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Heresy
I would never say the burgers at Red Mill (Phinney Ridge, Interbay) are bad. They're just standard.One doesn't have to do much evaluation since, as a concept, the burger has few components:The bun. Red...
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They had me at Ketel One
On this year's first really warm day, we made our way to the Back Door Kitchen (Friday Harbor).The Back Door is tucked behind a landscaping business on San Juan Island. Look off the back corner of the...
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Go ahead and talk about Fight Club
I'll just come right out and say it: Voula's Offshore Cafe (North Lake Union; breakfast, lunch).I used to give people the stank eye for talking about Voula's. Talking about it meant Others could find...
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Reuben From Space
Warm pickled cabbage. Why would anyone want to eat anything that sounded like warm pickled cabbage?Yet in the guise of sauerkraut it is a major ingredient in the reuben sandwich, one of my favorite...
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A brief affair
Well that was over quickly. For a while, things were going hot and heavy between people in my office and Jimmy John's (Downtown, Pioneer Square), a variation on the Subway/Quiznos formula.A coworker...
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"We don't have those"...
...the waiter at Olive You (Greenwood) said to me, at 11am on a Saturday morning, in response to my request, Hi, I just wanted to stop in for an omelet.It's on the menu posted out front, I replied to...
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Thai Civil War
The reality of many restaurants with ethnic menus is that a lot of the dishes are variations on a core of basic ingredients. The exceptional restaurant knows how to take those basics and vary them in...
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Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team
Sometimes you're in the mood for a very specific meal, but nothing you can find on a restaurant menu comes close to matching what you want. So it is at the moment with me and Chinese food.What I want...
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What's Not in a Name
You don't get to call a billard-theme bar a ‘ristorante.’ Sorry, but it's an Official Rule.
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"Show us your Tat's"
That's what it says on the official t-shirts at Tat's Deli (Pioneer Square), direct all complaints to them.Since the cheesesteak place in Pike Place closed I've been looking for another joint serving...
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A funny thing happened on the way to the fake cocktail
An odd thing just happened on my way home.I stopped at the grocery store to pick up lunch fixin's for the rest of the workweek, and on my way to the checkstand I passed the Adult Beverages aisle. I...
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I think they forgot something
As noted previously, Thai food has a fairly small basic ingredient set. Perhaps the most important of these is basil.The basic stir fry with basil, peppers, onion and meat is called a kra pao, or on...
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On the schedule
The Pig & Whistle bar/grill (Greenwood) is back in business -- under new management (the Olive You/Sweet On You people). There's still time to rename it Whistle At You Like a Pig.Still no sign of...
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Tourists on the halfshell
Elliott's (Waterfront) is on Seattle's Pier 57, so I was expecting tourists. Which was fine. It was a nice day, so the tourists sat outside, while we locals sat in the distractions-free dining...
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Where's the boeuf?
Charolais (shar-o-lay) -- a big, docile sweetheart of a white French cow -- is a slice (sorry) of heaven.They are raised all over the world now, but the ones I saw recently were concentrated in...
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Bye Bye, Black(faced) Sheep
Maintaining the natural environment can mean sacrifice.Mont Saint Michel -- St. Michael's Mount in anglais -- is one of the coolest places in the world, a medieval abbey that to the eye seems to grow...
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5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen
#1: Toasted FlourYou know those times when you're trying to make a soup, gravy or sauce, and it turns out too thin? It's too late for the corn starch, a trick that works best before you add the water....
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5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen
#2: Noilly Prat VermouthIf you like to make Asian food, especially stir-fries, "sherry wine" is an ubiquitous ingredient in many cookbooks. The problem is that most people likely don't have sherry, and...
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5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen
#3: BaconDon't give me that "Noooo, it's greasy" crap: you love bacon.If it will help, you can call it American Pancetta, because that's really all it is.The great thing about bacon is its versatility....
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5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen
#4 - Food ProcessorYes, they can be expensive. Yes, the potential number of available attachments threatens like baseball cards.But a good food processor can do certain things that are time consuming...
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