Nosh Pit

Food Events

Baconopolis Returns!

Pig out (pun apologies) on bacon this Friday, February 26.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 22, 2010 at 03:10PM 1 Comments

It’s that time a year again, the time when Tom Douglas’s Palace Ballroom showcases 10 (count ’em) different dishes featuring salty hog strips: Baconopolis returns for a second year this Friday, February 26 from 6 to 8pm.

Your dishes, should you choose to accept them:

* B.L.A.T. * Bacon Cured Whole Pig * Bacon Cornbread Muffin * Pork n’ Beans * Bacon Explosion * Elvis’ Favorite: Hot Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon * Classic Carbonara (the winning item from last year’s event!) * Bacon Fried Rice * Bacon Biscuit Sandwich with Gravy * Bacon Filled Doughnut with Maple Glaze and Bacon Salt

The cost is $30 per person and includes a glass of beer or wine. Call to reserve: 206-448-2001. Just don’t go telling the doctor we sent you.

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Tags: Downtown, Food Finds, Tom Douglas

Lunch Issues

Talk Soup

You can never have enough soup sources, can you? Here is a roundup of downtown spots that ladle up the good stuff.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 17, 2010 at 02:08PM 1 Comments

I work downtown and I eat soup. You too? Let’s talk.

Let’s talk about onion soup first, and how the oh-so-civilized Le Pichet makes the real deal just the way they do in Lyon: that means a stewlike consistency with a beefy broth and a no-fear approach to buttery onion content, two massive croutons, and a blanket of thick, gooey gruyere that forms strings from the bowl all the way up to the spoon at your mouth. Suck those up nonchalantly and hope your dining companion pretends not to notice. Place Pigalle also makes a mean onion soup gratinee.

Let’s move on to lentil soup. You’ll encounter one of two types at the Crumpet Shop: French lentil and tomato ginger lentil, they never serve both on the same day. Order a bowl of either with sour cream and cilantro along with a crumpet doused in butter and topped with honey.

Cafe Paloma in Pioneer Square makes a fine lentil soup in the lemony Lebanese style, and they serve it with an ample pile of fresh pita triangles for dipping. By all means, dip. But prepare to exercise patience, the service here is not speedy.

In Belltown, tiny Cafe Lieto (1909 First Ave)—now also a late night biscuits-and-gravy spot on weekends—serves up expectations-defying homemade chicken and dumplings for weekday lunch. Be warned: it sells out fast.

The various Cherry Street Cafes have two or three healthy soups daily, usually some combination of tomato, clam chowder, Egyptian lentil, black bean, or coconut curry with tofu. These come with a side of buttered toast—the olive bread is the best one. Elliot Bay Café tends to have beef stew and vegetarian chili, but we won’t talk about that since it is moving. [UPDATE: I was mistaken. The EBC will continue to operate in Pioneer Square.]

As far as I can tell (please let me know if I’m wrong) the best pho in the area is to be had at Julie’s Garden in Pioneer Square. This recommendation does not necessarily extend to everything on the menu, but the soup is delicious.

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Tags: Downtown, Pioneer Square, Pike Place Market, Lunch, Soup

Openings

Something Unexpected at the Hard Rock Cafe

There aren’t a lot of surprises at the new Seattle Hard Rock, until you get up to the roof.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 08, 2010 at 10:54AM 3 Comments

The new Hard Rock Cafe on Pike Street at First Avenue will have its soft opening on February 10; I went over this morning for a sneak peak.

Downstairs, the place looks exactly like what you’d expect from a Hard Rock Cafe: there is a gift shop, and booths with individual TV screens—diners vote on what song they hope to hear next over the sound system. Seattle rock paraphernalia lines the walls. There’s an acoustic guitar along the body of which Eddie Vedder taped notes on the lyrics to “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” to help him remember; an incoherent ramble of a letter sent by Courtney Love to Spin Magazine; a totally 80s jagged white electric guitar that once belonged to Heart.

Inside a drinks menu are bright images of cobranded cocktails like the Blue Devil: Captain Morgan, Curacao, margarita mix, and Monin wildberry syrup. Yowsa.

I asked director of operations Kelly Marshall what differentiated the Seattle restaurant from the 161 other Hard Rocks around the globe and she pointed to the beer taps—the Hard Rock here pours Northwest brews like Deschutes Black Butte and Mac and Jacks. She talked about the “Java Lava” burger: an espresso-rubbed patty covered in some kind of tangy coffee sauce, and the philanthropic partnership the Hard Rock has brokered with nearby Pike Place Market. She also mentioned that the Hard Rock Seattle is working towards a gold-level LEEDS certification, the first in the company.

One level up is the stage area: capacity 400, according to press materials. The Hard Rock has started booking local bands and shows will begin in early March. The memorabilia continues on the walls upstairs, so you can engage in the incongruous activity of watching some struggling band while standing next to a framed man purse once toted by Jimi Hendrix.

Go up one more level and you’re on the Hard Rock’s surprising rooftop deck: a very beautiful, understated lounge with gas firepits and its own small bar, not to mention an addictive view of the market and sound beyond. It was really quite something to walk around this virgin space this morning, before one Blue Devil has been poured in the face of one distressed jeans-wearing douchebag, before one Black Eyed Peas song has defiled the state-of-the-art sound system.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Downtown, Openings

Eat and Give

Eat Food, Help Haiti

Full Tilt, Coastal Kitchen, Campagne, and Theo Chocolate donate profits to relief organizations.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 15, 2010 at 03:00PM 3 Comments

One hundred percent of donations to Campagne’s three-course bouillabaise dinner will go to relief in Haiti.

Horrified by the devastation in Haiti? Here are ways to help:

Profits earned this Sunday, the 17th of January at Full Tilt ice cream will go to the Red Cross’s relief efforts.

Meanwhile next Thursday, January 21st, 25 percent of sales on EVERYTHING sold at Coastal Kitchen between 8am and 10pm will go towards Mercy Corps—another aid organization helping Haiti.

On Monday the 25th, Campagne is hosting a three-course bouillabaisse dinner. Suggested donations $100 per person, and 100 percent of that will go to Doctors Without Borders—the organization many are calling the most effective in Haiti right now. Call 206-728-2800 for reservations.

And Theo Chocolate fans: 100 percent of the price of classic milk and dark chocolate bars are currently going to CARE.

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Tags: Downtown, Haiti, Benefit Dinners

Doesn't get much cheaper, folks

Free Dinners at Grand Cru Continue. Yes…Free

Plus: Have Dinner On Us is back at Metropolitan Grill and Elliott’s.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Jan 12, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

You were floored when we first told you about the free dinners offered Wednesday and Saturday nights at Grand Cru Wine Bar in Bellevue.

Well, hold onto your champagne flutes: They’re extending the offer indefinitely. That means from 5pm on, Wednesdays and Saturdays, you can come to this elegant spot in the heart of Bellevue and choose among a couple starters and entrees and pay only the gratuity.

And, on Saturdays after 7pm, hear live music.

And park for free.

Also, just got word the annual Have Dinner On Us is back as of Monday. Order two dinner entrées at Metropolitan Grill or Elliott’s Oyster House and receive a certificate equal to the value of those dishes. All you need to do is register here. The offer ends April 17.

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Tags: Bargain Bites, Bellevue, Downtown, Promotions