Yeah, the Foodies ate in Kirkland...again. I haven't even driven through that town in ages...yet I've managed to eat there two times in the last month. Go figure! Hopefully, I'll find something a little closer next time.
But we were meeting our friends Tim and Margaret, and since they are Eastsiders, and I've been wanting to go to Brix...we ended up in Kirkland again. Juanita Village, to be exact. It's a little mixed-use neighborhood with retail at street level, and probably very expensive condos above. The "village" felt a little modern and sterile, but it was pleasant enough.
Brix itself was nicely appointed. It felt friendly and warm, and even though it was maybe a third occupied when we got there on a Saturday night at 6, there was a happy hum of customers in the air.
Bill & Margaret ordered wine and the apple and blue cheese mixed greens salad, I ordered a glass of Champagne along with the crab mac & cheese appetizer, and Tim ordered... a caramel appletini. Wow, I didn't see that one coming! It looked AMAZING though, when it came to the table: a lime green concoction with a caramel-encrusted apple lollipop soaking in the martini glass. Cool. He loved it--and asked if I would be sharing dishes since I was going to be writing about dinner. What he really was asking was, if I expected him to share his food. I answered that yes, I was the sharing type. Tim said he was not. And he told us how, as a teenager, he was out eating fast food with a bunch of guys, and one of them grabbed a handful of his french fries and started to eat them. "I don't know what happened, but something snapped," Tim said. "I reached over and grabbed those fries right out of his mouth." And he's not shared his food since.
I can live with that. But I did not fail to notice that he sampled freely from Margaret's plate. Hmm.
But--there was a big breakthrough--he did share something from his entree (which I will in turn share with you later), so I have to give him big props for that.
So anyhoo, back to the appetizers. Both Bill & Margaret said their salads were just ok, agreeing that the greens were lacking some zip, and the razor-thin matchstick slices of apple were just not enough to bring out the flavors in the rest of the dish.
I was SO EXCITED to dig into the crab macaroni & cheese--two of my favorite things in the whole world, in one bowl! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, there was no woo to be hooed. Bland, boring and not even the slightest hint of cheese flavor. How can you mess up mac & cheese??!! I thought I might be able to salvage it with some salt, but there was none on our table. My eyes darted from table to table in desperation...and no one had salt. Or pepper! To me, this is either amazing arrogance or a huge oversight. Last week on Top Chef, Tom Colicchio told one of the "cheftestants" (Bravo's horrible made-up title, NOT MINE) that one of the worst sins a chef could commit was to under-season his or her food. I say amen to that, my brother. The scant tablespoon of fresh crab piled in the center of this orange mass of nothingness was somehow very nicely seasoned. But it was so tiny....
Thankfully, the food really did not have to be the star of this evening, as we were having the best time with Tim & Margaret. You could not find two people who are smarter and so much fun to be with! So all was not lost. And when our entrees arrived, things started looking up in the food department.
Margaret and I both ordered the fall risotto with pumpkin puree, butternut squash and scallops. It tasted exactly as I had dreamed it would, when I was pouring over the on-line menu earlier in the day. Sweet, savory, creamy, and bursting with flavor. The scallops (only two, boo!) were perfectly seared and were a brilliant addition to the risotto.
Tim ordered the grilled rib eye steak, which was served with a twice baked potato and sauteed chard with blue balsamic butter. Tim saw me eyeing his potato, asked if I wanted a bite, cut off a very generous piece, and brought it over to my side of the table. Thanks for sharing!! It was great. And I hope it felt good to share. :) He said his meal was good, but I thought the rib eye looked mighty thin for $27.
Bill had the grilled skirt steak which came atop a nicely crunchy potato gratin, with sauteed chard and demi glace. The steak was tender and tasted fantastic, but once again, there were a few scant pieces placed over the potato cake. Bill said that really, the gratin was the star of his dinner, and he'd sacrifice eating just a few teensy pieces of meat to get those potatoes again.
At dessert time, I had no plans on ordering more than a cup of decaf (which came in a huge French press, and was some of the best coffee I've had in a long time). But our very nice waitress informed us that the evening's pot de creme was chocolate with a ribbon of mint on top, and both Margaret and I thought that sounded worth having. Bill ordered the warm chocolate brownie with coffee ice cream, and Tim requested the banana nut bread French toast, which really appeared to be the clear winner of the table.
The pot de creme tasted ok...it was the consistency that turned my stomach. It was runny, and, frankly, reminded me of something I'd seen in a diaper back in the day. I couldn't finish it. Bill's brownie was in fact warm and chocolatey, but the coffee ice cream lacked a lot of coffee flavor.
The whole dinner came to about $226 (before tip) for drinks & the three courses, which I felt was fairly reasonable. And although the food was certainly nothing to call home about, a very, very good time was had by all.
Brix Wine Café
9749 NE 119th Way
Kirkland, WA 98034
425.242.0280
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
'Lucia' in Kirkland: Hits & Misses
A bunch of us were meeting up at the Kirkland Performance Center Saturday night to see my best friend's daughter in a production. Originally, I had my heart set on eating at Cafe Juanita before the play, but I didn't think the menu looked that kid-friendly and it was pretty spendy. Trying to be a Good American Tightening My Belt Yet Supporting The Economy, I settled on Lucia which was just a parking lot away from the theater. I'd seen their cool logo in ads in Seattle Magazine, I think, and it had been on my shortlist of 'places to check out should we ever end up in Kirkland.'
Turns out the kids decided they wanted room service at the hotel in Bellevue, so they didn't end up coming with us after all. That means six of us showed up at our reserved table for eight, and the server was still very nice to us. (Thanks! I should have called....) The waitstaff started us out with this amazing cheesy and savory focaccia bread served with a balsamic dipping sauce. I think we had four or five plates of this as we ordered drinks and some stuffed mushrooms for the table. Bill had mixed feelings when his huge tumbler of Scotch on the rocks arrived: Yay, large glass of booze! Boo, I think they're going to charge me for a double when I didn't ask for a double! We passed around the mushrooms, which were sporting perfectly browned cheese berets and tasted creamy and toasty and perfect on this cool October night. This was a real winner, and I couldn't help but think that I would order the mushrooms again, but not share with anyone.
Three of us ordered the grilled romaine salad and two ordered the spinach salad with chicken, gorgonzola, currants and candied walnuts. The currants were actually Craisins, I believe, but it was still a good salad. The grilled romaine salad, though, was a real delight. It was liberally sprinkled with smoky bacon bits and gorgonzola, and topped with a nice drizzle of gorgonzola dressing. The menu said the salad would be served with "seasonal apples"...and they appeared as two small, razor-thin slices of some generic apple on the plate. It would have been nice to have more sweet to go with the gorgonzola, but truly, the romaine leaves (one small head, cut down the center, lightly oiled and just barely browned on the grill) covered all other sins from the kitchen with this dish.
So things were starting out nicely for us at Lucia. But when dinner was served, that's when the wheels sort of fell off the bus. First of all, it took close to 30 minutes for our food to arrive. Bill ordered the calimari, which arrived so heavily fried in so much batter that you weren't even sure there was any calimari inside! "Kentucky Fried Squid," he called it. And it only came with marinara sauce, probably my least favorite sauce for calamari. He didn't finish it, which is rare for my huge fan of all things squid.
Tom, on the other hand, may have won the dinner sweepstakes, with his filet mignon with port demi sauce. It was cooked a perfect medium-rare, and he hardly needed his steak knife, it was so tender and juicy. He didn't talk much because he had to jam through dinner in order to get his daughter to the theatre on time, but he said it was one of the best steaks he'd had in a good while. Also, he did not share, which is definitely a sign of how much he loved his dinner.
Dave and Mieko split the ahi tuna on a large (like, enough for three people) mound of risotto. As I am a huge fan of all things rice, I immediately stole a bite of it right off of David's plate, which made him crinkle his forehead. The risotto was creamy and cheesy and layered with flavors. The fish was pan-fried with a thick coating of panko bread crumbs. I would have preferred it grilled, but Dave and Mieko loved it!
I ordered the spinach lasagna, which was really more my mistake than Lucia's. I should never order lasagna in a restaurant, because, well, nobody can make it as well as I can. I don't mean to brag or anything, but if you've had my lasagna, you know what I'm talking about. The biggest problem with Lucia's version, besides being rather bland and the spinach being cooked into gray submission, was that it wasn't hot in the middle. It was just lukewarm. Ick. That is a huge sin, in my book. Lasagna must be near volcanic temperatures when served, allowing the diner to start around the edges and work her way in through the layers at her own pace.
Harriet had a couple of unremarkable looking crab cakes. She said they were good.
When the bill came, Bill was right: they'd poured him a double Scotch. But, since it was only $10, he thought it was a bargain. Lucia added an 18% gratuity to our total, which was very appropriate. Later, as we were walking back to our car after the play, there was a band blasting music through Lucia's doors and out into the strip mall it's in. Glad we weren't there for that!
If I went back to Lucia again, I'd probably stick with salads & appetizers. The food is reasonably priced, and this restaurant is the perfect location for before-theater dining. But I think Cafe Juanita's next on the list of 'places to check out the next time we end up in Kirkland.'
Lucia
222 Parkplace
Kirkland
425.889.0200
Turns out the kids decided they wanted room service at the hotel in Bellevue, so they didn't end up coming with us after all. That means six of us showed up at our reserved table for eight, and the server was still very nice to us. (Thanks! I should have called....) The waitstaff started us out with this amazing cheesy and savory focaccia bread served with a balsamic dipping sauce. I think we had four or five plates of this as we ordered drinks and some stuffed mushrooms for the table. Bill had mixed feelings when his huge tumbler of Scotch on the rocks arrived: Yay, large glass of booze! Boo, I think they're going to charge me for a double when I didn't ask for a double! We passed around the mushrooms, which were sporting perfectly browned cheese berets and tasted creamy and toasty and perfect on this cool October night. This was a real winner, and I couldn't help but think that I would order the mushrooms again, but not share with anyone.
Three of us ordered the grilled romaine salad and two ordered the spinach salad with chicken, gorgonzola, currants and candied walnuts. The currants were actually Craisins, I believe, but it was still a good salad. The grilled romaine salad, though, was a real delight. It was liberally sprinkled with smoky bacon bits and gorgonzola, and topped with a nice drizzle of gorgonzola dressing. The menu said the salad would be served with "seasonal apples"...and they appeared as two small, razor-thin slices of some generic apple on the plate. It would have been nice to have more sweet to go with the gorgonzola, but truly, the romaine leaves (one small head, cut down the center, lightly oiled and just barely browned on the grill) covered all other sins from the kitchen with this dish.
So things were starting out nicely for us at Lucia. But when dinner was served, that's when the wheels sort of fell off the bus. First of all, it took close to 30 minutes for our food to arrive. Bill ordered the calimari, which arrived so heavily fried in so much batter that you weren't even sure there was any calimari inside! "Kentucky Fried Squid," he called it. And it only came with marinara sauce, probably my least favorite sauce for calamari. He didn't finish it, which is rare for my huge fan of all things squid.
Tom, on the other hand, may have won the dinner sweepstakes, with his filet mignon with port demi sauce. It was cooked a perfect medium-rare, and he hardly needed his steak knife, it was so tender and juicy. He didn't talk much because he had to jam through dinner in order to get his daughter to the theatre on time, but he said it was one of the best steaks he'd had in a good while. Also, he did not share, which is definitely a sign of how much he loved his dinner.
Dave and Mieko split the ahi tuna on a large (like, enough for three people) mound of risotto. As I am a huge fan of all things rice, I immediately stole a bite of it right off of David's plate, which made him crinkle his forehead. The risotto was creamy and cheesy and layered with flavors. The fish was pan-fried with a thick coating of panko bread crumbs. I would have preferred it grilled, but Dave and Mieko loved it!
I ordered the spinach lasagna, which was really more my mistake than Lucia's. I should never order lasagna in a restaurant, because, well, nobody can make it as well as I can. I don't mean to brag or anything, but if you've had my lasagna, you know what I'm talking about. The biggest problem with Lucia's version, besides being rather bland and the spinach being cooked into gray submission, was that it wasn't hot in the middle. It was just lukewarm. Ick. That is a huge sin, in my book. Lasagna must be near volcanic temperatures when served, allowing the diner to start around the edges and work her way in through the layers at her own pace.
Harriet had a couple of unremarkable looking crab cakes. She said they were good.
When the bill came, Bill was right: they'd poured him a double Scotch. But, since it was only $10, he thought it was a bargain. Lucia added an 18% gratuity to our total, which was very appropriate. Later, as we were walking back to our car after the play, there was a band blasting music through Lucia's doors and out into the strip mall it's in. Glad we weren't there for that!
If I went back to Lucia again, I'd probably stick with salads & appetizers. The food is reasonably priced, and this restaurant is the perfect location for before-theater dining. But I think Cafe Juanita's next on the list of 'places to check out the next time we end up in Kirkland.'
Lucia
222 Parkplace
Kirkland
425.889.0200
Monday, October 6, 2008
Food Frenzy! 'Betty' in Queen Anne, Le Pigeon in Portland
This past week has been sort of a weeklong food orgy. And since I went to a conference for wanna-be food writers this weekend in PDX, I decided I better start being all about the writing...since I'm already all about the eating.
I have had the pleasure of partaking in some great meals this year--and two of them occured just in this past week. On Monday, I was at Betty in Queen Anne. The place is nothing to look at, but who cares when the food is that good? The bruschetta appetizer and the ribeye are simply amazing, and I can't even imagine trying anything else when I go back. Decent prices, especially for that part of town. We made reservations for 6pm--and there were plenty of open tables. By the time we were done and heading over to the Seattle Center for the Jackson Browne concert, the place was probably three-quarters full. There was a good vibe buzzing around the dining room, and people seemed really happy with their food.
The only thing I didn't like was the furniture. The tables and booths looked like something my brother would have made in high school woodshop.
Friday night, I headed to Portland. My best friend and her husband had made reservations for us at Le Pigeon, on the city's eastside. It is hard to put into words just how spectacular the food is there. But I can say, Le Pigeon takes food to an entirely new level. It's the kind of place that serves duck feet, foie gras, rabbit and yes, pigeon. But--without the attitude you might expect at a restaurant serving such delicacies. The 27-year-old chef, Gabe Rucker, simply serves what he loves--and what are absolutely the freshest ingredients he can find at nearby farmers markets.
The restaurant is tiny--seating maybe 20 at tables, 6 up at the bar. Two of the tables are set for eight, so plan on having one or two other groups of diners at your table. (Which is kind of fun. Everyone discusses what they're eating with such reverence and awe!) My true foodie friend, Lynn, started with the tomato tart with duck feet, and her equally food-crazy husband, Tim, had the rabbit with plum & prosciutto appetizer. While I could not bring myself to eat rabbit (a childhood dinnertime trauma will prevent that for the rest of my life), I did try a duck foot. Which was attached to a skinny little duck leg. Not much to actually eat there, but it was reminiscent of fried chicken. And, I can now say I've tried duck feet. Or foot.
I had the lamb appetizer, which was heaven on a plate. It consisted of a little square of melt-in-your-mouth meat over a tomato salad with raita, a yogurt-based sauce with cucumber and coriander in it. It was simply unbelieveable. The mixture of flavors was just mind-blowingly good. For entrees, Lynn had the hamburger made of locally-raised beef. All I can tell you is, I have never in my life had a hamburger that tasted so crazy delicious. Smokey, flavorful, and topped with a luscious salad of shredded lettuce and tiny teardrop tomatoes. Tim had the pork shoulder--another astounding melt-in-your-mouth dish. Our server easily convinced me to try the stuffed piquillo peppers when she mentioned that the orzo in the dish was "a little like mac and cheese." Yes, please! It did not disappoint--a touch of heat added to the creamy yumminess.
But here's the real reason to go to Le Pigeon: dessert. Yeah, as if dinner didn't already have us rolling around on the floor in ecstacy. I saw it up on the chalkboard when we first walked in: CORNBREAD WITH BACON & APRICOTS, TOPPED WITH MAPLE ICE CREAM. If you want to have your tastebuds explode into the largest song and dance number your head has ever produced, you've got to eat corn bread and maple ice cream with bacon on it. I kid you not, it was the most amazing dessert I have had and will ever have.
Make reservations for the next time you're heading to PDX:
Le Pigeon
738 E. Burnside
Portland, OR
503.546.8796
Betty
1507 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Seattle
206.352.3773
I have had the pleasure of partaking in some great meals this year--and two of them occured just in this past week. On Monday, I was at Betty in Queen Anne. The place is nothing to look at, but who cares when the food is that good? The bruschetta appetizer and the ribeye are simply amazing, and I can't even imagine trying anything else when I go back. Decent prices, especially for that part of town. We made reservations for 6pm--and there were plenty of open tables. By the time we were done and heading over to the Seattle Center for the Jackson Browne concert, the place was probably three-quarters full. There was a good vibe buzzing around the dining room, and people seemed really happy with their food.
The only thing I didn't like was the furniture. The tables and booths looked like something my brother would have made in high school woodshop.
Friday night, I headed to Portland. My best friend and her husband had made reservations for us at Le Pigeon, on the city's eastside. It is hard to put into words just how spectacular the food is there. But I can say, Le Pigeon takes food to an entirely new level. It's the kind of place that serves duck feet, foie gras, rabbit and yes, pigeon. But--without the attitude you might expect at a restaurant serving such delicacies. The 27-year-old chef, Gabe Rucker, simply serves what he loves--and what are absolutely the freshest ingredients he can find at nearby farmers markets.
The restaurant is tiny--seating maybe 20 at tables, 6 up at the bar. Two of the tables are set for eight, so plan on having one or two other groups of diners at your table. (Which is kind of fun. Everyone discusses what they're eating with such reverence and awe!) My true foodie friend, Lynn, started with the tomato tart with duck feet, and her equally food-crazy husband, Tim, had the rabbit with plum & prosciutto appetizer. While I could not bring myself to eat rabbit (a childhood dinnertime trauma will prevent that for the rest of my life), I did try a duck foot. Which was attached to a skinny little duck leg. Not much to actually eat there, but it was reminiscent of fried chicken. And, I can now say I've tried duck feet. Or foot.
I had the lamb appetizer, which was heaven on a plate. It consisted of a little square of melt-in-your-mouth meat over a tomato salad with raita, a yogurt-based sauce with cucumber and coriander in it. It was simply unbelieveable. The mixture of flavors was just mind-blowingly good. For entrees, Lynn had the hamburger made of locally-raised beef. All I can tell you is, I have never in my life had a hamburger that tasted so crazy delicious. Smokey, flavorful, and topped with a luscious salad of shredded lettuce and tiny teardrop tomatoes. Tim had the pork shoulder--another astounding melt-in-your-mouth dish. Our server easily convinced me to try the stuffed piquillo peppers when she mentioned that the orzo in the dish was "a little like mac and cheese." Yes, please! It did not disappoint--a touch of heat added to the creamy yumminess.
But here's the real reason to go to Le Pigeon: dessert. Yeah, as if dinner didn't already have us rolling around on the floor in ecstacy. I saw it up on the chalkboard when we first walked in: CORNBREAD WITH BACON & APRICOTS, TOPPED WITH MAPLE ICE CREAM. If you want to have your tastebuds explode into the largest song and dance number your head has ever produced, you've got to eat corn bread and maple ice cream with bacon on it. I kid you not, it was the most amazing dessert I have had and will ever have.
Make reservations for the next time you're heading to PDX:
Le Pigeon
738 E. Burnside
Portland, OR
503.546.8796
Betty
1507 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Seattle
206.352.3773
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