Pizzeria Bianco - Phoenix - Great Pizza

Finally made it to Pizzeria Bianco today. I have been reading for years that it is one of the top Pizza's in the USA - but with a 2 hour wait to get in. They are now open for Lunch and while fairly full there was no wait for a table.

The atmosphere and building are really very nice. A good menu of salads, beer, etc. to accompany the Pizza. There are several red sauce and several "white" Pizza's. There are also quite a few add on toppings you can order. We had 2 white Pizza. One was olive oil Mozzarella cheese, Rosemary, red onion, Pistachio nuts. Despite the description it was a very, very lightly topped Pizza which is PERFECT. Really good. We also had a Pizza with some really high quality fresh Ricotta, basil, and we added some primo Prosciutto. Also great. Add a few local ales and you are all set.

Cypress - Our Best High End Meal in Charleston

After our disappointment with Husk and our totally awesome meals at Marta Lou's Kitchen and J.B.'s Smokeshack I was prepared to be let down by Cypress. If fact almost cancelled the reservation. However, we were totally impressed from start to finish. The drinks, service, decor, food, and wine were all first class. It was a very Southern high end Hospitality place. If you want to do Charleston's best I recommend Cypress.

Unlike Husk they were not trying to be down home Low Country - they were an uptown, local, seasonal, class act.

Husk - Bon Appetit (Not) Best New Restaurant 2011 - Charleston

After reading about Husk in Bon Appetit it was the first reservation we made when planning our trip to Charleston. Seemed like the place we had to go to experience the new high end of Low Country Cuisine.

It is a very nice restaurant in a great part of town. The vibe and buzz were fun and the food was just fine. It wasn't, however, even close to the best new restaurant I have been to recently. There are better in any food city in America. I presume someone at Bon Appetit has only been out to eat once this year in a new restaurant!

Part of the problem with Husk is that even a very good high volume restaurant can't really compete with a Martha Lou's Kitchen or a J.B.'s Smokeshack in Low Country Cuisine precisely because of it's size and "niceness". This kind of food is best cooked and passed directly to you by the cook on a paper plate. When you fancy it up you are missing the whole point in my opinion.

This was the 4th best meal we had in Charleston - which isn't bad but it isn't "best" either.

J.B's Smokeshack - Charleston - Yes a Buffet Can be Awesome!

So, we kept driving by J.B.s Smokeshack going to and from Seabrook Island and Charleston. After our awesome Lunch at Martha Lou's Kitchen we decided we should give the Smokeshack a try to see how really low , Low Country Cuisine stacked up to Husk and Cypress.



For an astonishing $11.50 ea for dinner we pigged out on ribs, Chicken, cornbread, Corn pudding, mac and cheese, an array of low country sides, and the best banana pudding with nilla wafers I have ever had. Everything was cooked in small batches, and the attentive crowd was just waiting to descend on each dish as it arrived fresh at the buffet.



I was pretty full and happy after thirds on everything. Don't miss this place if you are within a hundred miles!

Martha Lou's Kitchen - Charleston, Low Country Cousine

Having read about Martha Lou's in Saveur and the NY Times we decided we had to try it out to see what the real low end of Low Country Cuisine as all about. TOTALLY AWESOME - that's what.

Martha Lou, who is about 85, was our hostess, waitress, cook, busser, and cashier. This lady can really cook.

When you order she starts with fresh uncooked chicken and pan fries it individually. When it is done she instantly serves it with really yummy sides. This is the secret to great fried foods - fresh and served within a minute of being done.

As you see from the menu it is pretty simple, $8.50 for a heaping plate of delicious food and an iced tea. Can't be beat.

It is between the airport and downtown Charleston Stop on your way in or out of town.
You will not be disappointed - take your time and enjoy real cooking.

Cuoco - Excellent Northern Italian in South Lake Union

Owner Tom Douglas and Chef Stuart Lane have a winner in their South Lake Union eatery CUOCO. Cuoco means "cook" and they do it very well there. I have tried both Lunch and Dinner and I find the atmosphere, food, drink, and total experience to be very satisfying - not inexpensive - but worth the tab.



It is especially nice to have a great high end food place for lunch. Tom Douglas is one of the few Seattle restauranteurs to offer lunch with panache at all his places.



My first visit wasa "play-date" lunch with a friend and a couple 2-3 year old charges. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in a very grownup atmosphere. Fortunately, the atmosphere is noisy and happy with lots of 6 plus person groups and fairly casual wood table seating. The chef made an off the menu simple bocotini with a butter and light cheese sauce for our young girls and they loved it.



The second visit was a nice diner group of 6 with very good drinks and a nice leisurely dinner.



One of the things they do very well at Cuoco is of the moment, fresh appetisers that are innovate, simple, beautiful, and tasty. Their pastas are world class - better than Spinasse where we have dined many times. Stuart Lane developed the great fresh pasta program at Cafe Juanita when he worked there for Holly Smith, and also briefly cooked at Cuscina Spainasse when we had our 2 best meals there.



The various dishes we tried on our 2 visits are listed below. All were of the best, freshest ingredients, cooked perfectly. If I have any complaint it is that in their quest for simplicity they tend to under season many of their dishes. Unfortunately, you cannot get the really incredible ingredient taste enhancement benefits of salt in a dish by adding it as a diner at the table - it really has to be blended in before and during cooking.





dishes we tried and liked:



La tur cheese, cherries, walnuts, arugula



Burrata cheese, olive oil, macerated figs, olive crostini



24 month Parma prosciutto with arugula, olive oil, and griddled bread



Fava beans, whey poached egg, pecorino stagionato cheese



Roasted cauliflower, chickpea, vin santo grapes



Corn Salad - roasted fresh corn with great cherry tomatos



Bucatini pasta, Marinara, young goat meatballs



Spaghetti, garlic, anchovy, breadcrumbs, chili flakes, parmigiano cheese with grilled prawns



Risotto with Diver scallops, sweet sicily, chives, olio verde



Seven layer lasagna, bolognese, besciamella, parmigiano



Dry aged Washington rib steak, grilled country bread, roasted cherry

peppers, beacon hill arugula, lambrusco spring onions



Apricot Crostada with rosemary ice cream



Taramisu



Espresso over vanilla gelato



This place is a winner - go there - especially great for groups which is hard to do well in other "fine dining" places and formats.

Babbo Ristorante NYC - Too Successful for your own good

I have been to many transporting Northern Italian "pasta" based restaurants. I have been to most of Mario Batali's restaurants and have found them to be world class. From Del Posto to Casa Mono and The Spotted Pig Mario finds great chefs, has high standards, and does a great job. The problem with Babbo is that is WAY TOO popular for your own good as a diner. The place is so busy and so crowded that, while it is an exciting mob scene experience, they simply cannot provide the world class food and service that the menu, chef, ingredients, staff, and venue is capable of.



I hate to say this as a diner but I know it to be true: Mario needs to literally double the prices here to get "crowd control" and quality control. I know this because I had one of the best meals of my life at the B&B Ristorante in the Venetian in Las Vegas eating the same menu items I had a Babbo. The B&B is a virtual knockoff of Babbo also owned by Mario and Bastianich. The room, menu, and everything is almost identical - but it is not over crowded - and guess what? The prices for each identical dish are almost double what they are at Babbo - which is a general reversal of what I find most NYC celebrity chef restaurant price comparisons with the Las Vegas spinoffs.



I believe Mario and Bastianich are intentionally pricing low and overstuffing the place with diners as a homage to their first really successful restaurant - it is almost a public service to them to allow as many people as possible to enjoy the place. I can easily see why many people think this is an incredible value and unbelievable menu - it is just not what it could and should be.

Canlis - 41st Anniversay Celebration

Cindy and I had a tasting menu dinner at Canlis last night to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary. It was an amazing window table, service par excellence, interesting people watching, a very adventurous and beautifully presented menu, and a good time on tap for a 3 hours of dishes we would NEVER order individually on a menu.

Canlis was named this week a finalist, AGAIN, for best restaurant service in the United States by the James Beard Foundation. Well deserved based on our experience - a very busy, full, large, restaurant but it seemed there were more helpful, friendly, and always competent staff than there were guests. It was kind of cool.

The restaurant itself seems never changing, in a good way, with architecture, views and decor a classic NW/Asian vibe. After going there for 40 years I can't see anything different about the facility, service, or clientele.

The Clientele of this restaurant has not really changed over the years - we have been going there for 40 years - but that is what is really interesting. Everything else but the clientele in the world has changed dramatically. Today you can go to the fanciest public event or show and the attendees are in sweats and fleece. In this restaurant every guy is wearing a coat or suit, every women a dressy outfit. Really it makes high end New York look casual. There was a pretty good spread of ages, ethnicity's, and table group makeups but they all looked like this meal was, relative to their family wealth, one of the least expensive places in town. Big representation of couples our age hosting , interestingly, mostly adult daughters and their spouses for some celebratory event or another.

The menu at Canlis is extensive, expensive, and a list of classics that are each utterly satisfying in an ala carte format with extensive small plates, hot and cold, and a long list of mains. Over the years we have had most of them and enjoyed them. Last night we were feeling adventurous so we tried the tasting menu which is the polar opposite of their normal offerings. It was beautifully conceived, and presented. It was also quite good. However, I can't say it was really yummy the way most of their dishes are. But that is OK because it is really and adventure outside your comfort range and outside the range of classic dishes.

Tasting menu

Amuse Bouche - White asparagus soup with Olive Oil and grapefruit served with a spoon of Tequilla Sunrise which uses sodium alginate to turn liquids into a big bubble you pop in your mouth and it liquifies - fun and tasty.

Opakapaka - Sashimi with fennel pollen, orange, and a ginger-carrot nage which was surprisingly the tastiest savory course. beautiful and very good.

Scallop Mousse - Michael Richard would have been proud of the faux cannelloni. Alternating stranding of white and black squid ink spaghetti "pasta tube" filled with a scallop cream mousse with a charred (best idea of the evening I will steal for my cooking) cauliflower. It was a little scary tasting until I had the inspiration to put a little fluer de sel on it. The salt allowed the subtle cream and scallop flavors to compete with the squid ink.

Pheasant - An architectural piece of breast wrapped in crunchy cabbage, with a foie gras sauce and hockey puck (the tastiest savory bites of the evening - fried of course) of "dressing". If you have never had it or cooked it Pheasant is the toughest, least friendly game bird you could ever choose to eat - so pretty good is a massive compliment. There is something deep in the American psyche that deems "pheasant under glass" as the most elegant dish possible.

Venison - The second game dish was a dry aged, sous vide loin which was wrapped in a pretty tasty sheet of pine ash (by some magic of molecular gastronomy). In My opinion Venison kind of falls in the four legged camp of Pheasant - Not the meat of choice - but again it was pretty good.

Degistive - Cranberry Fizz - Another molecular gastronomy dish. A really yummy, fizzy, creamy, sweet palate cleanser served as an ice cream soda.

Dessert - Cindy had a chocolate molten cake that was awesome served with a kind of dove bar ice cream on a stick that was caramel covered with chocolate and way too much salt (And I am salt addicted) that somebody screwed up in the mis en place stage. I had the Butternut squash "cheesecake" which is way too complicated a plate to even describe. Beautiful, decent tasting.

Of Course, being Canlis, when we walked out the front door our car was sitting there with the engine running - impressive after all these years.

Mistral Kitchen - Seattle

Our good friends Beth and Raleigh treated Cindy and I to a much anticipated dinner at Mistral Kitchen last night. It was a great evening. The four of us enjoyed several very memorable tasting menus at the old Mistral location when it was so gourmet that the food critics worried it was "too good for Seattle". In fact, it may have been, at the time, as we were usually eating in a very empty restaurant. That is not a problem at the Mistral Kitchen - it was packed on a Wednesday evening by 6:30.

Finding the restaurant and gazing in the windows is easy but actually finding the door in the dark is a bit of a trick as it is dark metal that just blends right into the wall. However, we did get in and as it was Happy Hour we enjoyed drinks before dinner. The bar/cafe area was very popular all the time we were there. Raleigh had an interesting drink - absinthe pured over sugar cubes via a very unique instrument. The drink is not that good but worth it just for the show.

After drinks we enjoyed an excellent bottle of California Pinot Noir with our dinners. The small plates portion of the menu had many interesting choices and we tried 3 or them - the seared Foie Gras (awesome with some gingerbread crumbles and quince slices), a seared Scallop - excellent- I meant to share a taste of but devoured instead, and a very interesting salad of Belgian endive and duck confit sauced with a creme fraiche and pine nut creamy dressing - Yum!

For the main event Cindy and I each selected the Veal Chop cooked in the wood oven - I almost always order a veal chop if it is on the menu and this one was excellent. Raleigh had the Carlton Pork chops and gave a good report. Beth had the bone in Ribeye which was very well seasoned and excellent but was about half the thickness I am used to serving when I do Ribeye - but I assume that is the chef take on the dish not an economy move!

Desserts were a hit as well. I had the Apricot & Olive Oil Financier, Milk Chocolate-Coriander Ice Cream, Warm Apricot Soup. Really, really good if you like apricot - I know I do. Cindy had the Ultra Brownie, with a Sour Creme Ice Cream which was very nice. I have to confess I was enjoying my dessert so much I didn't even notice what Beth and Raleigh had!

Thanks guys - it was a treat!

Friends with Class! Karen's Birthday Party

Our good friend Karen celebrated her 70th birthday in incredible style last week due to the efforts of her awesome husband Rick - and we were among the lucky 50 folks who got to enjoy it. It was a totally classy event from beginning to end. First, Rick was able to cajole super chef, one of Food and Wine Magazines Best 10 Chefs nationally, 2010 James Beard Best Chef Northwest semifinalist, and amazingly nice guy Matt Dillon of Sitka and Spruce
and The Corson Building
to cater an incredible dinner at The Quartermaster Inn on Vashon.

Then, he talked Jennifer and Andy Krikawa , founders and amazing talents of the Vashon Opera into putting on an hour of up close and personal opera performances throughout the evening. I am not an opera fan but I was entertained, amazed, and in awe of the talent and the music when enjoyed in this close up personal atmosphere.

The food and wine: Bar Ferd'inand supplied the wines for the evening. The white wine was a Vin de Pays L'heurault from Moulin de Gassac 2009; a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Clairette, and Grenache Blanc.
The red was a Cotes du Rhone Villages 2008 form Mas de Boislauzon; a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.
The Cremant was from Hubert de Verdereau and is a Blanc de Noirs (White wine made from Pinot Noir grapes). This sparkling wine accompanied the passed apps which included wonderful, salty, fresh Oysters, gougeres, and a crostini with pork rillettes.


Chef Dillon's dinner was served family style from large platters in the courses followed by a wonderful dessert.

The first course included a salt water brined King Salmon Lox with honey, huckleberries and pickled chantrelles. WOW!

Another platter was thin sliced Persimmon salad with dry cured Duck Breast and Hazelnuts. Double WOW!!

The final platter of this first course was a Smoked Trout brandade with Pickled Peppers, crackers and radish. YUM.

The second course also included three passed platters:

One platter included plump Penn Cove Mussels cooked in Cider & Bay with apples, fennel, and Brown Bread. Best Mussel dish I have ever had!

Another platter included large pieces Steamed Halibut with sorrell sauce and Japanese pumpkin that was just fabulous.

The third platter was a Vegetable Bagna Cauda which immediately on returning home sent me to Epicurious.com to figure out how to recreate it. I was drinking the oil bath!

The Third course consisted of a whole lamb, selected and slaughtered by Chef Dillon served two different ways with Chestnuts and Pears. this lamb did not die in vain.

The lamb was supported by a separate platter of Yellow Finn Potatoes cooked in cream. WOW again!

the final platter of this course was a perfect Salad of lettuces and chicories

The dessert consisted of huge fry pans of Apple Clafoutis served with a big passed bowl of whipped cream.

It really is great to have friends, both for birthday parties , and everyday who have the class of Karen and Rick. Happy Birthday and thank you!.

Noodle Boat -Great Thai in Issaquah

Noodle Boat may be the best Thai restaurant in the Seattle Area. We recently ate their with friends before going to a show at the Village Theatre in Issaquah. Fortunately, I called for reservations because the place was absolutely slammed when we arrived at 6 pm. It took us the full 2 hours before the play to get thru dinner as the kitchen was so busy - so plan in accordance if heading over to the Theatre.

We shared a variety of items , all unusual and all great. We started with the Fresh Thai Rolls which were actually steamed rolls stuffed with cilantro, green onion, tofu, bean sprouts, cucumber and topped with a great tamarind sauce. YUM!

We also had Larb Gai which is ground chicken, cilantro, mint all served as a salad atop a cabbage leaf. Unusual, highly recommended by others to us and very good.

We then had the Green Boat which is a noodle dish of steamed rice stick noodles with a stir fry of green curry, coconut milk, green beans, broccoli, bamboo shoots, and red bell pepper. Loved it.

Other dishes we thought were superior were the Red Curry, and a Phad Thai. They also had a very unusual brown rice which actually was RED and very tasty. One serving of the White or Brown rice easily feeds four as many of the items on the menu come as salads or noodles.

Restaurant Zoe Revisited - Seattle

It has been a while since we last visited Restaurant Zoe - but it is still as much fun and as good as ever. Zoe is among only 7 traditional restaurants Zagat's rates 27 or above on food quality in greater Seattle- a very good sign of quality. Zoe has a really great atmosphere, fun but sophisticated. Their drinks menu is very good and somewhat unique to them. When you arrive you get prompt and friendly service and a nice plate of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We started off with a shared appetiser, not on the regular menu, of a torchon of fole gras with figs. The torchon is pure, raw foie gras compressed into a roll, seasoned, lightly poached and, in this case, rolled in pistachio nuts and cut into rounds. The figs were lightly poached too. It was beautiful and delicious. The brioche was perfectly toasted. It went beautifully with a rose cremant from Burgundy.

We were then brought "spoons" of candied fennel bulb, onion, and peppers as a complimentary amuse bouche. Again, pretty and tasty.

Our next course was a dungeness crab salad for me and ricotta gnudi for Cindy. Again beautiful and of high quality.

Before our main courses we were given another complimentary course which was a small bowl of gazpacho that was creamy and light. Coincidentally I had just made this last weekend Thomas Keller's Sun gold Tomato Gazpacho from his Ad Hoc At Home cookbook. Zoes version was almost identical with the addition of a hint of melon and some creme fraiche on top. It is very refreshing - made with tomato's, onion, cucumber, and olive oil blended very, very smooth.

So far the meal was impeccable. Our mains we excellent but both suffered a bit from what I consider design flaws in the dish composition and presentation. We were debating between the Whole Hog which is not really described on the menu and the Poached Salmon with corn and Chantalle's. Our friendly waitperson described the Whole Hog accurately and Cindy ordered that. It is basically a shredded pork timbale - yummy parts of the pork braised to perfection, rolled in a breading, and stuffed into a mold. It is then unmolded and deep fried to give a crispy exterior and a shredded pork interior. The mold used was a basic rectangle so the timbale looks like a small brick. It was served on a flat plate atop a very nice complex, saucy endive salad. The design flaw, in my opinion was that there was no sauce on either the interior, or at presentation under the timable so it was a little too dry - though delicious. It's shape was very unfortunate as well and served as a "brick"atop the salad on a flat plate it was really extremely unappealing looking. A concave plate with a pool of sauce on the bottom and a meatball shape or else a rounded mold would have worked from a texture and presentation viewpoint much better. Or using a gelatinized sauce on the interior of the fried timbale would have provided the moist sauce without impacting the delicious and crunchy exterior.

I ordered the Poached Salmon which our server said would be served medium rare which was really not accurate missing the mark in both directions. the Salmon, possibly one of the best tasting and wonderfully textured and sesaoned I have ever had, was poached using a very low heat sous vide method I am almost certain. The result was that the fish was fully cooked through, not rare, and was firm and flakey with a mere touch of the fork. that is as good as it gets for anyone eating a fish. I have had many a rare salmon that had some inedible and tough raw interior parts which is the usual price paid for a perfectly cooked exterior portion. Sous Vide allows the fish to be exactly the same perfect texture all the way from surface to middle. Fortunately her diescription of rare would stop many folks squimish about raw fish from ordering the dish. This is good because using the sous vide method the fillet appears visually to be completely raw - as in totally uncooked. The long low heat ina vacum allows for this. It looked like a big thick piece of lox. Chefs like to provide drama and surprise with a meal but when that plate was put down the surprise was not appetite stimulating. As I said it was fabulous and fully cooked but I could not get Cindy to even take a bite. This dish needs to be described better so people know that are not about to be served raw fish. Or, it could have been lighly sauced to disguise the raw apperance - which would have been the better dish design appraoch in a mainstream restaurant.

We had to run to the theatre so were not able to fit dessert into our time frame.

Hopefully, my "complaints' won't disuade you from visiting Restaurant Zoe - it really is a great evening and a great meal.

Bisato - Seattle Restuarant - WOW!

I have been meaning for literally years to get to Lamperia, and then Bisato, Scott Carsberg's shrines to culinary perfection. I could kick myself! This is perhaps the most perfect cooking I have ever enjoyed - Including Thomas Keller's Per Se!

Cindy and I stopped in last night and had an unbelievable food experience at an incredible price. We each ordered 5 courses and then shared bites. The menu price per item was around $11 so for under $60 menu price each we had a 5 course meal that I will not soon forget. The total bill including wine, tax and tip was around $90 each - I have paid 4 to 5 times that for meals that were not as exquisite.

The restaurant/bar is very nice, Scott greeted us when we can in the door and was very present in the kitchen the whole time. Each menu item was both a presentation and flavor masterpiece. Each item was just 6-8 bites - very small but just right to get the maximum enjoyment and still have room to continue moving thru the menu. With 5 courses I left wanting more - which is so much better than leaving feeling ill for the rest of the night. Portion size is perfect.

We started with a glass of a nice prosecco which we enjoyed for the first few courses , then I moved to a barolo. The food courses included stuffed zucchini blossoms, a duck breast paired with a chantrelle mushroom dish, poached duck egg on a crispella, a fig stuffed with foie gras, lamb chops and potato puree, an artichoke heart stuffed with a ribiolina cheese, polenta with a meat ragu, and an amazing fresh truffle pasta. For dessert Cindy had orange confit and a caramel mousse, and I had figs stuff with marscapone. As I said each dish was so beautiful it was hard to ruin it by eating - but tasted so amazing that you literally wanted to order another of each dish.

I will be back soon - I am anxious to get 4 people and go to order literally everything on the menu and have it come in 6 or 7 courses where each person has a unique dish in each course. Cindy and I loved that approach last night and have really enjoyed it in the past at other high end tasting menu restaurants. It is really a great way to have a foodie evening.

The Lobster Shop - What a Difference a Decade Makes

Ten years ago The Lobster Shop was our "fancy destination restaurant" on the Tacoma waterfront. It hasn't changed at all in the last decade but we sure have. We received a gift card for the restaurant when we bought a new Pruis this Spring and thought we would use it last night. It was a beautiful evening, the restaurant was crowded, and we got perhaps the best table in the house with its great waterside corner view of the Sound.

The Lobster Shop has three distinct personalities depending on when you eat there. Sunday brunch is iconic, the early bird dinners are a great bargain and both of the above are jammed. We arrived as the early bird crowd was finishing their desserts. This crowd is mostly multi-generational families enjoying a "fancy 3 course dinner" out for less than $20 a head with a specific lower food cost menu offered prior to 6pm. We went to the "expensive" version of the Lobster Shop - around $160 including tax and tip for the 2 of us, including a shared app, mains, shared dessert and a bottle of wine ($21 for a 2007 Novelty Hill Sauvignon Blanc that retails for $14 - their wine markup is 10 years out of date which is great for the consumer - that bottle would be at least $28 and more likely somewhere nearer $42 at most restaurants - unfortunately, I found it totally lacking in varietal flavor - tasted more like a $6 grocery store wine). Their wine menu, as If have indicated is incredibly well priced but also extremely bland in varietals and quality - i.e. White Zinfandel as their entire rose choice.

The ingredient quality and quantity was good but not seasonal (pea pods and asparagus as veg in September). The mashed potato's we just that, so thick and dry you could stand a fork up in them, while the potato croquet Cindy had was watery and terrible. My halibut and Cindy's steak were served "Oscar style" i.e. low quality shreds of crab or lobster with an insipid version of Bearnaise for the steak and Hollandaise for the Halibut. There was apparently no seasoning of any kind used in any of the cooking. It was a large quantity of bland, boring food from another era.

I think The Lobster Shop is just fine for a fancy dinner out at a really nice location for probably a very high percentage of the population who value quantity and don't really care about great food. It's just not our place any more. I realize I sound like a "food snob" (or maybe just a snob depending on the reader) but if you are either a really good cook or have been exposed to really good seafood restaurants you are not going to be impressed. I would only recommend this restaurant for brunch or the early bird for a bring along grandma and the kids "treat" even though the food will not be very good. People, including us really seemed to enjoy themselves as it is a beautiful spot, good ambiance and the food is "safe" and "dependable". If you are going to spend $60 plus per person why would you eat here?

Casina Spinasse - Seattle

Cafe Juanita on Capital Hill!!

Last night Cindy and I had an early dinner, following her botanical painting class, at Cascina Spinasse on Capital Hill. Chef Jason Stratton was selected by Food and Wine magazine as one of the Best New Chefs of 2010 - well deserved based on our dinner. We were also lucky enough to have a good view of the kitchen and I spotted a "newcomer" in the kitchen Chef Stuart Lane - who along with Jason were mainstays of the great Cafe Juanita kitchen. Those two together again in the kitchen in Spinasse will be magic.

We were greeted with complimentary glasses of bubbly as Spinasse is celebrating their anniversary. We ordered their Anniversary Tasting Menu, for $65, began with several extra mini courses of toasted bread with anchovies, prosciutto, a salami with citrus peel and some very nice Columbia Bakery rustic bread. We also order a carafe of a nice 2007 Nebbiolo Roso.

Next we were served a stewed dish of eggplant, roasted peppers, anchovies that was very rustic and nice - not our favorite course but interesting none the less. The next dish was a beautifully prepared plate of 3 house made, stuffed fresh egg pasta that were rolled and filled to look like tootsie roll shaped candy. The filling was a lemon ricotta, and the pasta were served on a bed of walnut sauce. YUM!

Were were then served the house specialty which is a fresh house made angel hair pasta tossed with butter and marjoram and served with sauteed chantrelles and lots of finely shaved parmigiana. WOW! The courses kept getting better.

We then moved on to 2 large Rabbit Sausages shaped like meatballs served over a bed of fabulous Polenta which included fresh corn in the finish with a little broth and a sauteed green on top. This was the top course of the night for us - Beautiful in every way and assertively spiced which as great.

We then had dessert and Italian Espresso. Cindy had a Chocolate Semifreddo, and I enjoyed a Peach/Goat Cheese Mousse . All top notch.

Everything about the evening was great . I really recommend this place - not cheap though for 2 including tax, tip it was $225.

Luc Cafe and Bar - Seattle

Luc is a French-American café and bar named after Thierry Rautureau's father, Luc. Located just up the block from James Beard Award winner Rautureau's Rover's in the heart of Seattle’s Madison Valley, Luc is a neighborhood spot with excellent food, fresh cocktails and a well-selected wine list. Cindy and I ate an early dinner there last night and were very impressed overall. It is interesting to see how all of Rover's fine points are handled in this dramatically lower priced venue. Of course, there is no comparison between the two places - Rover's being the top fine dining in Seattle with everything that goes with it to match and Luc essentially being a bar with very good small plates of comfort food with a great French Twist. However, it is easy to see Theirry's skills and taste at work throughout the operation.





Cindy and I started with an incredible, fairly priced bottle of a wonderful French Rose - Domaine de Fonsainte Gris de Gris 2009 ($35) and the best dish of the night - a Tartine of Smoked Salmon. This appetiser had a generous portion barely smoked fresh Salmon flakes on a toasted country french bread with a light spread of capers and goat cheese and a nice topping of arugula drizzled with olive oil ($8.95). It was both beautiful and amazingly tasty.





We then shared a salad that was very good but not life changing. It was fairly small and was composed with arugula, house pickled Bing Cherries, a small amount of caramelized shallots with a nice olive oil dressing($7.95).



For our main courses Cindy chose the Hamburger($11.95) and I had the Steak Frites($18.50). Cindy felt the burger was one of the best she has been served anywhere. Small, very chewy nice bun, tomato jam, aioli. My steak was typical Rovers, properly sauced, cooked and presliced. The fries were very good but being a small cut cold quickly. The dipping sauce was excellent but had an unfortunate look of a cheap thousand island dressing. The presentation of both plates was very casual, as intended. This type of fries needs to be a smaller portion or in a cone or napkin to retain heat though.



The dessert was an excellent fresh fruit cobbler with house made ice cream. Small and satisfying. We thought the whole thing was extremely enjoyable - with a good crowed vibe in the room. At $125 with tip not as "inexpensive" as it should from the mention of menu prices but still a very nice evening.



Seattle if lucky to have Theirry's excellent restaurants - you get what you pay for - and there is no huge profit in the type of operations he runs - I practically consider it a community service!

Beach Tree Restaurant - Four Seasons - Island of Hawaii - Best of the Best

The Four Seasons on the Island of Hawaii is perhaps one of the most beautiful resorts in the world. Their food at all of the venues in the resort lives up to that world class stature. It is literally a reason for me to choose this Island over all the others.

Our find this year was the newly opened Beach Tree bar and restaurant. The setting is unbelievable, the service really the best I have experienced anywhere and the food out of this world wonderful. We enjoyed both a Dinner and a Lunch there ( as well as their great buffet breakfast at the the Pahu i'a) on 3 different days even though we were staying at a condo at the Mauna Kea 20 miles away.

I could tell you about all the stuff we ate but really anything on their menu is going to be amazing. You get what you pay for (which is a lot by the way). GO HERE FOR SURE!

Monettes - Mauna Kea Hotel - Island of Hawaii - A Great Choice

Monettes is an upscale French/American Steak and Seafood fine dining restaurant at the Mauna Kea Hotel on the Island of Hawaii. Cindy and I tried it as our "night out" on Saturday Night. Everything about the restaurant was sophisticated and classy. I found this place after searching Internet reviews for a great new find on the Kohala Coast. The restaurant has a nice waterfront view from high above the water - unfortunately The Mauna Keas doesn't light this part of their waterfront so once night fell you could not see the ocean. But the room itself was plenty nice.

Basically everything is ala carte or tasting menus. The fish and seafood sections of the menu are extensive and you select how you want it prepared, what sauce you want, and choose sides independently of the main course. There was also a nice selection of appetisers, salads, etc. and a good wine list with a very decent by the glass wine list.

The meal started with the only food or drink disappointment of the evening - an amuse of gougeres which was dry and not yummy. However, a nice glass of French Macon chardonnay for me and a really neat ice tea "service" (Ice tea made at the table) for Cindy offset that.

I had been warned in several of the reviews about non attentive service but so far there seemed to be a large staff, very friendly, and very professional. We perused the menus and waited for our server to come and take our order. Unfortunately, she did not do that - so after about 15 minutes I asked the waiter standing by the next table to let our waitress know we were ready to order. He was very helpful and actually had us give him the order to give to her. Cindy ordered a crabcake appetiser and a small Fillet of Beef with a Hollandiase Sauce for her main. I ordered and Lobster and Avocado Salad, and a "red meat" Veal Chop with a Moral Crust and a Cabernet demi sauce. Red Meat veal is basically a chop from a young beef cattle vs the normal white meat from a dairy male calf. We also ordered Bok Choy with Mac Nut butter, and a Gratin of 75% white potato and 25% sweet potato.

The appetisers were both very well conceived and executed. They were absolutely delicious and beautiful. The main courses and the vegetables were equally beautiful, well executed, and delicious. The ingredient quality was also outstanding. Basically, I wanted to try to execute everything we had at home in the near future and that is a big compliment. I also enjoyed a nice Santa Barbara Pinot Noir with the Veal Chop.

Our server checked in with us several times during thee meal when we really pretty obviously didn't need anything. However, once the staff cleared away the main course plates she was nowhere to be seen. We were full but wanted to see what the desserts would look like. After about 15 minutes of waiting she appeared with dessert menus but we had already decided we were not going to give her a chance to have us wait another 15 minutes before she returned to take a dessert order - So I gave her my credit card and asked her to bring the check. The servers weird service lapses were not explainable by any lack of good attitude, kitchen performance, or lack of staff to customer ratio. I just think she was not a "natural/intuitive" server and probably thought people would want to linger or something. I know our Blog is Called Between Courses - but she took that too literally.

I would really highly recommend this restaurant - If you experience the same service problems we did I would suggest just asking any of the staff who appear to retrieve your server for you - Don't let it spoil the evening as they are really quite happy to help you.

Top Food Experiences of the Decade

In no particular order the following is a list of the Great sources of entertaining company and awesome food enjoyed over the decade just completed.

Chefs Steve and Miranda: Meals at home and on vacations with family and friends have in many ways been the best of all. Over this decade I like to think I have learned to plan, select, prepare, and serve many truly outstanding meals. Sharing that joy and gift with my daughter Miranda has added a depth and breadth to our relationship that is inestimable and truly treasured. Today we Skype several times a week about cooking, and food.

Thomas Keller: Per Se in NY and Bouchon Bistro in Yountville and Las Vegas have been enjoyed with Family as really top experiences. Meeting Thomas Keller, touring his kitchen with him, and the sublime meal at Per Se is a real life experience for me. Also the Thomas Keller French Laundry, Bouchon, and Ad Hoc cookbooks have been life changing in the evoluion of my cooking techniques.

Jason Wilson: Chef Jason Wilson and his restaurant Crush have provided some of the best and perhaps the most memorable (my daughter Miranda's wedding dinner in our garden, meals of my life. Jason has a skill in the kitchen, especially with sous vide cooking, that really speaks to my palate.

Hostellerie Jérôme - Bruno Cirino: This restaurant in La Turbie France has provided many awesome meals with family and friends. It is definitely the location of my foodie daughter Miranda's food epiphany. My love of France, French food, French Service, and the amuse bouche has really been influenced by Bruno Cirino and his wonderful restaurant.

Restaurant Le Clos de la Violette Aix-en-Provence - France : A wonderful long lunch here with Cindy, Miranda, and hosted by our good friends Beth Presslar and Raleigh Roarch is one of my fondest food memories. A 3 hour drive from opposite directions for both of us - getting hopelessly lost for an hour within a block of the restaurant and then and sublime meal. thank you Beth and Raleigh

Les Deux Freres Restaurant Roquebrune - France Many lunch's on the Patio overlooking Monte Carlo and Cap Martin with family and friends like Bill, Shirley, and Melania Page are truly memorable. In many seasons, states of health, weather, I can actually remember them all with great fondness. I believe that a trip there with Melania started her on her route to being an expat in Europe.

La Favorita Restaurant Apricale Italy - Zabaglone! Shirley drinking everyones Grappa! - What a fun little village restaurant high in the hills, on a little road that follows an ancient abandoned Roman aqueduct. Again, many a fine meal with friends and family.


Carla Giomi wine and food guide, San Gimignano Italy - My first great food trip and travel bonding experience with my daughter Amy was an Epiculinary Trip to Italy in November 2001 with Carla as our guide. Cindy and I subsequently went back and revisited most of the spots with Carla in 2002. Part of the tour with Amy was a tour and lunch at Fattoria die Barbi that I will never forget. This estate has a wonderful private restuarant and makes at least 5 different wines including the Brunello. Being right after 9/11 we were the ONLY people on the tour. Amy was having some stomach travel problems so she just has plain pasta and water. I on the other had got to do the special Epicurious Tour lunch and wine tasting which included a whole, large carafe of each of their wines - they were good and they were extremely proud of them so I didn't want to just take a sip of each one.... glad Carla was driving.

Eleven Madison Park - New York - Daniel Humm. This Fall Cindy, Sid, Miranda, and I had what Cindy considers her best restaurant meal ever at this NY Times 4 star restaurant. See the blog. this is the highest end of Danny Meyers string of great restaurants - another we have had many a great meal in is Gramercy Tavern

Holly Smith - Cafe Juanita north of Seattle. Holly, James Beard award winner, is a great chef with a fabulous northern Italian fine dining establishment. When I choose a really important meal to me personally - such as my retirement dinner or birthday - Cafe Juanita always wins. The Rabbit is to die for. In 2009 6 of the best owner/chefs in the area did a six event dinner series at each others restaurants. Each Chef did a different course at each event - we attended all with family and friends. At the end of the event I chose the best course of the 6 courses out of each dinner. the result was Cafe Juanita was best on 5 out of the 6 courses even when cooking in someone else's kitchen. Wow!

Baby Fat - Lyla makes me a fatty

Well, This time last year I pontificated on how to stay thin - calories in vs calories out. Exercise more and eat well. I had it right I am afraid. With the undertaking of babysitting 2 days a week starting in January of 2009 I managed to gain 10 lbs this year. While I did burn an extra 125 thousand calories on the Lifecycle and walking I walked Scout and exercised less on over 100 days resulting in a reduction in calories burned of almost 100 thousand vs 2008. The body does try to regulate it's weight. In theory I should have gained a lot more weight - it took 10,000 calories for each extra pound gained and since I only gained 4 lbs of fat each lb of fat required 25,000 fewer calories burned over the course of the year. Unfortunately, as all dieters know, that same math will work against my losing the weight gained.

I have to say I certainly don't regret the babysitting - Lyla is AWESOME. I do need to get my act together in 2010 and get the exercise back up where it needs to be. Since Lyla is going to be an outdoor fan I can walk with her instead of Scout on babysitting days and there is a nice exercycle at Lyla's house.

We will have to see how I have done this time next year.