Tag Archives: french

Oct 27 2016

Comrade – Copine

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Ever since the Book Bindery closed, I’ve been keeping an eye out for chef Shaun McCrain. Book Bindery had clean dishes that sought to highlight the main ingredient in an inventive way that was minimalistic, and yet inventive. It’s fine dining, but not overly fussy without being boring. So it was with high hopes that t0e and I went to Copine in Ballard to see how the chef had faired in his own restaurant.

Copine - fried salmon pate

Fried Salmon Pate – with salmon roe, with crème freshe. A nice amuse bouche to start the meal – a take on salmon multiple ways in a very complex bite.

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Apr 4 2016

Once In a Lifetime – The French Laundry

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There are some restaurants that are legendary, impossible to get seats for, and renown as the best meal ever eaten – Thomas Keller’s French Laundry is one of these fabled establishments. I went here for my 35th birthday, to check off one of my items on my bucket list and to celebrate with Kipnik and Noblesse D’Coeur. I’ve cooked from multiple Thomas Keller cookbooks and absolutely adore Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery, so it was an absolute dream come true to be able to sit down at a table at the apex of his restaurants, especially on my birthday!  It was more a whim to see if we could pull off this nearly impossible feat, and the fates conspired to make it happen for us.

Making reservations was no easy task either. Kipnik and I started calling at 10am using two lines each to try to get through their system.  If get the menu system, press the button to make reservations and hear a busy tone, hang up immediately and dial again until you get hold music. Then stay on hold for the next 20 minutes and drop everything until speak to person and take whatever slots they have for reservations. There are 74 seats available per night, and everyone will start calling at 10am, so be patient and keep trying. We managed to get a 5:30 reservation, one of the first table seatings for Saturday.

The French Laundry - salmon tartare

salmon tartare – with green onion crème fraiche in a cone; the amuse bouche, their version of lox and cream cheese to whet the palette with a bit of savory – the creaminess of the crème fraiche paired with the crunch of the cone offset the buttery texture of the salmon nicely

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Feb 21 2016

Sailing – Bateau

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I haven’t quite kept up with the food scene in Seattle recently, perhaps too many days of eating out in Bend has dampened my quest for seeking out new restaurants – too much of a good thing I guess.  So I was quite happy when Neptune chose a relatively newcomer to the scene, from celebrated chef Rene Erickson, that focuses on meat. Now, I do adore Rene Erickson’s Whale Wins and I have designs to visit her donut shop, General Porpoise, but her latest openings of Bateau and Bar Melusine were not on my radar.

We each did a tasting menu with a shared wine pairing between us, and the waitress helpfully suggested that we insert a steak before dessert. We took her advice as the cuts of meat listed on the chalkboard above our heads spoke the specialty of the restaurant, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss out on the meat.

bateau - steak tartare

steak tartare – with stone ground mustard, citrus zest, and horseradish cream quenelle; had a great beef flavor and had all the dressings of a prime rib with a twist of citrus zest to brighten and balance the dish

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Nov 10 2015

Parisian Dreams – A Seattle Macaron Crawl

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Nofrodelius and I were at it again – two girls on a mission: 16 macarons from 4 different bakeries. This time we were going to finish all of the desserts, unlike our cupcake crawl. This time the bites were smaller, but no less colorful and bursting with fall flavors and Parisian charm. Ah Paris on a rainy Sunday, settled into the bar of a tiny buzzing coffee shop called Slate Coffee; je suis amoureuse!  We went to Lady Yum in Kirkland, Bakery Nouveau in Capital Hill, Belle Epicurean in Madison, and Honore Bakery in Ballard as they were relatively close in proximity to each other.

Lady Yum

They have the most inventive flavors and are generally my go to macaron shop. They had a pretty good shell with lots of chew and is still one of my favorite shops.
Tiger’s tail – originally a Twinkie with swirl of strawberry jam and coconut, so while this had no strawberry flavor, it looked the part and had the requisite coconut flakes that made it a fun treat
Toffee tent – the turquoise of the shell is the same color as the toffee brand, tasted as advertised with plenty of salt and toffee brickles; I mostly loved the color
bear claw – just the pastry, had an overwhelming flavor of almonds and the prettiest gold smudge on the rose shell that convinced me to choose it; fact – I don’t care for almond flavored desserts, but I also can’t pass up a beautiful macaron
raspberry lime – raspberry with lime sugar crystals, a nice sophisticated flavor that didn’t have much tartness to it

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Mar 4 2015

A Tribute – Hommage

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Salumi and I chose Hommage because much ado and hype has surrounded this replacement for the lovely Book Bindery. My fondest memory of Hommage was our introduction to the hanger steak – a marvelous cut of meat few restaurants serve. In its place, the owners had hoped to build something more accessible, but make no mistake – this is still a foodie stomping ground. The open bar in the middle of the restaurant serving intriguing cocktails, the white of the room make the restaurant more trendy and youthful, but it is no less ambitious when it comes to food.

hommage - foie gras torchon

foie gras torchon – rich, mixed with pistachios and dabbed with pomegranate syrup, it had all the trappings a foie gras dish should, in the right proportions, though it probably could have used another slice of brioche. 🙂

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Oct 23 2014

Flaming French – Pomerol

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My sister can’t get foie gras in California, so when she comes home to Seattle, we must have at least one foie gras. Since it was her birthday, we found restaurant that serves FOUR dishes using the succulent lobes – Pomerol. They’re a relatively new french restaurant in the Fremont area that has their own wood fired grill in a minimalist setting.  There’s nothing stuffy about this place, but it’s trendy without being too edgy.

Pomerol - grilled octopus

grilled octopus – a job well done on the texture, they made good use of their grill

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Mar 18 2014

This Time with Pictures – Loulay

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The first time I came to Loulay, I forgot my camera. Well, in an effort to make up for it, I brought my camera to my birthday celebration with the black knight. Sadly, I did a less than steller job with the pictures, but they are still drool-worthy!

The black knight as I mentioned before, always tries the tasting menu when it’s available, and of course tonight was no exception.  I had my eye on a few dishes that I didn’t get to try last time and ordered a smattering of appetizers, which I believe, are the most fun part of the meal.

Loulay - beet salad

beet salad – sweet and varied in texture, quite the site to behold with all the jewel tones

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Mar 2 2014

Holy Cow – Red Cow

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I think Salumni and I were meant to meet each other.  We had scheduled our dinner and both showed-up under the weather, so we were could share each other’s germs since we both already sick. I know, it’s a weird way of thinking about it, but it’s somehow fortunate that we were sick at the same time. This time, we kept it simple with Red Cow, an unassuming french bistro in Madrona that took the place of June and Crement before it.  Red Cow, however, is an Ethan Stowell restaurant, which means we had high hopes for it.

red cow - bone marrow

bone marrow – full of fatty marrow, but needed some acid or sweetness to balance it out. Also, slightly burned toasts. Prefer Quinn’s bone marrow.

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Jan 27 2013

Fairytales from France – Rovers

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Once upon a time, there was a Chef in the Hat, who created the most fanciful menus all of Seattle had seen at his restaurant called Rover’s.  However, after some time, he decided to shutter this restaurant and venture on to new projects.  This would be the last time the Princess would dine here – this was his last stand.  And what a stand it was!

The delicate amuse bouche of smoked duck, potato leek soup, and chevre gougere delighted.

smoked duck

amuse bouche – smoked duck

DSC00358

amuse bouche – gougere with chevre, like a savory cream puff pillow filled with goat cheese

potato leek soup

potato leek soup with turmeric

The salmon mousse and duck confit appetizers full of complex favors set the stage for the rest of the meal. Continue reading »