Nosh Pit

Lily Opens on Orcas Island

Sweets and treats, now on sale in the space below Allium on Orcas.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 18, 2011 at 02:53PM 1 Comments

Rice krispee treat pops from Lily, posted on Twitter by Anna Harlow.

On Friday, March 19, Lisa Nakamura and Anna Harlow—the owner/chef and pastry chef of Allium on Orcas —opened an ice cream shop in the space downstairs from the Main Street restaurant.

It’s called Lily. (Allium is the Latin name for the lily family of plants).

Among the treats for sale (or planned for sale) at Lily: ice cream, clam chowder, takeaway sushi, giant chocolate chip cookies, and gift baskets.

The ice cream is from Lopez Island Creamery; flavors include: mint chip, coconut, chocolate almond chunk, chocolate peanut butter swirl, mango, raspberry lemonade sorbet, cherry amaretto, vanilla, cookies and cream, wild blackberry, Skagit strawberry, coffee, latte chip, green tea, chocolate, and pecan praline.

If you end up on Orcas this weekend, lucky you.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Orcas Island, Ice Cream

Sweet News: Herbfarm Pastry Chef Joins Lisa Nakamura in New Orcas Island Venture

Anna Harlow will serve up homey desserts at Allium.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 06, 2010 at 02:13PM 0 Comments

On Monday we reported that Lisa Nakamura is opening Allium in the view-boasting Orcas Island space that formerly held Christina’s. I have had a chance to speak with Nakamura since then, and learned that (former) Herbfarm pastry chef Anna Harlow will be joining her in the venture. (Know a pastry chef in need of a job? The Herbfarm is hiring.)

Nakamura says Allium will be a homey, casual restaurant and that desserts will be “recognizable, but with a twist.” So for example she’ll have key-lime pie, but with coconut tossed into the crust. “I like desserts that feel like going home,” she said.

The wine list will be a combination of international and domestic bottles, with a range of by-the-glass options. She’ll also do half bottles, “so people can switch from white to red without feeling guilty about buying two whole bottles.” Nakamura is working with local breweries to design the beer list and is creating a list of custom nonalcoholic drinks as well.

Allium will start out as a dinner-only restaurant, but add lunch and brunch when staffing permits. Nakamura hopes to open just before Memorial Day weekend.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Orcas Island, Lisa Nakamura

Herbfarm Chef de Cuisine Takes Over Christina’s on Orcas Island

Lisa Nakamura’s new restaurant will be called Allium.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 03, 2010 at 07:39AM 0 Comments

Lisa Nakamura Photo: theherbfarm.com

On Saturday, May 1, Seattle’s twittering food folks heaped congrats upon chef Lisa Nakamura, who had just announced she was taking over the lease at Orcas Island restaurant Christina’s.

You may know Nakamura from her stint at Bin Vivant in Kirkland, or from her latest gig as chef de cuisine at the Herbfarm, where she once had to create salt using water from the Puget Sound for the restaurant’s 100-mile dinner.

The new restaurant will be called Allium and it is slated to open on Memorial Day Weekend. According to the press release, "Allium [is] the Latin name for the lily family, which includes onions and their allies. For Nakamura, ‘the onion is fundamental to cooking, providing the base for multifaceted flavors and dimension.’”

The release lists the following as signature dishes “Puget Sound sole filet with duchilly hazelnut faro; Smoked paprika-braised pork shoulder with mango rhubarb salsa; and Jones Family Farm manila clams with local saffron aioli.”

I’ll be talking to Nakamura soon to find out more. Wonder who will take her spot behind the line at the Herbfarm….

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Chefs, The Herbfarm, Orcas Island, Lisa Nakamura