Wright Eats

Last month, we mentioned that Txori was starting up a new monthly dining event called Txoko.  This past Monday was the first event, and we thought we’d do a follow-up posting as part of the first Seattle Restaurant Review 360 event.  The Herbivoracious blog started this new food blogger event, where bloggers around the city post reviews about the same restaurant on the same day.  Today is Txori’s day.

The Txoko dinner is quite different from the normal Txori experience (see our first posting for more on that).  Instead of tiny, bite-sized pintxo portions, the Txoko dinner is done family-style, for a fixed $45 price.  They advertised four courses when we signed up, but I guess they didn’t count the pintxo that they served as we sat down, or the pintxo-sized cheese course later – two added bonus courses!

The pintxo was the tortilla española from their regular menu.  I haven’t had this since back in November when they first opened, and I had forgotten how good it is!  Crisp bread topped with a warm slice of potato omelet.  Really tasty, and I’ll have to remember to order this again next time we’re in.

Next up were the family platters of beet salad.  Everyone at the table was enamored with this salad.  A colorful presentation of golden and red beets surrounding a green mâche salad, it was perfectly dressed.  The woman across from me commented how she never used to like beets, but she’s recently come to appreciate them.  It speaks for itself that she (and the rest of us) went back for seconds as soon as our plates were clean.

The soup course followed.  This was a hearty fish stew.  It was very flavorful, but I found it a bit too salty for my taste.  I still enjoyed it, but it was my least favorite course of the meal.

The showcase was the suckling pig, served with potatoes, spinach, pine nuts, and golden raisins.  They roasted a whole suckling pig, and after Chef Joey displayed it for the table, they took it back to the kitchen and pulled the pork to present it on huge platters with the potatoes and spinach.  A delicious dish!  The best part was the skin cracklings on top.

I really enjoyed the cheese course – a few pieces of Spanish cheese with quince and spiced nuts.  It sounds fairly standard, but it had a very nice presentation, with the quince layered above one of the cheeses, and the spice really went nicely.  Although it was diminutive (it was a pintxo, after all), it was just the right size to leave room for dessert.

The baked custard tart with dark cherries was a nice finale to the meal.  I’m a huge fan of Carolin’s desserts, and honestly think she’s one of the best pastry chefs in the city.  This tart didn’t quite shine like some other desserts that I’ve had at Txori and the Harvest Vine, but it was a sweet, light ending.

The part of dessert that was really great was my coffee drink.  They have lots of interesting cocktails and drinks on the menu, which you might expect from a bar, but they even have some interesting espresso drinks.  I had espresso with milk, caramel and cinnamon, topped with whipped cream.  Carolin first had a drink like this in Spain and enjoyed it so much that she knew she had to put it on the menu at Txori.  It isn’t as sweet as it sounds, and the cinnamon was nicely balanced.  I am definitely ordering this again next time!

We like this type of communal dining event because it’s fun to meet like-minded people and swap Seattle dining tips.  Sometimes it’s a mixed bag, depending on who you’re seated with (case in point: a wine dinner we once attended, where our table-mates planned Bridge moves on paper the entire evening), but we had a really great time on Monday.  Maybe you’ll see us at a future Txoko event.

pintxo de tortilla española
potato – onion omelet

ensalada de remolachas
baby beets – green salad

marmitako
fisherman’s stew – tuna – potatoes – peppers

cochinillo
slow roasted suckling pig
patatas panadera
potatoes – onions – olive oil
espinacas a la catalana
spinach – pine nuts

pintxo de queso
cheese

tarta vasca
buttery crust – baked custard – dark cherries

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

One place we try not to miss whenever we visit Vancouver, BC is Vij’s.  Hands down, this place has the best Indian food anywhere.  There’s usually a wait for a table, but it’s no problem when you’re drinking a cup of their homemade chai tea.  It’s fun to go with friends so you can share, since there are too many tempting dishes to choose just one.

They also have a more casual cafe next door called Rangoli.  We haven’t eaten there, but you can grab take out or bring home some pre-packaged meals for your freezer.  When we went to Vancouver in February, we brought a small cooler with us for the express purpose of bringing some food from Rangoli back to Seattle.  We weren’t really sure what we were allowed to bring over the border, but when asked by the border guy whether we were bringing back food, we said we had Indian food, and then he looked at us very grumpily and wanted to know what sort of Indian food.  We said “Vij’s” and he said, “Oh, ok, go ahead.”  See, even the border guy knows about this stuff. :)  Tonight, we pulled a couple packets out of the freezer, threw them into a pot of boiling water, made some Cumin Basmati Rice, and heated Rangoli Naan in the oven.  A very satisfying dinner, indeed.

A year or two ago, we heard rumor that they were trying to start selling their frozen food in Seattle area grocery stores.  I haven’t seen this happen, however.  Has anyone heard or seen anything more about this?

The Cumin Basmati Rice recipe is from their cookbook, Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine.  We hadn’t cooked Indian food before our friends Rachel and Steve gave us a copy of this cookbook when it was first published, and wow, what a way to start cooking Indian!  We dove right in by making an entire meal, right down to the homemade paneer.  It was a huge success.  I highly recommend this fantastic cookbook.

Vij’s
1480 W. 11th Ave, Vancouver, BC
(604) 736-6664

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

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

Quinn’s is one of our favorite places in town these days.  It’s a gastropub (Brit-speak for a pub that specializes in high-quality food), and as evidenced by the ever-packed dining room, the word is out.  Service is great; the waitstaff has been downright enthusiastic on each visit when describing the menu and recommending drink pairings.  And when we walked in for dinner tonight, a sign said “Lunch coming soon.”  I know where I’ll be camped out when working remotely from Seattle.

Have you noticed how poutine is on every new restaurant menu in Seattle?  We first spotted it at Smith last year, then Steelhead Diner, then here at Quinn’s, and most recently at Skillet Street Food.  Quinn’s elevates the dish above its humble roots by replacing gravy with demi-glacé, cheese curds with Fontina cheese, and letting you throw on a slab of foie gras for good measure.  We went for the full foie-topped dish on our first visit, but the extra cost for the 3-oz piece isn’t worth it.  The basic dish is plenty yummy without it.

Tonight’s meal ventured far into the realm of excess.  Things started off quite reasonably - cider for Dawn and Blanche de Chambly for Eric, a house-made pretzel with petrus welsh rarebit, and a grilled romaine lettuce salad.  But things got crazy when we decided to split tonight’s special: the ”ultra burger.”  Take your standard 8oz. wagyu beef burger, replace the cheddar with a layer of braised oxtail, replace the bacon with 3oz of foie gras, and finally swap out the mayo for a nice helping of duck rillete.  Oh, and don’t forget about the rich demi-glacé sauce on the side for dipping your fries.  Yours for only $30.  (After eating this monstrosity, I realized that this is not far from the Saturday Night Live Taco Town skit.)

Quinn’s
1001 E Pike St, Seattle
(206) 325-7711