Nosh Pit

Holly Smith Faces Her Stiffest Critic Yet at the Great American Family Dinner Challenge

A boy from Ohio proves one picky eater at the glitzy Washington, DC, cook-off.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 30, 2011 at 12:38PM 0 Comments

Holly Smith and Maria Hines represented in the Great American Family Dinner Challenge.

Holly Smith has faced some tough judges, but on Wednesday Tuesday evening she met her pickiest one yet: a boy from Toledo, Ohio, named Austin.

“He spit all but two dishes out,” laughed the chef and owner of Cafe Juanita during a Wednesday morning phone call.

Smith is referring to the meal she and a handful of chefs made for the Great American Family Dinner Challenge in Washington, DC. The affair was part of the first-ever Building a Healthier Future summit, a two-day forum put on by the Partnership for a Healthier America.

The cook-off was one of several marquee events (Michelle Obama’s speech probably takes the title of headliner—even chefs can’t trump the First Lady), and had Smith and Ming Tsai facing off against Tom Colicchio and Seattle’s Maria Hines (Tilth, Golden Beetle). The four James Beard winners were tasked with making a meal in 30 minutes with only $10, the idea being to demonstrate how to cook healthy with a food-stamp budget.

It went down in the Regency Ballroom. There, side-by-side kitchens—“pretty straightforward kitchens,” noted Smith (the gig was meant to simulate real life, remember)—faced a crowd of 800. That’s the most people Smith has cooked before. Nerve-wracking? Nah. “I don’t care about a stage. It wasn’t about the judges. It was about the 800 people watching” and the conversations they were having.

Those judges included Austin and his single mother and another family from Maryland. They all weighed in on the two teams’ creations but it was the budding boy gourmand “who really took over.” A kid spitting up food and making gaggy faces is a good barometer of what is and isn’t working.

Smith made quinoa with veggies and herbs and quick-braised chicken thighs; her partner Tsai a salad and parfait dessert. Ultimately it was a Jello creation crafted by Colicchio that won over Austin, giving Colicchio and Hines a nine-point edge over their competitors.

“But he did eat three bites of my chicken,” beamed Smith.

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Tags: Celebrity Chefs, Seattle Chefs

Vietnamese: the Ethnic Cuisine Seattle Does Best

We churn out fine Japanese, too.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 11, 2011 at 01:45PM 0 Comments

As part of Seattle Met’s Best Restaurants feature, we asked dozens of Seattle chefs and restaurateurs to give us their take on trends, customers, competition—pretty much everything under the restaurant sun. What we got was an earful of juicy insider insight. We’ll be posting some of the responses in the coming weeks.

Seattle boasts quite an Asian food scene (Need proof? Read about our best Asian restaurants here) so this may come as a no-brainer. When we asked chefs to name the ethnic eats Seattle does best, the top five responses were Eastern cuisines. Vietnamese proved the most common answer, followed by Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Korean. (Non-Asian mentions included Ethiopian, Italian, Scandinavian, and “new French,” whatever that means.)

Said one respondent: “I eat more Asian food than I do any other cuisine. You can go high-end, low-end—across the board we have phenomenal Asian food.” “I’ve traveled to Vietnam, up and down the country. I find that some of the pho [here] is really, really, really authentic,” gushed another.

And to the toque who mourned, “Well certainly not Indian. I’ve yet to find any real good Indian places,” we hear you.

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Tags: Asian Food, Seattle Chefs, Seattle Restaurant Culture

The Hardest Thing About Opening a Restaurant in Seattle Is…

Permitting, competition, and business taxes, to name a few.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 08, 2011 at 02:30PM 0 Comments

As part of Seattle Met’s Best Restaurants feature, we asked dozens of Seattle chefs and restaurateurs to give us their take on trends, customers, competition—pretty much everything under the restaurant sun. What we got was an earful of juicy insider insight. We’ll be posting some of the responses in the coming weeks.

Owning a restaurant is a tough racket—this you probably figured—but what are the hurdles that really trip up restaurateurs? The crowded market, for one: “There are a lot of restaurants now, and there are a lot of good ones, so while you’re getting ready to open you need to be building curiosity and anticipation,” opined a respondent. Echoed another: “It seems to me that there’s more restaurants in the city than the city can actually hold.”

Another biggie: permitting and “trying to jump through hoops that change constantly.” “In Portland their rules are so loose, it seems like everyone opens whatever they want wherever they want. Up here it’s pretty restrictive, but heading in the right direction.”

For a breakdown of other obstacles peep the pie chart.

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Tags: Seattle Chefs, Seattle Restaurant Culture

Where the Chefs Go to Eat

Plus: their favorite pizza and sandwich joints.

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Nov 04, 2011 at 09:44AM 0 Comments

La Carta de Oaxaca: a favorite of Seattle chefs.

As part of Seattle Met’s Best Restaurants feature, we asked dozens of Seattle chefs and restaurateurs to give us their take on trends, customers, competition—pretty much everything under the restaurant sun. What we got was an earful of juicy insider insight. We’ll be posting some of the responses in the coming weeks.

It’s not often chefs hang up their aprons. But when opportunity knocks, where do they head for a meal?

Most said Sitka and Spruce and Revel, followed by Madison Park sushi staple Nishino. Delancey and La Carta de Oaxaca took the number three spots. Other notable mentions: Sea Garden, Shiro’s, Monsoon, Luc, Kisaku, and Serious Pie.

When they’re craving pizza, Delancey is the go-to. Best sandwich joint? Paseo. “I can’t ever say no to Paseo,” confessed one, while another lamented, “I wish they sold beer. Their sandwiches cry out for beer.”

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Tags: Seattle Chefs, Seattle Restaurant Culture

Which Seattle Restaurants Do the Chefs Most Admire?

Oh, you will be surprised.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Oct 24, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: Lindsay Borden

Canlis

Here’s a teaser from our Best Restaurants issue which hit the stands last week: Which Seattle restaurants do the best Seattle chefs admire most?

For our feature entitled “Chefs Bite Back,” we polled dozens of Seattle’s finest culinary artisans for their uncensored and anonymous opinions of the competition. The places they chose? Cafe Juanita in Kirkland. Lark on 12th. Le Pichet, Revel, Rover’s, Shiro’s Sushi, Spinasse, Staple and Fancy, and that magnificent Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall in the International District, Green Leaf.

Chefs love these and so do I: five from this list made my list of the Top 25 Restaurants, the centerpiece of our Best Restaurants issue now on the stands.

But which do they love best? Drumroll please for a tie between two Seattle classics opposite in mood, cuisine, and atmosphere —but each exquisite in quality, consistent in execution, and in their different ways emblematic of Seattle: Sitka and Spruce and Canlis.

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Tags: Seattle Chefs, Critic's Notebook,

Who Are Seattle’s Most Underrated Restaurateurs?

Hint: They’re married and recently opened a hit restaurant in Fremont.

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Oct 20, 2011 at 12:23PM 5 Comments

Underrated: Seif Chirchi and Rachel Yang of Revel and Joule. Photo courtesy Jackie Baisa.

As part of Seattle Met’s Best Restaurants feature, we asked dozens of Seattle chefs and restaurateurs to give us their take on trends, customers, competition—pretty much everything under the restaurant sun. What we got was an earful of juicy insider insight. We’ll be posting some of the responses in the coming weeks.

They were recent subjects of Food Network fawning, and all the critics love ’em, yet Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi just don’t get the props they should. The duo behind Joule, Quoin, and Revel are Seattle’s most underrated restaurateurs, according to the crew we polled.

Commented one chef: “People who are really into food know about them, but I don’t know if they’re really attracting the crowds they deserve. Revel and Joule—they’re very unique, nothing else like what they do.” Said another: “They get a lot of local attention, but then you kind of forget they’re there, you don’t hear much about them.”

Behind Yang and Chirchi was Renee Erickson of Boat Street Cafe and The Walrus and the Carpenter (“She’s just doing her thing, she doesn’t do PR; she just has really cool, straight-ahead places”); and Dana Tough and Brian McCracken (Spur, Tavern Law, Coterie Room).

Other mentions included Scott Carsberg, Ba Culbert, Jim Drohman, Bruce Naftaly, Ryuichi Nakano, Melissa Nyffeler, and Scott Staples.

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Tags: Seattle Chefs, Seattle Restaurant Culture

Chefs Sound Off on Seattle Restaurant Week

“It’s a necessary evil I hope to not be doing in a few years.”

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Oct 18, 2011 at 12:25PM 2 Comments

Restaurant Week and Dine Around Seattle stir up a mixed bag of emotions among local chefs. Photo courtesy Luc/Geoffrey Smith.

As part of Seattle Met ‘s Best Restaurants feature, we asked dozens of Seattle chefs and restaurateurs to give us their take on trends, customers, competition—pretty much everything under the restaurant sun. What we got was an earful of juicy insider insight. We’ll be posting some of the responses here in the coming weeks.

The bi-annual Seattle Restaurant Week got underway this past weekend and we’re already hearing rumblings. So what better time to present results from this question: Which best captures your feelings about Restaurant Week and Dine Around Seattle?

25 percent

Love ’em! “We get [customers] in the door, give them a good experience, and they come back.”

25 percent

Loathe ’em “It’s dumbing down your food for people who don’t want to spend the money.”

20 percent

Restaurant Week: yes, Dine Around: no “The 10 days of Restaurant Week don’t burn your staff out, but those month-long things are painful.”

8 percent

Good for business, but grueling “It’s a necessary evil I hope to not be doing in a few years.”

8 percent

Doesn’t ultimately increase business “Same with the coupons: It brings in people who are after a deal, and those are not your repeat customers.”

8 percent

We can’t afford it “We’re a small restaurant with a small kitchen, and it’s hard to do things the way we want when we’re slammed.”

4 percent

If we don’t do it, we have no business that week “You’re over a barrel.”

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Tags: Dining-World Drama, Seattle Chefs, Seattle Restaurant Culture

Broadway’s Table 219 Gets a New Owner, Name

Executive chef Jeffrey Wilson takes the reins.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 05, 2011 at 04:41PM 0 Comments

Jeffrey Wilson takes over Table 219.

Changes are afoot at Broadway comfort food den Table 219, a favorite among this city’s brunch-going set.

Executive chef Jeffrey Wilson has bought out business partners Gary Snyder and Stacey Hettinger and will assume sole ownership November 1. Snyder and Hettinger also own Geraldine’s Counter in Columbia City, and will focus their efforts there.

When reached by phone Wednesday afternoon Wilson said he has no plans to rework the menu—news sure to please 219’s many Saturday and Sunday regulars. If anything he’ll add a few new dishes. Wilson will, however, make changes to the interior to “better fit what we do food-wise,” to give it a more “industrial, Americana” vibe, he said. He also mentioned revamping the bar area.

Another change: the name. Around the first of December Table 219 will become Americana. That’s also when Wilson plans to start renovations but said he won’t shut down the restaurant during the transition.

For some time Wilson, who’s been with 219 since it opened and worked at its former incarnation, El Greco, has been looking to branch out and “do his own thing.” Ultimately the handover proved too good a deal to turn down.

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Tags: Restaurant News, Seattle Chefs

Garrett Michael Brown New Chef de Cuisine at Oddfellows

Wait, what about Verve 2.0?

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 04, 2011 at 03:53PM 0 Comments

Oddfellows, the new stomping ground of Garrett Michael Brown. Photo: Jessica Voelker

Garrett Michael Brown reaches out to say he’s taken a gig at Oddfellows, the perpetually packed Cap Hill food and booze hall. “I’ve been picked up by Linda Dershang as the chef de cuisine at Oddfellows Cafe + Bar,” he writes via email. “Couldn’t be happier.”

Last we heard of Brown it was because his erstwhile kitchen, Columbia City’s Verve, was closing. The beloved neighborhood bistro unexpectedly lost its lease after four-and-a-half years and shuttered late last month. When I spoke to owner Kate Bond about the closure she made a point to say she and Brown were hoping to take the restaurant elsewhere—together.

So what does Brown’s new hat spell for those plans? Will let you know when I do.

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Tags: Seattle Chefs, Garrett Michael Brown

New Chef for Poco Wine Room

Closing? Who’s closing? Poco announces a change in the kitchen.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 29, 2011 at 10:38AM 0 Comments

Despite its for-sale status, Poco Wine Room hires a new chef.

Photo: Poco Wine Room via Facebook

After announcing, in early August, their plans to sell Capitol Hill vino bar Poco Wine Room, owners Peter Moore and Bart Reynolds clarified in a newsletter this weekend that the bar will not close simply because it’s on the market.

And in fact, Poco has a new chef. Zephyr Paquette, who has cooked at Cafe Flora, Dandelion, and Elliott Bay Cafe, will replace Ally Rael in the kitchen.

So, who is buying? “We’re talking with some great potential buyers, and we’re expecting to have some great news for you later this year,” write Moore and Reynolds.

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Tags: Restaurant News, Capitol Hill, Seattle Chefs

Erik Jackson Cancels Remaining Pop-Ups at Volunteer Park Cafe

The former Cuoco toque has a new gig at the forthcoming McCracken-Tough joint.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 18, 2011 at 10:56AM 0 Comments

No more Monday pop-ups at Volunteer Park Cafe, at least for now.

Erik Jackson is joining the kitchen of Brian McCracken and Dana Tough’s new venture in the former Restaurant Zoë space, and so is bailing on A Square Meal, the short-lived bi-monthly pop-up he helmed at Volunteer Park Cafe. The Monday night series took shape in late June; two more of the dinners were scheduled for August 29 and September 12.

When asked whether chef/owner Ericka Burke might host more pop-ups, a rep for the restaurant said, “Ericka loves the idea of having a pop-up at VPC on Mondays. She likes to help out fellow chefs and would totally do it again if the fit were right.”

Jackson, an alum of the Tom Douglas enterprise (Serious Pie, Dahlia Lounge, and most recently Cuoco) and of McCracken and Tough’s Spur Gastropub, had approached Burke, taking his tenure at Dog Mountain Farm in Carnation as inspiration for the locally minded pop-up.

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Tags: Volunteer Park Cafe, Seattle Chefs, Seattle Pop-Ups

Don’t Forget That Seattle Chef Wayne Johnson Is Going to Be on Iron Chef This Weekend

Sunshine, smunshine. There’s television to watch.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 29, 2011 at 04:20PM 0 Comments

Seattle’s own Wayne Johnson competes on Iron Chef America. All you have to do is watch.

Photo: Andaluca

Program that DVR, people who have DVRs: Seattle’s own paella master, Wayne Johnson, is competing on Iron Chef America this weekend, and you know you don’t want to miss that.

Johnson, the executive chef at Andaluca and Oliver’s Lounge in the Mayflower Park Hotel, will take on Michael Symon of Cleveland’s Lola Bistro. If the secret ingredient is anything that you put in paella—and you can pretty much put anything in paella—Johnson’s got this one in the bag.

Iron Chef America airs on the Food Network, the programming details are on its website.

Who will win? We don’t know! We hope it’s our guy though, right? Of course we do.

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Tags: Celebrity Chefs, Seattle Chefs, Seattle on TV