A Gastronomic Tour of Seattle, part I

05Jul09

A beautiful view of Downtown Seattle from Kerry Park

A couple of weekends ago, I decided to get out of Berkeley for the weekend and visit friends J & B in Seattle. Having lived there for 3 years now, J & B were awesome tour guides, especially since they love to eat and drink (and be merry!) just as much as I do.  I have many photos, so I’ve divided them into two posts for easier consumption. Enjoy!

Friday, 19 June
I awoke (at the very late hour of 10:30am) to the delicious smell of sausage and eggs. J whipped up breakfast: a delightful scramble of eggs, sausage, avocado (yum!), tomato, and onion, served with ripe peaches and toast. The contrasting textures and flavors, especially the sausage and avocado, were so delicious — definitely one of the best scrambles I’ve ever had.

A great start to the day!

After breakfast, J took me downtown to do some sightseeing. First stop: Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, home of fish-throwing fishmongers. We didn’t witness any fish throwing, but we did walk the seemingly endless rows of stalls selling fresh produce, fish, flowers, and other goodies. EF tipped me off to a tiny donut stand that makes miniature donuts, selling for $2.70 for half a dozen.  Despite the grunginess of the stand and of the dirty, apathetic punk rocker who worked there, we were delightfully surprised by how good the little fried treats were. Thanks for the tip, EF!

Not Krispy Kreme, but pretty good nonetheless!

"Fancy Jumbo Grilling Scampis," where Jumbo is an understatement.

A beautiful bouquet for the bargain price of $8. One thing I loved about the market was the abundance of affordable, beautiful flowers. If I lived close to this market, I'd definitely have to set aside a monthly flower allowance!

One of the top Seattle tourist stops: the very first Starbucks.

For lunch, we met up with B near his work for Mexican food at the Agua Verde Cafe (and Paddle Club!). Because we had been nonstop eating, J and I shared the Bacalao, fried cod in a coconut beer tempura with shredded cabbage and creamy avocado sauce. B also ordered fish tacos, but went with the Dorado, grilled mahi mahi. I have to say that, while both were good (especially the avocado sauce), the fried cod was definitely superior.

Fried cod with avocado sauce. Yum.

Grilled mahi mahi soft tacos.

Lunch must have triggered our appetites for more fish, because we headed to Kisaku for dinner, one of J & B’s favorite sushi restaurants. To start, we ordered sunomono, cucumber and seaweed salad, with octopus (my choice), and tofu dengaku, fried tofu with sweet miso sauce (J & B’s choice).  Usually, sunomono is a fresh mix of sweet and sour, but this particular salad was watery and lacked flavor.  However, the tofu was really good (as are most fried foods).

Disappointing sunomono. I really wanted to like it.

Fried tofu with delicious sauce.

For the main course, we went with a mix of nigiri, rolls, and fried shrimp heads! All of the fish was fresh and tasty, and the portions were generous. I really enjoyed Kisaku!

The rolls: the Wallingford roll (top left), Alaska roll? (bottom left), spicy tuna (middle), and Green Lake (right). The Green Lake was my favorite -- I loved the marinated seaweed on top.

Nigiri (from top to bottom): sweet shrimp, tuna, salmon, and scallop.

Eating fried shrimp heads: 3 portraits. Despite my expression, it was actually really delicious. Again, you can't go wrong with fried food!

My very gracious hosts and tour guides, B & J.

Filed under: photos, restaurants, travel   |  3 Comments
Tags: breakfast, donuts, Japanese, market, Mexican, Seattle

Roasted beet and corn salad

30Jun09

Beets: you either love them or hate them. Or, like me, you were scared of them for a really, really long time and finally got over your irrational fear of their vibrant color and tried one or two… and decided that they are AWESOME.  Beets are starchy (but not mushy), sweet, and have a very distinctive, earthy taste. They are also very nutritious, full of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants.

Despite my new-found appreciation for beets, I had never cooked them… until recently!  Last month, for a coworker’s baby shower, I decided to roast beets for a beet, blood orange, and mache salad with homemade vinaigrette.  (It was really good, but I don’t have any photos unfortunately.) I found that even though roasting beets is super easy, it does takes a little bit of time.  All you have to do is trim the greens off the top (about 1/2 inch), scrub the beets clean, put them on a pan with a splash of water, seal tightly with aluminum foil, and roast at 400F for one hour.  Then let them cool (very important!) for about 20-30 minutes before you peel and cut them up. And VOILA! Tasty beets, right at your fingertips.

Since my first roasted beet experience was overwhelmingly positive, I decided to venture forth and make a roasted beet and corn salad. I got the idea for this combination from a Berkeley eatery that closed about 2 years ago (RIP, Bake Shop).  They had great salads, and even though they served the beets and the roasted corn salad separately, I think I had both at one sitting and thought it was great.  I did some research, and altered an online recipe to fit my tastes/preferences. Without further ado, here it is:

Roasted beet and corn salad -- a great summer side dish!

INGREDIENTS
3-4 beets (about 1-1.5 lbs)
2 cups frozen corn (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Sweet Corn)
Olive oil
2 Tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 shallot, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Roast beets, as described above. After cooling, peel and dice beets.
2. While beets are roasting or while they are cooling, roast the corn. Coat the frozen corn with olive oil, spread on a cookie sheet or roasting pan, and roast at 400F for 15-20 minutes.
3. When beets and corn have cooled to room temperature, combine them in a medium/large bowl with the parsley, lemon juice, vinegar, and shallot.  Mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve room temperature or chilled.

As delicious as it is, roasted beet and corn salad does not a meal make. I had some sprigs of rosemary leftover from earlier in the week, so I co-opted the rosemary to make roasted potatoes. I like red creamer potatoes because they are tiny and cook quickly. Plus they are so cute!

Getting a little roast-happy: roasted beets, corn, AND potatoes!

Filed under: cooking, photos   |  4 Comments
Tags: photos (food), recipes, roast

Feelin’ Fancy?

23Jun09

It’s no secret that the Bay Area is blessed with many highly-rated, world-renown restaurants serving fantastic food without a lot of attitude.  To celebrate getting my cast off last month, I decided to treat myself to dinner at Rivoli, often rated as one of the best restaurants in the East Bay (aka Berkeley and Oakland).  It did not disappoint, rivaling my experience at Chez Panisse Cafe.  One bonus: relatively easy reservations.  One negative: walking in with friends M & K, we (median age = 35) were half the age of most of the diners in the restaurant.  Maybe it’s because we were there on a Sunday. Who knows? More importantly: who cares? This was one of the best all-around meals I’ve ever had.

View of the garden from the dining room at Rivoli. Quite charming!

To start: we ordered a bottle of rosé: Vin Gris of pinot noir by Robert Sinskey, Carneros 2008.  We went with this particular wine because M & K were fans of Sinskey wines.  It turned out to be a great choice — fruity, dry, and stood up well against most of the food.

"Artistic" photo of the cork on the cork dish. Cuz I'm artsy fartsy and stuff.

Took a photo of the wine, in case I forgot... typical after a few glasses!

For appetizers, we shared two dishes. First, we had the Bellwether Farm ricotta gnocchi with roast pear, fig marmalata, toasted walnuts and fried sage.

Ginormous gnocchi. Not as big as my head though.

The gnocchi were the biggest gnocchi I’ve ever seen, and had a smooth velvety texture.  They were really really good. However. Not to be gauche, but for $13.95 I better get some mind-blowingly awesome gnocchi.  Either that, or serve me more than 3 pieces. This was the only “disappointing” dish the whole meal, and it wasn’t even that disappointing.

Balancing out the minor disappointment was the highlight of the meal (also, one of Rivoli’s signature dishes): portabella mushroom fritters with aïoli, parmesan, arugula and caper vinaigrette. OH MY GOD. This was heavenly… so much so, that I kept raving about them for a full 72 hours afterward.  Perfection. That is all.

You cannot even perceive from this photo how divine the portabella fritters were. Amazing!

Next up: main course. The great thing about going to dinner with good friends and fellow foodies is that you can taste their food without shame.  M ordered the grilled wild Alaskan halibut with mashed potatoes, spring vegetable ragout and chervil butter.  Sometimes, grilled fish ends up too dry, but not this halibut. Tender and flaky, just the way I like it.

Grilled halibut on a bed of yummy.

K went for the garlic and parsley tagliarini with braised beef Bolognese, porcini mushrooms, red wine, prosciutto, tomato, toasted breadcrumbs and parmesan. You might ask (as we did), “What is tagliarini?” It’s just a fancy name for a long, ribbon like pasta — wider than linguini but not as wide as fettucini. The sauce had that braised, slow-cooked goodness that was rich and hearty.

Hearty and savory pasta. This photo doesn't do this dish justice.

My choice was saffron and fennel risotto with dungeness crab, Prince Edward Island mussels, shrimp butter and salsa verde. I was craving risotto for some reason, and this really hit the spot.  The seafood was so fresh and delicious, and the risotto broth was perfection.

Seafood risotto - perfect.

Mid-meal and loving every minute of it!

Even though we were stuffed, we knew we couldn’t leave without ordering dessert.  We ended up sharing the warm chocolate and hazelnut cake with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and orange caramel. It wasn’t terribly unique, but warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream is my definition of the perfect dessert. (Or, one of them anyway!)

Mmm...cake.

Happy diners. Bon appetit!

Filed under: Berkeley restaurant, photos   |  3 Comments
Tags: Berkeley restaurant, celebrations, fancy, photos

Ooh baby!

18Jun09

It seems like everyone I know is having a baby these days, including my good friend JL who is due on the 4th of July (ironic, I know). When friends wanted to throw her a baby shower, her only request was, “Please, no baby games.” Such as: “Guess the baby food flavor!” Or “Smell the diaper with a melted chocolate bar in it that looks like poo!”

R and J, the expecting parents.

This constraints forced the hostesses M, R, and E to think of more creative ideas.  Luckily, these talented ladies were up for the challenge.  They focused on JL’s love of food and centered the shower around cooking and eating.  They hired Emily Dellas, of First Class Cooking, to provide a cooking demonstration. Under Emily’s watchful eye, we made enough food to feed all 13 ladies: cold Vietnamese spring rolls, Mediterranean orzo salad, chicken and chanterelle phyllo triangles, red pepper and walnut dip, and roasted corn soup. Every guest took turns chopping and shredding, and we all picked up cooking tips from Emily.

Me and J, looking just the same as we did when we met 14 years ago (haha).

Needless to say, I absolutely loved this!  It’s definitely the most fun I’ve ever had at any shower.  Sure, we did some typical baby shower things like open gifts and make onesies, but it never felt forced. For favors, M typed up the recipes into a cute little book, and we also received boxes of cupcake mix.

Emily Dellas and her busy guest prep chefs, working hard in the kitchen!

Ingredients for the roasted red pepper and walnut dip.

Fresh chanterelles, for the chicken and chanterelle phyllo triangles.

The lovely hostesses M and R (E not pictured).

Vegetarian cold spring rolls.

Filling for the spring rolls.

Plating the spring rolls was fun and easy.

Mushrooms on the skillet. Yum.

Roasted corn with onions and garlic, pre-soup.

M, a creative tour de force, typed up Emily’s recipes in these cute and useful recipe books.

Shredded chicken for the phyllo triangles.

The spread, prepared mostly by the guests!

The cutest mini red velvet cupcakes, made by M.

Chocolate covered strawberries, also made by M!

JL really likes brushing the butter on the phyllo dough!

The Mediterranean Orzo Salad — my second favorite.

The roasted corn soup — my favorite dish. SO good.

The hand decorated onesies!

R and J, the expecting parents.

Me and J, looking just the same as we did when we met 14 years ago (haha).

Filed under: cooking   |  3 Comments
Tags: celebrations, cooking

More noodles, please!

13Jun09

It’s no secret that I love noodles, so how could I resist a place called VH Noodle House?  A house made of noodles?! Yes, please!

VH Noodle House is located in Richmond (on the border with El Cerrito) in the 99 Ranch shopping center, a.k.a. Pacific East Mall.  For those who don’t know, 99 Ranch is a chain of Chinese supermarkets, and 99 Ranch stores are often located in shopping centers specifically focused on the Asian demographic. At Pacific East Mall, you’ll find great restaurants (including previously posted Daimo), ranging from Korean bbq to Vietnamese pho to Hong Kong style dim sum, as well as a Ten Ren tea shop, a karaoke bar, and a Japanese bookstore.

I confess that I went to VH Noodle House a couple of years ago and was very disappointed. I think I ordered something weird — like, I wanted the Chinese beef noodles, but ended up with a big bowl of beef tendons, with noodles on the side. Now, I don’t mind a tiny bit of tendon mixed in with regular cuts, but not an entire bowl of it. Even thinking about it now makes my stomach turn.  Also, I found that the pho place next door was really good, so whenever it came down to trying VH Noodle House again or going to Pho Saigon, Pho Saigon always won out.

That is, until about a month ago, when I decided to give VH Noodle House another try.  After doing some research on Yelp, I headed there with JL with renewed confidence. Yelpers were overwhelmingly in favor of the Chew Jow noodles, which can be best described as combination noodle soup.  It’s a clear broth soup (you can also get it on the side) and comes with a lot of stuff: pork, chicken, shrimp, fish balls, fish cake, meat balls, and pork kidney. I had mine sans kidney, with wide rice noodles.

Chew Jow noodles (aka cornucopia of meat and meat products)

JL ordered the shittake mushroom and broccoli noodle soup, and I ordered beef chow fun, to go.  We both thought it was odd that they gave us the choice between Chinese broccoli or regular broccoli.  I mean, regular broccoli is fine, but really? Chinese broccoli is so much tastier!  What sane person would actually prefer regular broccoli over Chinese broccoli?  OK, end of rant.  Anyway, JL really liked her noodles, and the beef chow fun was delicious (not pictured) and enough for 2 meals.  A great value!

Shittake mushroom and Chinese broccoli noodle soup

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Tags: noodles, Pacific East Mall, photos (food)