Our friends at Tourism Vancouver sent word that the 10th annual Dine Out Vancouver, the largest restaurant festival in Canada, will run this year from January 20 to February 5, and will feature new events, special hotel offers, and the highest number of participating restaurants to date–a whopping 225!

They report that three-course, prix-fixe menus will be priced at $18, $28, and $38, with suggested BC VQA wine and beer pairings courtesy of Wines of British Columbia and Kronenbourg 1664, available at an additional cost.

Participating hotels will offer rooms priced at $78, $108, and $138 per night, and some are featuring special Dine Out packages, too.

In celebration of Dine Out Vancouver’s 10th birthday, the list of daily dining experiences has expanded to more than 70 events. Samples from this year’s tantalizing schedule include Plated & Paired at the Public Market, featuring fresh eats and wines from 10 top B.C. wineries; Kronenbourg 1664’s popular Brasserie Mystère; the brand-new Street Food Cart City; and “Salt & Pepper” events featuring salsa dancing, an exclusive chef’s table experience and more. Tickets for paid events range from $25 to $150.

Photo from our hotel room

Here is a photo from our centrally located and LOVELY hotel–the Renaissance Times Square. Highly recommended.

In subsequent posts, we’ll give you updates on our port calls and notes from the journey–high winds, a hurricane, all sorts of nautical tales, and “lobsta.”

So please stay tuned!

Our friends at Tavolàta in Belltown offer Sunday dinners that are tons of fun and always a sellout–don’t miss your chance to get in on the family-style fun!

On Sunday, November 6, enjoy Roasted Turkey!

Dinner will be served family style at the communal table (the tavolàta), where seating is limited to 26 guests.

Dinner begins at 6 p.m., and cost is $50 per person.

Reservations are required. Please call 206.838.8008 to reserve your spot.

Final 2012 Sunday Feast – SAVE THE DATE

December 4 – Roman-Style Feast

Opened in January of 2007 by chef Ethan Stowell, Tavolàta is an urban-Italian eatery located at 2323 Second Avenue in Seattle’s bustling Belltown neighborhood.

Sublime housemade pastas, simple Italian cuisine, and a 30-foot communal table (the tavolàta) that runs down the center of the narrow room keeps the crowds coming back.

Tavolàta offers a full bar and a wine list that is 100% Italian.

Tavolàta serves dinner seven nights a week from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and until 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings.

A happy-hour bar menu is offered from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. every evening.

For more information or reservations, call 206.838.8008 or visit www.ethanstowellrestaurants.com.

Local 360 is the still fairly new restaurant in the former Flying Fish space in Belltown. It has a rustic vibe and was packed with a good mixed crowd (young folks sipping cocktails at the bar, two guys taking sports next to us, a couple of families, and older folks like us).

Here are the gorgeous “Small Plate” Mediterranean mussels that Spencer and I shared (we were starving after a movie and small lunch, so quickly devoured them). A French Rosé was a good choice for wine pairing.

This is the intriguing Fried Albacore Tuna Collar that I enjoyed as my entrée. Plenty of meat and very nicely prepared. Something I’d love to eat again!

And Spencer’s more-then-ample “Large Plate” Pork Tenderloin with a hearty Mustard Sauce and plenty of green beans.

For further thoughts on 360 Local, read my colleague and friend at The Seattle Times, Providence Cicero’s, two-star review.

We finally had a chance to try Cioppino, the wonderful new bistro we’ve written about before that overlooks Green Lake, on a recent Saturday night (busy, busy!) and were wowed by the signature and eponymous dish–Cioppino!

Here’s the gorgeous stew that was loaded with gobs of seafood–tiny octopi, salmon fillet, mussels, Alaskan spot prawns, Mediterranean mussels, halibut, and who knows what else–all perfectly (not overly) cooked to just tender in a hearty tomato-saffron-scented broth.

General manager Erik Brisbin suggested we heat up the leftovers for Sunday brunch and add a few eggs. Sounded yummy, but we added a can of Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, some additional seafood, and whipped up an amazing Seafood Stew for Sunday dinner.

For all of these reasons, Cioppino’s Cioppino wins our Dish of the Day.

Interior shot of Trattoria Cioppino

A couple of weekends ago, when Seattle’s summertime weather was still an iffy proposition and sunny days were still very much in the minority, we seized the day (so to speak) to trek the approximately three-mile circuit around Green Lake.

Just before starting, we walked by a small retail complex across the street from the lake that houses a BluWater Bistro, pizza joint, health club, and a new entry–Trattoria Cioppino. As we passed by, we recognized a familiar face–Erik Brisbane–long-time general manager at Barolo Ristorante in downtown Seattle and most recently employed by Cafe Campagne.

We struck up a conversation with our friend, picked up a menu, and snapped a couple of shots of the inviting interior of what used to be a World Wrapps!

Below are further details from a press release that Erik sent out yesterday announcing a new menu and other tweaks to this newcomer upon the Seattle restaurant scene.

Welcome to Erik and Chef Riccardo Simeone. Long may you reign in Green Lake!

<<Seattle’s newest Italian dining destination, opened their doors for business at the beginning of June. Chef and co-owner Riccardo Simeone (sim-ee-oh-knee) spent the month of June perfecting his timing and recipes and released a new menu the second week of July.

“I was finally able to source some good organic flour and perfect my recipes,” Simeone says. “The soft opening allowed me to experiment with my pastas and try out new techniques.”

Located at the north end of Green Lake in a former World Wrapps storefront, Simeone and co-owner Silvia McDowell have transformed a drab space into a casual dining spot with elegant and affordable food.

By its very definition, a trattoria is an informal dining establishment akin to a bistro or café. The fantastic, quick to prepare food is perfect for a full lunch or dinner, an afternoon snack with a glass of wine, or a perfectly crafted dessert with an espresso.

Hailing from Gaeta, Italy (located midway between Rome and Naples in the province of Lazio) Chef Simeone spent his youth working in kitchens throughout Italy. Upon arriving in the States in 1993, he perfected his kitchen skills in Las Vegas and Seattle, including stints with Cucina Cucina and Barolo. Most recently Chef Simeone ventured to the Washington D.C. environs to open the Buddha Bar there. After surviving an East Coast winter, he concluded that appeal of Seattle was too great and that he must head home to open his own place.

His business partner (and pantry cook) Silvia McDowell found the North Green Lake location and with a bit of imagination, paint, and marble they transformed the fast food restaurant into a casual 40-seat dining destination.

“Green Lake is wonderful,” says McDowell. “It’s close to where I live in Greenwood and the neighborhood itself is so dynamic and friendly. We’ve heard from our neighbors that there was a real need for a new place, so our timing is perfect.”

Though Chef Simeone’s birthplace is near the center of Rome, his culinary influences explore all of Italy, embracing Tuscany, Sicily, Sardinia, as well as his homeland of Lazio.

Homemade and inventive pastas are a passion for the chef. He constantly strives to find new combinations of flavors that marry well on the dish. He makes Cavatelli, multiple flavors of gnocchi, as well as raviolis on a marble-topped workspace in his kitchen. He is working with a local craftsman in designing a new table where he can make pastas in the dining room during the daytime. In the near future, he will sell pre-packaged pastas that he has created for people to take home and cook themselves. Along with his signature marinara sauce, one will have the option of enjoying dinner at Trattoria Cioppino or taking Trattoria Cioppino home with them.

The vast menu includes both the familiar and inventive. Trattoria Cioppino features the same menu (with few changes) both for lunch and dinner.

For appetizers, one can enjoy Crispy Calamari with Prawns, Zucchini, and Granny Smith Apples; Lemon-Butter Prawns; as well as a delightful Prosciutto and Marinated Fig Crostini or a Portobello Mushroom and Crab Patty.

Lunchtime selections include a Watermelon Salad with Aged Ricotta and a Raspberry Dressing as well as a Portobello Mushroom Sandwich with Spicy Strawberry Jam and Goat Cheese.

Pasta highlights include a section devoted exclusively to pastas made in house including a variety of raviolis, Spinach Gnocchi with Prawns and Bottarga, and a Duck Ragu Cavatelli.

Living up to the restaurant’s namesake, a Rich and Robust Cioppino is offered to fulfill any seafood lover’s desires. With Manila Clams, Penn Cove Mussels, calamari, and so much more in the chef’s tomato broth, the seafood “stew” is a crowd-pleaser. Chef Simeone includes Free-Range Chicken, Natural Angus Beef Tenderloin (with a Garlic-Rosemary Truffle Butter,) as well as Veal Porcini, and Chicken Marsala.

Not to be outdone, the desserts made in house include the familiar (a quite light Tiramisu and a Seasonal Crème Brulée) as well as the “BDCIS,” a secret recipe cheesecake that Chef Simeone guards closely.

FAQs:

Address:

7900 East Green Lake Drive North Suite 107

Seattle, WA 98103

Phone: 206-526-7900

Website: www.CioppinoSeattle.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/CioppinoSeattle

Hours of Operation:

Lunch: Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm

Dinner: Tuesday through Sunday from 4 pm to 10 pm

Beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages are available.

Wheelchair accessible.

Kid friendly.

Reservations not required for parties up to four. Parties of six or more are highly recommended to book in advance, as space is limited.

Since I don’t eat pork myself, and don’t cook it at home, my meat-lovin’ better half often orders it when we dine out.

And even though I won’t order it, I will taste it, and these two recent dishes are real finds. . .worthy of winning a joint Dish-of-the-Day award.

Here is Seared Pork Tenderloin with Smoked Yam, Clams, and Pickled Pepper from Tilikum Place Café. It’s very European in style, reminiscent of Portuguese Pork and Clams.

The spices (a dash of chipotle?) were amazing with the sweet, yet smoky, sweet potatoes.

And here is a Large Plate from Olivar’s menu–Duo de Cerdo–Grilled Pork Loin, Braised Pork-Shoulder Lasagne, and Spring Vegetables.

Although both parts of this duet were tasty, Spencer is STILL raving about the lasagne, in particular.

Cheers to Olivar and Tilikum Place Café for creating such original Dishes of the Day!

With just about every chef and restaurateur in Seattle opening second “small-bite/casual” restaurants and/or offering up killer deals for cheap eats during daily happy hours, sometimes I wonder if fine-dining is dead in our fair city.

So a couple of weeks ago, I made a Saturday-night-at-eight-p.m. reservation at The Georgian, the stunning main dining room in the venerable Fairmont Olympic Hotel to find out.

As we settled in with a glass of bubbly (me) and a gin martini (Spencer) and perused the menu, we were (frankly) amazed at the reasonable price points for such a glamorous setting, with soaring ceilings, a live-music duo of pan flute and upright bass, extensive wine list, etc.

We could have ordered à la carte or opted for the three-course prix-fixe dinner ($69 per person with wine pairings; $49 without), but decided to go all out.

We chose the five-course dinner (including a dessert soufflé!), plus wine pairings, for $99 per person ($69 sans vino).

Here’s the gorgeous bread-and-butter set-up–with four flavors of butter and spiky strips of crunchy lavash cracker–that set the tone for a tone-y meal to come.

After a bit of a wait, the lovely first course came out–Tempura Morel Mushrooms with Truffle Camembert and Morel Shooters (light and lovely mushroom juice in test-tube-like shooters!).

Toothsome and gooey-good, the tempura morels paired perfectly with Domaine Schönheitz 2008 Pinot Gris from Alsace.

Gotta love that sterling-silver skewer and swipe of mushroom dust that makes this plate presentation so pretty.

The second course was another visual knock-out and tasted just as good. Deadliest Catch included razor-thin shavings of the sweetest Alaskan King Crab along with Dungeness Crab Fritters, artistically topped with Arugula Salad. It also went well with the Alsatian Pinot Gris.

Inspired!

I adore beets in just about any form, so was super-pleased with the third course, Roasted Baby-Beet Salad with Candied Pecans (like the best fruit-and-nut bar I’ve ever tasted, probably due to lots of added butter), Goat Cheese, and Walnut Vinaigrette.

The goat cheese is the white blob on the right-hand side and was done molecular gastronomy-style–it was light and fluffy in texture and simply the essence of chèvre.

Unlike me, hubby hates beets, so our server graciously substituted the Olympic Caesar Salad from the three-course prix-fixe dinner and didn’t even charge anything extra.

Both salads were paired with Poet’s Leap Winery 2008 Riesling, one of our all-time fave off-dry Rieslings, and another thoughtful pairing from The Georgian’s long-time (seven years) sommelier–Joseph Linder.

After so much good food, we could hardly believe that entrées were yet to come!

Here’s my gorgeous Smoked Alaskan Wild King Salmon. It was served with Shaved Granny-Smith Apples, Locally Foraged Morel Mushrooms, Yukon-Gold Potato Balls (fun to eat!), and a rather sweetish-sauve containing Olympic Rooftop Honey.

Rex Hill 2008 Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley was a truly wonderful wine for this perfect pairing.

We both gasped in wonder when we saw the artistic shapes, dots, and lattice-work on Spencer’s gorgeously plated Roasted Rack of Lamb with Tomato Crust, Kalamata Olives, Sweet-Pea Quinoa, and Grilled Spring Onion.

The lamb was flavorful without being too gamey; the pea quinoa is something I’d like to make at home; and the lattice work grating is something I’ll gladly leave to Georgian Executive Chef Gavin Stephenson to prepare.

Spencer was more than happy with his entrée’s wine pairing: Château de Clairvoy 2005 Côtes de Bourg from Bordeaux.

Sad to say, but because they are labor-intensive and temperamental to cook, few restaurants bother with making soufflés any more. Lucky for us, The Georgian still turns out a stellar daily-changing version.

Ours was called the “Black and White,” served with Crème Anglaise and a chocolate-covered strawberry, but they also offered up Chocolate Mint. Hard to go wrong with either one!

Although there were occasional service gaffes (a long delay between aperitifs/cocktails and the first course, being seated at a table facing away from the musical duo, the hostess setting up our table after we had been seated), we left thinking that, at least when it comes to its food-and-wine offerings, The Georgian still offers up very fine dining in Seattle.

A couple of weeks ago, over Mother’s Day weekend, with 400 e-mails staring me in the face, I told Spencer I needed to get away, even if just for one single Saturday night.

Unsure of where to go, we settled upon Semiahmoo Resort, on the north edge of Washington State. It’s so close to the Canadian border you can see White Rock, British Columbia, across Semiahmoo Bay.

Since it was a few weeks before Memorial Day, when the resort’s “high” season begins, it was easy to secure a reasonable overnight room rate complete with dining voucher, part of a bed-and-dining package.

The fine-dining restaurant, Stars, wasn’t yet open, so we ate lunch in Packers Lounge and Oyster Bar and dinner at Pierside Restaurant. Funny thing was, both places featured the same menu–simple items such as fish-and-chips, salads, and grilled fish and meats–and that was just fine.

For once, I wouldn’t have to think about everything sip and sup I put into my mouth!

Here are the lovely Flame-Grilled Oysters that I spotted while we had a pre-dinner drink in the bar, then later ordered in the dining room as my starter course.

Perfectly broiled so the oysters were still tender and moist, but the garlic butter and Parmesan cheese topping was hot and bubbly, these beauties were eclipsed only by the view of Semiahmoo Bay outside.

Grilled Oysters à la Semiahmoo before. . .

Grilled Oysters à la Semiahmoo adieu!

Every now and then, a meal’s setting and the meal itself sync so perfectly that they form an unforgettable dining experience.

That happened to us recently at The Oyster Bar on the Chuckanut Drive, about a two hours drive from downtown Seattle.

With views like the one above, it’s hard not to be inspired. . .

But when dishes such as a lovely this Belgian Endive/Gorgonzola Salad begin to arrive. . .

Along with Nettle Wild Nettle and Artichoke Soup, made with a base of vegetarian consommé and locally gathered nettles, Yukon gold potatoes, fresh artichokes, and hint of dry Vermouth, this food writer’s heart leaps up!

California Red Abalone, farm-raised along California’s Central Coast, is seldom seen on menus in the Northwest.

So although pricey (at $65 per serving), we ordered it and weren’t disappointed.

Flash-sautéed doré-style and drizzled with hazelnut lime butter, The Oyster Bar’s rendition was more tender, flavorful, and downright delectable than ones we’ve had while visiting our neighbor to the south. (I took the shells home as souvenirs!)

Spring sturgeon from nearby Willapa Bay was fresh and clean tasting, not muddy as oftentime (lamentably) happens with this fish.

The dish was lavishly sauced with blueberries and topped with fresh raspberries, and encircled by reduced balsamic vinegar and basil oil. Yum!

We enjoyed our last sips of wine and morsels of food. . .and mentally prepared ourselves for the long journey home. . .the sun set. . .

And finally dove behind the distant mountains.