Wright Eats

We had been looking forward to the dinner all day.  Traffic was light and we arrived early for the 3rd annual Whole Beast Dinner at Lark last Monday.  We nibbled on marinated olives and Marcona almonds and sipped Cava while we read over the evening’s menu.  There were two different animals featured, one pig and two lambs, but the menu looked a little more manageable than the previous year.  We could hardly believe it then when veterans told us that the menu had been pared down from the first year.  We barely made it through three of the four waves of food!  This year’s menu didn’t look quite as intimidating. 

Several of the more interesting dishes were missing this year, such as the pork snouts, trotters, and lamb brains.  Michelle Magidow said that they had a little more trouble obtaining the “bits and pieces” this time around.  The Whole Beast Dinner is usually more involved than simply cooking the whole animals, since they actually need snouts from 50 pigs to serve a roomful of 50 people Pork snouts alla Milanese.

But they did bring back the pig ears.  These were served thinly shaved in a salad with watercress, green papaya, pickled chiles, and crispy shallots.  The salad was stellar and perfectly dressed with the right blend of heat and sweetness.

There were a number of other standouts.  We enjoyed the lardo that Lark served on toast with sweet mostarda di uva.  This is Lark’s own lardo, which they have been curing for six months so far; they expect to continue curing for another six months, but this dish was a preview of what’s to come.

We also really enjoyed the squid and chorizo skewers, along with the warm salad of lamb tongue with cauliflower and almonds.  Both dishes were prepared by David Hawksworth, who was the chef at West Restaurant in Vancouver until recently.  He’s working on a new venture now, renovating the Hotel Georgia to include a 6,000 sq ft. restaurant that will serve over 100 people.  After those two outstanding dishes, I’m certain we will be visiting after it opens.

Johnathan Sundstrom had invited David as a guest chef for the evening, along with Susan Vanderbeek, a venerable chef in the Pacific Northwest.  She recently sold her popular restaurant, The Oystercatcher on Whidbey Island, and is enjoying retirement by working at events like this dinner.  It was a memorable meal, and we’re already looking forward to the 4th annual dinner.

1st wave
Salumi and Fra Mani coppa and salami
Lark lardo on toast with mostarda di uva
Guanciale wrapped dates with Gorgonzola
Marcona almonds and marinated olives

2nd wave
Warm pork pate en croute with rhubarb, grain mustard and loganberry honey
Squid, chorizo, olive, confit tomato and grilled treviso
Lardo roasted white prawns with rosemary and Meyer lemon
Pig ears as a salad with watercress, green papaya, pickled chiles and crispy shallots

3rd wave
Lamb crepinette with pine nuts, fennel and pear
Warm salad of lamb tongue, duo of cauliflower and toasted almonds
Pork cheeks with spicy coriander broth, ramps and pineapple
Pan fried kidney with curry mustard, asparagus, dill and Basmati rice

Grapefruit Campari Ice

4th wave
Lamb sweetbread ravioli with peas, favas and mint
Pork tongue dolce forte
Grilled lamb kofta with spiced carrots, couscous and Mustapha’s olives

Dessert
Meyer lemon madelienes with custard sauce
Crackling chocolate cookies

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

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Events, Restaurants.