brunch « (y)our food choices™

Tender Calamari and warm root vegetable soup.

This past President’s Day weekend we took advantage of some frequent flyer miles to visit with a few friends living up north in Seattle. It had been years, over 15, since our last trip to the rainy caffeinated gem of the Northwest, as one of our friends described it, people don’t walk upright in Seattle, they walk horizontally – how much more laid back can a city get? Seattle has so many spots serving terrific local food, narrowing to just a few was tough. Thanks to friends’ suggestions, we enjoyed delicious meals all weekend.

Tuna Salade Nicoise and goat cheese tartine.

Shortly after landing, we were seated at Café Campagne, a charming spot near Pike Place Market. It is a welcoming place with tasty food and a comfortable dining room away from the rain and wind. Warm bowls of root vegetable soup took the chill off the morning. While we both enjoyed the St. Jude’s Tuna Salade Niçoise and the goat cheese tartine, the standout of the meal was the calamari. A calamari dish distinguishes a kitchen. Well-executed calamari, however prepared, signifies competence and care. The small, warm rings that came to the table were lusciously dressed with olive oil, butter, garlic, capers, parsley and lemon. They were fresh and nicely seasoned – and they were tender! Not a single rubber band on the plate. We were impressed.

Whoopie Pie didn't make us scream "Whoopie!" more like "meh."

We skipped dessert at the restaurant and headed over to The Chocolate Box to satisfy our sweet tooth. Walking through the doors into the shop away from the cold rainy weather, we were nearly knocked over by the strong aroma of chocolate. The display of delicious looking treats presented an intimidating array of options, but we ended up settling on a Whoopie Pie that Steve had his eye on. Sadly, it was much drier and not as fresh tasting as we had expected. We still finished it all and washed it down off with a warm Chai Latte. After drinking several cups of coffee that morning and walking past all the coffee shops in the city, we’d had enough. The tea was a welcomed treat.

For dinner we dined at Tom Douglas’ Cuoco. We both went vegetarian on our entrees, but when the restaurant treats the table to a plate of prosciutto, it’s just rude to say ‘no’. Fresh buffalo mozzarella, pomegranate seeds, garlic, grilled bread; roasted cauliflower; roasted Brussels sprouts with huge (overwhelming) chunks of Sardinian cheese; Tagliatelle pasta with gorganzola cheese; these were just a few of the delicious items we ate there.

Fresh pasta being made at Tom Douglas' Cuoco.

We enjoyed Saturday brunch at Skillet Diner where we gorged ourselves on their huge-assed cinnamon roll. Regrettably, we forgot to take pictures. The friend who introduced us to the placed dove into a hamburger and plate of poutine. We decided to go with a couple salads, and share the scramble special (yawn). We did get a taste of the poutine and the burger, which was all we needed—seriously! The place is a neighborhood gem that draws a big weekend crowd. If you go, be prepared to wait for a table. No reservations.

On Saturday night, dear friends introduced us to Lark, a Capitol Hill restaurant run by Johnathan Sundstrom, a James Beard Award-winning Chef. The owners have taken a decidedly local approach to sourcing the foods that end up on a constantly changing menu of well-executed small plates. The menu invites experimentation and we dove in with gusto, feasting on; apple, beat and Treviso salad, sautéed wild mushrooms, roasted sunchokes, creamy farro, carpaccio of Yellowtail tuna, octopus with Chistorra chorizo, crispy Liberty Farm duck legs, pork belly (two ways), and Oregon Fallow venison (the table’s least-favorite dish). Our party’s wine expert ordered a bottle of the lovely Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah (Columbia Valley ’09). It was a nice companion to the evening’s many dishes. We finished with a delicious pineapple tarte tatin, and date, hazelnut brown butter cake – both tasty, but we liked the pineapple tarte best.

We were in Seattle for less than 48 hours and we were already starting to walk horizontally. We were also drinking booze, eating cheese, and gasp…eating meat. Our vegan-ish lifestyle and our on-the-wagon reprieve from liquor were now being questioned. However, we were relaxed, happy, and enjoying the city up north with friends we haven’t seen for too long. We also had some great home-cooked meals that we’ll describe in our next post: “Eating In in Seattle.”

America Eats!

We love Jose Andres’ PBS cooking show, Made in Spain. It was a big inspiration for our trip last year to Spain. Jose and his food are amazing. Jose Andres is a product of Spain’s El Bulli, the once leader in molecular gastronomical cooking, and a master of all things Spanish nouveau. Jose’s approach to food captures the imagination and we’ve been hankering for a seat at one of his many tables since first seeing his program.

Our recent trip to Washington D.C. gave us the opportunity to try Jose’s interpretation of a number of classic American dishes at the former spot of his Café Atlantico. Currently flying the banner of America Eats Tavern, the effort is a partnership of Andres’ ThinkFoodGroup and The Foundation for the National Archives. Opened on the 4^th of July 2011, the effort will run a full year, closing on the 4^th of July 2012. We recommend you get there sooner than later!

Day One, Lunch: Hush puppies, root beer & ginger ale, Waldorf salad, and Maine lobster roll with housemade potato chips.

We liked the menu so much, we ate at America Eats Tavern twice over a long weekend. In round one, we kicked things off with Hush Puppies with homemade sorghum butter. Sorghum is generically sweet – sweeter than molasses and less minerally. The staple grain is refined to produce sweet syrup. We live in California and grew up in the Mountain West and we don’t know from sorghum, so this was an interesting treat.

A damn good crab cake.

Waldorf Salad, adapted from Oscar Tschirky’s 1893 creation, followed and while tasty, we thought it would have been better made with crisper, sweeter apples and celery, or at least celery leaves, instead of just an “essence” of celery. Sometimes the whole molecular cooking thing needs to be pared back a bit. This is one of those cases.

Chesapeake Crab Cakes were close to perfection with their toasty crust and pure crabmeat composition. We’re used to Dungeness crab in San Francisco but we thoroughly enjoyed the blue crab from the East Coast. The cake wasn’t gloopy with mayonnaise, it was just meat with a little seasoning. The way it should be. We shared a single generously portioned cake, but the glutton in each of us could have downed a whole one. They were very good.

And that Maine Lobster Roll! Let’s just say that while rich and satisfying, we could have eaten another and not felt bad about it. Thank goodness for Mr. Rockefeller’s mistake in eating a bowl of soup relegated to the status of servant fair. What was once a food considered “demeaning,” lobster has become one of the great oceanic delicacies and we couldn’t be happier about it. Served with housemade potato chips, this was a dish that will haunt us for years to come.

We washed all the savory stuff down with housemade ginger beer and Abita Root Beer from Louisiana. The meal ended with Pecan Pie, a tribute to George Washington’s love of the nut, and coffee with chicory a la Café du Monde (New Orleans).

Jelly donuts?

We returned for Sunday brunch to continue the trip through the restaurant’s Americana-inspired menu. This time, we started with Homemade Donuts with Blackberry Jam. Light and not overly sweet, these donuts paired nicely with the tart jam.

Next we dove into Vermicelli Prepared Like Pudding, an early American take on mac n’ cheese. We loved this surprising dish for its garlicy, buttery richness and the absence of soupy cream sauce. The accompanying intensely flavored mushrooms burst with big flavor. We were glad for the modest portion.

If you haven’t eaten grits, you must. The Shrimp ‘N’ Anson Mills Grits with a Fried Egg pays homage to 1607 Jamestown. The grits, milled from heirloom corn, is a reminder of early Native American contributions to the colonists’ subsistence. These grits are creamy and not too sweet, setting a nice neutral palette for the fresh briny shrimp and smoky bacon. And that egg. It was poached alright – poached in olive oil. The result was nothing short of delicious with the crispy fried egg on the outside, creamy yolk on the inside!

Brunch: Shrimp and grits, oyster po'boy, and vermicelli prepared like pudding.

In keeping with the prior visit’s classic sandwich theme, we jumped at the chance to order the Oyster Po’Boy. The sandwich came filled with lightly battered, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside oysters on a roll. Served with a little mayo, a tomato slice and a bit of lettuce, this New Orleans original was delicious. The oysters were fresh and sweet. The nicely seasoned batter held the mollusks together without overwhelming the delicate oyster meat.

Even though we started the brunch with donuts, we also opted for dessert. This time, the kitchen’s take on Erma Rombauer’s (of Joy of Cooking fame) Pineapple Upside Down Cake. The pineapple puree-topped cake was accompanied by vanilla bean flecked Chantilly cream and Bachelor’s Button petals. The dish was both delicious and beautiful. This is a must try!

The beverage offerings include nearly forgotten shrubs, squashes, phosphates and lactarts. Think vinegar and fruit juice with sparkling water, maybe some milk (lactart). These drinks are dry and clean and slight on sweetness. They provide a nice alternative to beer and wine as their subtle flavors tend not to compete with the flavors of the dishes they’re paired with.

There's always room for desert. Pineapple upside down cake and pecan pie.

On both our visits to the restaurant we sat upstairs, surrounded by restored vintage posters and a James Beard saying. “I don’t like gourmet cooking or “this” cooking or “that” cooking. I like good cooking.” Jose Andres’ American rendition of classic favorites represents good cooking, but it would also be considered fancy cooking, sadly, in our day and age when portions are huge and fast food is abundant. “Typical” American food is now a far cry from what it once was. We’re grateful to Jose Andres for bringing back good American cooking and reminding us that American food is much more than a cheap hamburger and fries. If anyone needs a refresher on how great American cooking once was, and still can be, just sit back and enjoy this Spanish-American’s spin on vintage American cuisine. Viva Jose!