Nosh Pit

Collections Cafe to Open Inside Chihuly Garden and Glass

Canlis and Hunt Club vets work with Jason Wilson of Crush to develop the menu.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Apr 13, 2012 at 01:36PM 3 Comments

Collectibles will festoon Collections Cafe. Photo courtesy the establishment.

Whether or not you’re on board with the Chihuly behemoth going in at Seattle Center, there’s reason to get excited on the food front. Plans are afoot for what sounds like a rather promising dining destination: Collections Cafe, which will be open to exhibit goers and passersby alike.

Jeff Maxfield and Ivan Szilak are running the kitchen, and Jason Wilson of Crush has helped develop the menu. (You may recall Wilson lent his expertise to Fonte as well.) Szilak’s past experience includes a gig as executive chef at The Hunt Club; Maxfield’s includes sous cheffing under Greg Atkinson during his Canlis days.

Menu specifics are TBD—ideas “started out really big,” and so are still undergoing fine-tuning. Alyson Soma, the food and beverage marketing manager, and April Matson, a PR rep, describe the food as inspired by the glass guy’s many travels around the world, with a Northwest focus. Suppliers are local, and the beer and wine list takes similar cues.

The space, on the other hand, is nearly complete. This being an arty place, a premium has been placed on design. Chihuly is apparently something of a collector, so a number of his wares will serve as decoration (hence the name): old-school accordions, cameras, figurines from fairs, radios. A wall facing Center House (another promising dining destination) features 36 back-lit Chihuly drawings done on acrylic. “It really pops,” says Matson. A patio opens up to the garden.

Collections Cafe is slated to open May 21.

The “Drawing Wall.” Photo courtesy April Matson.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Coming Soon, Crush, Chihuly, Jason Wilson, Seattle Center House, Jeff Maxfield , Ivan Szilak, Collections Cafe

Montreal Winter Festival Imports Six Seattle Chefs

A seriously gastronomic Canadian crowd gets a chance to sample our local fare.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 19, 2012 at 02:55PM 0 Comments

Montreal chef Guillaume Sparks-Beaule is letting Matt Dillon take over his restaurant Pullman for two nights. And hopefully sharing a few tips on posing awesomely with ingredients.

Every year, the Montreal en Lumiere winter festival showcases the culture and cuisine of both a region and a particular city. This time around, Seattle is in the spotlight, along with Brussels. The festival, known to Anglophones as Montreal High Lights, runs February 16 to 26. Organizers are importing six of our city’s most notable chefs: Jason Franey (Canlis), Jason Stratton (Spinasse and Artusi), Thierry Rautureau (Luc and Rover’s), Jason Wilson (Crush), Matt Dillon (Sitka and Spruce and the Corson Building), and Ethan Stowell (lots of things).

Each chef takes over one of Montreal’s top kitchens for two nights, essentially putting on an upscale pop-up restaurant. As the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Glenn Drosendahl noted recently, Franey’s duo of dinners at Montreal restaurant Les 400 Coups are already sold out (reportedly within a day).

What does this mean for Seattle? Well, our city will be rather bereft of award-winning chefs named Jason for the duration of the festival. But it’s also a chance for some of our culinary talents to share this region’s cuisine with a new and broader audience.

Washington’s wine will also get some love. The festival will showcase Bergevin Lane, Gordon Brothers Family Vineyards, Hedges Family Estate, L’Ecole No. 41, Long Shadows, Milbrandt Vineyards, Precept Wine, and Rotie Cellars.

Montreal chefs are also doing a few Seattle-centric events, like a lunch exploring our local street food (prepared for eat-in or takeout). There’s also a grunge night that celebrates the music, wine, and food of 1991 for $65. Or $95 with wine.

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Tags: Ethan Stowell, Thierry Rautureau, Jason Stratton, Jason Wilson, Jason Franey, Matt Dillon

What do you do on your day off, chef?

Jason Wilson (Crush, Fonte Coffee Bar) roasts a pig.

Posted by: Parisa Sadrzadeh on Jul 30, 2009 at 10:00PM 1 Comments

It’s pretty straightforward. In the Thursday series What do you do on your day off, chef? we ask chefs what they did on their last day off.

This week Nosh Pit chills with Jason Wilson, who was nominated for a James Beard Award for the talents he displays nightly at his restaurant Crush in Madison Valley. When he’s not Crushing it up, he is pounding cappuccinos at the brand-spanking-new Fonte Bar in the Four Seasons, where he’s put together a gorgeous little menu of small plates and haute to-go items. And when he’s not at Crush or Fonte, he’s usually catering some event.

Needless to say, Jason Wilson doesn’t have a lot of days off.

But when he does, he does it up right.

A full day off? Oh man, I guess it would be July third. I was on Bainbridge Island with my wife and son and two other couples and their kids. We hung out in the sun, and we made a 4×3 ft pen on the beach. We made some really nice salad with cheese, pickled onions, red onions, mozzarella, and montego, tomatoes, basil, and lettuce picked from the garden of the house we were visiting.
We also had a 140-pound pig.
Think of the area of your body between the neckline of your tshirt down to the spot where your jeans hit your hips. We took that area of our pig, and de-boned it, wrapped it up, tied it, and stuffed it with the porcetta, then sauce.
The skewers we used are like swords, but they’re large antique skewers made of bronze. You just turn it every now and again. It was pretty much rotisserie on driftwood, over this nice fire. It was just me cooking that day. My son had a friend there, and they had a blast together.

Previous chefs featured in this series:
The Spur Boys

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Tags: Crush, Jason Wilson, Chef's Day Off

Now That’s a Progressive Dinner

You have to eat, so you might as well be really, really happy doing it.

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Feb 18, 2009 at 10:00AM 2 Comments

Six of Seattle’s top chefs – Maria Hines of Tilth, Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez of The Harvest Vine, Thierry Rautureau of Rover’s, Holly Smith of Café Juanita, John Sundstrom of Lark and Jason Wilson of Crush – are collaborating in the kitchen for a new series of six-course, deluxe dinners that’ll happen monthly, all year long.

Here’s how it works: You go to the scheduled restaurant. The host chef prepares hors d’oeuvres and dessert, and each of the other chefs is responsible for one of the other courses. The six-course meals are $90 per person (tax, tip, and wine are all extra), and reservations can be made by calling each restaurant individually.

Three of the chefs (Smith, Sundstrom, and Ratureau) have been crowned “Best Chef in the Northwest” by the James Beard Foundation, and the rest have been nominated – so it’s basically a chance to have a meal made by a culinary dream team. Schedule below.

Dinner 1: Wednesday, Feb. 25, at Rover’s
Dinner 2: Monday, Mar. 16, at Tilth
Dinner 3: Tuesday, April 14, at Harvest Vine
Dinner 4: Monday, May 18, at Lark
Dinner 5: Monday, Sept. 21, at Café Juanita
Dinner 6: Monday, Oct. 19, at Crush
Dinner 7: Nov. date and location yet to be released

—Katie Zipper

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Tags: Holly Smith, Rover's, Harvest Vine, Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, Cafe Juanita, Johnathan Sundstrom, Lark, Jason Wilson, Thierry Rautureau, Crush, Tilth, Maria Hines, Progressive Dinner

James Beard Nominees Announced This Morning

Some May Surprise You

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Feb 13, 2009 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

The most frothing foodies in the country have been on tenterhooks all winter for the news that quietly landed in my inbox this morning: The James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalists.

And without further ado:

Tom Douglas is the only Seattle restaurateur of 20 national biggies (including Chicago’s Richard Melman and New York’s Drew Nieporent) nominated as Outstanding Restaurateur of the Year.

Tamara Murphy of Brasa is the only Seattle chef of 20 national biggies (including San Francisco’s Michael Mina of Michael Mina and New York’s Tom Colicchio of Craft) nominated as Outstanding Chef of the Year.

Higgins Restaurant and Bar in Portland is the only Pacific Northwest restaurant of 20 national biggies (including Babbo in New York and Greens in San Francisco) nominated as Outstanding Restaurant of the Year.Yes Seattle, you read that right: the only Pacific Northwest restaurant.

Jerry Traunfeld’s Poppy and Justin Neidermeyer’s Cascina Spinasse both showed up among the 28 nominees for Best New Restaurant in the nation.

Rachel Yang of Joule showed up as the only Seattle chef among 22 nominated as Rising Star Chef of the Year. Others include Gabriel Rucker of Portland’s Le Pigeon and Travis Lett of Gjelina in Venice, California.

James Miller of Café Besalu was the sole Seattle representative among 20 nominees (including Mindy Segal of Mindy’s HotChocolate in Chicago and Deanie Fox of Ubuntu in Napa) for Outstanding Pastry Chef.

Canlis was the sole Seattle representative among 20 nominees (including Emeril’s in New Orleans and Picasso at Bellagio in Vegas ) for Outstanding Wine Service.

Both Canlis in Seattle and Café Juanita in Kirkland were nominated in the category of Outstanding Service. Among the 18 others were Daniel in New York City and Alan Wong’s in Honolulu.

For Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional, Northwest nominees were Alex Golitzin of Quilceda Creek in Snohomish, WA; David Adelsheim of Adelsheim Vineyard in Newberg, OR; and Stephen R. McCarthy of Clear Creek Distillery in Portland.

And finally, in the category of Best Chef: Northwest, the entire roster:
Chris Ainsworth, Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen, Walla Walla, WA;Dustan Bristol, Brick 29 Bistro, Nampa, ID;Kevin Davis, Steelhead Diner, Seattle; Matt Dillon, The Corson Building, Seattle;Scott Dolich, Park Kitchen, Portland, OR;Renee Erickson, Boat Street Cafe, Seattle;Mark Fuller, Spring Hill, Seattle;John Gorham, Toro Bravo, Portland, OR;Maria Hines, Tilth, Seattle;Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez, The Harvest Vine, Seattle;Taichi Kitamura, Kappo, Seattle;Daniel Mondok, Sel Gris, Portland, OR;Naomi Pomeroy, Beast, Portland, OR;Andy Ricker, Pok Pok and Whiskey Soda Lounge, Portland, OR;Charlene Rollins, New Sammy’s Cowboy Bistro, Talent, OR;Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, OR; Scott Staples, Restaurant Zoë, Seattle; Ethan Stowell, Union, Seattle; Jason Wilson, Crush, Seattle; and Cathy Whims, Nostrana, Portland, OR.

Whaddya think, Seattle? Who would you vote for?

Unfortunately I can’t provide any of the smart-ass commentary you’ve come to depend on from The Tablehopper, as I am one of the judges. Finalists will be announced March 23; winners May 4.

Until then…try and get some sleep.

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Tags: Tom Douglas, Mark Fuller, Brasa, Poppy, Justin Neidermeyer, Cascina Spinasse, James Miller, Cafe Besalu, Cafe Juanita, Kevin Davis, Renee Erickson, Boat Street Cafe, Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, Harvest Vine, Matt Dillon, Jason Wilson, Restaurant Zoe, Joule, Ethan Stowell, Maria Hines, Tilth, Crush, Steelhead Diner, Spring Hill, James Beard Awards, Jerry Traunfeld, Canlis, Rachel Yang, Tamara Murphy, Scott Staples

Top Chef Comes to Town

Auditions this Wednesday at Canlis

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Feb 08, 2009 at 12:00PM 14 Comments

By now every foodie in three states knows that the Bravo network’s Top Chef will be holding open auditions this Wednesday at Canlis. The producer called The Tablehopper a few days ago for her recommendations of chefs she thinks would thrive on a show like this.

Far be it from The Tablehopper to withhold.

Tom Douglas, I said. Overexposed, for good reason…and a monster hoot to watch. Jason Wilson of Crush. Ethan Stowell of…everywhere. (Most recently, Anchovies & Olives, which is scheduled to open late this week.) The Herbfarm’s new Keith Luce, quite the showman. Maria Hines at Tilth; Holly Smith at Café Juanita. (The producer loved the idea of women.) And—omg, would this be magic or what—-the great Justin Neidermeyer at the great Cascina Spinasse.

Persistent whispers suggest that two guys are being eyed in earnest: Dahlia Lounge’s Brian Walcyzk, and Anchovies and Olives’ Charles Walpole, late of Mistral.

Stay tuned.

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Tags: Tom Douglas, Holly Smith, Ethan Stowell, Maria Hines, Canlis, Top Chef, Jason Wilson