Wright Eats

Tonight was our second visit to Joule.  We also went during their first week open four months ago.  The meal started off nicely each time - complimentary steamed or crispy buns were served with our drinks.  We’ve tried several of their sakes, and the sparkling sake is our favorite.  We like to share a number of small plates when we go out to eat, and that works well at Joule.  Dawn’s favorite dish so far is the crispy Kalamata olive gnocchi with toasted almonds and sweet peppers (the lasagna with Bleu D’auvergne isn’t far behind!), while mine is currently the “cassoulet” with truffle oil and bread crumbs.  We’ve had leftovers both times after ordering three side dishes and a main, so we need to bring friends along so we can share and order even more plates!

Joule
1913 N. 45th St, Seattle
(206) 632-1913

Update 3/7/8: Joule was chosen as a semifinalist for “Best new restaurant” for the James Beard Awards, along with chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi as “Rising star chefs.”  Finalists will be announced on March 24 and winners on June 8.

Hey everyone.  I just redirected WrightEats.com to our blog in case it’s easier to remember.  Then again, I’m sure you’re already subscribed to our RSS feed, so you don’t need no stinkin’ shortcut, right?

Do you remember the restaurant Fork?  I really liked this place during the short time it was open 2006, and was sad to learn of its closing only a half year later.  Chef Scott Simpson was dealing with health concerns at the time and had to sell the restaurant.

So I was happy to hear last year that he was planning to open a new restaurant in Ballard.  The Seattle Times reported today that Lunchbox Laboratory is ready to open this week.  Lucky Ballardites.

Lunchbox Laboratory
7302½ 15th Ave. NW, Seattle
(206) 706-3092

UPDATE:  I hear they’re aiming for opening on Sunday, March 2.

When I got home tonight, I saw that we received one of those neighborhood coupon packets in the mail.  There’s usually a coupon for one of the nearby coffee shops, so I rifled through it and instead found a new coupon for Jack’s Tapas Cafe.  This one says “$3 off any delivery of $20 or more.”  Delivery!?  I had no idea they delivered.  Even their web site says nothing of this.  Turns out, they’re not quite ready but they’ll start delivery on March 1.  I’m looking forward to another option for delivery in our neighborhood; pizza gets a little old after a while (if you know of other good options for delivery north of the ship canal, let us know).

If you haven’t tried Jack’s Tapas, get yourself to the U-District.  It’s great Chinese food, and not really what you imagine when you think of tapas.  Everything we’ve tried there has been excellent.  Actually, we haven’t tried that many different things yet because we’re completely hooked on the Shaved Noodle Stir-Fry along with the Sesame and Scallion Bread.  Yum.

Jack’s Tapas Cafe (Mainly Chinese)
5211 University Way, Seattle
(206) 523-6855

Has anyone tried the new Ocho tapas restaurant in Ballard?  I’ve been wanting to go since I heard that one of the owners is the bartender from La Carta de Oaxaca, which is my absolute favorite Mexican restaurant around with the best margaritas anywhere.  But perhaps not the only place with that margarita anymore.  Ocho apparently has a great margarita, too.  One of these nights we’ll have to go.

Ocho
2325 NW Market St., Seattle
(206) 784-0699

It’s nearly that time again.  The month of March is Dine Around Seattle (formerly 25 for $25), where 30 restaurants offer three-course $30 dinners Sunday through Thursday nights.  In past offerings, we’ve found Nell’s to have excellent choices, almost a steal for the $30, so we’ll definitely have to try theirs again.  Campagne and Nishino have also been good in past years promotions.  Let us know which menus you like this year.

On Tuesday, March 4, you can put your dining dollars toward a good cause.  Seattle restaurants are teaming up for “Dine for Darfur,” where 25% of your food and drink purchases are donated toward Darfur relief efforts.

Participating restaurants are listed on www.dinefordarfur.org

You can try the new Tutta Bella in South Lake Union or Via Tribunali in Queen Anne, and one of our favorites, Palace Kitchen.  And don’t forget your morning doughnut at Top Pot Doughnuts.

The gourmet roving Airstream trailer that is Skillet Street Food may be coming soon to your Seattle or Eastside neighborhood.

We subscribed to their email newsletter months ago, but hadn’t tried their food because they’ve only been open on weekdays while we were trapped at work.  When we saw that they were going to be serving food in Seattle this weekend, we knew we had to go!

A couple sits inside Bottleneck Lounge, watching the Skillet airstream trailer activities while waiting for their food.

Left-to-right: the menu du jour, Charred Chili Mac n’ Cheese with garlic bread crumbs, and The Dog (Kobe beef with cornichon and relish).  Yes, I said Kobe beef!  Mmm.  ‘Nuff said.

This is the The Burger (a fixture on the menu), with bacon jam, cambazola, arugula, served on brioche.  We “tricked out” the fries with poutine (as the Skillet hostess suggested).  So good!

Check the Skillet website for a calendar and map on where to find them.

Skillet Street Food
Various locations around Seattle

So, Eric and I were having brunch with Sam and his wife a few weeks ago at Smith, and they wanted to know how do we know so much about what’s happening around Seattle with food and restaurants?  And how come we don’t have a way to send this info out to our friends around Seattle?  After mulling over it and some more encouragement from Anne and DoRon, we’ve created this blog.

Eric and I will post here with info about our favorite restaurants, food gossip, and any upcoming events that sound interesting to us.  Let us know if there’s something in particular you’d like to see, or if you have a tip that you think we should post, send it our way.