Wright Eats

The blog postings are coming a bit fast and furious this weekend because Eric and I have been sick for weeks on end and realized that we haven’t gone out to eat much in the last couple months.  So now that we’re feeling better, we’re going a bit overboard this weekend making up for it.

Tonight was an early dinner at Txori (pronounced “choree” and meaning “bird” in the Basque language).  Txori is owned by the same folks as The Harvest Vine.  Both are Basque restaurants, but the new one is modeled after a traditional San Sebastian pintxos (tapas) bar.  Eric and I have been to San Sebastian twice (read about trip 1 & trip 2), and absolutely love this city, the perfect foodie mecca.  So we were thrilled when Txori opened last November, since Chef Joseba is from San Sebastian, and if anyone could pull off a pintxos bar in Seattle, it would be him and his wife, Carolin.

Txori would give the bars in San Sebastian a run for their money if it were there.  The food, the atmosphere, everything down to the napkins strewn on the floor give it an authentic feel.  The only thing missing is the chaos of people bumping against each other as they stand around the bar eating and drinking, since tables are what we expect here in the U.S.  However, Txori does reserve the front bar area for standing room only spots, like Spain, where you can eat and watch the chefs cook.

I haven’t had a bad bite to eat here.  Portions are tiny, following tradition.  In Spain, you eat a couple pintxos, then move on to the next bar, whereas here you’ve got just one bar, so you’ll need to order a number to assemble a dinner.  Expect two or three bites out of each one, or a bit more if you order raciones.  There’s a menu, plus daily specials on the chalkboard.

 
Chefs Joseba and Carolin serve the salad course at Txori’s Tamborrada feast in January.

If you’re looking for a bigger dinner experience, look out for their upcoming Txoko events.  Back in January, they celebrated the culinary feast of Tamborrada by hosting a reservation-only dinner in the back half of the restaurant.  The event sold out instantly and was a huge success, so they’ve decided to hold monthly Txoko dinners, on the first Monday of each month, starting in April.  Carolin will be sending the announcement shortly to those on the mailing list.  Txoko is the Basque word for a gastronomic society.  This one won’t be exclusive like a gastronomic society, however there will be only 16 spots available each month.  Should be fun!

Txori
2207 2nd Ave., Seattle
(206) 204-9771

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Events, Restaurants.