NORTHWEST NOTES 5/08
NEWSY NOTES
Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining Update
With Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining successfully launched and selling well, I’m doing fewer appearances and more writing, with a fresh book proposal in the works and a new writing gig for the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine. Starting this month, I’ll write the magazine’s “Taste” column about once a month, focusing primarily on the Northwest wine and beverage scene, but also occasionally turning my attention to food and travel. On May 18, look for “Breathing Room,” in which I compare the new Eisch Breathable Glasses from Germany with Riedel stemware. On May 25, “Seductive Summer Sippers” will highlight a dozen of my favorite summer wines, as well as a recipe for a bold, beautiful spice rub to use for all your summer grilling.
Meanwhile, on April 23, Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining received a strong review from the Tucson Citizen in which “Shelf Life” reviewer Larry Cox said, “Pacific Northwest Wining and Dining is the next best thing to visiting the Pacific Northwest. . .This tasty new cookbook has something for everyone.” Here’s the link, although it requires signing in to view it. http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/taste/83243
Late last month, the “Secret Ingredient” Video Blog produced by Whole Foods Market aired. Now you can watch me prepare Wild King Salmon with Dried Cherries and Smoked Almond Beurre Noisette, a recipe from Steelhead Diner in the Pike Place Market, on the Whole Foods Market Web site, YouTube, and iVillage. Here’s the link.
Steelhead Diner Recipe
Last month, I enjoyed signing Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining at Taste Washington Education Day, and at the Cookbook Expo sponsored by the International Association of Culinary Professionals during our international conference in New Orleans. Here I am at IACP with my editor, Justin Schwartz (center) and the publicist for my book, David Greenberg. My publisher, John Wiley & Sons, did very well in this year’s IACP Cookbook Awards, winning three of the four categories they were nominated in, and also winning IACP Cookbook of the Year for Fish Forever, which Justin edited! For more on the Cookbook Awards, go to the following link. IACP Cookbook of the Year
I’ll appear at the second annual Careers in Wine Symposium, to be held at South Seattle Community College, on Saturday, May 10. Theme of my panel, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., is “Communications, Marketing, and Public Relations.” Here’s a photo from our panel at the first annual conference last year in Portland. www.wineandspiritarchive.com
I’ll also do a booksigning, discussion of food-and-wine pairing, and sample recipes from Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining at the Bayview School of Cooking in Olympia, Washington, on Friday, May 23, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Link to Braiden's Upcoming Appearances
To purchase a copy of Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining, please go to your local bookseller or visit Amazon’s Web site, www.amazon.com
Pike Place Market News
Cheese Festival Fetes the Raw and the Stinky
The fourth annual Seattle Cheese Festival takes place on May 16 through 18 at the Pike Place Market. More than 250 artisan cheeses from around the world will be available to taste at the Cheese Showcase, which will be located on the famous cobblestone streets along Pike Place. New this year is a grilled-cheese recipe contest, cheese fest best month (in which local restos feature a dish that celebrates cheese), and a children’s costume contest and parade. www.seattlecheesefestival.com
Hit the Streets!
The 2008 Pike Place Market Street Festival takes place Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1. The Festival started in 1971 as a way of saying “thanks” to the citizens of Seattle for their vote to save the Market, and now serves as a festive kick-off to summer for locals and visitors alike. Enjoy the work of local artisans, an eclectic mix of live music, the Kids Zone, the Strut Your Mutt Dog Parade, micro-brew beers, wine tastings, and even alligator-meat tasting. www.pikeplacemarketstreetfestival.com
Pike Place Palate Magazine Coming in June
The best magazine never to hit the newsstands will debut in June. Pike Place Palate will feature stories on all things food-related at the Market. I was honored to write the introduction for the premiere issue of the magazine, in which you'll discover shopping tips, features on farms and farming, as well as recipes from Market restaurateurs. This twice-a-year publication will be mailed to downtown Seattle residents, but those living outside the Market neighborhood can order a copy by e-mailing: info@pikeplacemarket.org.
And now that summer is in the air, why not pick up a copy of the Pike Place Market Cookbook or the Pike Place Public Market Seafood Cookbook for fresh recipe ideas from the Market’s leading farmers, fishmongers, restaurateurs, and chefs?
RESTO REVIEWS
Boat Street Café
Dinner at Boat Street Café is like a meal in Provence, where the food is simple and satisfying; the slate tables, mismatched chairs, and glowing votive candles make everyone young again; and all seems right with the world. As an oversize chalk drawing of chef/owner Renee Erickson’s darling doggie looks down over the room, a veritable smile on his face and his tail happily wagging in expectation, diners feel that same sense of unconditional joy and anticipation at all the good things to come. And come they did, beginning with a big bowlful of Manila clams cooked with bacon, garlic, white wine, and parsley. Sautéed Medjool Dates with Virgin Olive Oil and Fleur du Sel also looked warm and yummy. Roasted Florida Pink Shrimp with lots of back-of-the-throat heat thanks to Esplette peppers were a fun challenge to peel and eat. Carlton Farms Roasted Pork Chop (pictured below) was enough for two, served with Kale Gratin, Roasted Potatoes, and Pickled Raisins. Don’t miss the Dagoba Dark Chocolate Pot de Crème for dessert. It’s made from dark chocolate sourced from Dagoba, the Ashland, Oregon-based organic chocolate company. www.boatstreetcafe.com
Of-the-Moment Dinners
At earth & ocean, located in the W Hotel Seattle, Chef Adam Stevenson is doing great things at his Of-the-Moment Dinners. For one week each month, Chef Adam composes a special dinner menu with a focus on products that are of limited availability or specifically of the season. In February, we enjoyed his “Savoring the Sea” menu, which featured five courses of shellfish. Among our favorite courses was the simple yet sublime trio of oysters (pictured below), each oyster napped in its own sauce such as spinach, dashi butter, and paddlefish caviar. Seared Scallops in Almond Soup with Seared Foie Gras and Pear Herb Salad was the essence of both earth (almonds, pears, and foie) and ocean (scallops). At $55 per person (plus tax and gratuity), you’ll not want to wait one moment longer to try them. This month’s dinner features fava beans, with upcoming dinners to include onions (June), corn (July), peppers (August), and tomatoes (September). www.earthocean.net
Seasoned Seattle and Sunday Suppers
Two other special dining opportunities we’ve enjoyed as of late are the first-ever Seasoned Seattle promotion (which took place last month, Sunday through Thursday) and the Sunday Suppers at TASTE Restaurant at the Seattle Art Museum (which are ongoing). Seasoned Seattle featured a dozen stalwart Seattle restaurants, including The Georgian, Shuckers, Madison Park Café, and Elliott’s Oyster House, all of which offered two courses for $25. On opening night (April 1), we walked one block from our condo to sample Il Bistro’s offerings and were quite impressed. Insalata Melanzane combined generous slices of lush grilled eggplant with diced tomatoes, capers, and pesto (pictured below). A thick, artistic drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar garnished the plate and lavish slices of Parmigiano-Reggiano added nutty and salty notes. I loved this combination of warm and cool temperatures with bold and earthy flavors. Meanwhile, my roasted-chicken breast entrée was perfectly cooked and simply paired with roasted fingerlings and asparagus. Had I gone for dessert, I probably would have opted for the chocolate mousse with sangiovese caramel (!) in milk chocolate cups. www.nwsource.com
Our very first experience with TASTE Restaurant’s Sunday Suppers featured Joyce and Joe Malley, who own and operate Fishing Vessel St. Jude, which makes some of the United States’ most sustainable and delicious canned tuna in both natural and flavored versions (jalapeño, Mediterranean, garlic). Recently promoted Executive Chef Craig Hetherington and Pastry Chef Elise Fineberg outdid themselves in creating dishes that revolved around the Malleys’ canned and frozen albacore products, so much so that we found ourselves eating tuna sashimi paired with Asian tapioca and grapefruit three ways for dessert (see photo below). Among the other amazing dishes we sampled, we particularly enjoyed the Tuna Melt (on toasted brioche with tuna tartare and a sinful Gruyère fondue) and Lemon Grilled Albacore with Puy lentils, mâche, and smoked paprika “caviar.” Upcoming Sunday Suppers include the Skagit Valley Ranch dinner on May 4. www.tastesam.com
SHORT TAKES
Ray’s Boathouse & Café Celebrates 35 Years
Anniversary promotions are underway at Ray’s Boathouse & Café on Seattle’s Shilshole Bay, which is celebrating its 35th birthday through June. It has been 35 years since entrepreneur Russ Wohlers gathered local businessmen to purchase Ray's and transform it from a boat rental, bait house, and fish-and-chips joint into a nationally respected Northwest seafood restaurant. Festivities conclude with an anniversary homecoming party on June 24. Look for Executive Chef Peter Birk’s recipe for Mixed Greens with Fallen Cheese Soufflés and Champagne Vinaigrette on page 22 of Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining, and Pastry Chef Marcia Sisley-Berger’s recipe for Citrus Yogurt Cake on page 72. www.rays.com
Beach Café at the Point
When Norma Rosenthal, public relations consultant to Yarrow Bay Grill and Beach Café at the Point in Kirkland, Washington, gave me the heads up that chef Cameon Orel had left the Café and that executive chef Vicky McCaffree had revamped the menus there, I wanted to check it out myself. So one lazy Sunday afternoon, we fueled up the Lex and motored over the floating bridge across Lake Washington to experience it for ourselves. With views of the glistening lake before us, and the casual dining room almost packed to capacity, we opted for the fried calamari with a spicy/hot/sweet dipping sauce, iceberg lettuce salad with blue-cheese dressing, and an order of the Fish Tacos (pictured below). Although service was a bit slower than we would have liked (which resulted in the calamari being a tad less crispy than it probably was when it was pulled out of the fryer), the food was served in generous portions and was mighty tasty. Beach Café at the Point has a lovely recipe for Baked Oysters with Orange-Thyme Beurre Blanc and Citrus Zest in Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining, page 3. www.ybgrill.com
What’s Your Cookprint?
Last month, I received an intriguing e-mail from Kate Heyhoe, cookbook author and editor of a long-standing and well-respected Web site called GlobalGourmet.com suggesting we all consider our Cookprint, much like we are urged to gauge our carbon footprint. To learn more about the subject, and to clock your own fuel usage in the kitchen, go to www.newgreenbasics.com
DISH OF THE MONTH
Icon Grill Fried Chicken Salad
You can take the girl out of Texas (where I lived for 16 years), but you can’t take Texas out of the girl. Every now and then I get a jones-ing for good, ol’ Southern fried chicken, but diet and weight concerns keep me from ordering a whole, half, or quarter bird. That’s when I head for the icon Grill and order the amazing Fried Chicken Salad, which I can rationalize eating because it features not only a reasonable, but satisfying portion of my beloved fried chicken, but a heapin’ helpin’ of healthy romaine lettuce, corn, grated cheese, and black beans. www.icongrill.com
SUPER SIPS
McWatters Leaving Sumac Ridge
We’re sad to report that Harry McWatters, 62, one of the key figures in the emergence of the British Columbia wine industry, left Sumac Ridge Estate Winery at the end of April. There’s a complete profile and photo of Harry, along with a luscious recipe for Warm Babas with Ice-Wine Syrup and Rhubarb Compote, in Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining, page 253. But don’t despair. Harry isn’t retiring, but will consult for Vincor Canada, help develop the Okanagan Wine Academy, continue to be president and co-owner of Black Sage Vineyards, and finish a cookbook he's been working on for a few years. www.sumacridge.com
James Beard House Welcomes the Northwest
This month the Northwest will be well represented at the venerable James Beard House when Bobby Moore, executive chef of Barking Frog restaurant in Woodinville, travels to New York City to present his Taste of Washington Wine Country dinner on May 29. Bobby has a wonderful recipe for Petite Lamb Burgers in Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining (page 48), and I enjoyed doing a booksigning with him last fall, as shown below. www.jamesbeard.org
Two WAs Exchange Winemakers
In March, the Washington Wine Commission and the Wine Industry Association of Western Australia announced the first-ever region-to-region winemaker exchange program. The Washington (WA) Wine Industry and the Wine Industry of Western Australia (WA) share more than the same acronym. Both are cool-climate regions dominated by boutique producers making ultra-premium wines. Both regions account for less than four percent of their nation's wine production. Washington State and the state of Western Australia also produce generally higher-acid, more refined wines, and reciprocal harvests (one WA harvests in September/October and the other in February/March) create ideal circumstances for a winemaker exchange. Seattle native and wine writer Paul Gregutt, who toured Western Australia wine country last year, conceived of the WA-to-WA winemaker exchange concept. Virginie Bourgue, winemaker for Walla Walla's new Cadaretta Winery, was the first to take part in the exchange. Bourgue just returned from spending three weeks in Western Australia with winemaker Larry Cherubino from The Yard Winery/Cherubino Wines. Cherubino will return the free-labor favor when he joins Bourgue at Cadaretta in Walla Walla during the 2008 Washington harvest this fall. For both winemakers, this is their first visit to "the other WA." www.vintagenewworld.com
