Posts Tagged ‘Seattle Restaurants’

Sitka & Spruce: Seattle

Posted 11 Feb 2012 — by S.E.
Category Fine Dining

I make one last stop on my Seattle tour at chef Matthew Dillon‘s Sitka and Spruce back in the Melrose Marketplace. It’s rainy and cold again and each fat drop falling from the sky cuts across my face. Stomping the water and weather off my feet, I head inside past the specialty butcher, the wine shop and bar, and flower stand. Tucked into the rear corner is Sitka and Spruce; separated from the rest of the market by a partition composed of large windows and white framing. It’s warm and bright in here. Although inside the market, I am outside the restaurant looking in through the large eight over eight windows while I wait for the doors to open. Staring at the blur of cooks prepping and planning on the other side has me captivated with memories of my line-cook days in a prior life. Lost in thought, it is forever in a second before the double red doors slide open and I return to the moment and enter.

Inside and alone, I sit at the long hewn wooden counter of single stools running along the wall under a bank of exterior windows. Suddenly it feels overcast in here, with dim street lights casting a glow into the room, painted in neutral colors. Staring out through the glass while I wait for a menu, I notice that the window is old and probably original to the building. The glass is dusty and slightly fogged over and in places caulking has come undone. The rest of the restaurant space is mostly renovated, efficiently designed, otherwise spotless but with a planned historical texture and character. With high ceilings made of exposed timber and a large open kitchen with fireplace, it is clear that someone chose to respect and enhance this space rather than blow it to pieces. Overcast is the wrong word, the restaurant is subdued, the intensity retro but not fake, the vibe and the people smart, environmentally green, respectful and happy in that “we have a great restaurant and we know it, work our asses off but never take it for granted” sort of way.

The menu arrives, she takes a minute to talk with me and figure me out “try the fresh anchovies from Oregon” she says remaining suspicious because I have a camera. “Do you like liver mousse?” Always I say especially when properly prepared and yours is served with sherried chanterelle mushrooms. Liver, chanterelles and sherry are flavors matched in heaven. Send one of those out too. “We have a small plate of buckwheat crepes with salted ham and endive, the endive is caramelized and wilted over the crepe.” Yes please. She sees that I am fair game “how about the local halibut with sauerkraut?” How about it I offer.

Sometimes I don’t even need to see the food to know that a restaurant is good. This is that kind of place. She could have sold me the entire menu if not for a limited budget and appetite, curious as I am. The fresh anchovies arrive first, five gorgeous fillets glistening with olive oil and fresh lemon. Medium thick slices of pickled green chili pepper as round as a pencil and a sprig of parsley provide shades of green to compliment the silvery white fish. These aren’t salted and cured anchovies they are beautifully fresh, light and sweet fillets with perfect seasoning and spice; I could eat a dozen of them.

Marinated Anchovies from the Oregon Coast with Pickled Chili Pepper

A few more sips of sauvignon blanc and the liver mousse arrives. A thin coating of mousse tops lightly toasted slices of French bread and tart little huckleberries.  Sautéed chanterelles are layered on a sherry cream reduction with fresh herbs including dill and tarragon. These flavors are meant to go together and I sop up the mushrooms and sauce with the French bread slices.

 Cooked in Sherry with Huckleberries and Liver Mousse

Now I am overly distracted by the food and, when the crepes come, start to eat the dish before taking a photo. Catching myself, I pause, click a quick shot and dig in. The endive is caramelized just enough to wilt and sweeten, the bitterness having cooked out. There’s more fat in this dish providing richness and depth. The portion is perfect. Then the halibut with sauerkraut and white carrots arrives. When in Seattle I usually order Sablefish with halibut a close second. Tonight Sablefish wasn’t on the menu so I didn’t think twice about the halibut. Seared then steamed gently, it arrives perfectly cooked albeit lacking contrast and color other than the golden brown top of the fish. However, the dish is a study of elegant simplicity pared with a level of craftsmanship worthy of praise. Each course arrives in perfect 12 minute intervals. In less than an hour I am sated and comfortably so.

Buckwheat Crepes with Salted Ham, Onion, and Endives

I will return to Sitka and Spruce, it is one of those restaurants that has an identity, simplicity, confidence, and level of execution that comforts and pleases in a manner similar to Avec in Chicago and No. 9 Park in Boston. More important, Sitka and Spruce is a reflection of Seattle itself in style and character and this too makes me want to come back to the city and to this place.

Seared and Steamed Pacific Halibut with White Carrots and Sauerkraut

Sitka & Spruce

531 Melrose Ave.  Suite 6, Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 324-0662

Spur ~ Seattle

Posted 24 Sep 2011 — by S.E.
Category Fine Dining

It’s a Wednesday night and I am sitting at a table in the dining room at Spur in Seattle with Chef Dana Tough, a true culinary professional and rising national star. Tough, whose boyish looks betrays tremendous talent, and co-chef Brian McCracken opened Spur in Seattle’s Belletown neighborhood in 2008 and have never looked back. Within the first year they built a reputation for an innovative approach to modern American gastronomy.  As I sit with Dana, a black and white image of the canals of Amsterdam is projected via an LCD projector on a whitewashed interior wall. The room is dimly lit and the projected image casts a classic European tone in the room. It makes me feel cool and jazzy, relaxed and hip. Dana laughs and tells me that on other nights he projects black and white spaghetti westerns on the screen much to his customers delight. I am here to eat and to talk innovation and we are off to a good start. Staring at Dana I wonder if, perhaps, the most innovative thing about Spur is its leadership model.

It’s About Leadership

Spur has two head chefs. It’s very rare to find a restaurant where two chefs, side by side, ply their trade and achieve greatness without a train wreck of ego and rivalry. Sitting here I am subtly observant, seeking evidence whether the two chef model works at Spur. Halfway through our meal Chef Brian McCracken comes in and stops by our table. He is smiling because it’s his birthday. Dana smiles back and shakes his hand. The authenticity in his smile and genuine professional regard between the two leaves me amazed. Having two chefs in one restaurant is unprecedented. Most restaurants have a hierarchy with one chef at the top serving as pack leader and a bunch of followers below. Spur thrives because McCracken and Tough collaborate and the restaurant bubbles with a positive atmosphere and happy yet hardworking staff. That McCracken came into the restaurant on his birthday to say hello and have a drink suggests that Spur is more than just a business, it’s a passion. I can tell he loves the place and that Dana and he respect the hell out of each other. Real collaboration is
innovative in the restaurant business.

It’s About People

If innovation is about problem solving, one problem Spur has is that it is extremely busy with no room for growth. In turn, McCracken and Tough talk about the launch of Coterie Room, a new restaurant venture adjacent to Spur. The “McToughen” team as they are known in Seattle have three restaurants (Spur, Tavern Law, Coterie) with no expectation of slowing down. Both speak about the need to find pathways for advancement of their talented staff members and expansion provides new opportunities for all. Innovation not only includes outright rejection of the old-school brigade system for a higher form of collaboration, it includes a concern for growth and personnel, quality of work life and advancement.

It’s About Food and Drink

Dana heads back to the kitchen and I start down the path of nine courses randomly selected from the menu. Spur defines the modern American Gastropub and may have in fact invented it. Each dish that arrives is perfectly portioned, and dynamic with a modernist aesthetic. I start with a beautiful foie gras terrine with rhubarb, rose and sorrel. What follows includes eight additional masterfully prepared courses and several fresh, craft made cocktails. Execution is excellent save one protein that may have been in a thermal circulator for a bit too long. Flavor progression is nice even though the items Dana selected are a mix and match of the a la carte menu. This tells me that the overall menu is thoughtfully designed. The food exceeds my expectations and Dana and Brian do as well.

~~~

Foie Gras Terrine, Rhubarb, Rose, Sorrel

 

Tomatoes and Melon

Big Eye Tuna Crudo, Caviar, Avocado, Radish

 

Veal Sweetbreads, Bing Cherry, Corn, Lemon Verbena

 

Corned Duck Breast, Stone Fruit, Chanterelle, Leek

 

Parisian Gnocchi, Turnip, English Peas, Truffle

 

Waygu Sirloin, Cauliflower, Baby Artichoke, Almond Gremolata

 

Strawberry, Vanilla Cream, Rhubarb Ice Cream

 

Chocolate Torte, Bing Cherry, Peanut, Sorrel

~~~

Spur

113 Blanchard Street,

Seattle, Washington, 98121

206.728.6706

Canlis Restaurant, Seattle

Posted 29 Jul 2011 — by S.E.
Category Fine Dining

It’s nearing sunset on a crystal clear blue-sky day in Seattle and I need to relax.  My meetings required traversing the city at  morning and evening rush hour and a good part of the day was wasted in traffic. I hate traffic. Now that’s all behind me and I am on my way to dinner. After a few wrong turns (as usual) I find Canlis restaurant and pull up to the front entrance. The building is a dark brown wooden gem with a modern mid-20th century “Frank Lloyd Wright meets the North West” aesthetic including large exterior walls of pitched glass facing Lake Union down below. I step out of the car and the valet opens the double glass door entrance for me and takes my car keys. Before I can turn around, he is gone with my car and I walk away wondering why he didn’t provide a claim check prior to departing. Shrugging it off, I head for reception to check in and after a very short wait find myself sitting in the lower dining room facing the windows and a magnificent view.

Peter Canlis founded his namesake restaurant 1950 when he was 69 years old after a career in the hospitality industry that spanned the globe from Greece to Cairo to New York, Hawaii and, ultimately, Seattle. According to family history Peter is credited with being an expert restaurateur and innovator and was one of the first in the country to employ team-style service n the dining room. He also understood how to create a niche for the restaurant and, in addition to excellence in the kitchen, employed  kimono-clad waitresses in his dining room; a likely influence that travelled back with him from his stint in Hawaii. Stunning photos of these waitresses serving the likes of Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior and Frank Sinatra line the wall along the back stairwell to the restaurant. Peter was a genius and Canlis was a definite “A-List” restaurant from the very beginning.

Incredible as Peter’s story is the leadership displayed by third generation owners Mark and Brian Canlis (Peter’s grandsons) is equally impressive. Talent is woven into the genetic fiber of this family. After taking the restaurant over from their parents (Chris and Alice) in 2005 Mark and Brian came to a point where they had to either sell the restaurant or double down, go all-in, and reinvest in the restaurant to bring it back to its former glory. The boys had a great opportunity to cash out and sell to a developer who planned to construct condominiums. They didn’t sell out.

Like many restaurants in the U.S. that have more than 20 years of history, Canlis’ food and service had gradually diverged from contemporary preferences and, from what I hear, the restaurant had become a bit threadbare and dated. What makes this story so different and so inspiring is that Brian and Mark took on the challenge of redirecting the restaurant and never looked back. Both displayed the courage and leadership required to wipe their approach to food and service clean and start over, something that scarcely happens in restaurants like theirs. Darwin’s theory of evolution suggests that the most adaptable (fittest) organisms survive the test of time and adapt the restaurant did!

This is where Chef Jason Franey comes in. A friend at Eleven Madison Park in New York raved about Franey, her former colleague who served as executive sous chef at the restaurant prior to taking the helm at Canlis. She suggested that I visit Franey and have the chef’s tasting menu. It was excellent advice. Franey joined Canlis in 2009 after Brain and Mark conducted a national search for what would be the fifth executive chef in the restaurants history. He took on the role of executive chef with full confidence and commitment and hasn’t looked back. His kitchen, much like Eleven Madison Park, works like a Swiss watch with an ergonomic design (Brian and Mark rebuilt the kitchen for Franey) and sequence of production nothing short of perfect. I stood to the side in the kitchen as Franey seamlessly organized and expedited each order while carrying on a conversation with me. To say he is comfortable in this kitchen is an understatement. Franey is of medium height and build, wide around the shoulders, and radiates pure confidence. He is a culinary athlete in the major leagues just about to hit the top of his game. Delighted, I head back to the dining room.

Soaking it in, I begin to relax as the setting sun casts an orange glow through the long row of windows. Several smartly dressed couples from Seattle’s young, urban and wealthy community hold hands and chat while leisurely sipping cocktails and sampling Franey’s fare. In the distance I spot a single-engine sea-plane taking off from Lake Union below. The plane makes a wide circle around the lake gradually gaining altitude until it floats level with the restaurant, a bright flash of yellow paint passing between the tall evergreens just outside the window. My amuse bouche magically appears in front of me (I didn’t even notice the server who brought it) and I forget the day, the stress, the traffic, the early departure in the morning and feel wrapped in comfort and care. Canlis has grabbed hold of me and I feel a depth of professional and authentic hospitality rare in the world today.

I have no way of gauging the quality of today’s Canlis compared with the original operated by Peter in the 1950’s but I bet Peter would be delighted and the Canlis of today could very well be the best yet. As my time at Canlis comes to an end I find my car waiting right outside the front entrance. Peter Canlis believed in anticipating the needs of his guests and surprising them by staying one step ahead with service. Having your car ready when you exit is one of the traditions preserved along with many others – no claim check required. Congratulations to Brian, Mark, Jason and the whole Canlis team! I leave relaxed, sated, and truly inspired.

 Chef’s Tasting Menu

Amuse Bouche: Melon and Dungeness Crab

 

Peas and Carrots, Farm fresh goat cheese and a morel mushroom crumble

Duck Egg Slow poached with asparagus, watercress, and uni

 

Black Cod Pan seared, with fava beans, nettles, and fermented black garlic

 Short Rib Braised for 48 hours, with ramps, broccoli rabe, and smoked bone marrow

Strawberry Fizz

Rhubarb Tart Strawberries, fennel ice cream, and Champagne espuma

Canlis Restaurant, Est. 1950

2576 Aurora Avenue North   •  Seattle, Washington 98109

www.canlis.com