Wright Eats

Eric and I are just off the plane last night from our vacation in France and now recovering from jetlag.  Our typical routine when we return is to awake by 4 or 5:00 a.m. (since it’s impossible for us to sleep any longer) and head out to breakfast somewhere.  Last time, we discovered that Seattle breakfast places don’t open until the oh-so-late hour of 8 or 9, which is no good for hungry people wandering Seattle at 6:30 a.m.  So this time we headed to The Original Pancake House, which we were certain was open.  Nothing like a good American breakfast to welcome us back!  This afternoon, we’ll finish up the last of our bag of Parisian pastries we delicately hand-carried on our return flight – canalé, financiers from Maison Kayser, macarons from Pierre Hermé, and my favorite bite of the trip, an Ispahan croissant from Pierre Hermé, which is filled with their signature rose-flavored almond creme, raspberry gelée, and studded with red flecks of raspberry on top.  The croissant is only one delicacy from the famous Ispahan flavor family from Pierre Hermé, which includes Ispahan macarons, Ispahan bûche de Noel, and more.

Standard parallel parking distance in Paris; breads at Maison Kayser; cheeses at Fromagerie Laurent Dubois.

Now it’s back to reality, work, unpacking, and getting our photos downloaded to our computer.  We’ve found that putting together our photo album and writing our travelog usually takes a few weeks, and even more so this time around since we’ll be busy attending the first International Food Bloggers Conference next weekend.  So hang tight for a little while, or if you can’t wait, go back and read about one of our past trips here (note that we typically only write travelogs for the trips of two or more weeks – try clicking on one of the European links).

In the meantime, I encourage you to pick up a copy of David Lebovitz’s new book, The Sweet Life in Paris.  We headed over to WH Smith just to get a copy while we were in Paris, where their window display was plastered with copies of his book.  The lady at the checkout reminded me that he would be there to sign books only a week later, which would be after we’re back in the U.S. – what I would give to get my book signed!

Les Papilles bistro; our Paris kitchen; Pierre Hermé pastries.

I read it cover to cover, sitting on the Metro, and while giving our feet a break in our Latin Quarter apartment.  We dropped everything to try out his mouth-watering recommendations, which for a lucky week were just a Metro ride away, and we were laughing on every page at his accurate descriptions of Parisians.

Case in point was this excerpt:

“Oh, you were waiting in line?” more than one person has said to me when I’ve busted them for trying to cut in.  “No, not really,” I want to come back with, “I was just standing here in the supermarket with a basketful of items at the register, since I had nothing else to do today.”

One dame who stepped right in front of me at the busy Ladurée on the Champs-Elysées actually turned to me when I spoke up, and said, “Is there really a line?”

To clarify it for her, I pointed out the ten people in single file in front of me and the twenty people waiting behind.  I don’t know how her definition of “a line” differs from mine, but I gave her plenty of time to ponder that as she skulked back to the end of it.

Eric witnessed this in action at the airport on our way home.  He went to purchase a bottle of water for our flight and was standing in line directly behind the tallest person he’d ever seen (Eric didn’t even come up to this guy’s shoulders), with a clear line of people behind him.  This guy was wearing NBA gear and didn’t look like someone you’d want to mess with.  So a Parisian steps in front of him and starts to get out his change to pay for his Perrier.  The basketball player says in a low, deep booming voice, “Hey, this is a line.”  The Parisian looks at him, pauses, and says, “Sorry.  I did not see you.”  What!?  There is no way you could walk into this store and not see this tall guy dressed in bright white.

Page after page in David’s book are hilarious real-life stories like this.  When I’m feeling nostalgic for Paris in a month, I definitely plan to re-read this book.  In the meantime, I’m going to pretend I’m still in Paris as I eat my Ispahan.

Ah, I love springtime.  Days are longer.  Birds chirp happily in the morning.  There are hints of nice weather to come.  Everyone seems to be celebrating their birthday, including me!  And birthdays make me think of cupcakes.  While I’d never turn down birthday cake, I’ve had a thing for cupcakes ever since childhood.  I consider myself quite lucky that my favorite cupcake is made just down the street in Wallingford at Trophy Cupcakes.  The only downside is that I have to wait all year for it to return!  The magic flavor: Chocolate Guinness Stout with Bailey’s Buttercream.

Our friend Arathi likes to bake, even more than I do, which I hadn’t thought possible.  And anyone who’s lucky enough to work with her husband (like me) benefits from when she bakes too many cookies and he brings a batch to share.  After I tried her rusks, I had to get her recipe.  Like biscotti, they are twice-baked dry cookies/biscuits, not too sweet, and perfect for enjoying with your morning coffee or dipping into tea.  We also found that they go nicely with a glass of eggnog!

Greg’s Favorite Rusks
From The Farmhouse Cookbook, by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Makes about 80 rusks

2 cups whole almonds
2 cups sugar
5½  cups unbleached all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Place almonds in a baking pan large enough to hold them in a single layer, and toast, stirring once, until they give off a toasted aroma, 10 to 15 minutes.

Raise the oven temperature to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the almonds and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a food processor, and grind to a fine powder.

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together onto a piece of waxed paper.

Cream butter and remaining sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow and light. Add the sour cream and the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture and the almonds until just incorporated.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and pat it out to form a 13 x 4-inch rectangle that is ¾ inch thick. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, so you have two pieces of dough measuring 13 x 2 inches, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Bake in the center of the oven until golden, puffed, and firm, about 35 minutes. Slide the parchment paper onto wire racks, and cool the strips until they are lukewarm, about 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300F.

Slice the strips crosswise into ½ inch thick slices, and lay them on their side on the parchment. Return the paper to the baking sheets, and bake slices until they are golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn and bake until golden on the other side, another 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the rusks to wire racks to cool.

The paper came down off the windows right before Thanksgiving, and on Friday, Peaks Frozen Custard opened in Roosevelt.  This is the real stuff, you guys, just like Kopp’s back in Wisconsin.  In fact, Peaks is run by folks from Wisconsin, and their custard machine is from the dairy state, too.  Theresa Blaser, one of the owners, explained to us how they make it in small batches several times a day so that customers can get it as fresh as possible.  That’s when the custard tastes best.

They offer three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and a flavor of the day – today’s was cookies ‘n cream, and Sunday’s was egg nog.  The vanilla is pure vanilla goodness, and their proprietary chocolate custard is rich and perfectly chocolaty.  Served up in a waffle cone, waffle dish, or compostable dish with compostable spoon, you can eat it plain or with any of their long list of toppings (that’s marshmallow on chocolate above).  Um-yum.

If that’s not enough to convince you to eat frozen custard on a cold winter day, I don’t know what is.  Well, I was actually wondering, how is a new custard place going to hold their own in a floundering economy in the middle of winter in gray Seattle?  They’ve got this figured out, too.  They’re really a coffee house in disguise, using coffee to lure you in to the custard temptations.  This neighborhood has a dearth of good independent coffee places.  There’s Bus Stop, which is well, meh, the usually burnt coffee at Whole Foods across the street, or the Starbucks above that.  Starbucks is about the only place with comfy chairs where you can kick back, though, so that leaves no options for independent coffee.  Peaks is kicking up the competition, with Lighthouse coffee, a roaster out of Fremont that we love.  Not only that, but they’ve got comfy chairs and a fireplace to boot.  I expected a sterile fluorescent place, probably because it’s in a new condo building, and was pleasantly surprised when I walked in.  They’ve even got a kids nook, complete with wooden rocking horse and storybooks.

To top it all off, Theresa bakes an assortment of pastries daily.  She gets in at 5am to make cupcakes, quiche, cookies, bundt cake, brownies, and more.  We detoured past there this morning on our walk to the park and ride, and were impressed with her sherry nutmeg bundt cake which was served right out of the oven.  Above, that’s our fellow vanpooler, Ben, who we ran into inside, enjoying his own slice before we all headed off to work.

Peaks Frozen Custard
1026 NE 65th Street, Seattle
(206) 854-2351

The best tasting cupcakes

The Chez Panisse kitchen; Eric ready for dinner at Chez Panisse; Blue Bottle coffee at the Saturday market.

Eric’s f/1 photography group met for a weekend in San Francisco at the end of September.  The two of us flew down a few days early to do some eating, and then my friend Jacki and I toured around and shopped while the guys were doing their photography thing.  Here’s where we went:

• Jardiniere – This is a classy, upscale, expensive place near the symphony.  The food was good, but not out of this world.  We had an excellent pinot recommendation – George Vintage IV, which we really loved.  And when we reached the end of the meal, we regretted having had (awesome) cocktails and drinking most of that bottle of pinot, since we had to miss out on the dessert tasting flights of name-your-drink.  They had a good two dozen different flights: armagnacs, tawnies, scotches, everything.
• Boulette’s Larder – Eric and I went here for weekday brunch in the Ferry Building.  We sat outside on a brilliant beautiful day (as it was for our entire visit), overlooking the Bay Bridge.  They had a limited menu of impeccable simple ingredients.  We enjoyed poached eggs with beans and a beautiful slice of tomato, with a dusting of Parmigiano, along with a huge plate of toast from Acme Bread Company, a great bakery also in the building.

The Ferry Building; a farmer selling grapes; rotisserie chicken at the farmer’s market.

• Slanted Door – This is a modern Vietnamese place in the Ferry Building.  We went here for a light lunch.  It was good, but I doubt I’d go back, since nothing we ordered impressed me hugely.  The size of the place and type of food vaguely reminded me of Wild Ginger in Seattle.
• Chez Panisse – We hadn’t been here before, and were really impressed by the execution of a simple menu.  We went for a weeknight dinner and were offered one small tasting menu.  Just four courses seemed tiny compared to most restaurants’ lengthy tasting menus nowadays, but it was perfect – I hate the overstuffed feeling at the end of a huge meal, and this just made us feel satisfied and happy.  The food initially seemed like fairly standard local fare when reading the menu (tomato salad, lamb three ways), but the seasoning was spot on and little touches of simple things made the standard become inspired (such as tangy-salted handmade ricotta and warmed Nicoise with the tomato salad).
• La Taqueria – Great tacos in the Mission District.  They charge for extras like cheese and sour cream, which make it a little pricey, but worth it.  I couldn’t get over the fact that they would charge $1.20 to remove the beans from the tacos.

Bi-Rite ice cream cone; choosing flavors at Bi-Rite; a Ritual Coffee Roasters cappuccino.

• Ritual Coffee Roasters – We stopped here for our caffeine fix in the Mission.  You can watch them roast the beans right there in the store.
• Tartine Bakery – The line was out the door and inching slowly at this popular bakery.  I rested my feet at an outdoor table while Eric stood in line to get a slice of lemon meringue cake.  It was moist, yummy, and super-rich (I could barely eat more than a few bites).
• Bi-Rite Creamery – Awesome ice cream.  Beats our Molly Moon, particularly the salted caramel ice cream, which is very close to my all-time favorite homemade ice cream (Bi-Rite’s is missing the yummy caramel praline bits).  I was really bummed when I found out that David Lebovitz would be visiting from Paris and signing cookbooks here only a week later.

Lemon meringue cake from Tartine; pop rocks dark chocolate bar enjoyed with peanut butter hot chocolate at Christopher Elbow; sole with corn chowder at Range.

• Range – A one-Michelin-star restaurant tucked into a corner of the Mission District.  We had a reservation but chose to sit at a table in the bar, which had a better vibe than the rooms in the back.  We were all guessing what Eric’s “sole with corn and potato chowder” would be – chowder with sole in it, or sole with some chowder on the side?  Turned out it was neither.  The sole was served in a bowl with a shallow pool of chowder at the bottom and lots of chunky vegetables.  Don’t miss the homemade butterscotch pudding for dessert!
• Ferry Building Farmer’s Market – The ferry building has lots of interesting food shops open every day of the week, but the place comes alive on Tuesdays and Saturdays when the farmers set up tables all around the building, and everyone in San Francisco comes out shopping.
• Yank Sing – I didn’t go here, but Eric did with the guys for dim sum and said it was great.

Peppers at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market; a mural in the Mission; the f/1 guys enjoying dim sum.

• Rye – On the recommendation of Michelle and Kelly at Licorous, Jacki and I stopped here for pre-dinner cocktails.  The space is really cool.  Dark, brick walls, high ceilings except a lowered wood ceiling over the bar, a pool table near the bar, and a lounge on the other side of the room.  It looks like it would be a fun place to go late at night.
• Zuni Café – This was my second time here and it was just as amazing as I remembered.  Last time, we could tell there were a number of nooks and crannies behind the main dining loft, but I had no idea just how many there are.  The second floor dining rooms are tucked away everywhere, each with railings overlooking the first floor.  Loved the Caesar salad, and had a nibble of Jacki’s starved tomato salad – those were the best, sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever eaten.  The roast guinea hen was super-flavorful and juicy.  Yum.

The wood stove at Zuni Café; a tea shop in Chinatown; the starved tomato salad at Zuni Café.

• Citizen Cake – We stopped here for brunch while shopping on Hayes Street.  I’m always a sucker for Dutch baby pancakes, and theirs was great.
• Christopher Elbow Chocolates – Lots of yummy gourmet truffles here (you can get some of them at Chocolopolis in Seattle), and interesting inclusion bars, too.  Jacki bought a dark chocolate bar with pop rocks, which fizzled on your tongue as you let it melt in your mouth.  They had a dozen different drinking chocolates – I liked drinking my peanut butter chocolate in the chocolate lounge.
• Blue Bottle Coffee Company – We stopped to pick up espresso beans from the Hayes Valley location.  It was mid-afternoon and there was still a long line crossing the alleyway in front.  We didn’t get any drinks since we had had Blue Bottle mochas (made with Recchiuti chocolate!) just that morning from one of the two Blue Bottle stands at the market.
• Canteen – We all went here for Sunday brunch.  It’s a tiny, tiny place, like a small diner, so we had to split into two tables.  Breakfast was satisfying and tasty – I’d go back, and would like to try dinner here.

We got two kinds of bittersweet baking chocolates from Lauren Adler, owner of Chocolopolis, to try an A / B baking chocolate experiment.  I wanted to make brownies, but haven’t found a really great brownie recipe.  So I went straight to David Lebovitz’s blog to see if he had one, since every dessert he touches is gold, and chocolate is his specialty.  The recipe I found there wasn’t his but Nick Malgieri’s “Supernatural” Brownies, which sounded great.  Then, before I had a chance to make the brownies, I was reading the September issue of Saveur, and the very same recipe is printed in there.  It was settled – now I knew I had to make them.

The chocolates we wanted to compare are Valrhona Manjari 64%, and Guittard Coucher du Soleil 72%.  On their own, they’re both good, but I like the Valrhona better because it has the hints of cherry that I really like.  But would we be able to tell the difference in brownies?

To make it a true A / B experiment, I used the same eggs, butter, vanilla, etc., and I baked them side-by-side in the oven, switching sides halfway through baking.

The result is a super fudgy moist brownie – exactly what I was hoping for!  So could we tell the difference?  Well, the Valrhona brownie had a slightly brighter chocolate flavor, while the Guittard has a bit deeper intense chocolate flavor.  But the difference is subtle.  No matter, because it turns out this recipe is awesome!  This is definitely going to be my brownie recipe of choice from now on.

We’ll be bringing a half pan of each batch to Chocolopolis tomorrow morning for Lauren to try.  If you’re reading this and would like to try the taste test for yourself, head on up to her store, ask for my brownies, and she’ll give you a sample of each.  The thing that isn’t mentioned in the Saveur issue but is mentioned on David’s blog is that brownies improve after sitting for a day or two.  Lauren says 3-4 days is even better which is why she told me she’ll keep them on hand until Wednesday, if they’re not gone before then.  If you’re planning on stopping by, note that the store is closed Mondays.  Report back here on what you think!

Chocolopolis opened on Wednesday to the Queen Anne neighborhood.  Grand opening festivities are scheduled to begin July 15, and Chocolopolis will be participating in the Queen Anne Sidewalk Sale on Saturday, July 19.

Take a look at our previous blog posting about Chocolopolis to learn more about Lauren Adler and her new store.

When I hear Lauren Adler talk about the nuances of artisan chocolate, I think of someone describing a fine wine.  She explains how all five senses are used to evaluate chocolate: the shininess and color (sight), the snap when breaking off a piece (sound), the texture and smoothness (touch), the aromas (smell), and of course, the flavor as it melts in your mouth (taste).  You might hear her describe the cherry notes, earthy aromas, and the “finish” of a chocolate bar.  And like wine, she recommends you save the sweeter chocolates for the end of a tasting.

Lauren started her company Chocolopolis last year to help others learn about artisan chocolate.  I met her last summer when she was testing her chocolate tasting classes.  Eric worked with her a number of years ago, and we jumped at the opportunity to taste test chocolate at her home together with mutual friends.

We learned about single-estate chocolate bars, where the chocolate in the bar comes from one estate, just like a single-vineyard wine.  We also discovered vintage chocolate – I had no idea that you could obtain chocolate bars made from beans grown in just one particular harvest.

She has been hosting tasting events and selling fine chocolates through her web site for a year now.  Since then, Lauren has been looking for the ideal space for her Chocolopolis retail business, where people can come to experience and learn about chocolate.  She finally found a spot atop Queen Anne hill, right next to Bricco wine bar.  Construction is nearly completed, and late this month she plans to open what she anticipates will become one of Seattle’s premiere chocolate shops.

Lauren has relationships with some of the finest chocolatiers in the world.  Chocolopolis will sell over 200 different chocolates, including rare vintage chocolates that can’t be found anywhere else in Seattle, and coveted chocolate from producers like Amedei.

We got together with her last week and had the opportunity to try chocolate samples from one of the new chocolatiers in the U.S., Patric Chocolate.  I recently read about this tiny chocolate producer on David Lebovitz’s blog, so I was excited to get a chance to try the 70% and 67% Madagascar bars.  I honestly think these were among the best chocolates I’ve ever tasted!  They were incredibly complex, and even Lauren, who clearly has tasted much more chocolate than I have, was amazed at how there was no bitter aftertaste, as there is with most dark chocolate.

Lauren talked with Patric founder Alan McClure last month.  He was so interested to hear about Chocolopolis that he will be sending some of his autumn batch of chocolate to Lauren to sell in her store.  He said that he hasn’t heard of anyone out there doing quite the same thing as her, with the educational aspect of her business.  I will be among the first to purchase Patric Chocolate when it arrives!  Lauren, maybe you need to start a newsletter to announce new arrivals!

Lauren doesn’t want Chocolopolis to be intimidating and hopes the store will appeal to Seattlites of all ages.  During the grand opening in mid-July, she’ll have an entire week of events for both kids and adults to come celebrate and discover chocolate.  Stay tuned to the Chocolopolis web site for details.

UPDATE 7/6:  Chocolopolis is now open!  For photos of the new store, check out our latest blog posting.

Chocolopolis
1527 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle

We were wandering through Whole Foods looking for some chocolate for our macaroons when we noticed a little sign for flying chocolate bacon pigs.  What?  There were no pigs in sight, so we asked someone what this sign was all about.  He took us around the corner to the Vosges Haut-Chocolat display, where there were indeed chocolate pigs and a number of “exotic” chocolate bars.  He pointed out that Mo’s Bacon Bar was the same flavor as the pig, but in bar form.  We were so intrigued, we had to bring one home.

What’s not to love about this decadent chocolate bar?  It’s milk chocolate, with bits of applewood smoked bacon and Alder wood smoked salt.  Each bite is a complex array of flavors – I like that you can taste the individual components, and yet there’s an overall unique flavor.  And it builds brilliantly on the premise that everything tastes better with bacon – chocolate with gray salt is good, and this is great.

Now I need to try some of their other chocolate bars, like macha green tea, or ginger-wasabi-sesame.

We’d marked our calendar for tomorrow’s grand opening at Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, but were worried that we’d miss it due to a conflict at 4.  So when we found out this morning that their soft opening was today, we had an instant plan for tonight’s dessert.  Since word hasn’t gotten out yet, the line was short, although there was a steady stream of curious customers the entire time we were there.  Tomorrow will probably be another story.

As expected, we had a tough time choosing flavors.  Since the scoops are small, we each picked two different flavors so that we could try four of them.  They were also happy to provide samples (using compostable spoons – nice!).  We finally settled on these flavors: Espresso Vivace coffee, balsamic strawberry, cardamom, and honey lavender.  All were excellent, but my favorite was the balsamic strawberry.  We also tried the rhubarb-orange topping, which was great.

I even tried a taste of the bubble gum ice cream.  I still remember going to the ice cream parlor with my family when I was little, and I’d always order the bubble gum ice cream.  My rationale was that it was like two desserts in one because even after everyone else had finished their ice cream, I would still have the bubble gum to chew.  The sample tonight transported me straight back to those days.

Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream
1622 ½ N 45th St, Seattle
(206) 547-5105

Last Saturday morning, we were awake at 3:45am so we could meet up with friends and head up to the Skagit Valley before sunrise.  We wanted to catch some photos of the tulips in the morning light.  I thought I’d be miserable and bleary-eyed, but it turned out to be a gloriously beautiful morning and it was great staying ahead of the crowds.  We were the only people in a massive tulip field as the sun rose over the Cascades.  What a sight!

We caught lunch in La Conner at the Calico Cupboard Cafe and Bakery.  They packed nine of us, including two kids, around a table in the corner.  Lunch was casual and the food was tasty.  We had to use willpower to avoid the yummy-looking baked goods in the display case.  We were trying to postpone dessert until the ride back to Seattle, when we planned to stop off at Snow Goose Produce.  Although we’ve passed by this place a number of times over the years, we’ve never stopped in.  But we wanted to try the ice cream that Catherine mentioned on her blog.

What she didn’t mention is just how enormous these waffle cones are!  We waited in a long line for at least 20 minutes before we got up to the ice cream counter, watching happy face after happy face disappearing behind gargantuan ice cream cones.  It was so worth the wait!  The waffle cones were made right in front of us, and were incredible with Lopez Island ice cream.

We also bought some of the Gothberg Farm Chevre that Catherine mentioned (she is the cheese goddess, after all), some Skagit pickles, and an extra bottle of Cornelia’s Apricot Syrup.  And on the way back, we stopped at Silvana Meats and picked up some of their gourmet jerky for the road.

Note: If you’re interested in seeing our tulip photos, they are here.