Nosh Pit

Something to Look Forward to: a Dessert Mobile from the Radical Cupcake People

The owner of the allergy friendly catering company keeps an eye on the road.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Sep 02, 2010 at 01:28PM 0 Comments

Marisa Lown will operate her mobile dessert company out of a revamped vintage airstream. Photo courtesy the Radical Cupcake.

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Marisa Lown will operate her mobile dessert company out of a revamped vintage airstream. Photo courtesy the Radical Cupcake.

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Photo courtesy the Radical Cupcake.

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Chocolate cupcakes. Photo by f7 Photography, courtesy the Radical Cupcake.

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Photo by Catherine Jeannette Photography, courtesy the Radical Cupcake.

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Coco cupcakes. Photo by Katie Price, courtesy the Radical Cupcake.

While we’re on the topic of sweet things to come, let’s look ahead to spring 2011, when Marisa Lown will roll out her mobile branch of the Radical Cupcake.

The four-wheeled version of the dessert biz was originally slated for this summer, but, bummer, pastry whiz Lown found herself swamped with catering gigs. She’s pushed back the launch date to April or May. In the meantime, she’ll keep busy souping up the 1953 Flying Cloud airstream that will act as de facto hub of her three-and-half-year old bakeshop. Not only will the trailer travel the city to “pass around sweet love to the masses,” says Lown, it will be a boon for onsite baking and vending.

The name Radical Cupcake is likely to change (one possibility: Sweet Stop Bakeshop ), but what won’t is the credo that’s garnered the hyper-local Cupcake cred: the goods—organic tarts, muffins, pies, cupcakes, more touched-up desserts—are baked with allergies in mind. Lown estimates that on a daily basis at least half of her yummies will accommodate special dietary requests, vegan, dairy, sugar, gluten, and otherwise.

As for that airstream, Lown is tricking it out with mid-century gadgets and a decor that will “evoke the time period” from which it originates. Sweet.

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Tags: Openings, Desserts, Street Eats

Where Will the New Dick’s Go?

Seattle’s classic burger joint is opening a new restaurant, and it wants customers to weigh in on the location.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 31, 2010 at 10:43AM 3 Comments

King5.Com reported yesterday evening that Dick’s Drive-In, Seattle’s favorite drive thru-in hamburger joint, has plans to open a new restaurant. (Dick’s Vice-President Jim Spady, son of Dick, first announced the news on a KIRO radio show, though King 5 makes no mention of that. Bad King 5.)

This is the first time in 36 years that the chain will open a new location.

If you want to offer your input as to which Seattle neighborhood the restaurant should move into, there is a poll for that purpose on the company website.

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Tags: Hamburgers, Openings

Pinto Thai Bistro and Sushi Bar Opens

Thai and Japanese cuisine collide in the former home of Broadway’s Ali Baba.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 27, 2010 at 03:12PM 0 Comments

Pinto opens, brings more of this stuff to Capitol Hill.

The paper’s coming off the windows at Pinto Thai Bistro and Sushi Bar. The new occupant of 408 Broadway is opening Friday, August 27 at 5pm.

From the Facebook page: A new team, new chefs and a mix of Japanese and Thai food for the first time do bring a challenge, but we think we are ready and would love to have you over and try our food. We offer popular Thai and Japanese dishes and a sushi bar stocked with a great selection of fresh wild fish.

And so the sushi invasion continues.

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Tags: Openings, Capitol Hill

First Look: Din Tai Fung

Global chain restaurant Din Tai Fung set to start steaming soup dumplings this fall.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 26, 2010 at 10:48AM 0 Comments

Photo: Jessica Voelker

The Din Tai Fung training suite. Employees train for four months before they’re speedy enough to staff the giant dumpling house. That’s a lot of training.

View Slideshow » Photo: Jessica Voelker

The Din Tai Fung training suite. Employees train for four months before they’re speedy enough to staff the giant dumpling house. That’s a lot of training.

View Slideshow » Photo: Jessica Voelker

A Taiwanese master chef shows the new rollers how its done.

View Slideshow » Photo: Jessica Voelker

In addition to soup dumplings, the restaurant will offer these Gzosa-shaped steamers as well as the little round parcels known as shiaomai.

I have to admit, I was kinda hoping someone would slip me a soup dumpling when I visited the construction site/training facility of Din Tai Fung yesterday. No such luck. In fact, there was no cooking happening at all.

When I arrived at dumpling class—held in a suite down the hall from where the second-floor Lincoln Square restaurant is being built—about 25 members of the 80-person staff were hovered diligently over butcher-block tables, rolling dough into identical disks. They were learning not only how to roll the dumplings, but how to roll them fast—when the restaurant opens this fall, they will be feeding 300-plus tables of hungry locals. Speed, says franchisee David Wasielewski, is essential.

Din Tai Fung originated in Taipai, Taiwan. It now has branches in six countries (its Hong Kong restaurant recently received a Michelin star) and is known especially for xiao long bao—soup dumplings—though it serves rice and noodle dishes and other sorts of dumplings too. I asked Wasielewski why he picked Bellevue. He said that Eastside execs—from Microsoft, Expedia, etc—are already familiar with Din Tai Fung from their corporate travels in Asia, as are a lot of the frequent fliers holed up in nearby Westin and Hyatt hotels.

At the same time, Wasielewski thinks he can appeal to weekenders who come to Lincoln Square for a movie or to bowl at Lucky Strike Lanes. Everything on Din Tai Fung’s menu is $10 and under, and it will be open for lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. “We’re not in the bar business,” says Wasielewski, who is careful to point out he’s not trying to compete with Joey’s and the like for cocktail dollars. Still, the 7,000 square-foot restaurant (the kitchen takes up almost half of the total space) will have bar and lounge area, and there are plans to incorporate a happy hour drink menu.

Translucent when cooked, the skins of soup dumplings are rolled just thick enough so that the dumpling stays together. In addition to a meat or vegetable stuffing, a solid meat gelatin is wrapped inside the dumpling. When it steams, the gelatin turns to a juicy broth. The onus is on the restaurant, said Waielewski, to teach diners how to eat them without searing their tongues on the boiling-hot broth inside. (Before eating, you poke a hole in the dumpling and let the juice spill out onto your spoon.)

Din Tai Fung is set to open in late October or early November. To whet your dumpling appetite, here is a delicious segment from No Reservations, taped at a famous Shanghai restaurant.

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Tags: New Restaurants, New Restaurants, Bellevue, Openings

Varro, an All-Day Italian Bar, Opens in October (Maybe November) on Capitol Hill

You likah the Italian restaurant? Bene, here’s another one.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 20, 2010 at 12:18PM 2 Comments

Stylish mid-century Italy, immortalized in the 1960 movie La Dolce Vita, is the inspiration for Varro. The bar/cafe opens this October on Capitol Hill.

I had a chat the other day with Richard Troiani, one of the partners in Varro, the 1,600 square-foot Italian bar opening this fall in the Packard Building at the corner of 12th and Pine.

One of the questions I had for him was: Aren’t there already a lot of Italian restaurants on Capitol Hill?

Yes, agreed Troiani, who closed his eponymous downtown eatery last September. But his new spot distinguishes itself from Spinasse, Anchovies and Olives, Osteria La Spiga, and Tidbit Bistro (to name just a few) in three ways:

1. Concept: Varro is modeled after Troiani’s favorite way to eat in Italy: At casual bars—he compares them to Spain’s tapas bars—that are open all day and into the night. He says such places are always full of neighborhood people who pop in for an espresso in the morning (Varro will serve Lavazza coffees) and come back later for some lunch, and then again in the evening for a beer and a snack. You can stop by for cocktails or eat a full dinner. “It’s all good,” if you will.

From a conceptual standpoint, then, Varro resembles Oddfellows more than it does Spinasse. It’s just the food is Italian.

2. Decor: In contrast to all the sparsely appointed restaurants popping up around the town, Varro will be an elaborately decorated affair with lots of color and a collage of images from 1950s-60s Italy—that highly stylized, highly decadent era immortalized in the movie La Dolce Vita.

3. Price: Troiani has a Class-two commercial hood system in the kitchen. The upshot of this is that he’s making most of the food in a 1,100-degree wood-burning pizza oven. Look for rustically (and, given that oven, quickly) prepared proteins like chicken paillard and roasted prawns with peppers. His menu will include five or six pastas and a Calabrese sausage and peppers sandwich.

Varro’s dinner menu prices top out at $17.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Openings, Capitol Hill, Bar Openings, Italian Food

First Look: Capitol Hill’s La Bête

Tour the new Bellevue Avenue restaurant before it opens on Thursday.

Posted by: Douglas Bair on Aug 17, 2010 at 06:45PM 3 Comments

Co-chef-owners Aleks Dimitrijevic and Tyler Mortiz spent over $400,000 remodeling the former Chez Gaudy restaurant.

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Co-chef-owners Aleks Dimitrijevic and Tyler Mortiz spent over $400,000 remodeling the former Chez Gaudy restaurant.

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An all natural edge walnut bar—like a tree trunk fell on the bar floor and was perfectly sliced then polished—stretches 24 feet parallel to the 1802 Bellevue Ave entrance.

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These pebble jeweled and silver-stained plywood tabletops mimic the backyard creek that co-owner-chef Aleks Dimitrijevic once splashed around in as a young boy. Mahogany church pews complement the Gothic window trim.

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The smell of freshly cut walnut, mahogany, and Douglas fir intoxicate guests as they enter the new restaurant.

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Snacks, plates, and platters: All dishes will be prepared in front of guests thanks to the new open kitchen layout.

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A fairy tale dinner wouldn’t be complete without drinks, and Gary Abst—former bartender at both Licorous and since-closed Market St Grill—is soon to be behind that mahogany bar mixing them.

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During Sunday brunch, choose from three to five different Bloody Marys.

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Menu items included grilled fava beans with sea salt and lemon zest and a plate caramel braised pork belly.

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You say you’re a beast yourself? Then order a platter of bone-in ribeye with porcini and faro ragout.

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Diners will remember the intricate gilded ironwork from Chez Gaudy.

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When Aleks Dimitrijevic and Tyler Moritz decided to take over the cozy Bellevue corner once belonging to Chez Gaudy, they envisioned a fairy tale environment for their debut restaurant. Good work, guys; by the look of our tour on Tuesday, we’d say you nailed it—this place is anything but “the Beast,” as the French allusion would imply.

General manager Dan Rodgers expects La Bête will open Thursday. When it does, Dimitrijevic and Moritz, they of the accomplished culinary backgrounds, will showcase a locally minded menu—snacks, plates, and platters—that will rotate every week.

To tour the newest resident of Bellevue Ave and E Howell, click on the slideshow.

All photos by Alexandra Notman.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Openings, Capitol Hill

Staple and Fancy Mercantile Set to Open in Ballard on Monday Sunday

Delays are always possible, but Ethan Stowell plans to start serving on the 16th 15th.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 11, 2010 at 12:27PM 0 Comments

If all goes well, you’ll be checking out Ethan Stowell’s new restaurant in just a few days.

Delays are an inevitability in any restaurant opening. But in the unlikely event that all goes right, Staple and Fancy Mercantile will be serving you, the public, starting August 16 15.

The kitchen at Ethan Stowell’s new eatery will orbit around a daily chef’s menu—Stowell will cook every evening. The chef and restaurateur, who runs his businesses with wife Angela, has pretty much turned over all the cooking at Tavolàta, How to Cook a Wolf, and Anchovies and Olives to the head chefs at those restaurants. All of those restaurants have their distinct merits and styles; it will be interesting to re-experience Stowell’s own cooking.

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Tags: Openings, Restaurant News, Ballard, Ethan Stowell

First Look: Lecosho

Sneak a peek at Matt Janke’s new Harbor Steps restaurant, opening this month.

Posted by: Alexandra Notman on Aug 09, 2010 at 04:40PM 0 Comments

“Food We Like” is the motto of Lecosho, the new restaurant on the Harbor steps opening this month with Chef Mike Easton at the helm.

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“Food We Like” is the motto of Lecosho, the new restaurant on the Harbor steps opening this month with Chef Mike Easton at the helm.

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Lecosho, or “pig” in Chinook, has been completely renovated from its former site, the Japanese restaurant, Koji.

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“Wine should be accessible – not a mystery,” says Janke. Here he works on finalizing the menu, which will feature a well-rounded wine and food-friendly beer list including local taps.

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The wooden bar detail was brought in from a friend’s bar in Sun Valley, Idaho. The dark wood should go nicely with the classic cocktails Lecosho plans to serve beneath it.

This month Matt Janke, the Matt behind Matt’s in the Market (which he has since sold), will open Lecosho—that’s the Chinook word for “pig”—a seasonally focused restaurant in the former Koji Osakaya spot along the Harbor Steps downtown. His partner in the project is Jill Buchanan.

Janke recently gave Seattle Met the chance to check in on his progress. Have a look at the slideshow to see what you can expect at Downtown’s hotly anticipated new restaurant.

All photos by Alexandra Notman.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Openings, Chefs

Now Open in Ballard: Walrus and the Carpenter

The oyster bar is the newest face on Ballard Ave.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 09, 2010 at 01:09PM 1 Comments

Oysters: they’re waiting for you at the Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard.

Just a quick note to let you know the Walrus and the Carpenter is ready for you to shuck its oysters. The 900-square-foot eatery opens Monday at 4pm.

At Ballard’s newest restaurant find a weekday happy hour 4pm-6pm, Sunday brunch 10am-2pm, a locally loaded menu, and, per the website, an atmosphere that “blends the elegance of France with the casual comfort of a local fishing pub.”

The oyster bar is located in the Kolstrand Building along with Ethan Stowell’s forthcoming Staple and Fancy.

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Tags: Openings, Ballard

NuCulinary Takes a Time Out, Where Ya At Matt Hits the Streets, Spring Hill’s Fried Chicken: Now Nationally Known

Here’s your heaping plate of Seattle food news for the week of August 2.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 06, 2010 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

The Herbfarm is launching a 100-Mile Dinner series starting August 12.

On the Fly, the take-out offshoot of Flying Fish, eyes a late next week open.

The Walrus and the Carpenter and La Bête: both delayed.

Japonessa Sushi Cocina debuts downtown. Take a look at their signature items.

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on two new tenants of the Packard Building on 12th and Pine: Varro, an Italian-style bar, and the Middle Eastern-esque Eltana.

Also from CHS comes the news Easy Joe’s diner is taking over the former space of Tidbit Bistro.

Cocktail lounge, free-food-during-happy-hour-spot Suite 410 reopens downtown.

Like crispy crack: Spring Hill’s fried chicken makes Travel and Leisure magazine’s list of the 11 best preparations in America.

In other Spring Hill news, the West Seattle resto introduces happy hour starting August 10.

For the fourteenth year, Wine Spectator names Canlis among its Grand Award recipients for outstanding wine service.

The soul food-slinging Where Ya At Matt food truck takes to the streets.

The Herbfarm sets out to craft nine-course meals made only with regional items. The 100-Mile Dinner debuts August 12 and runs through the end of the month. Call 425-485-5300 for reservations.

Tan Vinh of The Seattle Times says Tom Douglas’s new restaurant is slated to open August 12.

Blame it on the economy: NuCulinary is taking a time out come September 30. The cooking school “will be placing our regularly scheduled classes on hiatus… for a few months to retool and reform the business” in response to shrinking enrollment.

Salish Lodge hires Tyler Hefford-Anderson, once of Opal on Queen Anne and the Rainier Club.

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Tags: Openings, Chefs, Street Eats, Food News, Rankings, Food News Roundup

On the Fly: On for Late Next Week

The take-out counter will serve salads, sandwiches, and make-at-home meals to the booming South Lake Union crowd.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 05, 2010 at 02:10PM 1 Comments

On the Fly is the take-out offshoot of Flying Fish, pictured here. Photo courtesy Flying Fish.

Hot diggity the lunch options around here just keep getting better and better.

Late next week keep an eye peeled for On the Fly, the grab-and-go Flying Fish offshoot. The lunch and dinner counter is stocking a variety of salads and sandwiches, price tags for both hovering below $7, says owner Christine Keff. Those dropping by later in the evening will find a more beefed-up menu also stocked with items you can prepare at home. (One example: crab cakes.) For the sweet teeth, there are cookies and pies—Keff sounded particularly stoked about the latter—as well as wines for $18 and under.

On the Fly will share the same kitchen as the recently relocated Fish, but that’s it—the two are of a separate set-up and address. When Keff first scouted her new South Lake Union digs, she was prodded to take over the entire space at 300 Westlake Avenue. A wide-eyed Keff first resisted, knowing it was too big for one restaurant, but then she was a offered “a deal I couldn’t pass up.” Et voilà, the idea for On the Fly took flight.

Right now hours are Mon-Sat 10-7, and there’s no need to call in orders ahead, you can just swing by. An online ordering system will be implemented soon, Keff said.

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Tags: Openings, South Lake Union, Lunch, Delivery and Take Home, Takeout

Ballard’s Walrus and Carpenter Is Immiment

The oyster bar and restaurant is oh so close to opening.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 05, 2010 at 11:27AM 0 Comments

An interior shot of the Walrus and the Carpenter. Photo courtesy the restaurant.

The anxious inquisitors peppering the Facebook wall of the Walrus and the Carpenter must’ve seen the tweet sent out last Thursday declaring the Ballard oyster bar would be open for business within one week.

Turns out they’ll have to sit tight a bit longer. A phone call to the restaurant reveals the new venture of Boat Street Cafe ’s Renee Erickson is not in fact opening today. Next week is looking more promising.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Openings, Ballard