Nosh Pit

Shuttered Thaiku Restaurant Pops Up at Copper Gate

Ballard’s destination for aquavit cocktails goes Thai for a night in honor of its sibling bar and restaurant.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on May 23, 2012 at 10:55AM 0 Comments

Scandinavia makes way for Thailand next Thursday. Photo via Facebook.

Since closing in December, Ballard restaurant Thaiku (along with its apothecary-bar sibling Fu Kun Wu) is still seeking a permanent home. Meanwhile, some of Thaiku’s original staff has put together a pop-up dinner set for next week.

The just-announced meal will be Thursday, May 31, at Copper Gate, a Norse-inspired Ballard bar-staurant also owned by Thaiku proprietor Jon Alberts. His jazz trio, previously Fu Kun Wu’s resident band, relocated to the aquavit-and-pinup-filled Copper Gate and will be playing live from 8 to 11 that night.

Unlike most pop ups, the menu is a la carte, and plates like larb gai (ground chicken in chili and fish sauce, with lime juice) and grilled skewers of pork or prawns, will cost between $7 and $12. And yes, there will be herb-infused cocktails as well. Seating is first come, first served, and dinner runs from 5 until midnight.

Alberts says the search continues for a new location for his Thai restaurant and cocktail bar. Meanwhile, these dinners might pop up again at Copper Gate this summer.

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Tags: Seattle Pop-Ups, Copper Gate, Thaiku, Fu Kun Wu

Poppy Debuts Masala Monday May 7

Jerry Traunfeld is cooking classic Indian dishes for one night only. But if you like it, he’ll do it again.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Apr 25, 2012 at 11:15AM 4 Comments

On Masala Monday, the thalis will be traditionally Indian, rather than India-inspired. Photo via Poppy.

The latest restaurant to get in on the Monday night special menu action? That would be Poppy. On May 7, chef-owner Jerry Traunfeld and his kitchen take a one-night hiatus from his Indian-inspired thali platters do cook actual Indian food.

Traunfeld says he often cooks Indian fare at home (no surprise there), particularly dishes from cookbook authors like Julie Sahni, Suvir Saran, My Bombay Kitchen author Niloufer Ichaporia King, and actress-turned-cookbook scribe Madhur Jaffrey. The one-night menu will include some favorites from these books, represent different regions of India, and essentially be the standout Indian restaurant Traunfeld wishes he could find in Seattle.

“My kitchen is set up for it, with the tandoor and the thalis, and I think it would inspire my cooks,” says Traunfeld. Fans of Poppy, and Indian food in general, are likely to be excited about it as well. If the May 7 evening is a success, Traunfeld plans to do more of them.

The night’s menu is still taking shape, but Traunfeld is planning both regular and vegetarian thalis, each with 12 items, and each for $25 (it’s a single-person platter). The kitchen will also offer some starters and desserts. Call the restaurant for more details.

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Tags: Special Dinners, Seattle Pop-Ups, Jerry Traunfeld, Poppy

Geraldine’s Counter, Skelly and the Bean Host Bo Ramen Pop-Up

Ramen obsessives, this one’s for you.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Apr 20, 2012 at 08:30AM 0 Comments

Bo Maisano’s brothy goodness. Photo via Facebook.

The latest opportunity to nerd out on noodles comes courtesy unabashed ramen obsessive Bo Maisano.

It was David Chang’s inaugural Lucky Peach that triggered Maisano’s infatuation with the brothy bowls and sent him on benders throughout Seattle and Portland. “I became completely obsessed.” He’s tinkered with his own recipes ever since. “A breath of fresh air,” he says of the shift in focus from his more buttoned-up kitchen experience and being pushed to the “edge of your comfort level. "There’s a whole lot going in that bowl.”

Seattleites can sample Maisano’s resultant handiwork in a series of pop-ups titled Bo Ramen. Geraldine’s Counter owner Gary Snyder (“Bo and I go way back”) will host two of the dinners on May 5 and 19—an ideal opportunity for his restaurant, a breakfast-brunch stalwart that’s closed on Saturday nights. (Maisano, a New Orleanian, has clocked in at many local establishments, hence his connection with Snyder.) Skelly and the Bean is also on board. Dinners there are set for May 1 and 8.

Diners can expect three bowls: shrimp or veggie miso or a chick-and-pork broth Shoyu ramen, all abiding by the local-sustainable credo, all around $10. (Gluten-free folks can opt for yam noodles.) For dessert: green tea gelato from Bottega Italiana. Maisano is still honing a tonkotsu, which he hopes to introduce by the middle of the run (what do you say to some bacon in there, Maisano?). Also in the works are hum bao with fun fillings like praline.

Depending on how this series pan out, Maisano will organize additional feasts in the future. Check out the Bo Ramen Facebook page for more info.

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Tags: Seattle Pop-Ups, Skelly and the Bean, Bo Maisano, Bo Ramen, Geraldine's Counter

Hitchcock Debuts Americana Mondays

One night a week, Bainbridge Island’s European-Northwest dining destination goes all pork chops and chicken-fried steak.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Apr 10, 2012 at 03:40PM 1 Comments

Sous chef Keegan O’Brien celebrates wresting control of Hitchcock’s kitchen away from chef Brendan McGill, at least on Monday nights. Photo courtesy of Hitchcock.

UPDATE: Americana Mondays now has a dedicated website.

Seattle restaurants continue their love affair with Monday-night pop-up meals. And Hitchcock, that magical restaurant (and deli) on Bainbridge Island, is getting in on the action. And like MistralKitchen’s Arabesque and Sitka and Spruce’s taco nights, this newcomer is designed to showcase the talents of someone on staff.

On Monday nights, chef-owner Brendan McGill cedes the kitchen to his sous chef Keegan O’Brien (I think he might be of Irish descent), who arrived at Hitchcock after working at Anchovies and Olives, as well as Osteria La Spiga. This past Monday was the first time O’Brien’s “Americana Monday” completely took over the regular menu.

“I’ve been a little chicken to jump into the pop-up game,” says McGill. “But since we started talking about doing this, people have been so excited about Keegan’s Americana night that I’m gonna go for it.” When O’Brien’s running the show, expect dishes like fish and chips, chicken-fried steak, pork chops, cobb salad, and a duck egg–topped schnitzel, all just as endearingly local as the fare on Hitchcock’s regular menu.

There will be some cross–utilization with ingredients, says McGill. O’Brien might turn a housemade garlic and pork sausage into the centerpiece of a deconstructed biscuit and gravy, making butter from the restaurant’s cultured cream, using both buttermilk and butter to make the biscuits, then placing the whole sausage on a biscuit with a pour of black pepper bechamel. Later in the week you might see that same sausage back under McGill’s command, served with a salad of black lentils, mirepoix, local chard or kale, and an emulsified Champagne vinaigrette.

The dinners began as an inside joke about the chef and sous chef conducting WWF–style smackdowns for menu supremacy. McGill even helpfully shared photo documentation of his second-in-command vanquishing the despairing proprietor and his European-Northwest fare…at least on Monday nights. Now that’s a supportive boss.

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Tags: Special Dinners, Hitchcock, Seattle Pop-Ups, Brendan McGill, Keegan O'Brien

Nosh Pit Weekly Planner

Desserts with Gail Simmons, Brown-bag lunches at Volunteer Park Café, and oysters on the beach with Taylor Shellfish.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on Feb 27, 2012 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Shucking lessons and all the oysters you’ve ever dreamed of. This Saturday on the beach with Taylor Shellfish.

WEDNESDAY February 29

Dessert Party with Gail Simmons
The Book Larder and Tom Douglas are bringing Gail Simmons, host of Top Chef: Just Desserts, to the Palace Ballroom for an evening of sweets and discussion. The $45 ticket includes desserts prepared by the Douglas team, a glass of wine, a signed copy of Simmons’ book Talking With My Mouth Full, and some insight on how one becomes a professional dessert-eater.

Rub With Love Pop-Up
Seatown’s monthly Rub With Love pop-up is back, this time East Indian-themed, with the Bengal Masala Rub taking center stage. Drop by for an inexpensive meal —or if you miss it, don’t fret: some of the pop-up menu items will make their way onto the happy hour menu for the rest of the month.

Leap Day at Pagliacci
The local pizza chain is taking a trip back to 1984—another leap year—and dropping prices down to what they were 28 years ago. Grab a slice of cheese pizza for 90 cents, pepperoni for 95 cents, combo for $1.20 and primo for $1.35 at the U-District, Broadway, and Queen Anne locations.

THURSDAY March 1

Gail Simmons at the Book Larder
If you missed Gail at the Palace Ballroom on Wednesday, you’ll get another shot on Thursday morning at 9:30 at the Book Larder. This event is only $25, and you’ll get the book, a cup of Caffe Vita coffee, and some quality time with Gail in the Book Larder kitchen.

FRIDAY March 2

Poverty Bay Wine Festival
The Des Moines Rotary Club’s eighth annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival begins Friday and runs through Sunday. More than twenty Washington wineries will be in attendance, and $25 gets you 10 tasting tokens.

Lunch Break for Schools
Volunteer Park Café will be raising money for the American Culinary Federation’s Chefs Move to Schools program with a classic brown-bag lunch. The $12 lunch bags hold a totally non-disappointing old-school lunch: a sandwich, parfait, carrots, and milk. All organic, of course, and available for pick-up before school or to enjoy in the café.

SATURDAY March 3

Hard Liver Barleywine Festival
The 10th annual Barleywine Fest begins its three-day run this Saturday at Brouwer’s Café in Fremont. The fest will have dozens of varieties of the strong ale (usually 8 to 12 percent alcohol) to taste.

Streets and Beets
Hundreds of bikers will be pedaling 70 miles from the city down to Seattle Tilth Farm Works in Auburn to raise money for and awareness about the inequalities in the food system. Registration will run you $25 and includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and riders are expected to raise at least $100 in donations to participate.

Samish Sip n’ Slurp
Taylor Shellfish and non-profit Skagit Conservation Education Alliance are putting on an evening of wine, shucking lessons, and as many oysters as you can eat. The $75 event begins at 6 on the beach at the Taylor Farm oyster beds.

SUNDAY March 4

Sausage and Bacon Workshop
A meaty departure from the routine cooking classes: a sausage making and bacon-curing workshop. The $70 class will cover bacon, smoked garlic hot dogs, Italian sausage, and apple chicken breakfast sausage. The class begins at 2 at Cook’s World and is limited to 12 students.

TUESDAY March 6

Shellfish Shindig
Every Tuesday till April 18, Tom Douglas seafood restaurant Etta’s will be hosting a messy, delicious Shellfish Shindig. Call ahead and reserve your bucket of clams, mussels, shrimp, and vegetables (with bread for sauce-soaking as well as sautéed greens and cornbread pudding and coconut cream pie), $30 per person, with a minimum of 2 people.

BEYOND

March 8
Crab and Prawn Boil at Salty’s
The Salty’s chefs will be boiling up pounds of crab and prawns for a Thursday feast. The restaurant recommends making reservations for the $35 meal, which includes a pound and a half of seafood plus bread, chowder, salad, and a pint of hefeweizen.

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Tags: Tom Douglas, Oysters, Volunteer Park Cafe, Etta's, Seatown Snack Bar, Seattle Pop-Ups, Book Larder, Weekly Planner

Nook Does Japanese For a Week

Don’t worry, the biscuits aren’t going anywhere.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Feb 10, 2012 at 09:52AM 3 Comments

Soba noodles. Photo courtesy justhungry.com.

Nook, the breakfast and lunch den known mostly for its biscuits, is throwing us for a curveball and hosting a series of Japanese dinners starting February 22.

Owners Aki Woodward and Alex Green have invited several restaurateurs from Japan to craft three-course meals with soba noodles at the center. Green worked with the guys in Japan, where apparently they own a slew of soba joints. The buckwheat noodles will be made from scratch each day; the main dish comes with either duck or oysters. (Sorry vegetarians, no substitutes.) The dinners are cheap (reserve in advance and the cost is $10, at the door it’s $12), and making reservations would be prudent—not only is Nook tiny, Woodward says the chefs are making only 25 batches each day. The pop-up runs through the 26th from 5 to 8 and concludes on Tuesday the 28th.

If the response is positive, Woodward says she and Green will consider organizing more such feasts. Not to worry, business will continue as usual during the day—that is, the biscuits aren’t going anywhere.

Call 206-268- 9154 0154 to reserve a spot.

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Tags: Seattle Pop-Ups, Nook

La Bête Goes Global with New World Series Dinners

Now through March: a special weekly Indian menu.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Jan 26, 2012 at 02:30PM 0 Comments

Monday night’s special menu includes this Kashmiri stew of lamb and beef meatballs. Photo courtesy of La Bate.

Capitol Hill restaurant La Bête previously hosted the excellent pop-up Little Uncle on Monday nights. The Thai menu relocated to its brand new walkup counter in January, but that doesn’t mean La Bête is back to business as usual on Mondays.

Chef-owners Tyler Moritz and Aleks Dimitrijevic have begun a series of special Monday night menus that strut around the globe. Right now the normally European-tinged restaurant morphs into an Indian food destination on those nights. The chefs, who met at Ethan Stowell’s original spot Union, have dubbed this adventure their world series.

Dimitrijevic says the series “gives us an unprecedented freedom to feature things in the restaurant that wouldn’t really ever find a home on our regular menu.” Which means things could get pretty crazy; La Bête’s regular menu is already a delightful melding of Old World and seasonal elements. And pork rinds.

The plan calls for Indian fare through March. Beyond that, specifics are still in flux, but Dimitrijevic is talking about Eastern European and Mexican menus, then in warmer weather skipping over to Japan and Southeast Asia. Oh, and perhaps an Italian menu recreating the dinner from the movie Big Night, or an “all-out classic Escoffier night, complete with cucumber scaled sides of salmon on aspic, and choux swans for dessert.”

Now that I’d like to see.

If world series nights catch on, the duo is open to running it two nights a week.

The most recent Indian menu includes some $2 and $3 small plates of samosas, pickles, yoghurt and the like. Larger plates include butter chicken, saag paneer, and a Goan-style curry of squid and manila clams. Dishes top out at $15 and the gents even do a selection of Indian-inspired sweets (Fried dough with cardamom and rose syrup? Heck yes I will).

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Tags: Seattle Pop-Ups, La Bete, Tyler Moritz, Aleks Dimitrijevic

Savage Street Cuisine Extends Pop-Up Series at Volunteer Park Cafe

Talks of other ambitious plans.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 25, 2012 at 09:09AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Savage Street Cuisine.

Blogs have already offered plenty of predictions as to what the coming year will bring food-wise. Pardon the delay, but here’s another one: Savage Street Cuisine is a name you’ll hear a lot.

The fledgling venture of Kalen Schramke and David Howe appeared on the local scene in late October. That’s when the two Rover’s chefs launched their street food-inspired, cross-cultural pop-up at Volunteer Park Café. They’ve orchestrated one dinner a month since, and after a string of sellouts and a slew of repeat diners, plan to extend the series there through June, says Schramke.

Dates are set for January 30, February 27, March 26, April 2, and June 4 (all Mondays). Menus for each dinner will rotate and take inspiration from a different country or region: Africa, Korea, India, Italy—which area is TBD—and Eastern Europe (but not necessarily in that order). Schramke noted he and Howe (who’s also worked with Lark ’s John Sundstrom, Tamara Murphy, Scott Carsberg, and VPC owner Ericka Burke) like to dabble in cuisines that allow them to incorporate their homemade charcuterie.

Of course the idea here is Schramke and Howe will capitalize on the momentum and turn it into something bigger. Both are still working full-time at Rover’s but Schramke said he wouldn’t be surprised if soon they are focusing all their energy on Savage Street Cuisine. Eventually he hopes they’ll host three to four pop-ups a month (they’re scouting other locations, any ideas?), as well as one-off special events. The ultimate goal is a food truck. When will that be? Schramke shrugs at a time frame—could be summer, could be winter—but predicts it will happen in 2012.

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Tags: Volunteer Park Cafe, Seattle Pop-Ups, Savage Street Cuisine

Little Water Cantina Hosts Top Chef Alum For Pop-Up Dinner

Owner Shannon Wilkinson and season one contestant Lee Anne Wong bring you China Latina.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 06, 2012 at 04:05PM 7 Comments

The Top Chef alum is joining forces with Little Water’s Shannon Wilkonson for two nights of Sino-Latin good times.

Seattle’s latest pop-up dinner comes to you courtesy of Eastlake’s Little Water Cantina, where Top Chef alum Lee Anne Wong is joining chef/owner Shannon Wilkinson later this month for a pair of dinners dubbed “China Latina.”

Scheduled for January 25 and 26, the meals will run $45 for four courses. Dinner includes an introductory cocktail, but an additional four-course wine pairing runs you $25. Each night will have two seatings, at 6 and 8pm. The format is pretty flexible for a pop-up; a vegan version of the four-course menu is available, and diners can even order China Latina items a la carte.

As the name suggests, the food will be a fusion of Asian fare and the cuisine of Mexico and Latin America. Wilkinson says he’s eager to show diners how well these two distinct styles work together. Some of the sample menu items being bandied about are togarashi vanilla chicken wings and kung pao shrimp tacos.

The menu is a collaboration between Wong and Wilkinson, who were Top Chef colleagues back when Wilkinson served as one of the show’s culinary producers and Wong was a contestant, later becoming a culinary producer as well. However the Little Water Cantina owner says that the two chefs actually struck up a friendship back in culinary school. They even did a China Latina meal several years back at a well-regarded hotel restaurant Oaxaca.

“The whole point of this event is for us to get in the kitchen together,” says Wilkinson. “The last time we cooked this kind of food together, we were actually in Mexico.”

These days, Wong is in the midst of opening a restaurant in New York City. She also appears on Cooking Channel show Unique Eats—the original reason for her visit to Seattle.

Little Water is expecting these meals to sell out, so you best be making a reservation by calling the restaurant. Wilkinson says the evenings will be a fun departure for him and his staff. “I want to do several unique, focused events like this each year that will expand how Seattleites think about Mexican food.”

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Tags: Restaurant Popups, Seattle Pop-Ups, Top Chef, Little Water Cantina, Shannon Wilkinson

Tom Douglas Staffers Will Host Monthly Pop-Up Dinners

Sample the culinary visions of everyone from executive chefs to ‘office geeks.’

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Dec 01, 2011 at 02:45PM 0 Comments

The next pop-up from the realm of Tom Douglas happens December 13.

The pop up dinners continue at Tom Douglas’s Ting Momo restaurant. Last month’s Filipino feast by Cuoco line cook Herschell Taghap went off so well that the restaurant mini-empire is planning to make these one-off dinners a regular thing. Each month a different employee within Douglas’s 12-restaurant realm will create and execute a pop-up meal, says Douglas rep Amy Richardson: “Could be a line cook, could be an office geek, a server, a bartender, or a head chef.” Themes will vary from highly casual to downright fancy.

On December 13, Serious Pie cook Devarshi Patel (who also works at Prosser Farms, run by Douglas’s wife Jackie Cross) will cook the street food of India at his Chaats of Bombay dinner ($20 per person). And here’s something that piques the interest: Tom Douglas Restaurants executive chef and James Beard winner Eric Tanaka is planning a pop-up dedicated to “all things balls.” This could presumably involve spherical foodstuffs, though Richardson said certain delicate parts of a bull, sheep or other animal will indeed be featured. Either way that event is a must for fans of both stellar cooking and juvenile puns (in other words, me).

Most meals have some sort of personal or family connection. Other dinners planned for the early months of 2012 include a cadre of female staffers doing a Southern dinner dubbed “Charm School” and Cuoco line cook Jesse Elliot hosting a dinner with his mother around Mother’s Day. TDR corporate chef Chris Schwartz will do a dinner, but Richardson says the theme is top secret until further notice.

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Tags: Seattle Pop-Ups

Popular Pop-Up Little Uncle Finds a Permanent Home

The Enterprise Formerly Known as Shophouse planning takeout window at former Baguette address.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 14, 2011 at 12:45PM 0 Comments

Little Uncle: coming soon to 1509 E Madison St.

First there was Shophouse, the Monday night pop-up that Lark sous chef Wiley Frank and wife Poncharee Kounpungchart (aka PK) began at Licorous, then recently moved to La Bete. Then the duo rechristened the business Little Uncle when fast-casual chain Chipotle rolled out a Southeast Asian concept called ShopHouse. Now we get word that Frank and PK are going brick-and-mortar, taking over the Madison Street walkup window recently vacated by Baguette.

The couple is turning the spot into a dedicated takeout shop for its menu of street-style Thai dishes. In a city overrun with sticky-sweet pad Thai joints, Little Uncle’s plates are a welcome blast of sour, heat and the delightful funk that characterizes good Thai food. Frank says the Little Uncle shop will likely open in the first half of December. He and PK are aiming for lunches only, four days a week, to start, then expanding after the new year.

As anyone who ever ate a bahn mi on the sidewalk outside Baguette can attest, the location isn’t about to accommodate Little Uncle’s popular Monday night pop-up dinners. Those will still be at La Bete, says Frank. The menu on Madison will include carryout-friendly plates like khao mun ghai (poached chicken and broth with garlic rice), a braised pork shank, and steamed buns with braised beef cheek. The offerings are reminiscent of the carryout-friendly dishes the couple did at the Columbia City Farmers Market this summer—with the significant addition of refrigeration, and a bit more protection from wind and rain. Keep an eye on Little Uncle’s website for more details.

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Tags: Seattle Pop-Ups, Little Uncle, Wiley Frank, Poncharee Kounpungchart

Monday Night Fried Chicken Returns to Spring Hill

Let the gluttony resume December 5.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 14, 2011 at 10:00AM 1 Comments

Fried chicken returns.

Photo: Spring Hill Restaurant

Fried chicken is back at Spring Hill …and this time it’s Hawaiian-style. The West Seattle restaurant saddened many a fried chicken fan when it discontinued its weekly dinners earlier this year. Now owner Marjorie Chang Fuller says the decadent Monday night repast will return December 5, albeit with an international twist.

Chef-owner Mark Fuller has bestowed the name “Ma’ono” on fried chicken dinner 2.0. Diners can choose from four different chicken preparations: Korean; Japanese; Chinese, or the beloved original. The family-style sides have also been changed up to include Spam musubi, kimchi, pickled cucumbers, macaroni salad, and steamed white rice.

Dinner for four will set you back $98, and a two-person chicken interlude is $49, plus tax and tip. If crunchy, decadent, juicy fried chicken isn’t your thing, Fuller does a special Monday night a la carte menu that includes kalbi short ribs and curried fried rice with bacon. Much like the original dinners, reservations are required, and I’m guessing these will book up well in advance. Call Spring Hill at 206-935-1075 to reserve.

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Tags: West Seattle, Spring Hill, Fried Chicken, Seattle Pop-Ups