next few weeks. If you are in town for the Lavender Festival, this is your big chance to see what salmon can be.

Keywords: food, fish, restaurants, port angeles, salmon


Fins Restaurant

05/19/06 - Fins Restaurant in Port Townsend

We haven't been to Port Townsend in a while, so when we went to see Duma, a charming movie at the Rose Theatre about a boy and his cheetah, we tried a new restaurant, Fins. Well, we still love the Fountain Cafe, but Fins is a serious contender. Now, if we can ever get back to Port Townsend for dinner.

Keywords: restaurants, port townsend


Flying Fish Restaurant

04/09/06 - Update On Flying Fish

We were in Seattle the other day and had a really great meal. It had been a while, so we were pleased to find Flying Fish as good as ever, and now they are open for lunch.

Click here for our updated restaurant review of Flying Fish.

 

Keywords: seattle, restaurants, fish


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