Eat All About It

Lovely Le Gourmand, where a 7-course tasting menu runs $80 and a single meticulously sourced entree could reach $50, is entering the world of the recession special. The Ballard landmark’s new “Mon Dieu” menu provides three courses for $45, “all our food, the same really good stuff” as you’ll find on the standard menu, said owner-chef Bruce Naftaly. There are three choices apiece for appetizers, main courses, and desserts; my pick would be the rabbit pate with cognac, port, and thyme, the duxelles-stuffed roast chicken in Jerusalem artichoke sauce, and Sara Naftaly’s famous creme brulee. The special will be offered nightly, along with the standard menu.

“The economy has been terrible for us too, not so much in the bar, but definitely in the restaurant,” Naftaly said. It’s a hard problem to attack: The high-quality ingredients he uses set his cost bar high before he even gets into detail like making his own poppyseed crackers. This is the sort of place, after all, where diners got one of the region’s first glimpses at the Mangalitsa, just because Naftaly couldn’t resist the idea of experimenting with the pricey pork.

If you can still handle a splurge, though, Naftaly’s also got a different special coming up at the other end of the price spectrum April 28. It’s an 8-course dinner featuring the “out of this world” Claudio Corallo Chocolates, which recently opened a rare retail store in Ballard.

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I have no one to blame but myself, because Lord knows I had my chance. I’ve passed by Kirirom, the Cambodian restaurant/bakery in Lynnwood, at least a half-dozen times in the last year, thinking it looked like a place I had to try. Now this is in its place: “Pho 36. Grand Opening Soon.”  (This Pho 36?) I love pho, but it doesn’t exactly spur the same intrigue.

Food & Wine Magazine has named its 10 best new chefs of 2009, and Mark Fuller of Spring Hill is on the list. Fuller, formerly head chef at The Dahlia Lounge, particularly impressed the judges with “olive-oil-poached albacore tuna with smoked king clam panzanella, arugula and avocado.” The chef has won raves for Spring Hill, and was also on the recent list of Seattle’s “Rising Stars.”

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A few readers have asked about the new Homegrown Sandwiches in Fremont using cured meats from The Swinery on their sandwiches. Wasn’t the whole controversy with Culinary Communion and The Swinery that owner Gabriel Claycamp didn’t have a Swinery permit yet from Public Health - Seattle and King County?

I called Homegrown today to inquire, and was told the Swinery products were off the menu. 

“We had been told that the paperwork was in order for (The Swinery), and then we found out otherwise, so we decided to stop carrying their stuff,” said Brad Gillis, who owns Homegrown with Ben Friedman.

I checked in with the health department, and was told that its staff had told Homegrown the meat was not from an approved source.

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I’m selfishly sad to report that pastry chef extraordinaire Neil Robertson has left Canlis. I’ve loved what he was doing there.

Neil wrote: “It was a complicated and painful decision, but what it really came down to was my inability to find a sustainable balance between the job and personal life. My time there was hugely rewarding, and the Canlis family could not have been more supportive.”

He’ll be traveling to Japan for a few weeks in May. After that, I hope we’ll get to enjoy his work somewhere else in our town.

It’s time again for Seattle Magazine’s annual “Best Restaurants” guide, and this one features “restaurants that stand the test of time” (think an all-local version of this) as well as hot newcomers.I don’t need to tell you about Maneki or Red Mill or Cafe Juanita, so — I hate to be so food porn about it, but let’s jump to the hot part.

Spinasse was named best new restaurant of the year. I’m not exactly surprised,  but I feel lonely — because I’ve never heard another person report a similar experience — to say Spinasse rated as my own biggest disappointment in a restaurant this year.  On my single, long-awaited trip, I found overcooked tajarin and unbearable noise. Still, the magazine’s description of sensational, toothsome, “confoundingly delicious” pastas makes me want to give it another try.

The Corson Building shared the prime double-spread, taking the title of  ”best dinner for all the senses.” No argument from me.  

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Finalists for the 2009 James Beard awards, the Oscars of the industry, were announced today. Finalists for Best Chef: Northwest are a noteworthy and familiar group: Seattle dominated the field, with Maria Hines of Tilth, Joseba Jiminez de Jiminez of Harvest Vine and Txori, Ethan Stowell of Union, Tavolata, How To Cook A Wolf, and Anchovies & Olives, and Jason Wilson of Crush. Cathy Whims of Nostrana in Portland also made the list here.

For national awards, Tom Douglas is on the list for outstanding restaurateur.

And, to my honest shock and delight, I seem to be on the list for Newspaper Feature Writing With Recipes.

Here is a link to the PI article that was nominated (edited to add link on March 24): 
Super-succulent imports are everything U.S. pork isn’t

I’ll update once I pick my jaw up off the floor. Congratulations to everyone. The winners will be announced May 4 at Lincoln Center in New York. The full list of nominees, including cookbook picks, is here as well.

Just a couple hours until the finalists for the 2009 James Beard Awards are announced. I’ll post them here when we get the news.

In the meantime, whet your appetite by checking out Nancy Leson’s roundup of this year’s semifinalists, who were announced in February.

The 5-Spot isn’t letting its specials go for a five-spot, but the restaurants in the Chow Foods group are extending what’s still a strikingly inexpensive dinner deal. It was originally supposed to end by spring.

Endolyne Joe’s, The 5-Spot, and The Hi-Life are all offering blue-plate specials linked to the price of the Dow Jones. Tonight, with the Dow’s most recent closing price at 7,278, the special would rung up at $7.28. The “Bell Ringing” deal runs Sunday through Thursday. Atlas Foods also features a nightly Blue Plate for $9.50, which the Chow folks describe as “simple supper specials like an applesauce-topped pork chop, Chicken-Fried Steak or Spicy Sausage Lasagna,” with sides and coffee. Actually, they say, “with sides and a cup o’ Joe,” because that’s how they talk at Chow. I put up with the schtick because their food is solid (sometimes much better than solid — did you notice that their chef took the title of “Prince of Pork” against the city’s best at Cochon 555?) and I still have fond memories of the Beeliner.

Cakespy art courtesy of www.jessieoleson.etsy.com

Gourmet.com has listed nearly 100 of its favorite food blogs online, not long after the Times of London made a splash with its top 50. A bunch of my favorites are on the Gourmet page, including a bunch of locals — I’m especially glad to see Cakespy, a long-time favorite, get such a prominent national nod. For locals, the alphabetical list also includes The Accidental Hedonist, Cook and Eat, Gluten-Free Girl, A Mighty Appetite, and Orangette.

Of course, you’re asking, how could they forget Hogwash? Where’s Tea and Cookies?” (Fill in your own favorites in the comments.) But even as I write that, I know I’m leaving out some of my own other must-reads too.

Here’s the full list from Gourmet.