Wright Eats

Omakase at Tojo’s.

When our friends Michael and Susan proposed that we make a trip up to Vancouver to celebrate the Chinese New Year, it took us about two seconds to say yes.  It had been a year since our last trip, and we’d been wanting to go back to some of our classic favorite restaurants.  The parade in Chinatown sounded like it’d be fun, too.

So we packed our bags and an empty cooler, and off we went on a Friday afternoon.  We arrived in time for a late dinner reservation at Tojo’s.  It’s been long enough since we’ve dined there that we hadn’t yet seen the new digs.  They’ve moved from a tiny second floor location, to a huge, bright ground floor restaurant.

Our meal was outstanding.  Highlights included: sablefish and sea urchin in a smoky-yummy sauce inside a sea urchin shell; a sesame albacore that reminded me of our favorite starter at Kisaku (but even better), and two kinds of amazing toro nigiri.  The food is special, but the bill at Tojo’s is steep.  Four of us spent as much that night as ten of us would the next evening.  Definitely not an everyday kind of meal.

Oyama Sausage Company; Japadog; fish at the Granville Market.

Saturday morning, we headed straight to Granville Island for coffee and doughnuts.  We’d had great coffee at JJ Bean on a previous trip, rivaling some of our favorite coffees in Seattle.  John and Eric waited in line, while Jacki and I walked around the corner for Lee’s Donuts.  Unfortunately, the filled doughnuts I wanted weren’t ready yet, so I decided to wait.  They said it would be only 15 minutes.  So we grabbed our coffees (which were indeed as good as I remember), and wandered off around the market.

When we arrived back at Lee’s, there they were.  The puffy, sugar-coated doughnuts were ready, with more coming out as we stood there deciding which one.  I finally settled on the lemon-filled, and Eric the chocolate Bavarian.  Oh, man, these were even better than last time.  This was the warmest, freshest doughnut I’ve ever eaten.  The lemon was oozy and sweet, but not overly, with the crunchy sugar on the exterior coating my lips as I tried not to squirt lemon everywhere (I’m sometimes a messier eater than I like to admit).  Eric made some comment about how my lips looked like a margarita glass.

Bread at the Granville Market; JJ Bean coffee; the kitchen at Vij’s.

After picking up some pork lomo and speck from Oyama Sausage Company for our trip home, along with candied fennel seeds, a few pocky sticks for snacks, and matcha tea from one of our favorite Granville stands, South China Seas Trading Company, we headed back downtown.

Eric and I were torn between Japadog or Kintaro Ramen for lunch.  With limited time in Vancouver, we could only do one, so we let our friends decide.  With a six-year-old in party, hotdogs won out.  The little stand on a street corner looked like a normal hotdog stand until you took a closer look at the menu: Terimayo, Misomayo, Okonomi, and Oroshi dogs.  The Terimayo was an all-beef hotdog with Japanese mayo, nori seaweed strips, teriyaki sauce, and fried onions.  With juice dribbling off my fingers, I managed to switch with Eric so I could try the Okonomi next.  It was a juicy Kurobuta pork sausage with okonomiyaki sauce, bonito flakes tacked down from the breeze by Japanese mayo, on top of fried cabbage.  We realized we should have ordered a third, but by this time the line was loooong, with a crowd waiting for their dogs.

Japadogs! Okonomi (top) and Terimayo (bottom).

We spent the afternoon doing a brief bit of shopping followed by a long walk from downtown to the waterfront and halfway along Stanley Park’s exterior edge, before cutting back through the duck pond and up to Denman.  It was a gloriously sunny day, and all of Vancouver seemed to be out.  We didn’t realize how lucky we were with that weather.

It was 4:30 when we headed off to dinner.  Why so early?  We had to get in line for Vij’s.  We were the first in line at quarter to five, and the queue started forming moments later behind us.  By the time the doors opened at 5:30, the line stretched two storefronts down!  It was a good thing we arrived when we did, because our party of ten would have otherwise had hours to wait.

I’ve written about Vij’s here before, and it is still my favorite Indian restaurant anywhere.  While we were deciding what to order, the wait staff served us nibbles of hot pakoras and pooris, along with complimentary chai.  We ended up ordering about a dozen dishes, all good, some outstanding.  I’d forgotten why the lamb popsicles are so popular, but quickly remembered – they were juicy and perfectly cooked, with that amazing cream curry.  I was also a big fan of one of their simplest dishes: saag paneer.  I wonder why that isn’t in their cookbook?  I will make any dish in that cookbook that has paneer – the recipe is simple and turns out great.  My favorite dessert this evening was the gulab jamun, which was the best version of this sticky fried dough I’ve had.

Dining at Vij’s; saag paneer.

We couldn’t leave without a stop next door at Rangoli to pick up some of Vij’s food to fill our cooler for the trip home.  Rangoli is a more casual cafe along with a marketplace selling Vij’s meals, spices, and their excellent cookbook.

The next morning, we all met in Chinatown for the Chinese New Year festivities.  It was a rainy, cold morning, not much different than a winter Seattle day, except for the intermittent wet snow.  After staking out a prime position on the parade route, we eventually gave it up when we all started freezing, and headed over to the Classical Chinese Garden instead, where the gardens were open and booths outside were set up with face painting and crafts for the kids.  While groups with their costumes assembled for the parade, dancers and drummers performed under a tent where everyone crowded in to stay dry.

Rain was constant during the parade, and umbrellas lined the curbs while the colorful groups paraded under the Millennium Gate.  Firecrackers, dragons, and ox helmets were everywhere.  After about 45 minutes, we left to find some dim sum to warm up with.  We headed downtown to Kirin for a change from our usual visit to Sun Sui Wah.

Chinese New Year parade; dim sum at Kirin.

Instead of carts wheeling past, at Kirin you order from a menu and everything comes out made-to-order.  Everything we ordered was good – definitely better than anything we can get in Seattle.  My favorite was the savory radish pudding, a Chinese New Year specialty.  After finishing up with some red bean and sesame desserts, we were on our way home.  Short weekends like that always leave me wanting more, but fortunately Vancouver’s just a short drive away.  Any tips about where we should go next time?

To see more photos from our weekend, go to our photo gallery.

Tojo’s, 1133 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC

JJ Bean, 1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC

Lee’s Donuts, 1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC

Japadog, 899 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC

Vij’s, 1480 W 11th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Rangoli, 1488 W 11th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Kirin, 1166 Alberni St, Vancouver, BC

We don’t make it to West Seattle much.  Sure, we’ve made the pilgrimage for amazing pastries and chocolates at Bakery Nouveau, and have had several omakase and kaiseki dinners at Mashiko’s.  But West Seattle isn’t the first place we think of when deciding on where to go for food.  So, after hearing good things about Spring Hill from foodie friends we trust, we hopped in the car and checked it out.  Boy, am I glad we went.

We met up with some friends on a Sunday evening last month.  Our friends arrived before us, and got to talking with a food photographer who was taking pictures for an upcoming menu.  He had a lighting setup in the back of the restaurant, which I wouldn’t have minded borrowing for a couple of pictures!  My distraction was tempered when hunger kicked in, and I focused back on the menu.  I arrived thinking that I’d order off of the New Urban Eats prix fixe menu, but enough things on the main menu caught my eye that I switched plans and shared a few dishes with Dawn.

My butter lettuce salad with herbs, radish, parmesan, and citronette arrived, nicely dressed – simple, crisp flavors.  Dawn made a great choice by going with the duck egg yolk raviolo with green sauce, which had thin slices of duck breast prosciutto layered on top and garlic chips on the side.  A rich, decadent, perfectly executed dish.

Things really got rolling when the entrées arrived.  The handmade pappardelle with Bolognese sauce had an alluring, intense flavor, so much so that our friend had to defend her dish from our roving forks.  Wood grilled rib eye steak with twice baked potato rissolé, foraged mushroom ragout, and kale was cooked to perfection, and even had a subtle herb flavor in each bite of meat.  As good as this was, everyone at the table agreed that my roasted duck breast was the winner, served with cabbage sausage, quinoa waffle, spaghetti squash, and orange-maple mustard.  Now, I’m a huge fan of waffles with dinner (chicken and waffles, anyone?), and yet I was still surprised at how well the quinoa waffle went with the tender and succulent duck breast.  Dawn’s sautéed black cod with smoked clam panzanella was as good as expected; apparently we’re on a black cod kick lately, as one of us seems to get this fish every time we go out.

For dessert, we all shared several dishes.  A lemon meringue tart with lavender was fine, but I’m not a huge lemon fan, so this fell into the “a bit too tart” category for me.  An ice cream sampler included orange mimosa sorbet (least favorite of our group), salted peanut ice cream (I could eat a gallon of this stuff, it was so good), and yogurt ice cream (tangy, yummy).  But then there was the hot chocolate s’mores topped with cinnamon marshmallow, with homemade cinnamon graham cracker cookies with nutella filling on the side.  While the cookies were a bit too dry and needed a touch of salt for flavor, the hot chocolate-marshmallow-gooeyness was simply outstanding.

My only complaint about dinner had to do with service: I dislike when bussers clear the table while people are still eating.  And as happened this evening, I really dislike when someone reaches over me as I’m trying to take a bite of something, just to get the empty plate next to me.  It’s one of my restaurant pet peeves, and a surprising number of waitstaff at upscale restaurants in Seattle do this.  Nevertheless, our waitress was very nice, checked on us at all the right times, and graciously let us sit and catch up with our friends long after dessert was done without bothering us at all.

Spring Hill is on my must-visit-again list, and perhaps next time we’ll go for Monday night “spaghetti night”!

Spring Hill
4437 California Ave SW, Seattle
(206) 935-1075

We’ve enjoyed many dinners at our neighborhood restaurant Pair over the past few years.  Owners Sarah and Felix Penn opened their second restaurant Frank’s this month, just a few blocks away from Pair, so we stopped in for dinner on their first Friday night to see what the new place is all about.

Dark wood paneling, soft lighting, and high-backed booths give a relaxed, low-key vibe to the restaurant.  We were seated on the Oyster House side of the restaurant, opposite the tall doorway that leads to the Parlor and bar.  I’m glad I made a reservation, because they were full by 7PM and turning people away.  We had a hard time deciding between all of the tasty-sounding options on the cocktail and dinner menus, but we finally agreed on a few things to share.  Dawn sampled an Air Mail cocktail (lime, honey, rum, champagne) while I went for the Pear & Cardamom Sidecar (a nice twist on the classic drink).

Our plate of buttery and flaky cheddar biscuits with ham arrived first, with a small ramekin of Calvados apple butter on the side.  It was a tasty, homey dish, and I’d buy jars of that apple butter to go if they were for sale.  Next up were two mini lobster rolls, served on house-made hot dog buns, with a butter lettuce leaf tucked in.  As Sarah explained, the lobster is served Cape Cod style (mixed simply with mayonnaise), sans celery as you might find in some parts of Maine.  These definitely felt like fancy lobster rolls, with a subtle grill flavor in the slightly crunchy bread, more haute than what you’d find on the roadside in Maine.  Quite tasty, but also quite pricey at $9 a roll.

Dawn tried the chard and ricotta pansotti (a triangular-shaped stuffed pasta), and it was nice and rich – a decent vegetarian option.  I loved my filet mignon with horseradish parsley butter.  The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare, melt-in-your-mouth tender, with deep flavor.  Easily one of the best steaks I’ve had in the past few years, and a great value compared to any of the pricey steakhouses around town.  With a side of creamed kale to go with it, I was in heaven.

For dessert, we shared caramelized bananas with three ice creams.  The presentation was interesting, with the ice creams served in a single stack of round discs, but when I took a bite with all three, they just didn’t go together.  Each had a different consistency (one was soft, two were hard), and the chocolate ice cream didn’t have a smooth texture (slightly crystallized, like it didn’t freeze properly).  The bananas were good, but overall this dish didn’t impress me.

As to be expected during opening week, there were a few hiccups during the evening.  It was a full twenty minutes before our waitress came over to our table to even say hello (we were starting to think about leaving), and when she arrived, she apologetically told us that she had forgotten about us.  While I’m sure that’s the honest truth, it’s not the greatest thing to hear as a customer.  It also felt like we were re-forgotten after every course during the evening, with long waits the norm.  Our favorite moment was when our waitress came by and asked, “Has anyone dessert’d you yet?”  Well, no, no one has taken our dessert order, but yes we have been deserted!  It looked like the staff was in the weeds on this first busy evening, so I’m sure they’ll straighten things out.  I’m eager to go back to try some oysters, the razor clam fritters, and another one of those steaks!

Frank’s Oyster House & Champagne Parlor
2616 NE 55th St, Seattle
206-525-0220

Italian.  It’s my favorite cuisine, but for years, I’d hate to eat it dining out in Seattle.  When I moved here, there were plenty of Italian-American restaurants.  You know the kind, where sauces are heavy and poured on top of too-soft pasta, and the kitschy Italian music is playing.  But Seattle was deprived of many places that even came close to what I could make at home with a few simple fresh ingredients – isn’t that the essence of what Italian cooking is about?

Recently, though, Italian restaurants have started coming into their own in Seattle, serving food that emphasizes our local ingredients while evoking the authenticity of the cooking of Italy, down to the handmade pasta.  Spinasse in particular has been the standout for me recently, but another new Italian place opening in a tiny corner of Wallingford took me by surprise.  Cantinetta welcomed its first guests tonight.

I was intrigued when I heard that Morgan Brownlow would be its sous chef.  We first came across Morgan’s cooking in Portland, just before he left clarklewis in 2006.  We had an outstanding meal there, and were pleased to try his food again at Lark’s second Whole Beast Dinner a couple years ago.  There, Johnathan introduced Morgan as master of the pig:  he works with the whole animal, breaking it down and cooking with all of its parts.  That night we had his pork snouts alla Milanese, which is one of his specialty dishes, along with a pig ear salad, and lardo cracklings, all delicious.

We were pleased to see Morgan’s obvious hand on the menu tonight.  This time, trotters were there in his Milanese-style with a Salmoriglio sauce.  Garlicky and tangy, they were delicious.  Along with our antipasti, we also enjoyed speck with winter squash, billed as a side-dish on the menu.  We dredged the pork-wrapped squash in the sweet brown-butter agro-dolce sauce, grabbing some fried sage leaves along the way.  The three small morsels were gone too soon.  Balancing the rich dishes, we also chose a salad.  It, too, featured the pig, with bits of tesa (a type of pancetta) nestled among the chicory and walnuts.  It was well-balanced, with the perfect amount of cracked black pepper.

Trevor Greenwood came over before our meal started to recommend our wine.  He’s the owner of Cantinetta, wine steward, and an alumnus of the authentically Neapolitan Via Tribunali.  This was our second clue that Cantinetta might be something other than ordinary.

Next course was the pasta.  We ordered two pastas, both handmade, and both wonderful.  The dishes were a bit pricey for what you get (for example, only six ravioli), but on the other hand, where else are you going to get pasta this good?  Not Tavolata, maybe not even La Spiga.  I’d say that only Spinasse has an edge on the pasta, with a more tender and delicate bite.  But with hazelnut fed pork inside Cantinetta’s ravoili, and perfectly seasoned hedgehog mushrooms and chestnuts on the tagliarini, tonight’s was among the best pasta I’ve eaten in Seattle.

I wished we had some bread to sop up all the lovely sauces on every plate.  A chewy soft foccacia served when we ordered was gone before the food arrived.

For our secondo, we ordered the black cod.  We opted for the fish instead of the lamb sausage, to balance our meat-heavy meal.  We were pleased with our choice: the sizable piece of fish was perfectly tender and buttery, with sweet carrots and leeks served simply underneath.

We thought that three antipasti, two pasta, and one secondo would be enough for four people before we headed into dessert, but we were still feeling hungry.  So we ordered the house-made lamb sausage after all.  Served over polenta, with peppers and olives, it was a rich dish, slightly sweet from the peppers.  While we enjoyed it, the table was in agreement that it was our least-favorite of the night.

The executive chef Brian Cartenuto came around briefly to our table as our plates were getting cleared.  He was making the rounds while the kitchen got a slight breather after the first wave of tables.  He’s new to Seattle, arriving here in November (what a welcome, with our deluge of snow).  He previously worked at restaurants in the other Washington (DC), and then a cruise line before landing here.

He continued around the packed room, to visit with each table.  There seemed to be two types of parties in house:  the young hipsters at the bar, and families over by the windows, including one young family with an infant and another with a preschool-age child.  Kids seemed welcome here:  the front waiting area even has a tiny chair for the little ones, and the noise level was loud enough that parents didn’t have to worry about small outbursts (yet, amazingly, it wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t talk comfortably with your dining companions – a welcome change).

Immediately after our plates were cleared, our dessert arrived.  The waitress had warned us at the beginning that we should save room for their molten chocolate cake, and said that it would take 20 minutes to order.  Our friend made it clear to her that we definitely wanted it, so it arrived even before our dessert menus.  Molten, indeed, the cake was gooey and decadent – probably the best version I’ve had in a while.  We enjoyed it while selecting our second dessert, an olive oil polenta cake.  Light and airy, with a bit of crunch and hint of lemon, it was a lovely ending to the meal.  Cantinetta would make a good late-night stop for just dessert, perhaps at the bar with a limoncello.

Four of us paid a bill of $200, which included cocktails, a bottle of wine, and after-dinner drinks.  Not cheap, but honestly, pretty in-line with anything like it in Seattle.  We’ll be keeping an eye on Cantinetta and likely returning soon.

Cantinetta
3650 Wallingford Avenue N, Seattle
(206) 632-1000

Eric Bahn was greeting guests at every table tonight, his first official night open on the Eastside.  We were impressed with the interior of the new Monsoon, as it’s quite a transformation from the previous Porcella space.  He explained the thought they put into every detail.  The marble at the bar is from Vietnam, the wooden screens are antique Chinese pieces from David Smith, and the posts flanking them are reclaimed from a church in Hoquiam.  Altogether, the place is modern, cozy, and comfortable.

You see a long bar with lanterns overhead on the left as you enter, and a large dining room on the right.  There’s another smaller dining room tucked away in back, where we were initially going to be seated, but we preferred to be up front where the activity was.

The menu was overwhelming at first, with a huge list of detailed menu items and no categories beyond “raw bar” and “dinner.”  After staring at the menu fuzzily for a while, we realized that the white space delineated the different types of food: appetizers, seafood, meat, side dishes, etc.  We managed to narrow down the choices, and settle on kona kampachi sashimi with lime from the raw bar, imperial rolls with kuraboto pork and shrimp, a catfish claypot, the drunken chicken, and wokked soft noodles with mushrooms and duck egg.

While we waited for our meal to begin, I tried their signature plum wine martini.  It was just the right mix of tangy, sweet, and sour.  Then the food arrived.

Our first bite was of the sashimi, which was lively and flavorful, with crispy shallots adding a nice texture.  The rolls were also excellent – hot, crisp, and tasty with the dipping sauce.  Catfish was next, and the first bite was an unexpected burst of flavor – we both looked at each other simultaneously, impressed.  The cracked pepper on top was generous, adding an interesting dimension.  We both agreed that it was one of the most impressive dishes of the meal, although it was good to split since the flavors were strong and I don’t think I could have finished the whole thing myself.  The drunken chicken is a standard at all of Eric’s restaurants, and was as good as always, although probably our least favorite among the other dishes.  I think I liked the soft noodles the best.  The egg, mushrooms, and noodles were well balanced, where nothing overwhelmed the other ingredients.

For dessert we had trouble deciding between the banana cake with savory coconut cream, which we’ve had and loved at the original Monsoon, or the bananas wrapped in sticky rice with jackfruit cream.  We opted for the latter, to try something new, and wished we’d ordered the cake instead.  It’s not that the dessert was bad, but the rice was a bit chewy and slightly bland.  My recollection of the banana cake is more favorable.

This is the beginning of a wave of new restaurants on the Eastside.  Also coming soon are Wild Ginger, Blue C Sushi, Boom Noodle, and the second location of Barrio which just opened in Seattle last week.  El Gaucho, Pearl, and even Top Pot Doughnuts, have also opened recently.

Monsoon East
10245 Main St, Bellevue
(425) 635-1112

Longtime readers might recall Dawn’s post earlier this year about Jack’s Tapas Cafe in the U-District.  We thought it was worth sharing some more thoughts on Jack’s, now that we’ve had a chance to dig in and try more of their menu.

Jack’s, Chiang’s Gourmet (in Lake City), and Szechuan Chef (in Bellevue) are our favorite Chinese restaurants in town.  Jack’s cafe is a very friendly, low-key, family-run affair, and is the kind of place where you can easily fall into a rut – once you stumble upon an excellent dish, you may find yourself ordering it time and again.  But fight the temptation!  There are many great dishes to be had.  For starters, try the hot and sour soup (it’s among the best we’ve had around here), or the sesame scallion bread (with its many soft layers and crispy pan-fried exterior).  Their hand-shaved noodle stir fry is a must, as is the sour napa cabbage stir-fry with lamb; the latter has a wonderfully unique flavor that keeps me coming back.

Green beans, pigs ears, and sesame scallion bread at Jack’s Tapas Cafe.

We’re glad our friend Jim recommended we try the mixed vegetables, chicken, translucent noodles with golden crown dish – a large plate with an egg omelet serving as the crown, covering the rest of the ingredients.  (We’ve found that this dish doesn’t fare quite as well for take-out, so save it for your in-house dining.)  On a lunch visit just today with friends, we finally tried the eggplant with basil and now it’s on our must-order list for next time.  In return, we introduced them to the slightly spicy green beans with beef.  We always order too much food at Jack’s, but I have no problem eating those green beans leftover.

Not everything makes it on the must-order-again list for us.  I found the pigs ears appetizer to be a bit too tough and leathery, and the tofu with Chinese chives was good, but not top-tier.

Next visit, I’m trying the highly-recommended three cup chicken.  What else do you think we should try?  Post your recommendations below.

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

This is the most exciting news all year for us Ravenna foodies.  Vios’ second location just opened tonight, and the neighborhood welcomed them in full force: it was already packed with kids and adults alike.  Vios has taken over the Ravenna Honey Bear Bakery and remodeled Third Place Books to accommodate more seating and upgrade the kitchen.  Modeled as a family-friendly place just like their Capitol Hill location, they even have the kids play pit, with ample toys and a three-foot-high door so there are no worries about anyone wandering off while you’re eating.

Our impression of Vios in Capitol Hill has been that they have great food, but it’s pricey.  Either they’ve adjusted things with the new economy, or updated the prices for the new location, but everything seemed quite reasonably priced to us tonight: sandwiches for about $7, flat bread pizza for $9, salads for $5, and dinner specials for $10-14.  It was especially a good deal given how tasty the food was.

My favorite tonight was the warm pita with Kopanisti spread, which is a sheep’s milk feta with roasted red pepper and a kick.  I sopped up the extra spread with the crust of my flat bread pizza.  The flat bread came out piping hot with salty pancetta, roasted fennel, and mushrooms.  Eric enjoyed his lamb Giouvetsi with orzo pasta, and we both split a Brussels sprouts salad with walnuts.  We saved some for lunch leftovers tomorrow so that we could try the desserts.  During the entire meal, Eric was eyeing the carrot cake sitting on the counter, and the waitress told him he was the first to order it.  Not surprising, since it wasn’t listed on the menu, but people are missing out!  It was moist, not too sweet, and yuummmmy.  I stole bites of that while eating my cinnamon gelato.  That was my only (slight) disappointment of the meal: the cinnamon seemed grainy and chalky, although the gelato was intense and cinnamony.

The Pub at Third Place downstairs is serving a special Vios pub menu that’s different from upstairs, plus you can get the full restaurant menu, too.  That seems like a good option for getting together with friends over a beer, or the place to head when the restaurant is full.

Open daily, Vios Ravenna starts serving breakfast at 8am.  They have a small morning menu with baked goods, frittata, an egg sandwich, french toast, and oatmeal, along with the Illy espresso that they serve all day long.  I can visualize a weekend morning there in my future.

Vios Café at Third Place
6504 20th Ave NE, Seattle

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

Our new friends Kye and Eric introduced us today to Pal-Do World in Lynnwood.  Kye is Korean American and has eaten her way around most of the Korean restaurants in Seattle – she particularly likes Pal-Do for its soft tofu, and surprisingly, the fried chicken.  She and Eric mentioned how the fried chicken at Pal-Do is probably the best fried chicken in the Seattle area, so we didn’t think twice about trekking up there for lunch with them and our friends Catherine and Ken.

Pal-Do is actually not a restaurant, but a large Korean grocery store with a food court inside.  Eric V ordered for all of us, while Kye went off in search of her favorite blood sausage (Soondae, 순대 – thanks for the translations, Eric and Kye!) in another part of the store.  When she got back, our basket of Chicky Pub sauced fried chicken (Yang Nyum Chicken, 양념 치킨) had arrived, with a can of Coca-Cola included.  There weren’t nearly enough napkins for the sticky sauce, but no one cared – we just licked our fingers and went in for seconds.

Then the rest of the food arrived.  Along with the kimchee, my favorite was the seafood soft tofu stew (Hae Mool Soon Dubu Chigae, 해물 순두부 찌게), which we ate on rice.  We also enjoyed grilled short ribs (Kalbi, 갈비) and squid stir-fry (Oh Jing Ah Chigae, 오징어 볶음), and washed it all down with roasted corn tea (Oksusu cha, 옥수수茶).

We were nearly stuffed, had plenty for leftovers, and left there paying less than 10 bucks a person – a steal!  I say “nearly” because we all saved room for the fish waffles (Boong Ah Bang, 붕어 빵).  We wandered to the back corner of the store where a guy runs a very cool machine that cranks out small fish-shaped waffles stuffed with red bean paste (no, there are no fish involved).  They came out piping hot and we all stood there shivering in the freezer aisle munching on our fish waffles.  Those alone are worth the trip.

Pal-Do World
17424 Highway 99, Lynnwood
(425) 742-2237

Crémant is one of my favorite restaurants in town.  We don’t get over to Madrona often, but I’m always happy to take an excursion for steak frites or roasted marrow bones.  When I heard last week that Crémant was going to start serving brunch on the weekend, I felt like Jules in Pulp Fiction when he first hears about Amsterdam: “I’m going, that’s all there is to it, I’m going.” 

Before we arrived on Sunday morning, Dawn already knew what she wanted to order (having seen a snippet of the menu online): Bacon and Egg Pasta.  We arrived hungry, and I studied the menu ravenously, hemming and hawing, considering ordering one of everything, but I had this feeling that might be just a little too much food.  With a little nudging from our waitress, I finally settled on the Scrambled Eggs with Pork Belly, and a French press of Caffe Vita.

Eager anticipation turned into persistent hunger as I sipped my coffee for a long, long while, tasting it getting colder and colder.  Finally, our dishes arrived, and my first thought was, “Uh-oh, I’m going to be really hungry after this.”  Our dishes were beautifully presented and tasted as good as we hoped, but there just wasn’t a lot of food on our $10 plates.  Perhaps we should have asked our waitress if we had ordered enough food, but it would have been nice if she had helped steer us in the right direction.  (Friends of ours who also had brunch at Crémant that morning said their waitress suggested they order some side dishes to complement their egg dishes.)  We asked for some bread to sop up the eggs, which helped fill a little space.

Fortunately, they offer breakfast dessert (!) featuring Claudio Corallo chocolate.  We shared a chocolate cognac drink and a chocolate chip cookie.  (Hey, it was practically noon by this time, so cognac was fair game.)  We had fond memories of the chocolate cognac drink from a dinner at Crémant earlier this year, and it lived up to our expectations.

Will we go back for brunch?  Yes – we enjoyed our dishes, there are more things we want to try, and we’ve read that they will feature different farm eggs on the menu each month.  (This month is hen eggs from Morgan’s Roost on Vashon Island.  Duck, quail, and goose eggs will all make their appearance.)  However, Crémant won’t win the “best brunch value” award, and we hope they’re able to turn around orders a little faster as they figure out their game.

Crémant
1423 34th Ave, Seattle
(206) 322-4600

Whenever people discover that we managed a reservation several years ago for two of the coveted seats at El Bulli, they ask, “so, what’s the secret to getting a table?”  I don’t know the answer to that.  Mostly, it was just plain luck, I think.

Ferran Adrià talking with guests at the chef’s table in the kitchen.

But the number one thing you need to do to get a reservation is to request it by email during the proper timeframe.  This year, it is October 14, 15, and 16 – that’s right now!  It doesn’t matter if you’re the first person to email them.  The way it works is that they queue up all of the requests together, and then Luis Garcia spends a month sorting through the reservations and filling in all of the dates for 2009.  Usually, the nos start going out first, to those who requested dates on which they’re closed (so check the calendar carefully), or for whatever other reasons.  In 2004, when we made our reservation, the yeses started coming in mid-November and we received ours on November 19.  So you must wait patiently for the reply.  I had actually forgotten about it and was shocked when the affirmative reply arrived in my inbox.  I think I read it at least five times before frantically calling Eric.

What should you write in your email request?  Again, I have no idea, but I can tell you that our message was polite and succinct.  I wrote about two sentences giving our requested timeframe, and that was it.  I wrote it in English, and also copied a translation in very poor Spanish, which I’m sure was awful given that I know only a few Spanish words.  I also believe it was useless, since we discovered when we visited that they speak most common European languages quite fluently.

The only other tip I have is to be flexible with your availability.  I requested any time during the last half of August, or all of September or October.  This was before I knew that they were closed in October, so I effectively gave them a month and a half window of time.  And then we planned our vacation after hearing back from Mr. Garcia.

While they have historically been open April through September, this year the schedule is shifting to mid-June through mid-December.  My guess is that you may have better luck with those off-season fall months.  Good luck!  Let us know if you send in a request and whether you get in.

Now we can have our favorite crêpes for dinner, too.  Anita opened her restaurant in Ballard this week, serving crêpes just like her popular farmer’s market locations.  In addition to some of the market-favorites, like my “usual,” the spinach, feta, mozzarella, and cracked black pepper crêpe, she has some new crêpes that you can only find on her restaurant menu.  And at dinnertime, when we went, there is a small dinner menu alongside the crêpe menu, with choices like chicken liver pâté, pumpkin soup, steamed mussels, and lamp chops with Mission figs.  The menu changes every few days.

Lamb chop with Mission figs and potatoes.
Photo by guest blog photographer, John Gossman.

The interior has a comfy-cozy neighborhood feel, perfect for tucking into on a cool fall evening.  With its large windows and warm yellow decor, I imagine that it’ll be a great hangout for breakfast, too.

Anita looked happy for opening week to have arrived, and weary, too.  It was her third day open, and she said evening business has been good already, but that weekday breakfasts have been pretty slow.  With the popularity of neighboring Ballard brunch spots, like Dish, I’m sure she’ll be more than busy for weekend brunch.  And word will get out soon enough.

Remember how I said a couple months ago that there was no need to fret about her market stands closing?  I was wrong.  While some stands, like her stalwart Ballard market location, will indeed remain open, it looks like the U-District location we’ve come to love has only a few short weeks left.  Anita says that her U-District market stand has not had much business.  In fact, she received more business at the U-District market last winter than this summer.  That seems counterintuitive unless you remember how they moved the food stands, including her crêpes, outside the main market and over near the University Heights building.  With that move, she stopped getting the market foot traffic.

It’s too bad they can’t figure out a way to better integrate the food stands with the farmers at this market.  I know how important the farmers are, and I certainly don’t want them to get displaced by the food stands, but there must be some way to open up the market a bit more to the back area and encourage more foot traffic.  There’s a good symbiotic relationship there – Anita buys her ingredients from the farmers each morning, and she even attracts people to the market.  With the inundation of produce from our CSA delivery this summer, there are plenty of weeks where we wouldn’t even have gone to the market.  But sometimes nothing seems better on a Saturday morning than Anita’s crêpes, so we’d walk down there anyway.  And once we’re there, we always buy a few things from the farmers that catch our eye.  It looks like we’ll be making more trips to Ballard, to wait in the long line at her Sunday market stand, or dine in at her restaurant.

Anita’s Crêpes
4350 Leary Way NW, Seattle
(206) 838-9997