Wright Eats

If you are feeling cheesecake-deprived, despair not, for there is hope for you at The Confectional.  Paul Verano, the owner of this Pike Place Market bakery, clearly enjoys wordplay; his quote on the to-go packaging says, “Forgive me chocolate for I have sinned.  I have not yet had my daily confection.”

Puns aside, there is some seriously tasty cheesecake to be had at this year-plus-old market nook.  You can order a full-size cheesecake ahead of time, otherwise step up to the counter and pick out a few mini-cheesecakes to go.  Our favorites include Mexican Chocolate (be prepared for the spicy kick!), Cookies & Mint Chocolate (also the owner’s favorite), Triple Berry, and Peanut Butter & Chocolate.  The cheesecakes have kept us so occupied that we still have to try the chocolate-covered cheesecake truffles.

The display case at The Confectional.

The Confectional
1530 Pike Place, Seattle
(206) 282-4422

This was Eric’s exclamation after we got home from our last meal ever at Mistral tonight, when I read Nancy Leson’s not-even-a-week-old blog reporting that Mixtura is closing this weekend, too!  What’s next?

It’s true.  Mistral’s last night of service is tomorrow.  It’s been years since we had been to Mistral and we’ve been talking about going back for months now.  Nothing like a closure announcement to finally kick us into gear.  We had a great meal tonight and we’re sad to see the finish.  But it’s not really the end.  Chef William Belickis is already planning his next venture: he’s envisioning a roughly 4000 square foot restaurant split into about five distinct areas, where you can get a casual drink after work, dine out with friends, or go for a multi-course dinner more along the lines of Mistral.

And what about Mixtura?  You’ve got two nights left, since they plan to close on Sunday.  It was one of our favorite Eastside restaurants!  What sad news.

Following up on an earlier post, we went for lunch a week ago to see what kinds of experiments are being served up at Lunchbox Laboratory.  We immediately liked the kitschy decor, including the wall of vintage lunchboxes.  The choices on the chalkboard are almost overwhelming: one board listed tasty items like Philly cheese steaks and corndogs, another board for shake flavors and sides, and a massive board for burgers.  The burger options are downright impressive – there were 12 types of burger meat (and meat-free options), 15 dressings, and 15 types of cheese (including p’tit basque!), all served on an organic Essential Bakery bun.  That’s a lot of burger combinations to try.  Once we got our bearings, I went straight for the turducken burger with “onions fried our way,” while Dawn opted for a corndog and a side of mac ‘n cheese.  We split a strawberry-cheesecake shake.  Two-thumbs-up on the turducken burger (what’s not to love about that?) and the corndog (with its wonderfully flavorful fried batter).  The mac ‘n cheese was rich and seriously blue-cheese infused, which was tasty, but ultimately proved too much for us to finish.  The milkshake, however, ranks as one of the best shakes we’ve ever had; it wasn’t so thick that you couldn’t drink it through a straw, wasn’t too sweet, and had just the right balance of flavors.  I can still taste it – yum!

The wall of classic lunchboxes.

 
The corndog with mustard and barbecue sauce sides.

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

Reported in the same column is news that Jerry Traunfeld, former Herbfarm chef, has finally signed the lease for his new restaurant, Poppy.  It will be at 622 Broadway Ave. E. and is slated to open this summer.

His new place was inspired by a trip to India.  While it won’t serve Indian food, he is borrowing the concept of the Thali.  Plates will be simple, focusing on a few ingredients, and for about $30 per person, you’ll get a selection of about 10 small dishes.  He will also have a bar menu with appetizers and desserts.  I can’t imagine it will be anything but amazing.

We often find ourselves driving outside our neighborhood to dine out.  We’ve got a few good places nearby, but nothing like Capitol Hill, Ballard, or now Queen Anne.  One place we like in our neighborhood is Pair, which is just north of University Village.  We went there a lot when it first opened.  We go less frequently now, since it’s more popular and therefore crowded, and although the food is quite good, we wish they would change up the menu a little more often.  It’s still nice to stop in there once in a while.

The Seattle Times reports good news for us.  Felix and Sarah, owners of Pair, will be opening a second restaurant this summer, just up the street.  We look forward to its opening!

Felix and Sarah Penn, whose darling small-plates restaurant, Pair, celebrates its fourth anniversary in May, have a second Ravenna restaurant in the works. They hope to debut their as-yet-unnamed bistro in June, just a few short blocks from Pair.Neighbors will know the site, at 2614 N.E. 55th St., from its earlier incarnation as those oddly conjoined twins the Sterling Café (an organic restaurant) and the Sterling Salon (a beauty salon), closed since last summer. Industrial designers Jacob and Lucas Mihoulides, who did a stellar job with Queen Anne’s How to Cook a Wolf, are set to work their creative magic, turning the dual storefront into a 40-seat dining room with an adjoining 20-seat lounge.

The new place will have “a clearly different identity than Pair,” says Sarah. And though its menu and physical layout “is evolving as we speak,” we can expect a contemporary take on American classics, highlighting seafood and steaks. The Penns plan to divide their time between the two restaurants.

While there are a number of good Japanese restaurants around Seattle, there are a few places in particular that stand out from the crowd. We’ve had great omakase meals at Kisaku in Greenlake and Nishino in Madison Park. We’ve heard good things about Chiso Kappo in Fremont, and hope to try that in the near future. Our dinners at Mashiko in West Seattle have been the most memorable, though.

A friend of ours who lives in West Seattle has gotten to know Hajime (the owner and sushi chef) quite well over the years. We’ve had several excellent omakase-style dinners, but the truly outstanding experiences have been the two elaborate kaiseki dinners our friend arranged. Kaiseki meals are practically an art form - they include many courses, with some courses requiring several days of advance preparation. Our 13-course dinner a week ago included sashimi and cheese pairings, broiled oyster, and an incredibly flavorful soup with salmon and a two-year-aged red miso from Hajime’s hometown in northern Japan. Dessert was a pineapple creme brulée paired with a delicious pineapple wine that Hajime had just brought back from Hawaii.

Here are some photos from our dinner, and previous kaiseki photos are here.

Mashiko
4725 California SW, Seattle
(206) 935-4339

Queen Anne has become the most recent foodie destination, with new restaurants opening practically monthly.  Queen Anne isn’t very convenient for us to get to, however, so we usually only head up there with a specific destination in mind.  This is why we are envious of all the Queen Anne folks who have ready access to Eat Local.

Eat Local is a great concept, particularly in light of all the good discussion lately around knowing where your food is sourced (such as Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma – a must-read if you’re interested in this subject).  The concept of Eat Local is simple: provide prepared meals for on-the-go families, using organic ingredients that are sourced locally and sustainably.

We’ve managed to pick up a few meals for our freezer.  We love the fact that you can choose either traditional disposable containers, or reusable/returnable pyrex containers.  We always opt for the glass containers, although we’re starting to acquire a small stack of them since we never seem to have them on hand when we’re near Queen Anne.  We’re going to get back a large deposit one of these days.

Anyway, it’s been a bit of a bummer that they’re not conveniently accessible to those not on Queen Anne hill.  Until now.  They just announced that they’ve teamed up with spud.com for delivery!  So now you can get Eat Local meals delivered to your door with your groceries!  This might give us a good excuse to try SPUD.

Eat Local
2400 Queen Anne Ave. N, Seattle
(206) 328-3663

Cupcakes seem to be the trend nowadays.  Cupcake Royale was one of the first places around Seattle, and then new places started popping up left and right.  Our favorite so far (there are a few we haven’t tried, like Wink) is Trophy Cupcakes in Wallingford.

Our introduction to Trophy was when our friends called us up about a week after the place opened, February of last year.  They said that they were going to do a cupcake tasting there to decide whether to use Trophy for their wedding cake, and would we be interested in “helping” them taste the cupcakes?  Um, of course!

Something like nine cupcakes later, the four of us were on a complete sugar high, and I was completely hooked.  All of the cupcakes are great, but I usually go for one with cream cheese frosting.  Or the Chocolate Vanilla, which is also Eric’s favorite.

Needless to say, this was our friends’ top choice for their wedding cake.  The mini cupcakes were a huge hit!

Another reason to love Trophy Cupcakes is for their special holiday cupcakes.  Today they’re offering Chocolate Guinness Stout with Irish Cream Butter Creme.  Last year, we missed out on the marshmallow Easter cupcakes, but maybe they’ll have them again later this week!

Trophy Cupcakes
1815 N. 45th St, Seattle
Right in the center of Wallingford Center
(206) 632-7020

Tilth has been the media darling of late, ever since New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni named it one of the top 10 best new restaurants in the country several weeks back.

It’s been a long while since we’ve been there.  We went a number of times within the first couple months when they opened in 2006.  We followed Maria’s progress opening the place after she left Earth and Ocean, and she’s really got a great thing going.  The food is outstanding, and almost completely organic, a direction that I hope more restaurants will take.  We like the small/large options for each item on the menu, which gives us a chance to try a number of different smaller plates.  And the food is seasonal and delicious.

You may be wondering why we’ve been away for so long.  It’s not at all about the food, which we love.  We just seemed to have a knack for not having great service whenever we dined.  One time, we went with friends.  After we sat down, the server came over and asked if we had been there before.  We said yes and we’re ready to order.  Apparently not hearing us, she proceeded to explain, “well here’s how the menu works…”  Very bubbly, and clearly excited about working at Tilth, she then went on for several minutes explaining how great the restaurant is and how lucky the staff is to work there.  Finally, she did take our order.  This strange interaction might not have been a big deal, if she hadn’t practically disappeared for most of the remaining meal.  Dishes were served without utensils, and we struggled to flag someone down to bring us forks so we could eat.  More than one experience like this left us not too excited to return.

But most people we’ve spoken with have had great service at Tilth, so I thought perhaps we were unlucky and experiencing the growing pains of a new restaurant.  After reading Bruni’s glowing review (which interestingly did allude to some similar service issues), we thought it was time to give another try.

We went earlier this month, and the food was even better than I remembered.  The duck Proscuitto was outstanding.  We also enjoyed a root vegetable salad, melt-in-your-mouth Albacore Tuna, a delicious squash risotto, and of course the Mini Duck Burgers.  I think the jury’s still out on the service, however.  There was one point in the meal where multiple servers made us feel downright uncomfortable when we asked a question about a dish.

I do want to go back for brunch.  We went three or four times when they first started serving brunch.  Usually we were the only table in an empty restaurant, since the word hadn’t gotten out yet about brunch.  Everything was amazing, although the portions were fairly small (at least in the beginning – I don’t know about now).  But when you’ve got top-notch ingredients and a chef like Maria, the quality more than makes up for it.  I hear that brunch is now just as packed as the most popular brunch spots in Seattle, so reservations are recommended.

Tilth
1411 N. 45th St, Seattle
(206) 633-0801

A date has been set!  Eric and I have been waiting to see when Lark would be hosting their next Whole Beast Dinner.  We went last year and had a really great time.  This year is their third annual Whole Beast Dinner, and it’s going to be on Monday, April 21.  They’re ordering a pig, a goat, and a lamb or two and will be coming up with a meal using these animals.

Here’s the menu from last year:

It should be interesting to see what they come up with this year.  Stay tuned to their web site for more details.

Lark
926 12th Ave., Seattle
(206) 323-5275

Whenever Eric or I are running errands anywhere near downtown Seattle, we try to make time for a stop at Dahlia Bakery.  When I used to work in downtown Seattle, this was my favorite lunch stop.  From the very first week they opened (back in 2000, if I recall?), at least three times a week, I’d walk seven blocks in each direction to grab lunch.  Not only do they make some of the best pastries, cookies, cakes, and pies in the city, but they’ve got delicious breakfast and lunch items.

Their lunch menu changes daily.  Every day, they have one veggie and two different meat sandwiches, along with a daily soup, a tomato soup, and one or two salads.  It’s been a while since I’ve been there on weekdays, but I remember they had additional items on weekdays, like crostada, and periodically a hot sandwich.

Sundays are one of the best days for us to stop in nowadays, because we can get three meals at the same time.  If we arrive just before 11, they’re just starting to bring out some of the lunch items, so we grab sandwiches for lunch at work on Monday and soup for the freezer for another day.  But the best part about coming before 11 (10 on weekdays) is their breakfast sandwiches.  They didn’t have breakfast sandwiches when I worked downtown; these are relatively new (I would have detoured on my way to work if they had offered them then).

My favorite part about their breakfast sandwiches is the made-in-house, fluffy, chewy English muffins.  I’ve had plenty of English muffins, but none ever like this.  They’re the best.  Pair one of these with a fried egg, melted cheese, and your choice of bacon, sausage, or veggie, and you have a great breakfast on-the-go.  Or, they’ll toast one and serve it with walnut butter and bananas.  Mmm…

Don’t get too distracted by the desserts.  Chocolate pecan creme cookies, fig bars, and chocolate butter toffee eclairs are just a few.  And if you’re looking for the famous coconut creme pie they serve in Tom Douglas’s restaurants, you can buy it here, in three sizes, including bite size.

Dahlia Bakery
2001 4th Ave., Seattle
(206) 441-4540

We’re lucky to live close to one of the biggest farmers markets in the area, in the U-District.  Open year round, it’s our favorite place to shop.  During the summer, the place is jam-packed and for some items it’s essential to get there before the 9:00 opening bell.  In the winter, however, the booths are fewer, which gives new vendors opportunity to set up shop while some of the long-time vendors are away for the season.

One new addition this winter is the guy we call the Toffee Man.  Ok, his name is really Pete Brogi, owner of Pete’s Perfect Butter Toffee.  We’ve seen him around at other markets, like Ballard’s, but when space freed up this past fall, he took up a post in the U-District.  He’s generous with his samples, and it’s pretty clear why because after you try a bite, there’s little chance that you’ll walk away without purchasing a container.  This stuff is addictive!

Last week, I walked by and he was offering his samples again.  I demurred, but then noticed a new item on the table.  He explained that he’s experimenting with toffee-chocolate covered pretzels - first a layer of toffee over a hard pretzel, and then a layer of chocolate.  I bought one, and he sent me off with a warning.  He said the first bite is extremely hard, so I should be careful not to break my teeth.

The next day, Eric and I split it.  Pete was right-on about the first bite - you almost need a knife or something to get it started, but after that it’s fine.  More than fine, actually - this thing was just as addictive as his toffee!  The salty pretzel was a perfect complement to the buttery toffee underneath the chocolate.  It was quickly gone and we were left wishing I had bought another.  It’s probably a good thing that we had to wait a week!  Pretzels were top on our market list today.  This time we got one dark chocolate-covered, and one milk chocolate-covered with white chocolate in the middle.

Skagit River Ranch eggs. Everyone gets excited when they get one of the rare green eggs (center).

Here’s a list of our other favorites at the U-District Market:

• Dried pluots and dried apple sticks from Tiny’s. A great snack food.
• Bacon from Wooly Pigs. The shoulder bacon is thicker than normal bacon and perfect with some organic Brussels sprouts.
• Cheese from Estrella Family Creamery.
• Cherry or apple strudel from Little Prague Bakery. We get one on every visit to the market.
• Wild mushrooms from Foraged & Found. The porcini are absolutely amazing!
• Chicken mole pie from Pies by Jenny.
• The best plums ever from Tiny’s. So many types, and free samples so you can choose your favorite. Peaches, too.
• Fresh (squeaky!) cheese curds from Appel Farms.
• Anything from Sea Breeze Farm: chicken, eggs, Pâté de Vashon, cheese, demi-glace, wine.
• Wild huckleberries from Foraged & Found. All of their berries are the most delicious berries you’ll find anywhere.
• Beef and eggs from Skagit River Ranch. The egg queue in the summer starts a half hour before the bell, and they sell out fast.
• Goat milk yogurt from Port Madison Farms. Delicious with some honey drizzled in.
• Jams, chocolate and caramel sauces, and even homemade pickles from Woodring. Free samples of everything.
• Anita’s Crêpes. She has been at the Ballard market for a while, but just showed up this month in the U-District!

What are your favorites?

U-District Farmers Market
NE 50th St. & University Way NE, Seattle
Saturdays 9-2