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What: Quatro Stagoni Pizza
Where: Palermo Gourmet Pizza & Pizza (2005 NW Market Street-Ballard)
When: Last week at 7pm
Cost: $11.45 plus tax and tip
Would I eat there again: Absolutely. I've been 3 times!
Official Tasting Notes: Having roots that run deep to Upstate New York, I'm always in search for the the best slice around Seattle. When Palermo Gourmet Pizza and Pasta opened a couple of months ago in Ballard, I was willing to give it a try. Growing up, pizza for us was New York Style (super thin, flexible, large slices), Sicilian Style (more bread like), and White Pizza (garlic, olive oil and cheese). I still have yet to find anything that compares to what I grew up with but have come to the realization that pizza in Seattle falls into two styles; good and bad. My first visit to Palermo's I was greeted by a friendly wait staff that was eager to show me their best. I decided it was pizza that I came for and I would leave my expectations at the door. With 25 different pizzas to choose from, I chose the Quatro Stagoni which was chunks of prosciutto, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, and fresh basil. The dough was very soft and chewy. The sauce was flavorful with a good combination of herbs and tomato sauce. I've never had prosciutto served in cubes. The texture was an interesting change to thinly sliced prosciutto that I'm used to. Palermo's pizzas are available in 10", 12" and 15" sizes. I'm a big eater and the small 10" pizza with 6 slices, was more than enough food for me. I ended up taking two pieces to go. In addition to pizza, pasta and sandwiches, Palermo's also has a great selection of Greek appetizers including baked cauliflower, dolmades, and spanicopita. Their Sicilian Salad is a bargain at $5.50 for a half size. Loaded with garganzola cheese, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, cukes, salami over greens and drizzled with their homemade herbed Italian Dressing.
Topics: I Ate This
If you get near Fremont on Saturday, you will not be able to escape New Belgium Brewing Company's Tour de Fat. A day of leisurely riding, obligatory costumes (this IS Fremont), beer drinking, and musical performance, proceeds from beer drunk will go to local charities. The Tour de Fat promotes the concept of car free living through...well, drinking and biking. One lucky participant, having pledged to go car-free, will win a shiny new bicycle.
The ride begins at 11:00am, with beer and music to follow (noon to 6:00pm). Admission is zilch, so you can enjoy The Yard Dogs Roadshow, The Reals, and many more, while you drink a Mothership Wit and shoot the poo about whatever it is bike people talk about. Point your Schwinn towards the intersection of North 35th & Phinney to join the fun, or follow that Chewbacca on the Torelli.
Visit New Belgium's sickeningly cute Follow Your Folly website for complete details, where you can join Team Wonderbike by committing to ride your bike to work 2 days a month. (Warning: Site contains a stupid amount of Flash.)
Topics: Events
Here's what I've been reading and watching this week:
Offal Evangelist (Chow): A video segment about Chris Cosentino, a San Francisco chef who's obsessed with off cuts. I've eaten this man's ox heart and pig ear, and you don't need to be an extreme-eats fan to love them.
Forget the Farm Bill by Tom Philpott (Grist.org): As the U.S. farm bill looks more and more like a disaster (for farmers who do not grow corn for ethanol, that is), one commentator decides to turn his back on the feds and look locally for support.
DC Dining and an Economist’s Plate by Jane Black (Washington Post): Tyler Cowen is an economist who takes a Freakanomics approach to determining which hole in the wall he's going to eat at next.
Napa Wineries Face Global Warming (KQED): This video segment, produced by the Bay Area's public television station, looks at how winemakers in the nation's most prestigious winegrowing region are preparing for a bleak future.
Topics: The Food Section
Credit: Beecher's Handmade Cheese
The American Cheese Society just announced the results of this year's national awards, and Beecher's Flagship Cheese won second-runner up to Best of Show. In the world of cheese geeks, this is HUGE. (The Flagship also won first place in the Cheddar category.) If I were you, I'd hustle on down to their Pike Place Market store and pick yourself up a pound before cheese stores around the country siphon away the local supply.
Local favorite (okay, my favorite) Estrella Family Creamery picked up a first place award in the "smoked Italian styles" category for its Weebles—named after its pear shape—and Oregon cheesemakers Rogue Creamery, Willamette Valley Cheese Co., and Tillamook County Creamery gathered a buttload of awards.
What do cheesemakers use to toast their victory? Raw milk?
Credit: Estrella Family Creamery
Topics: News
Offering dairy-free, egg-free, wheat-free, and vegan baked goods, Sweet Posie will open their espresso boite on Market St. Wednesday of next week, August 15th. Right next to Anchor Tattoo, expect take out in the form of sandwiches and salads, Tony's coffee, and Choice teas, in addition to their altruistic baked goods.
A full service catering company that also has a burgeoning meal delivery service, Sweet Posie strives to provide baked goods made with the best natural ingredients available, and I'd definitely call the few things I've sampled wholesome. Here's hoping Sweet Posie can fill the void for my tiny, neglected inner hippie, the void left by the closing of the Touchstone bakery in neighboring Fremont.
2315 N.W. Market St.
6am to 6pm, M to F for now, daily coming soon
Sweet Posie website
Topics: News
Third in a summer series of cooking class reviews.
Name of Class: How to Boil Water
Name of Instructor: Carol Dearth, with assistant Kelley Davidson
Location: Carol’s home in Bellevue
Length: 4 sessions, each 3 ½-4 hours
Cost: $400 for all 4 classes
Experience level: Even the most beginning beginner
Carol Dearth, of KCTS Cooks fame, is the friend’s mom who you always hoped would invite you to stay for dinner. “How to Boil Water,” Carol’s four-part series cooking class, is exactly what I have been searching for. The immaculate kitchen of her large Bellevue home is beautiful without being stuffy, just as Carol is accomplished and successful without the usual celebrity-chef ego. Carol and her assistant, Kelley, both provide nuggets of practical kitchen wisdom from their personal experience.
The class is a true beginner’s class. Carol teaches basics for anyone who wants (or needs) to learn how to cook, and does not try to stuff too many techniques into a three-hour session. Without skimping or skipping on steps, Carol helps each member of her extremely personal class understand and complete basic cooking skills. I took part in only the second class of the four-part series, so I missed poaching, but I learned all about roasting. Carol explained what roasting actually was (cooking indirectly, with the air inside an oven) before showing us how to apply this technique to poultry and any kind of vegetable you can think of. Understandably, not everyone can afford the steep price-tag or can take four days off to wine and dine on Carol’s patio. However, for anyone seriously desiring a plethora of practical culinary skills that they can use for a lifetime, this is the class.
What I made: perfect roast chicken, horseradish mashed potatoes, roasted onions, roasted butternut squash in balsamic glaze, and a lemon curd tart.
The company I kept: The tiny class size was limited to people who could afford to take a cooking class in the middle of the day, but it still drew a diverse crowd: a college student, a mother-daughter duo, Kelley’s son (a high school sophomore), a retiree, and a new mom.
Instructor attitude: A fount of knowledge, Carol emphasizes basic skills and hands-on techniques. She’s helpful and kind, but not falsely sweet.
How much product pushing: Since Rain City Cooking School is run out of a home and not a store, none. Carol reviewed basic tools needed for the dishes we would make, but encouraged people to think about how often we would use a tool before buying an expensive brand.
What would you make again? The butternut squash was fabulous and extremely simple to prepare, and of course I will be trying out my roasting techniques on my next chicken dinner, maybe using some of the seasoning recipes (such as Sicilian lemon) she supplied.
What could you make again? With Carol’s excellent teaching methods, I felt like I really saw and had a part in every step of the process of each of these dishes. It all seemed pretty simple, but the resulting meal was anything but.
Topics: Culinary Schools
What: Three square meals, plus jarred applesauce and white rice.
When: Every #$^#$&$ day last week.
Would I eat it again: Not until the next time.
Official tasting notes: The last time I picked up a bug from my food was two years ago. I was hiking around the mountains of northern Vietnam and bought baby pineapples off a Hmong woman who was peeling them with a dirty knife, so I felt like I earned my distressed gut. I have NO idea where I got what my doctor thinks is a foodborne virus (probably from produce), since I ate almost every meal last week with friends and out-of-town visitors, all of whom are healthy. The nice thing about taking a week off work to sip ginger ale and nibble on dry toast? In my friend Kelli's words: "Ooo, I bet you're getting skin-ny!"
Topics: I Ate This
I've been hearing about this for months, but just got the official press release:
Gabe and Heidi Claycamp are moving Culinary Communion, their five-year-old cooking school, from their West Seattle home to a bigger space at 2524 Beacon Avenue South. They say they're going to keep classes at 10 people, but will have room for larger events (such as Vagabond, perhaps). Better yet, they'll have a commercial kitchen so that they can sell their products to the public. Congratulations to the school — and a coup for Beacon Hill.
Topics: Restaurant Buzz
Where? Scoop Du Jour, 4029 E. Madison St.
What does $13 get you? $3.50 for a small hot fudge sundae with fudge tracks ice cream + $3.95 for a 20-ounce mint Oreo malt + $4.25 for a regular scoop of raspberry sorbet in a waffle cone + tax = $12.79.
Recommended? Scoop Du Jour, yes. Eating $13 worth of ice cream alone, no.
I stepped into Scoop Du Jour in Madison Park and two servers, a short-haired young man and a redheaded woman, stared at me. I looked back at them, then at the two ice-cream cabinets. “This might take awhile,” I said. “I need to purchase exactly or close to exactly $13 of ice cream.”
“You want $13 of ice cream?” said the man. “Why?”
“It’s an assignment,” I replied.
“Oh man, that’s a cool assignment. I want to be in that class.”
I didn’t think to correct his mistake. I was too busy looking over the different flavors, like a wolf meticulously scanning a pigpen. Deciding to diversify, I ordered a small hot-fudge sundae, a scoop of raspberry sorbet in a waffle cone, and a mint Oreo malt. It did not appear too intimidating, and I really thought I could eat the items solo.
I was wrong.
Continue reading "$13 at Scoop Du Jour"
Topics: 13 Dollars
I ATE THIS
This charming little truck stop plopped on the corner of South Brandon and Denver Ave. South was buzzing with a contented crowd this morning, happy for a new spot to sate their indulgent brunch needs, and grateful for a friendly, neighborhood place providing amazing food.
What: Truck Stop Hash and Huevos Rancheros (plus an espresso and an iced American)
Where: Georgetown Truck Stop, 5327 Denver Ave. S., (206) 763-3337
When: this morning (Sunday 9:30 a.m.)
Official Tasting Notes: The huevos rancheros (pictured) was a rich egg scramble dotted with sausage and cheese, served atop a smokey pile of black bean chili (one caveat, the beans could have been cooked a little longer) with a generous dollop of sour cream. Delicious, but my fork kept poking into my brunch companion's succulent corned beef hash, served with one perfectly fried egg on top, a bed of spinach (which wilted nicely under the hash's heat), tossed with roast potatoes and yams. The juicy beef hash was not that strange, vinegary stuff you might have experienced, but was rich, falling-part tender, almost reminiscent of pulled pork.
We drank Lavazza coffee, perfect in both its espresso and Americano forms.
Under the capable new management of Stephanie Speer and partner James Zetterberg, this tiny restaurant, located in a small house on a residential backstreet in Georgetown, was pushing out artfully-made meals to feed the brunch crowd. Most impressively, a tiny kitchen crammed with three cooks fed the crowd from a four burner electric stove.
Stephanie earned her cooking chops at such well-loved bunch spots as Crave and the Green Cat Café, and if you're a fan of the Green Cat, the scramble and the house-made scones will bring back fond memories, perhaps even a bout of déjà vu. The couple took over this tiny house in February, and reopened in March with a third partner, Chuck Bassett, who helped out with startup costs. Everything is fresh-made, including the gorgeous baked goods: from almond scones to savory turnovers to eggy quiche cups to a black and a white chocolate muffin.
There's one four-top inside, but that's it—everyone else eats outside. You'll find an easy-going crowd of hipsters, goth musicians from bands like The Trucks and The Dandelion Junk Queens, as well as young families from Georgetown and nearby Highland Park. A motley collection of lawn furniture seats about 20, with one gazebo like-structure that'll protect 8 diners from the elements.
"Another hundred square feet would really help her out," my dining companion mused, "if she is going to serve food like this." Meaning, the droves will come.
Cost: $20.13 plus tax and tip
Insider Tip: Every first Sunday of the month there's a sidewalk junk sale, with funky items like a mound of estate-sale watches, retro desk lamps, and a collection of wood cigar boxes.
Open Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sunday brunch opens at 9 a.m. Look for the Tonka Trucks out front.
Would I eat it again? This could be my Sunday brunch. Easy.
Photos by Peter Mumford.
Topics: I Ate This
For those of you who'd like to get as far away from hydroplanes and amateur drunks as possible this Sunday, Rexville Grocery in Mt. Vernon is holding its fifth annual "White Trash Food Festival" this Sunday from 1-5 p.m. Famed LaConner author Tom Robbins is expected to reprise his role as master of ceremonies (Aug. 3 update: Robbins e-mailed to say he has a scheduling conflict; see comments section for detail), crappy beer will be served, cheez whiz and spam will be tasted, "Freebird" will be covered, priority parking will be given to trailers, and original creations will be judged for trashiness at about 2 in the afternoon. And if anyone has, say, an old Firebird to loan carless Tacoma-based intern T.J. Tranchell so he can cover the event live, let us know where and when to pick it up in the comments section.
Topics: Seafair Counterprogramming
Mama Willibell's, Madrona Park
What does $13 get you?: The Sampler and a can of Dr. Pepper
Recommended: If you're in the area, sure, but have a back-up picnic just in case.
The best way to get to know a new place is to order the sampler, so that's what I did today at Mama Williebell's, inside Madrona Park. The sampler, at $9.99, comes with one rib, one hot link, a portion of pulled chicken, and some potato salad. The meat is covered with Artie B's special bbq sauce and away we go. Nothing like eating a meal with a spork in a park. Without the sauce, the pulled chicken would have been average. With it, it's a near masterpiece. But that's true of any good sauce. You could poor it on anything and tit would taste good. This sauce, a rather vibrant red, is on the spicy side, so watch out for the hot link, because it gets even spicier. The potato salad served as a cooling agent, but it took most of of a can of Dr. Pepper ($1.09) to cool my mouth down.
My mouth continued to feel the effects even an hour later. I'm not complaining about it, I'm just warning all of you. Some like it hot, but some don't.
Coupled with the view of Lake Washington, and some of the bikini-clad sunbathers, eating at Mama Willibell's is definitely something I should have done week ago. There are cheaper menu items and more expensive items, so everyone should be able to find something to their liking. As long as they like it covered in barbecue sauce.
The drawbacks, however, are still there. The sampler wasn't a lot of food for the ten bucks it cost, and, while satisfying, it isn't something I could do everyday. I couldn't do it everyday because the place is closed on Mondays. Plus the #2 bus takes forever getting there. Which also means it takes forever getting back. Use the restrooms at the back of Mama Willibell's before you leave the park, just in case. Forever public restrooms, they aren't bad. The men's, anyway. All in all, I'm a believer in Mama Willibell's motto: "Sho is good!" Good, not great.
The Sampler $9.99 + one can of Dr. Pepper $1.09 + tax and $1 tip = $13.00.
Topics: 13 Dollars
