Nosh Pit

Nosh Pit Weekly Planner

This week: rhubarb in Columbia City, free fries on Pike Street, the Seattle Cheese Fest, and more.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on May 14, 2012 at 12:45PM 0 Comments

Free Fry Friday. It’s definitely got a ring to it.

WEDNESDAY May 16
Rhubarb Festival
The tart pink stalk is finally getting its 15 minutes of fame. The Columbia City farmers market is hosting a sweet vs. savory recipe contest, judged by Edible Seattle editor Jill Lightner, and cooking demo with chef Nat Stratton-Clark of Cafe Flora. Also: live music and a kids tent. Fingers crossed for slices of strawberry rhubarb pie. The event runs from 4 to 6 pm.

FareStart Celebration with Thierry Rautureau
The chef in the hat is putting on a three-course meal to benefit FareStart and celebrate its 20th year. The decadent menu ranges from oxtail terrine to almond caramel, and although the VIP reception is sold out, there are still tickets up for grabs for the $150 dinner.

THURSDAY May 17

Fishmonger Face-Off
The Pacific Northwest’s best fishmongers will meet for battle at the Interbay Whole Foods from 1 to 3 this Thursday. Their knowledge and skills will be put to the ultimate test, and the victor will continue on to garner more glory at the national competition in Aspen in June. And there will be free seafood bites.

Syttende Mai
It’s everyone’s favorite holiday: Norwegian Constitution Day. Get back to your Scandinavian roots (real or imagined) at Copper Gate Tavern with happy hour from 5 to 7 (cheap Aquavit) and live music from 8 to 11. The parade will roll right by too, sometime after 6.

FRIDAY May 18
Free Fry Friday
Aka, the perfect excuse to forget the quinoa and steamed veggies you were planning on consuming, and head down to Pike Street Fish Fry for some fish and chips. From 5 to 7, two-buck New Belgium beers, free fries, and a complimentary good start to a Friday night.

SATURDAY May 19
Seattle Cheese Festival
It’s here, it’s finally here! The weekend that Northwest dwellers with the soul of a Wisconsin cheesehead all pine for. Cheese seminars, mozzarella demos, and tastings galore. Cheesemongers from around the world will set up temporary tasting shop on the cobbled street just outside the market for the two-day fest, starting at 10am both Saturday and Sunday and ending at 5 Saturday, 4 Sunday.

Classic Cocktail Course
SAM’s Taste is hosting Cocktails 101 with Duncan Chase, the restaurant’s veteran bartender. The class will cover everything from how to smoothly order at the bar to how to make and present the classics. The $30 class runs from 6:30 to 8.

SUNDAY May 20
John T. Edge at Elliott Bay
The nation’s best food truck chronicler (officially—he just won the MFK Fisher writing award from the James Beard Foundation) will be at Elliott Bay Book Co., talking about his recent release, The Food Truck Cookbook, and making everyone drool with his recipes gleaned from the nation’s best rolling chefs. He’ll be at Elliott Bay at 2pm Sunday, and at Village Books in Bellingham at 7 on Monday, for you northerners.

MONDAY May 21
Meet the Producer
The third installment of Bastille’s “Meet the Producer” happy hour will bring winemaker Tim Sorenson of local winery Fall Line Winery into the restaurant. There will be a special informational happy hour from 4:30 to 6. (Up next, on June 11, Steven Stone of Sound Spirits…aquavit cocktails?)

WEDNESDAY May 23
Magic and Wine
Though wine alone is usually all the magic anyone needs with dinner, tonight the Schwartz brothers are stepping it up, pairing Château Ste. Michelle wines with nibbles and…a magician. Local wizard G. G. Green will grace the dining room with his sleight of hand at 6:30. The enchantment occurs at Daniel’s Broiler and tickets are $70.

BEYOND

June 2
Cafe Flora’s 20th Anniversary
The sunny vegetarian cafe, beloved by vegans and carnivores alike, is celebrating its second decade with a farmers market-inspired party: bites from some of the restaurant’s local vendors, live music, CSA sign ups, and something that many farmers market are sadly lacking: beer and wine (and special anniversary cocktails for VIP guests.) VIP admission is $50, general is $30, and ticket proceeds will benefit the Bailey-Boushay House.

June 11
Naomi Pomeroy at Matt’s in the Market
Chester Gerl, the head chef at Matt’s in the Market, has been making space in his kitchen for a variety of chefs over the past few months. Planes, Trains, and Traveling Chefs has brought multiple west coast chefs to Seattle already; Portland’s Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon and Vikram Vij of Vij’s in Vancouver, to name a few. Up next Naomi Pomeroy, a heavily lauded Portland chef known for her fantastic restaurant Beast, will walk through Pike Place Market and put together a market-inspired dinner at the restaurant. The dinners are $125, and reservations can be made by calling Matt’s.

June 25
Foodportunity
The semiannual opportunity to rub elbows with the big names in Seattle food (and hey, maybe take the first step to becoming a big name yourself) is coming around again this June. Thierry Rautureau, Jess Thomson, and a variety of other writers, chefs, and industry folks will be there to chat and nibble with. Tickets are $25 now, $32 later, and they usually go fast.

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Tags: Pike Place Market, Daniel's Broiler, Pike Street Fish Fry, Thierry Rautureau, Farestart, Matt's in the Market, Taste Restaurant, Bastille, Cafe Flora, Elliott Bay Book Co, Free Food, Farmers Markets, Columbia City, Foodportunity

Taste Restaurant Holds Olive Oil Event

Including dinner, with olive oil cocktails.

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

Taste at the Seattle Art Museum is holding a cool event to promote California olive oil.

Fran Gage, San Francisco author of The New American Olive Oil: Profiles of Artisan Producers and 75 Recipes, will lead a seminar on olive oil-making techniques and discuss food and olive oil pairings.

Then her dishes will be featured in a 4-course meal prepared by exec Craig Hetherington and ace pastry chef Lucy Damkoehler.

Dinner will be paired with an olive oil cocktail created by Taste mixologist, Duncan Chase.

The whole thing happens Saturday, Oct 2, starting at 3pm, with dinner at 6pm. Seminar plus tasting is $45; dinner $85. To reserve, call 206-903-5291.

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Tags: Cookbooks, Culinary Events, Taste Restaurant, Olive Oil

What did you do on your day off, chef?

Taste Pastry Chef Lucy Damkoehler chills on a hot day.

Posted by: Parisa Sadrzadeh on Aug 13, 2009 at 04:00PM 1 Comments

Lucy Damkoehler, pastry chef at TASTE at the Seattle Art Museum, spends her days up to her elbows in marshmallow and ganache, crafting whimsical takes on the sweet course: rasberry malted milkshake, “Twisted” s’mores sandwich. Her sugary masterpieces give the paintings next door a run for their aesthetically pleasing money, but It’s exhausting, the whole dessert genius thing, and she is supposed to have Sundays and Mondays off.

But more often than not, work runs into Damkoehler’s Sundays like so much housemade ice cream melting into warm rhubarb pie, and she has to pack all her maxing and relaxing into one measly day. Here’s how she does it.

Last Monday I woke up at 10. At 11 I walked with my boyfriend to Glo’s on Capitol Hill, I live on Capitol Hill. I got the Spanish omelet and some coffee with milk.

Then we hung out and watched afternoon TV for like an hour, then he left for work at about 1, and I took a 45-minute nap.

I got up and took my bike to the bike shop. I use it for commuting and I have it ready for a triathlon that I was thinking about doing. But who knows when that’s happening. Then, I walked to 15th to a store called Take 2 and just browsed. I walked back down to my house around 3, and it was hot! I made a tuna fish sandwich for lunch with lettuce and tomatoes, and then I grabbed my book and sat outside next to my garden. The book I’m reading is Transistor Radio , it’s about a guy getting a sex change….I came back inside and listened to music and read Gourmet magazine, and I watered my garden at around 7.

My boyfriend came home from work, and it was so hot that we decided to go to the movies, we saw Public Enemies. I love any movie with Johnny Depp so I enjoyed it. And of course, we got popcorn, we just didn’t feel like cooking because it was so hot. Oh, I also had an Icee with it. Then, we came home at around 10:30, and we watched Seinfeld. We do it every night, it’s my relaxing show.

Lean what other local chefs do in their down time here.

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Tags: Taste Restaurant, Chef's Day Off, Lucy Damkoehler

Two Local Chefs Receive Scholarships to Quillisascut Farm School

Elliott Bay Cafe’s Zephyr Paquette and Taste’s Arthur (Zack) Chamberlain will be milking goats and making cheese.

Posted by: Parisa Sadrzadeh on Jul 27, 2009 at 08:00PM 0 Comments

Milk me.

Elliott Bay Café ’s Zephyr Paquette and Arthur (Zack) Chamberlain, sous chef at Taste, are this year’s recipients of the Seattle Chefs Collaborative scholarship to attend the Quillisascut Farm School.

“Among our qualified candidates, the committee felt that Zephyr and Zack had backgrounds that would give them a basic understanding of what to expect at the Quillisascut Farm Schools and futures that would enable them to share their education with fellow chefs, co-workers, and employees,” Seth Caswell, Seattle Chefs Collaborative president, said in an e-mail. “It is essential that the scholarship recipients demonstrate leadership qualities in their kitchen.”

During their stay Paquette and Chamberlain will learn how to care for small livestock, milk goats, and make various types of cheese. They will also aid in gardening, composting, and building vegetable beds, and visit other area farms to learn about pastured poultry, organic orchard cultivation, and beekeeping and honey production.

The culinary program was created in 2002 to help foster relationships between local farmers and chefs and for culinary professionals to learn the origins of sustainable food.

Other Seattle restaurants that have sent chefs to Quillisascut include Café Juanita , Canlis, The Herbfarm, Le Pichet, and Rover’s.

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Tags: Taste Restaurant, Zephyr Paquette, Elliott Bay Cafe, Arthur Chamberlain, Quillisascut Farm School, Chefs Collaborative

Strawberries Galore at Taste

Check out this dessert trio

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Jun 23, 2009 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

TASTE at SAM makes another artful nod to comfort food this month by introducing a strawberry trio dessert that includes a homemade popsicle, a chewy fruit roll-up, and a coffee cake shortcake with chilled crème fraiche.

The popsicle is made old-school style, with strawberry juice poured into a shot glass and frozen upside down; the fruit roll-up is simply pureed strawberries rolled flat and baked (sans the high-fructose corn syrup); and the coffee cake is stuffed with macerated fruit and sweet cream.

Pastry chef Lucy Damkoehler premiered the dessert last week, and will serve it through strawberry season.

—Karen Quinn

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Tags: Desserts, Taste Restaurant

Where to Eat on Mother’s Day

Spoil the old gal AND support your struggling local restaurant

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on May 07, 2009 at 09:00AM 2 Comments

Not for nothing is this Sunday the biggest day in the restaurant year. Mom shouldn’t have to cook and you sure as shootin’ aren’t going to.

So go ahead, son, crank open that wallet. There you go. Now grasp hold of that sparkly platinum thing inside. That’s the one. Say it with me: c-r-e-d-i-t c-a-r-d. Remember your credit card? Remember spending?

We thought you did.

A few places for you to practice your new skill this weekend:

Andaluca will serve breakfast (7am to noon) and lunch/dinner (3pm-9pm) off its Mediterranean menu, which includes pintxos, tapas, and paella. Or choose the pris-fixe special: pintxos, entree, and dessert for $30.

Got a cultural mom? Take her to the Seattle Art Museum and enjoy a meal in its terrific cafe, Taste. Either pay $35 per person (includes a three-course lunch, admission for one to the museum, and a gift from the SAM shop) or $100 per person (all of the above plus a SAM family membership). Remember: kids 12 and under get into the museum free, every day of the year.

Eastsiders, take note: At Redmond’s Pomegranate Bistro from 9am to 2pm, Mother’s Day brunch will start with Mama Royals (Pama Liquor & French Sparkling Cremant) plus donut holes with strawberries and cream…and just get better from there, with entrees from cardamom French toast to smoked salmon Bennies. $28 per grownup; $10 per kid.

At the lovely Campagne, Sunday’s menu will include sparkling wine cocktails, Dungeness and leek quiche, black truffle omelettes with housemade sausage, and pan-roasted beef with fried eggs and smoky harissa rouille. Yum.

Or, for a little hobnobbing with the celeb chefs, bring Mom to Palace Kitchen’s Ballroom where you can brunch with owner Tom Douglas at his “Mom and Tom” brunch. Douglas will conduct a cooking demo of the dishes on offer (plus give away the recipes), and award prizes for the top ten hats worn to the occasion. Should be a hoot. Starts at 11am; tickets are $60 a pop.

For a Tuscan feast, bring Mom to Ballard’s Volterra for chestnut pancakes and wild mushroom and truffle cheese scrambles, to wash down with a peach thyme Bellini or five. Brunch happens from 9am to 2pm that day…with dinner starting just three hours later.

On North Capitol Hill, neighb favorite Tidbit Bistro will be peddling its brunch menu items, including frittatas and crepes…while across town at Elliott’s Oyster House the order of the day will be smoked salmon scrambles, Tenderloin Bennies…and stiff Bloody Marys.

Finally, for those who are up for nine courses and $189 per person—what better day than Mother’s Day to get out to the famous Herbfarm? It’s dinner, starting at 4:30, preceeded by a tour of the lovely gardens. And this year, to sweeten the deal, a chauffeur-driven town car from anywhere around Seattle is included in the cost.

So you, dear child, can get a little soppy right along with Mumsie.

Find them all.

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Tags: The Herbfarm, Mother's Day, Campagne, Taste Restaurant, Andaluca, Pomegranate Bistro, Palace Kitchen