Nosh Pit

Neighborhood Food News: Spring Hill Fried Chicken and a Free Fry Friday

Plus: Dining out on Thanksgiving, hot chocolate at Oddfellows, and more.

Posted by: Brian Colella on Nov 16, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Head here on Friday for free fries.

BEACON HILL
Beacon Hill blog reports that Cutlery on Wheels will be at The Station coffee shop this Saturday from 10 to 4 sharpening knives, tools, and more (but no lawnmower blades).

CAPITOL HILL
Oddfellows is offering three types of hot chocolate this winter, one of which features Dr. McGillicuddy’s Mentholmint Schnapps. Called the Frost Reviver #2, it joins two nonalcoholic siblings—classic and Mexican style—in warming up ice-skaters after a day on the new (and temporary) Cal Anderson Skating Rink, open December 6–24.

Pike Street Fish Fry is offering free boats of fries and $2 New Belgium beers for Free Fry Friday, which takes place this week.

DOWNTOWN
Need to satisfy a Twilight-obsessed friend, but maybe you don’t want to remember the experience later? Head to Sazerac before the movie for some special Twilight-themed cocktails. There are five: New Moon, Breaking Dawn, Eclipse, the Edward, and the Jacob. Try at least one of each for best results. Later, just nod—if that doesn’t hurt too much—when your friend asks if you had a good time

Available now until November 30, Morton’s The Steakhouse is offering a special three-course menu for $45. It’s not available on their regular menu, so get the e-certificate for a salad, filet mignon, and double chocolate mousse.

SNOQUALMIE
The Salish Lodge recently installed an apiary, and the honey produced is being used on items like honey-glazed breast of duck and grilled salmon with honey glaze infused with Madagascar vanilla. The honey will also show up in Thanksgiving menu items—pumpkin pie, please! These fall items are a limited release and a preview of the extent to which honey will be incorporated when production gets into full swing next year.

WEST SEATTLE
Spring Hill brings fried chicken back to its menu, on Mondays starting December 5. The Hawaiian-themed pop-up, called “Ma’ono” offers chicken in four styles: original, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Dinners are $49 for two and $98 for four, reservations (necessary) can be made online or by phone at 206-935-1075.

EVERYWHERE
Shiro Kashiba, of Shiro’s Sushi Restaurant, released his memoir this week. The book tells Shiro’s life story and how he ended up pioneering the sushi scene in Seattle (and America). Look for Seattle Met’s review in our December issue.

Don’t want to spend a day cooking a turkey? Don’t want to spend hours finding a place that will feed you on Thanksgiving? We did the legwork for you and present restaurants offering Thanksgiving dinner, so pick one now and avoid stress and—let’s hope—oven fires later.

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Tags: Oddfellows, Food News Roundup, Sazerac, Neighborhood Food News Roundup, Pike Street Fish Fry

Meatless Monday Comes to Seattle

Good for us, good for the planet…we’re lovin’ it.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Nov 15, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Seattle food + booze impresario Linda Derschang has announced that two of her restaurants, Oddfellows Cafe + Bar and Smith will go meatless on Mondays, starting November 29.

And by meatless, they mean that on Mondays Oddfellows chef Thomas Schultz and Smith Chef Chris Howell will serve their regular menus, but offer vegetarian-only specials.

Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative in association with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The focus of the campaign is to start each week with healthy, environmentally friendly meat-free meals. The goal is to help reduce meat consumption by 15% to improve personal health and the health of the planet, and restaurants are beginning to sign on, all over the country.

Seattle cookbook author Kim O’Donnel (The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook), will join Derschang and Schultz at Oddfellows on November 29 to kick off the program. She’ll sign copies of her book from 6pm to 8pm while Schultz prepares recipes out of it.

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Tags: Linda Derschang, Oddfellows, Smith, Meatless, Vegetarian, Kim O'Donnel

Chef Thomas Schultz Joins Oddfellows Cafe + Bar

Here’s hoping he brought his Place Pigalle recipes with him.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Nov 03, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Oddfellows has hired a new chef, reports the busiest impresario in the biz, owner Linda Derschang.

Thomas Schultz joined Oddfellows in September after eight years as chef at the inimitable Place PIgalle. There he was a steady performer, a noble interpreter of French classics, and a maestro of seafood. He’s just now solidifying his new menu, which includes some tweaked Oddfellows classics along with duck leg cassoulet, deviled eggs with capers, and oxtail osso buco with polenta.

Yum.

Pay special attention to his Pernod cream mussels, which if they’re one-tenth as good as his Steamed Mussels Pigalle should be a showstopper.

So the dinner menu’s all rolled out, with the day menu to follow late this month.

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Tags: Linda Derschang, Oddfellows, Place Pigalle, Thomas Schultz

Walkin’ in a Whoopie Wonderland: Photos from Oddfellows Cafe’s Whoopie Pie Bake-off

Professional and amateurs show off their best East coast cakeburgers at the inaugural showdown.

Posted by: Mary Pritchard on Jul 21, 2010 at 05:45PM 2 Comments

Variety was the name of the game. While the classic whoopie (marshmallow fluff sandwiched between two chocolate, cake-like patties) was well represented, unique variations on the old-school ’wich made this bakeoff distinctly Seattle. For example: both vegan and gluten-free pies made their appearance. There were also several booze-infused recipes, like the mini-margarita pies from the kitchen of Christy Beaver of Mini Empire Bakery. Lime zest and tequila wove their way into the frosting of these sprinkle-encrusted bad boys.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Variety was the name of the game. While the classic whoopie (marshmallow fluff sandwiched between two chocolate, cake-like patties) was well represented, unique variations on the old-school ’wich made this bakeoff distinctly Seattle. For example: both vegan and gluten-free pies made their appearance. There were also several booze-infused recipes, like the mini-margarita pies from the kitchen of Christy Beaver of Mini Empire Bakery. Lime zest and tequila wove their way into the frosting of these sprinkle-encrusted bad boys.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

The creation of first-time maker Deb Vasseur, who incorporated the nickname her grown children gave her ("Bee") into her honey, blackberry, and rosemary recipe. “I’ve traveled to Pennsylvania and Ohio in Amish country, so obviously I’ve eaten whoopie pies, dreamed about whoopie pies, and when I heard about this contest, I knew it was finally time to make them.”

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This “Taste of Summer S’more Whoopie Pie” is a gluten-free creation from Jeanne Sauvage, who invents recipes for her gluten-free food blog.

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Crowd members and contestants stuffed both their mouths and the ballot box with their pick for the best cakeburger. Ballots gave samplers a place to rank the pies on form, decoration, aroma, texture and flavor, creativity, and an overall 1-5 (with five being “fabulous” and one being “eh!”).

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Judges John Roderick (writer, musician) and Christopher Frizzelle (editor of The Stranger), wait to load up their plates.

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The five judges started to look slightly daunted by the sheer number of pies they needed to sample. Chelsea D. Lin, Seattle CitySearch Editor and Whoopie Pie BakeOff judge, said afterward that the key was not to try to finish every bite. "Nibbling is the way to go! Judges also pictured (from left): Micheal Wells, Interim Executive Director for the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, Linn, Molly Moon, owner of Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, Frizzelle, and Roderick.

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The judges headed out onto the sunny patio to deliberate away from the crowds. Judge Michael Wells (far right) said the humidity and sun can pose a challenge for whoopie bakers. “Having made whoopie pies myself, there are some challenges in keeping the consistency of marshmallow fluff on a humid day like this. Some people use frosting instead, but I’m really here to represent the most traditional of pies,” Wells said. And yet, according to fellow judge Chelsea D. Lin, “some of the messiest were the most delicious.”

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Tallulah Anderson, event organizer and new media director for Oddfellows, was first exposed to the whoopie pie during her first year at Sarah Lawrence University. When she tweeted a picture of one on Oddfellows’s twitter account, an anonymous response challenged the cafe to a whoopie pie bake-off. “It really happened very organically, which I think gives it a great community feel to it,” said Linda Derschang, Oddfellows founder.

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Seven-year-old Eliza Dworkin scooped up the prize for the best classic whoopie pie. Eliza and her “sous chef” (aka next door neighbor) Robin Whel-Martin entered the competition together after Eliza approached her with the idea.

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Anderson congratulates Dworkin on her win. While there was some debate amongst the judges on whether butter cream or marshmallow fluff was more traditional, Eliza’s sweet treat won them over regardless.

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Heather Earnhardt of Volunteer Park Cafe entered five different pies. “If I hadn’t ran out of marshmallow fluff I probably would have kept going,” she admits. It seems that the numbers game was in her favor, as Heather nabbed two of the awards: most interesting variation, with her chocolate raspberry pie (shown here), and best overall, a red velvet variety.

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Audrey Mormanus won the honor of crowd favorite with her grandmother’s whoopie pie recipe, brought all the way to Seattle from her hometown, Boston. “My entire life we’ve always made them, and when I moved here seven or eight years ago, I didn’t realize no one else knew what they were!” Here she proudly displays the Oddfellows tote bag all of the contestants received for competing.

The dust has settled from Oddfellow Cafe ’s first annual Whoopie Pie Bake-off, where dozens of hungry onlookers gobbled up platters of bite-sized samples, and overstuffed, sugar-soaring judges managed to put down even more.

With over 24 entries in the competition (note: many bakers had more than one pie on the ballot), the five judges were asked to select winners in three categories; meanwhile, audience members sampled to their hearts content and voted on a crowd favorite.

And the winners are…

Best Classic Whoopie Pie: Seven-year-old Eliza Dworkin and her sous chef/next door neighbor Robin Whel-Martin, with their “Classy Classic” whoopie pie.

Most Interesting Variation and Best Overall Whoopie Pie: Heather Earnhardt from Volunteer Park Cafe, with a chocolate raspberry and red velvet whoopie pies, respectively.

Crowd Favorite: Audrey Mormanus, with “Nana Cuoco’s Whoopie Pie”, her grandmother’s recipe she brought with her from Boston.

To see what their creations looked like, and to check out more scenes from the event, click the slideshow.

All photos by Mary Pritchard

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Desserts, Contests, Oddfellows,

Oddfellows Cafe Wants Your Whoopie Pie

Alternative Headline: Wow, I got through an entire post about making whoopie pies and didn’t include one “making whoopie” joke.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 29, 2010 at 02:44PM 5 Comments

How’s your whoopie pie recipe? Pretty solid? Then read on. (If you don’t have any idea WTF a whoopie pie is, skip to the bottom of this post.)

On July 21 at 11am, Oddfellows Cafe will host a whoopie pie bakeoff. Professional and amateur bakers will submit their cakeburgers to a panel of judges.

Judges include Molly Moon Neitzel, owner of Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, and Christopher Frizzelle of the Stranger. Categories include best traditional, most original, and crowd favorite.

Event organizer Tallulah Anderson wasn’t ready to reveal which pro bakers are competing in the contest, so I can’t tell you whom, exactly, you’ll be baking against. But if you want to enter anyway you should email her at Tallulah@lindashq.com. There are 10 spaces left.

Anyone’s welcome to stop by the cafe to sample the whoopies, vote for crowd favorite, and watch the judging.

A whoopie pie is basically a patty of frosting sandwiched between two round pieces of cake, traditionally chocolate or devil’s food. This from Wikipedia: “According to food historians, Amish women would bake these (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers’ lunchboxes. When farmers would find these treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!” As a native of Pennsylvania Dutch Country (a hotzone of whoopie pie activity on the East Coast), I’m inclined to think this claim comes less from “history” and more from the marketers employed by the Ye Olde General Store tourist traps that line the highways of my hometown.

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Tags: Oddfellows, Baking Contests, Amish Eats,