Nosh Pit

Post Introduces Lunch Menu

Starting Friday, the Post Alley bar opens at 11:30am.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 11, 2010 at 05:00PM 0 Comments

“I hear there’s lunch in here.”

Though it’s rather cavelike and more of a bunker than a daytime retreat…yay for a new downtown lunch spot! Starting March 12 Post Restaurant and Lounge will open its doors for the noon-hour crowd. The Post Alley boite plans to serve lunch daily 11:30am-4pm.

All your typical midday fare is there on the menu: sandwiches (ham on sourdough, turkey bocadillo, roast beef and swiss), salads, and soup, as well as some heftier options, like beef and chicken burgers, hand-tossed pizzas, and Manny’s Ale fish ’n chips. Those looking to really extend the lunch hour can order dessert. All items are priced $5–$8.

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Tags: Lunch

Upcoming Guest Chef Nights at Farestart

Every Thursday a chef cooks up a three-course meal for a cause. And you get to eat it.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 11, 2010 at 03:47PM 0 Comments

You know Farestart, the nonprofit that trains the homeless and disadvantaged in the ways of the professional kitchen.

Just want to make sure you also know and haven’t forgotten about its Thursday night Guest Chef series, when a local chef comes in and cooks with the staff-in-training.

Each three-course meal costs $24.95 per person, you can reserve up to six weeks in advance. Jason Franey of Canlis is cooking tonight, that dinner is sold out. Next week, however, Sabrina Tinsley of La Spiga will control the kitchen and there’s still space. After that it is Alvin Binuya of Ponti Seafood Grill on 3/35.

Future Farestart guest chef nights to get excited about: Dalis Chea of Fresh Bistro cooks on 4/08, and Volunteer Park Cafe’s Ericka Burke will be behind the line on 5/06.

See full schedule here.

[ Photo source]

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Tags: Chefs, Special Dinners

Two New Specialty Shops Set to Open in the Melrose Project

First-time business owners bring artisanal touches to the urban marketplace.

Posted by: Tiffany Wan on Mar 11, 2010 at 12:30PM 0 Comments

An architectural rendering of the Melrose Project, located between Pike and Pine Streets on Capitol Hill.

In the coming weeks look for two new storefronts at the Melrose Project on Capitol Hill.

Sheri LaVigne will finally open cheese shop Calf and Kid after flaky financial backers bowed out last summer. Expect to find local offerings from Black Sheep Creamery, Blue Rose Dairy, Mt. Townsend Creamery, and more, as well as a variety of cheese accompaniments (olives, pâté, crackers) and fresh bread. LaVigne plans to work with Homegrown (a soon-to-be fellow Melrose Project merchant) to offer a daily sandwich featuring cheese from Calf and Kid.

“There’s great cheese counters in other grocery stores,” she said, “but in my store it’s going to be an incredible amount of expertise from myself and the other employees behind the counter.”

Bonus: Sampling is highly encouraged. LaVigne is shooting for an early-to-mid April opening.

Though Marigold and Mint will primarily function as a flower shop, owner Katherine Anderson, a Harvard-educated landscape architect, will also carry a selection of seasonal produce—lettuce, carrots, pears, plums, broccoli, and kale— from Oxbow Farm, which is located south of Duvall.

She also plans to operate a produce delivery service between May and October. (Note half-portion orders will be offered.) During the off-season, Anderson will stock starter vegetable plants, like heirloom tomatoes, and she hopes to grow edible flowers and sell them to bartenders and chefs. Marigold and Mint will have a soft opening April 1.

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Tags: Openings, Capitol Hill, Cheese, Locavore News, Grocery Shopping

Rainy Day Comfort Food: Welsh Rarebit

Made at home or ordered up at the pub, rarebit sauce is some cheesy, beer-laced goodness.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 11, 2010 at 11:52AM 0 Comments

My Dad’s mom was a single mom. A hardworking single mom. She didn’t have a lot of time or money, but she did have a lot of funny ideas about food. Like, she stopped buying Welch’s grape juice when the company sponsored an Elvis Presley concert tour. I don’t think she was religious, really, but something about those gyrating hips. They grossed her out, or frightened her. I’m not sure which. Maybe both.

She did trust Stouffer’s frozen foods for whatever reason, and so growing up my dad ate a lot of Stouffer’s spinach souffle and Stouffer’s lasagna and Stouffer’s welsh rarebit.

He particularly loved the rarebit, and can you blame him? Pour some of this thick, cheesy, beer-laced goodness sauce over an English muffin topped with a tomato slice and man, have you got something. When my mom had working weekends, not an uncommon occurrence, my dad would make Stouffer’s welsh rarebit for my sister and me. I remember the thick brown skin that would form as it baked in the oven. I remember running my finger along the side of the plastic container and scooping up all the cheesiness left along the edges before I let my dad throw it away.

Then my family lived in France for a year during one of my father’s sabbatical, and there he developed a love of cooking from which we all benefited greatly. Stouffer’s spinach souffles, once a weekly staple in our house, because real spinach souffles: steaming fluffballs laced with thick green strands of pungent spinach.

Soon enough we started making welsh rarebit from scratch too. It’s super easy, perhaps even easier than throwing a Stouffer’s plastic tray in the oven, and definitely a lot tastier.

Mark Bittman has a good welsh rarebit recipe here. He’s right about the Guinness. Sturdy-flavored stouts are the best choice for a rarebit, but I’d skip the mustard seed and throw in a quarter cup of Dijon instead. Cheddar works well, but use something sharp—I like Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar. The only bad rarebit is one where the flavors fall flat, so don’t skimp on the Worcestershire either.

If cooking isn’t your thing, I suggest heading to Kneehigh Stocking Co for a soft pretzel served with a ramekin of dense, cheesy rarebit. Comfort food, indeed. And just the thing for a rainy Seattle day.

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Tags: Cooking, Cheese, Comfort Food

How Far Does $15 Get You at a French Restaurant?

At La Côte Crêperie, very far.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 10, 2010 at 01:00PM 1 Comments

Crepes are delightful little things, aren’t they? So Euro, so subtly filling, so delicate.

There’s no shortage of food shops serving ’em in Seattle, and of these, La Côte Crêperie sure is a gem. Positioned on E Madison St, it’s a stone’s throw from Mad Valley’s other French staples, Rover’s and Voila! Bistrot. But unlike them, La Côte is cheap. And especially so after 5pm.

Here’s the deal: Order a glass of red or white wine, choose from the soup of the day or a salad, and pick any savory crepe off the menu. The bill? A bargain: $15.

The special runs Tuesday-Saturday until close, but several words to the wise. The crêperie stops serving at 5pm on Sundays, but ask for the $15 fixed menu before that and you’re likely to get it anyways. If you’re thinking of popping in late on other nights, call ahead. When it’s slow La Côte’s been known to close shop early. How Euro.

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Tags: Bargain Bites, cheap eats