Nosh Pit

Nosh Pit Weekly Planner

This week: rhubarb in Columbia City, free fries on Pike Street, the Seattle Cheese Fest, and more.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on May 14, 2012 at 12:45PM 0 Comments

Free Fry Friday. It’s definitely got a ring to it.

WEDNESDAY May 16
Rhubarb Festival
The tart pink stalk is finally getting its 15 minutes of fame. The Columbia City farmers market is hosting a sweet vs. savory recipe contest, judged by Edible Seattle editor Jill Lightner, and cooking demo with chef Nat Stratton-Clark of Cafe Flora. Also: live music and a kids tent. Fingers crossed for slices of strawberry rhubarb pie. The event runs from 4 to 6 pm.

FareStart Celebration with Thierry Rautureau
The chef in the hat is putting on a three-course meal to benefit FareStart and celebrate its 20th year. The decadent menu ranges from oxtail terrine to almond caramel, and although the VIP reception is sold out, there are still tickets up for grabs for the $150 dinner.

THURSDAY May 17

Fishmonger Face-Off
The Pacific Northwest’s best fishmongers will meet for battle at the Interbay Whole Foods from 1 to 3 this Thursday. Their knowledge and skills will be put to the ultimate test, and the victor will continue on to garner more glory at the national competition in Aspen in June. And there will be free seafood bites.

Syttende Mai
It’s everyone’s favorite holiday: Norwegian Constitution Day. Get back to your Scandinavian roots (real or imagined) at Copper Gate Tavern with happy hour from 5 to 7 (cheap Aquavit) and live music from 8 to 11. The parade will roll right by too, sometime after 6.

FRIDAY May 18
Free Fry Friday
Aka, the perfect excuse to forget the quinoa and steamed veggies you were planning on consuming, and head down to Pike Street Fish Fry for some fish and chips. From 5 to 7, two-buck New Belgium beers, free fries, and a complimentary good start to a Friday night.

SATURDAY May 19
Seattle Cheese Festival
It’s here, it’s finally here! The weekend that Northwest dwellers with the soul of a Wisconsin cheesehead all pine for. Cheese seminars, mozzarella demos, and tastings galore. Cheesemongers from around the world will set up temporary tasting shop on the cobbled street just outside the market for the two-day fest, starting at 10am both Saturday and Sunday and ending at 5 Saturday, 4 Sunday.

Classic Cocktail Course
SAM’s Taste is hosting Cocktails 101 with Duncan Chase, the restaurant’s veteran bartender. The class will cover everything from how to smoothly order at the bar to how to make and present the classics. The $30 class runs from 6:30 to 8.

SUNDAY May 20
John T. Edge at Elliott Bay
The nation’s best food truck chronicler (officially—he just won the MFK Fisher writing award from the James Beard Foundation) will be at Elliott Bay Book Co., talking about his recent release, The Food Truck Cookbook, and making everyone drool with his recipes gleaned from the nation’s best rolling chefs. He’ll be at Elliott Bay at 2pm Sunday, and at Village Books in Bellingham at 7 on Monday, for you northerners.

MONDAY May 21
Meet the Producer
The third installment of Bastille’s “Meet the Producer” happy hour will bring winemaker Tim Sorenson of local winery Fall Line Winery into the restaurant. There will be a special informational happy hour from 4:30 to 6. (Up next, on June 11, Steven Stone of Sound Spirits…aquavit cocktails?)

WEDNESDAY May 23
Magic and Wine
Though wine alone is usually all the magic anyone needs with dinner, tonight the Schwartz brothers are stepping it up, pairing Château Ste. Michelle wines with nibbles and…a magician. Local wizard G. G. Green will grace the dining room with his sleight of hand at 6:30. The enchantment occurs at Daniel’s Broiler and tickets are $70.

BEYOND

June 2
Cafe Flora’s 20th Anniversary
The sunny vegetarian cafe, beloved by vegans and carnivores alike, is celebrating its second decade with a farmers market-inspired party: bites from some of the restaurant’s local vendors, live music, CSA sign ups, and something that many farmers market are sadly lacking: beer and wine (and special anniversary cocktails for VIP guests.) VIP admission is $50, general is $30, and ticket proceeds will benefit the Bailey-Boushay House.

June 11
Naomi Pomeroy at Matt’s in the Market
Chester Gerl, the head chef at Matt’s in the Market, has been making space in his kitchen for a variety of chefs over the past few months. Planes, Trains, and Traveling Chefs has brought multiple west coast chefs to Seattle already; Portland’s Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon and Vikram Vij of Vij’s in Vancouver, to name a few. Up next Naomi Pomeroy, a heavily lauded Portland chef known for her fantastic restaurant Beast, will walk through Pike Place Market and put together a market-inspired dinner at the restaurant. The dinners are $125, and reservations can be made by calling Matt’s.

June 25
Foodportunity
The semiannual opportunity to rub elbows with the big names in Seattle food (and hey, maybe take the first step to becoming a big name yourself) is coming around again this June. Thierry Rautureau, Jess Thomson, and a variety of other writers, chefs, and industry folks will be there to chat and nibble with. Tickets are $25 now, $32 later, and they usually go fast.

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Tags: Pike Place Market, Daniel's Broiler, Pike Street Fish Fry, Thierry Rautureau, Farestart, Matt's in the Market, Taste Restaurant, Bastille, Cafe Flora, Elliott Bay Book Co, Free Food, Farmers Markets, Columbia City, Foodportunity

Matt’s in the Market Celebrates Five Years with Six Chefs

Are you kidding me? Some of the best chefs from San Francisco to Vancouver will team up for a night with chef Chet Gerl.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Mar 27, 2012 at 09:30AM 0 Comments

Imagine this unforgettable setting, then add a kindofabigdeal chef from Portland, San Francisco, or Vancouver.

Back in 2007, Dan Bugge and Chester Gerl took over Matt’s in the Market, from eponymous founder Matt Janke. With Gerl in the kitchen, Matt’s has remained a delightfully archetypal Seattle restaurant, suitable for wowing visitors, or keeping all for yourself.

To celebrate the five-year anniversary, Gerl and Bugge are bringing in some heavy-hitting chefs from restaurants up and down the West Coast.

The series, dubbed Planes, Trains, and Traveling Chefs, starts Monday, April 16 with a chef named Gabriel Rucker. No big deal, just last year’s James Beard Rising Star Chef winner, and owner of the dynamite, perpetually packed Le Pigeon in Portland. Gerl and Rucker will take turns providing courses for a six-course meal, and collaborating on one dish. The dinner costs $125 per person. Tax and tip aren’t included, but wine is. Not an inexpensive night to be sure, but think of the mileage and hotel fare involved in seeing these chefs in their native kitchens. Plus you can’t beat the setting.

The series continues in the same format, with Vikram Vij of highly acclaimed Indian restaurant Vij’s in Vancouver on April 23. Then it’s back to the U.S. with superbutcher Ryan Farr of San Francisco’s 4505 Meats April 30, Pok Pok wing genius Andy Ricker on May 7, Atelier Crenn chef Dominique Crenn on May 14, and finally Beast meat maven Naomi Pomeroy (a Portland chef and a Top Chef Masters alum) on June 11.

Sign on for all six Monday night dinners and the cost goes down to $100 a person (again, without tax and tip). Call the restaurant to make reservations.

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Tags: Special Dinners, Matt's in the Market, Seattle Food Events

It’s Dine Around Seattle Time, People

(Pssst: Here’s where you’ll get the best deals.)

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Nov 01, 2010 at 09:00AM 1 Comments

Alright, full disclosure: We’re helping sponsor the thing.

But we wouldn’t lend our name to it if Dine Around Seattle weren’t a solid promotion full of screamin’ deals for our readers.

The setup, in case you’ve been living in a neighboring galaxy: Every year during March and November, diners get three-course dinners for $30 at participating restaurants, Mondays through Thursdays. (Some also do lunches for $15.)

That means it starts tonight.

A good deal in some restaurants, three courses for $30 is a fantastic deal in others. Lecosho for instance—Matt’s in the Market founder Matt Janke’s Harbor Steps sensation—is so new your DAS visit will grant you foodie cred that’s dang near priceless.

Outlying destinations, like the spendy Palisade in Magnolia, Barking Frog in Woodinville, and Salish Lodge at the falls in Snoqualmie, offer their patented brand of special occasion dining at a fraction of the usual tab.

As for Seattle neighborhood charmers like 35th Street Bistro, Eva, and Stumbling Goat Bistro …well, sometimes you just need an excuse to cast a new eye upon an old favorite. Sounds like a good deal to us.

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Tags: Promotions, 35th Street Bistro, Stumbling Goat Bistro, Eva Restaurant, Lecosho, Matt's in the Market, Barking Frog, Salish Lodge, Dine Around Seattle, Palisade

Artisan Food Festival at Pike Place Market

Unbelievably, it’s the first annual. And the price is right.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Sep 22, 2010 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

This Saturday and Sunday (September 25-26), Pike Place Market hosts the first-ever Pike Place Market Artisan Food Festival, brought to you by the American Lamb Board, the Market Foundation, and Slow Food Seattle.

Look for tastings, seminars, chef demos (from a great lineup including Cafe Campagne, Matt’s in the Market, Pink Door, and others), music, a beer and wine garden, and a whole lotta food. It’s free.

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Tags: Pike Place Market, Festivals, Artisan Food, Matt's in the Market, Pink Door, Cafe Campagne