Spinasse Dinner: Italian Heaven in Seattle

August 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Delicate lovely Italian restaurant Spinasse was a request on my part because I wanted to feel the Tajarin Love. Even before we had ordered (though I had been reading and rereading the menu and photos on yelp and Foodspotting for a few days, so I was quite ready) we were greeted with an amuse bouche of a salmon mousse on bread cracker. Our waitress was very patient and generous with big smiles and checking in while leaving us alone as we lingered throughout our meal, eating slowly and savoring the flavors… and also because we were full even before we walked in. But we were determined to enjoy anyway!

We started our overindulgance (ok, this was my fault again) with Antipasto misto della casa, which is “A taste of all our house antipasti”. That’s right, instead of picking I just picked them all, muahaha. For this visit, that included

Spinasse Dinner Seattle antipasto

  • Pio Tosini prosciutto di Parma Prosciutto di Parma aged 14 months with marinated apricots.
  • Bruschetta di salmone Cured salmon bruschetta with Spinasse’s own ricotta and roasted beet.
  • Insalata di cicoria di campo, a local chicory salad with marinated rabbit, parmigiano-reggiano and balsamico.
  • Insalata rusa, a Summer Russian salad with carrots, cherry tomatoes, spring onion, salsa tonnata and anchovy.

These were delicious, I loved the textures and slight bitterness with the chicory salad that was balanced with the rabbit contrasted with the parmigiano-reggiano saltiness and acidic yet sweet aged balsamico; the prosciutto was a generous portion that I layered atop the soft bread; the bruschetta had the bright roasted beets where I made sure not to lose a single little cube; and my favorite of the four was the Insalata ruso with the flavors of the carrots and cherry tomatoes with the creaminess of the salsa tonnata.

Ah, and then the promised and well reviewed Tajarin al ragù o burro e salvia, a fine hand cut egg pasta with ragù or butter and sage. I went with butter and sage because I wanted to taste the handmade pasta in all its subtle detail. It was ridiculously amazing, I think I could have eaten that pasta dough raw with the butter and sage out of the way because that pasta was just so fresh and good. The strands of the pasta were just so impossibly thin, like the gold thread you would expect Rumpelstiltskin to spin. Each forkful is luscious and melt in your mouth- though that could have also been the ridiculous amount of butter. Well, that’s why I agreed to try out a Flywheel spin class the next morning at 6am- so no worries about what I’m eating here. If the reward after every spin class was this dish, I would buy a membership today. I tried not to scare other diners by letting them see my eyes roll back as I enjoyed these exquisite silky strands sprinkled with Parmesan .

Spinasse Dinner Seattle tajarin

We finished with the Anatra con prunge, a dish of braised duck leg with plums, tremiti olives and basil. So complex in flavors, with each of the components really great on their own, and a symphony all together. But boy was I uncomfortably full, and also mad at the Unicorn and my lack of forethought earlier when ordering at Skillet Diner. I had read that Spinasse had been called the best Italian in Seattle, which I wondered if that was hype… but it really isn’t.

Spinasse Dinner dinner duck leg

Seriously, just looking at the tajarin again and this video which highlights how they create the pasta and the dish, I want to go eat it right now, and I just ate it for dinner the other night… Except this time I would save up so I could order more rather than having 2 other meals that were not Spinasse that day. I have a crush on Spinasse and want to stalk it- how fortunate for it that it is located in Seattle and not where I live.

Pasta: Unique Eats from Lissa Gruman on Vimeo.

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A most delicious brunch at Skillet Diner, Seattle… and then there was Unicorn

August 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was in Seattle for business, but decided to visit a friend and combine work and pleasure. Arriving by Amtrak by noon, we then walked from the West Lake area to the Capital Hill neighborhood, the neighborhood that sort of became our neighborhood theme for this trip.

By accident, we ended up on that Sunday at Skillet Diner. We arrived towards the end of the Brunch rush around 2pmish, and we were only two people and willing to sit at the counter, reducing our wait to perhaps only 10 minutes or so, though the mid-70s sunny weather and the seats and benches outside made the waiting quite tolerable. We ordered a liquid libation (even though we had “rested” after our walk up the hill with a sangria margarita at Bimbos Cantina just before- we think that drink made us realize how much we needed food).

Skillet Diner, Seattle

Also, we each ordered our own entree, and I ordered poutine to share on top… even though we also had dinner plans at 6pm. Will we be smarter next time? Maybe, not sure. I do want to go back- I had a hard time selecting from the menu, and that was just the brunch menu, not the dinner diner one. Why didn’t they tell me I can buy the bacon jam to take home on that brunch menu!

The poutine – hand-cut fries,gravy, cheddar, herbs – was serviceable but a little too soggy, and after being spoiled by the curds of cheese in the crisper fries of the poutine of Potato Champion here in Portland, Skillet Diner’s version didn’t shine.  It does absorb alcohol though. She had the “the ultimate grilled cheese” with brie, cheddar and american cheeses on brioche toast with the addition of bacon jam, which was delicious. I had been eyeing it too… in retrospect we should have shared it.

But I greedily ordered another entree based on the raves on Foodspotting, a pork belly & cornmeal maple braised waffle with 2 eggs (I chose sunny side up for the runny yolk). Individually, the pieces were ok, but carefuly composed on a fork together, they were a combination of yolky richness and salty fatty porkyness and sweet and mealy with slight crispy softness waffle.

Skillet Diner, Seattlepoutine, Skillet Diner, Seattle pork belly and cornmeal maple braised waffle with 2 eggs, Skillet Diner, Seattle

We should have stopped there. But we were feeling adventurous, and so we stopped at the Unicorn. Animals looked down from the walls of the first floor (we didn’t know there was a second floor that included videogames until later) including the bar side where the bar is colorfully painted with rainbow of colors and a water buffalo had a cigarette dangling from its lip. We sat in the booth with zebra pattern back and an aqua and black striped window outlined with a fancy valentine heart of red glitter as a unicorn in a shampoo commercial looked down upon us.

Unicorn, Seattle Unicorn, Seattle

The drink we shared, Unicorn Jizz, of Three Olives Mango Vodka, triple sec, OJ, sweet ‘n’ sour, grenadine, Sprite, hurt our digestive system for the rest of the night. It also brought up memories and conversations of what you drink when you are in young and in college and the college Greek system. We were amused as we also read the menu and shuddered at other mixed drinks with Bubblegum Vodka, shots of cotton candy or cupcake vodka dropped into energy drinks, other beverage names such as Morning Wood and Thug Passion, and a food menu that offered no less than 10 versions of corndogs and a sweet section that included deep frying with Hershey’s kiss battered objects like Twinkies, Oreos and Reeses Pieces. It definitely seems like the kind of place that can f you up. When we told one of our younger designer friends of it, I would say he was “impressed” we visited.

Unicorn, Seattle Unicorn, SeattleUnicorn, Seattle

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The Welcome Discovery of Pavlova at Picnic House

August 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A dinner at the Picnic House recently introduced me to this wonderful dessert that I had never heard of before, pavlova. Ah, this light airy goodness of egg whites and sugar into meringue with fresh berries and vanilla cream. At first this plate looked intimidating as it is basically the size of a whole pie but then we realized you were being given the best part, the crunchy top half, a thin shell of firmness surrounding an inside that melted in our mouth so quickly that we needed another spoonful carefully balancing crisp bits of meringue with soft vanilla cream and such beautiful sweet strawberry in each bite to extend the rush.

Pavlova at Picnic House, from Pechluck at pechluck1.typepad.com

I also discovered my favorite two cocktails that the Picnic House offers from their cocktail menu. After trying the lighter cocktail sparklers of the Fleur de Lis and Sauvie on previous visits, this time I welcomed the Moulin Rouge martini with Indio Marionberry infused vodka, Clear Creek Blackberry liqueur, blueberry simple syrup, fresh squeezed lemon and garnished with a pickled blueberry, a combination of sweet with a touch of tart so it was not too sweet. But, my favorite was The Nymph cocktail, both delicate and strong, with Pink Spruce gin, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and a simple syrup muddled with cucumber. Refreshing citrusy but you can feel the magic afterwards!

Picnic House cocktail Moulin Rouge martini Picnic House Nymph cocktail

The atmosphere is still as charming as I previously wrote about, and they still have a  nice selection of side dishes and an unbelievably addictive chocolate cake as mentioned here also. Did I also mention how wonderful the Picnic House pavlova was?

Picnic House pavlova

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Summer Patio Dining at Limo

August 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I still am surprised to see Limo with their offering of Peruvian small plates, sangria, no corkage fees for Oregon wines and their large outdoor patio not on the PDX hot list, but the better for me to enjoy a leisurely summer dinner outside on a Saturday night. I was sad to see that the delicious lamb rack I had last visit (one year ago) was not on the menu. I ended up going with mostly small plates anyway… the better to have room for dessert at Salt & Straw up the street.

We started with the Classic Ceviche of fish tossed with Limo chili, cilantro and lime juice, topped with julienne onions, which came in a generous portion. The Causa, a dish of potato mashed with lime juice, Aji Amarillo chili and spices, this one with mushrooms, was ok but although the size was more appealing than when I had causa at Andina, the flavors were blander.

Another appetizer which I added to compose my combo of small plates entree, was Anticuchos, skewers marinated in Panca chili, black mint and spices with golden potatoes and drizzled with anticucho sauce, had good flavor for the beef skewers but were chewy dry meat once you went past the outside. Yuquitas con Huancaina, Fried yucca with a yellow pepper cheese sauce, had a nice crispy air puff quality, but the sauce again seemed very mild, although I liked that it had the slightest hint of heat to it.

The Asparagus with feta and white truffle oil drizzle was perfect as is: I love when it is lots of thin asparagus as there is more area exposed to char, and the addition of the saltiness from the feta and richness from the white truffle oil enhanced the fresh soft tip and firm crunch of the asparagus. The Arroz con Mariscos Tradicional, seafood, peas and rice cooked paella style, came brimming with seafood but didn't have the slight toast to the rice that you would expect from the advertised paella style.

I was disappointed that two other small plates I wanted were out of stock that evening. I guess I'll have to try it when I return on some future visit. Next time, I think perhaps Limo could be a starting point to a progressive dinner that includes sangria and small plates in the open air patio which I think are Limo's strengths, and then move north on NW 23rd for more courses.

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A Summer Dinner at Gruner: Savory Alpine food served with apathy

August 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A Friday early evening dinner at Gruner started with the fried smashed fingerling potatoes that came with a special sauce that was essentially the equivalent of ranch dressing. Thankfully, the Gruner bread service which includes a soft rye loaf and pretzel bread more than made up for this starter of crispy texture but greasy flavor.

On the bread plate I enjoyed the contrast between the butter and doughyness of the rye and the more firm salted texture of the pretzel, and it delivered on both presentation to match the modern clean atmosphere as well as flavor and texture that reinforces the Gruner philosophy of classic German foundation with a contemporary perspective. Yes, they offer bratwurst and sauerkraut and schnitzel, but with intentions towards also adding layers of avant-garde sophistication. It’s too bad the waiter seemed reluctant to provide it- the appetizer came out before another server passing by asked if I would like some… and then 5 minutes later my waiter came by and asked if I would like some bread, as if he had heard the offer from the other server and now had to reluctantly follow through with this inconvenience.

Gruner, alpine food, fried smashed fingerling potatoes, Portland restaurant Gruner, alpine food, bread plate, rye loaf and pretzel bread, Portland restaurant

The entree of braised chicken alsacienne with hen of the woods mushrooms, fava beans, riesling, crème fraîche, crisp shallots & tarragon, served with quark spätzle offered juicy flavorful chicken with a crispy outside and moist savory inside with spatzle which had a nice soft very light texture, though I wished the spatzle had a bit more crispness in spots (similar to gnocchi, a little sear is a gratifying detail).

The housemade soda offering of cucumber dill verjus was a sparkling crisp contrast for the meal. The beverage softened the fact that my waiter never brought me back my boxed up leftovers. After waiting for a while, I flagged down another server in order to ask if the box existed or was the other half of my entree thrown away. At 6pm the place wasn’t even busy yet- only 3 other tables in the dining room, a few people at the bar counter, though all the seats outside were filled, being premium people watching spots in the warm but not hot yet August weather.

I really enjoyed the food and the concept, despite the hesitant and apathetic service I received. I think next time I’ll try for the bar, as the only smile from the staff during the entire meal was from the hostess and bartendress. Most of the care from the staff I saw was in concern for making the various empty chairs in the rest of the restaurant and place settings perfectly straight. I saw them adjusted here or there by multiple hands the entire visit, and they did look quite neat and orderly.

housemade soda offering of cucumber dill verjus, Gruner, alpine food, Portland restaurant braised chicken alsacienne with hen of the woods mushrooms, fava beans, riesling, crème fraîche, crisp shallots tarragon, served with quark spätzle, Gruner, alpine food, Portland restaurant

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