Wright Eats

We’ve heard good things about Wallingford restaurant Art of the Table since it opened last fall, and finally had a chance to try it this week.  Catherine Reynolds (of Queso y Vino) teamed up with Chef Dustin Ronspies to create a wonderful Catalan wine dinner.  After we enjoyed our banderilla appetizers with Montsarra Cava and caught up with our friends, Dustin rang the gong, bonggggg, greeted the packed room, and talked a bit about the meal.  He explained that he hadn’t cooked much Spanish food before this night, but after tasting the wines Catherine selected and getting inspiration from The New Spanish Table cookbook, he devised six courses of Catalan food to pair with the wines.  We would have never guessed this upon eating dinner – each course reminded us of meals we’ve had in Spain.  I particularly liked the Grilled Spicy Prawns with Chick Peas, Chorizo, Parsley & Saffron Aliolio dish, and how it paired so well with the Gramona Gessami white wine (a muscat and sauvignon blanc wine from Penedes, Spain).  And I’m a sucker for meatballs – the homemade Catalan Lamb Meatballs with Romesco Sauce didn’t disappoint.  Dawn and I are already planning on going back for dinner at Art of the Table.

As the evening was winding down and we rolled out of our chairs, I had the extra treat of being the first customer of Queso y Vino’s wine delivery service!  Catherine is set up to deliver wines around Seattle, and she brought the case that I had ordered on the day she got her liquor permit.  We often asked Catherine for Spanish and Portuguese wine recommendations when she was the wine manager at The Spanish Table, so it’s like old times again – we can all ask her for new and interesting wine recommendations, or to track down old favorites we’ve been missing.  For my first order, I went the omakase route and let Catherine put together a mixed case.  And what a tasty result!  I sampled a Valdespino Delicioso Manzanilla dry sherry after dinner a few nights ago, and have my eye on the Viña Ardanza Reserva wine from the Rioja Alta region next.  Give her a call or drop her a mail if you’d like to put together your own case.

Queso y Vino
Catherine Reynolds, Owner
(206) 518-1166
quesoyvino@gmail.com

Art of the Table
1054 N 39th St, Seattle
(206) 282-0942

Skillet at Vagabond : Last week, we attended a Vagabond dinner at Culinary Communion, which was prepared by Skillet Street Food.  The food was quite amazing.  My favorite was the flatbread pizza that they served for the reception, baked in Culinary Communion’s brick oven.  Frankly, it was the best pizza I’ve had anywhere.  The Skillet chefs, Josh and Danny, said that they’d love to make wood fired pizza as part of their regular menu, but it’s not really feasible, seeing as they don’t have a brick oven in that Airstream trailer of theirs.  Too bad – I’d give anything for more of that pizza.

Muse : We all know Gypsy is no more.  While we were there, Culinary Communion’s owner Gabriel Claycamp told us about his plans for the new dinners he’ll be starting next year, in addition to Vagabond.  Muse will be the code name for his new dinners.  They will be done Iron Chef style, where a chef will be invited to each dinner, and given a few weeks notice of the chosen ingredient.  They’ll need to compose a menu that incorporates that ingredient into each course.  It sounds like Skillet is interested, so maybe they can make more of that great pizza!

Tom Black’s restaurant classes : Tom Black made a name for himself as executive chef at Woodenville’s Barking Frog, then he did a stint at 35th Street Bistro in Fremont, before becoming an instructor at Culinary Communion in August.  I’ve been wondering what kind of classes he’s teaching there.  Apparently, he’s working on a new series where you can learn hard-core restaurant kitchen skills.  Those who have taken enough other CC classes can sign up for one of the Sunday classes, where Tom teaches you how to run a one-night bistro for paying customers, right at Culinary Communion.  There will be a menu with a handful of appetizers, entrees, and desserts, and you’re responsible for getting tasty, hot food in front of customers, stat.

The Swinery : This is Gabriel’s new venture selling cured meats: bacon, pancetta, salami and more.  He’s securing permitting right now, and already has the T-shirts printed up.  Eric wants the one that says, “Bacon is my co-pilot.”

Bacon! Just today, I received an email saying that before they can secure the permitting, they’ll need to move 1,000 pounds of bacon.  Fast.  So they’re selling all of it for $10/lb.  You can even pick it up until noon on Thanksgiving, or call them and they’ll try to get it to you if you can’t pick it up.  Made from organically-raised Berkshire heirloom pork, it sounds very tempting.

We first heard about Fu Man Dumpling House from a friend a few years ago.  She said she rarely orders dumplings out at restaurants since her Canadian-Chinese family makes excellent dumplings at home, but she happily makes an exception for the handmade dumplings at Fu Man Dumpling House.  Upon hearing this, we trekked up Greenwood Ave to the Bitter Lake neighborhood to taste these dumplings ourselves.

Our first visit was memorable, and not just because of the food.  We went for lunch one weekend, and after parking in the back and walking past a bar in the same building, we found the entrance to the restaurant.  The space can fit about two dozen people, and we were quickly seated at one of the small, vinyl-covered tables.  The owner, Ming Tzou, took our order of green onion pancake, hot-and-sour soup, and boiled dumplings, then walked to the table behind us to take their order.  Their exchange was slightly reminiscent of the Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld.  Diner: “We’d like the potstickers.”  Tzou: “You know this is a dumpling house, right?”  Diner: “Um, yes?”  Tzou: “When you’re in a dumpling house, you order dumplings.”  And so they got the dumplings.  (Makes you wonder why the menu offers potstickers, no?)  Feeling thankful that our order was accepted without incident, our meal arrived and we enjoyed it all.  The pancake was flavorful and crisp, the soup was plenty spicy, and the pork-and-vegetable dumplings were served with an intense garlic sauce.  I loved the sauce, while Dawn was less a fan of its lingering aftertaste long after the meal ended.  We were stuffed, and when we asked for our check, Tzou took a look at our bowls and said, “You need to finish your soup.”  I smiled, thinking that he couldn’t be serious, but he took everything except the soup and left.  Dawn gave me the “I can’t eat another bite” look, so I picked up my spoon and somehow managed to finish the remaining soup.  Tzou returned, smiling, and said, “See?  I knew you could finish it.”

Boiled Fu Man dumplings at home.

We tried to order frozen dumplings to go at the end of our first visit, but no dice: they’re made-to-order, so you have to call ahead at least a day.  We picked some up recently, and love having dumplings (with little containers of garlic sauce) in the freezer, ready for a quick snack or weeknight meal.

Fu Man Dumpling House
14314 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle
(206) 364-0681

The day before we were headed out to Wisconsin last week to visit my family, our friend Traca found out where we were going and begged us to bring back some beer for her.  Her friend had told her about a cherry beer called Wisconsin Belgian Red, which is not available for retail anywhere outside of Wisconsin (the brewing company’s web site says, “Sorry about the limited distribution, non-Wisconsinites. There are only so many hours in the day to make beer and we can only keep up with the local demand”).  It was top pick in a taste test he had with the beer buyer at Whole Foods.

I had no idea this beer was right there under my nose at my parents’ small-town grocery store.  Although, it’s not really that surprising, because the Wisconsinites I know love sweet wine, and many wines made in Wisconsin are not just made with grapes.  They’ve got raspberry wine, cherry wine, apple wine, and my grandfather even used to make his own dandelion wine.

Door County (the “thumb” of the hand-shaped state) is known for its cherries, and that’s what New Glarus Brewing Company puts into their Wisconsin Belgian Red.  In fact, there’s a whole pound of the Montmorency cherries in every bottle.  It’s not very hoppy, but more like a cherry sparkling wine that tastes like beer.  We managed to carry back a few bubble-wrapped bottles in our luggage.  They don’t make it easy nowadays with the luggage, weight, and liquid restrictions!

The best tasting cupcakes