Food News: Columbia City farmers market opens today, more

Been a bit quiet around here, huh? That's because I'm blogging over at Seattlemag.com most of the time now.

If you aren't reading the food blog over there, so far this month you've missed:
A 2009 Seattle farmers market calendar, with dates for all of the summer neighborhood markets. Check it out to find out when your local opens.

A spring restaurant opening update, including news on when we can expect Delancey, another Skillet Street trailor, and a second Agua Verde coming soon.

And lastly, you've missed out on getting the in-depth scoop on the return of William Belickis. Contributor Lorna Yee got the scoop just yesterday on the fall opening of Mistral Kitchen!

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Food News: Sitka & Spruce Moving?

Say wha? You heard me: Word is, Matt Dillon's moving Sitka & Spruce to Capitol Hill. More details to come, but read about that and more food news over on my Seattle Mag blog.

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Best Restaurants: The Ones That Are M.I.A.

So far this morning I've recieved five emails from loyal fans of Serafina, telling me, in no uncertain terms, that I screwed up, missed the boat, or was crazy not to include them in our Restaurants that Stand the Test of Time section of this year's Seattle Mag Best Restaurants issue (on newsstands this week).

Every year our Best Restaurants issue is our most popular, and it's also our most controversial. But I love reading other diners' thoughts on which restaurants "make" Seattle. So please, chime in and nominate/complain all you want right here. I really do want to know what you think.


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Food News: A New Tom D. Resto is on the Horizon

Yep, Tom Douglas is adding another restaurant to his collection. Read about it and more on Seattle Mag's food & drink blog.


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Food News: 3 lunch options for south-enders

Rejoice, south-enders (talkin' to you Georgetown and Beacon): There are two interesting new lunch spots (plus one returning champ) to check out. Two are cheap as all get-out, one promises to inspire, um, skepticism. Read about it all on Seattle Mag.



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Eating Seattle: A look back at 1986

It's pretty incredible to think of how much has changed in restaurants (and in dining at home, too) in the last 20 years or so. How we've slowly been turning away from the box and back to the farm, away from the machine and back to the hand, away from "convenience at any cost" and toward the hard-earned and appreciated.

I feel like my generation is returning to the joy of the long, shared meal. I have friends (and a husband!) whose idea of a wonderful, perfectly fulfilling night is just eating dinner together, at home or out, and it still amazes me that I've found others like myself. Because of these friends, I feel like less of a weirdo for being completely obsessed with cooking big family meals, and enjoying dinners out more than pretty much any other activity. You can keep your Saturday matinees; I'm going to dim sum.

You might be wondering where all this rambling is coming from. Well, here. It's an article written back in 1986 recapping the dining scene of that year. In it we find out that

Seattle chefs are doing imaginative things with seafood, using techniques that no one attempted in the years of the almighty cow.

They're sauteing, poaching, broiling and serving seafood raw. They're turning it into splendid mousses. They're devising sauces made from ingredients such as tamarind, macadamia nuts and jalapenos.

Of course it's tempting to be all smug and "ha ha, aren't we so superior" about this type of thing (I mean, honestly, jalapenos?), but then you can probably read through any of the recent missives written about the "best tastes of 2008" and pick out the "jalapeno" of this year. I'm as guilty as the next gal at declaring things new and revolutionary, with awe in my voice.

Still, it's a pretty fun read. Take a look.

Eating NYC: Reports from Momofuku Ssam, Tailor, more

I'm plain tired of traveling. I know, I should just zip it. After all, it's pretty gloomy outside right now, and NYC was gloriously sunny and chilly. I don't want to make you cry, but we even got SNOW during our 3-night trip. The Gods were smiling on us.

But now I'm just full. And tired. So please, do me a favor and head over to read a little about my trip (and what I ate) at the Seattle Mag blog. I'll be back. After a nap.


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Eating Detroit: A report from Rock City

We're back in town for a few days before making another trip: This time, we're heading back to NYC for the first time in two years! Got recommendations for me? Send 'em. We've only got one night undecided at this point--figuring a walk-in at Gramercy Tavern or Babbo, although Corton (Paul Liebrandt's newest) is compelling. Lunches, tho, are relatively wide open.

Otherwise, head over to my Seattle Mag blog to read about everything we ate during our trip to Detroit. Includes one Iron Chef and one local bbq joint.



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The Best Thing You Ate All Year

I don't think it's letting the cat too far out of the bag to tell you that our April Seattle Magazine issue is our Best Restaurants issue. The thing that might surprise you is that I'm already knee-socks deep in the planning (and EATING) that goes into that issue.

We actually started talking about the issue in September, and so far I've been to handfuls of older restaurants to check out which ones are worth including in the issue. We always cover new restaurants, and since those are so fresh in my mind, that part's usually a cinch.

The tricky part comes in choosing the best restaurants that aren't new. Many of Seattle's best restaurants are 5, 10, 15+ years old, but a girl can only eat out so often. Yep, even a "food editor" has geographic and gastronomic limitations. I'm not saying I have foods I won't eat; I'm game, so that's never really been an issue for me. The real issue comes in having the time to eat everything I want to eat, in neighborhoods that might be 45+ minutes from my home while still, you know, working and keeping clean clothes on my kid's back. In the course of a year I eat in an embarrassing number of great (and not-even-close-to-great) restaurants, but by the time the Best Restaurants issue comes around again, my knowledge is already 6 months, 9 months, a year old or older. So you see the problem here.

So here's where you all come in: Tell me the ONE single best thing you tasted all year. It doesn't have to be fancy. In fact, most of the time the tastes that linger for me aren't fancy at all.

the awesome fig tart at Columbia City Bakery...the best thing YOU ate all year?

There's a Calvin Trillin quote that I've always liked. He wrote that, whenever he'd ask strangers in a strange city for restaurant recommendations, he'd always say something like, "Don't give me the name of the rotating-continental-restaurant-in-the-sky, tell me the first place you'd eat when you just got home from war." THAT's what I'm looking for. The one dish you crave constantly.
Please leave your ideas in the comments. And thanks.

Food News: Five new pizza places

Hi y'all
Been a fun couple of weeks. I've been eating my way through the city--Le Pichet last week (that place is just so right--terrific food, easy atmosphere), Matt's in the Market a couple weeks back (still great, although one of the chefs is finishing sauces with way too much lemon and it's distracting).
But even more news: Five new pizza places have opened (or are on the verge) all around the city, from my hood (Seward/Columbia City) to northern Ballard. Check it out on my Seattle Mag blog page.

OH, and take a minute to look our new website over! Way more links, and now (get this): EVERYTHING from our issue is available online, including my review of the Corson Building. Thanks, yes, it does feel good to join you all in the 21st century ;)



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Food News: Veil's closing this week, more

I know this is only the beginning---the economy (even if it is relatively strong here vs elsewhere) is going to start taking names and some of Seattle's most unique restaurants are bound to fall. Today comes news of the impending closure of Veil. Read the sad news on the Seattle Mag food blog.

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Food News: Poppy taking reservations, opens Sat.

Finally, Poppy is opening. I've heard from two friends that the food is really good and that the space is chic but approachable--sounds like a nice fit for the hill.

More here, here and here. Or just skip it all and make your reservations here.

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Food News: Traunfeld's Poppy to open Sept. 13!

Yippee! Jerry Traunfeld's fanatically anticipated new restaurant, Poppy, which promises to breathe some life into the no-mans-land of north Broadway, is opening on September 13th (reservations will start being taken via email on Sept. 6th).

I am so excited. Check out Poppy's website for menu items--minted lentil goat cheese strudel, anyone?--and you probably will be too. More on Seattle Mag.


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Surly Gourmand on Spring Hill

Two posts in one day = banner day round here.
Just dropped in again to point you toward the Surly Gourmand's latest reviews. I missed the Spring Hill review when he wrote it a month ago, but since my Spring Hill review won't be publishing in Seattle Mag until October, who better to should nudge you all toward West Seattle's best new restaurant than the SG?

For years the downtrodden people of West Seattle have had to deal with culinary bullshit: Shadow Land sucks. Ama- Ama is good enough, but it would be better if the topless girl in their logo was totally nude. Talarico's is pretty good but turns into a giant frat party after 9 pm. Blackbird tries too hard. Mission, packed to the gills with yuppie scum, wants to be Fremont West; plus I only like Mexican food that comes out of a truck, so Mission sucks extra.

But way funnier in my oh-so-important opinion (hey, it's my damn blog) is the Cremant review.

The Jarret d'Agneau au Vin Rouge ($22) was a lamb shank, braised in red wine until it fell off the bone. It came with a ramekin of aoli (mental note: complain about aoli in a future review) and was served atop a smashed Yukon Gold which was so lightly smashed that the smashing didn't look intentional. It was barely dented. In fact, that potato looked as though someone started to step on it, then realized they were stepping on a potato and jumped off before they could totally crush it. Still, it was good.

Happy hump day.

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Eating Seattle: Georgetown Via Tribunali, plus terrible food at Serafina

I've been neglecting my responsibilities, that's for damn sure. I've let my dear blog get all dusty and oily and I've just walked by pretending I don't see it. Sorry folks. I've been blogging over at Seattlemag.com, but I haven't been posting here much.


I'd like to send you over there to read about my dinner at the new Via Tribunali in Georgetown and my very disappointing dinner at Serafina. Ugh. Read all about it here.


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Food News: Anita's Crepes gets a home

I absolutely cannot resist Anita's ham, egg and Estrella cheese crepes whenever I can make it to the Ballard Farmers Market, so I'm really looking forward to having a place to get 'em whenever the craving hits me.

Head over the my Seattle Mag blog page to read about Anita's new space, and to find out when (and where) she'll be opening the shop.


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Food News: Spinasse and a Corson Building review

Just in: Justin Neidermeyer's new joint will NOT be called Pancia Piena, but will be called Spinasse. He's still doing pasta, tho, and he's just about to open the place.
Read more about it on the Seattle Mag blog.

Also! Our new Web Editor over at the magazine, Karen Johnson, got an early resy at The Corson Building last weekend and she wrote all about it on the blog. It's the first in-depth report I've seen and it's also a pretty surprising review...take a look.


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Bourdain, and the Corson Building's maiden dinner

I've been curious for months to know what Matt Dillon (Sitka & Spruce) and Wylie Bush (Joe Bar) would do with one of the most interesting buildings in industrial south Seattle, the Corson Building. So when I heard that the Corson's first "official" dinner would be a pre-show feast with guest-of-honor Tony Bourdain, I knew--though I'm not a big enough fan to dole out hundreds of bucks to join in--I knew I'd want to hear about it on the flip-side.

Did a quick search and found this short recap of dinner with Bourdain on a guy named Larry Jordan's livespace blog. The pictures he includes at the bottom of the page are definitely worth a look--check out that hot red meat slicer!

Did any of you go? I'd love to hear more about that dinner.

In the meantime, I just noticed that there's now an email address to reserve space for Corson Building's Sunday suppers on the Sitka & Spruce website. Game on!


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Food News: Branzino opens in Belltown, plus a question

Head over to my blog on Seattle Mag to read about Branzino, a new seafood-focused place in Belltown. Thanks to Cornichon for the scoop on that one.

I'm curious...has anyone seen anything or heard anything about what will go into the old Mistral space? I don't live nearby so I don't get a chance to do drive-bys, so let me know if you've heard anything.

Other places to look forward to:

The old 1200 Bistro space looks like it's about ready to reopen as Pike Street Pub. They've even got outdoor tables set up.

Justin Neidermeyer's Pancia Piena on 14th (the old Globe space) is coming together. He's posted want-ads on Craigslist, so hopefully we'll see him opening the doors within the next couple months.

And this week: Casuelita's is set to open right next door to Columbia City Bakery. The owner seems nice--I've run into him and his daughter at the bakery--and he's very excited to get the doors open and the food served.

Got any other food news I should know about?

Food News: Monsoon East coming in September

You lucky Eastsiders! Eric Banh's opening a second Monsoon--and one that just might be an improvement on the first!--on Main Street in Bellevue this fall.

Read all about it on the Seattle Mag blog.

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