teamEggers

Cheese, Wine, and Sunshine

Hi all!

Jon and I are finally getting a little bit more settled in to our new house. It’s fantastic to see our stuff starting to take shape into a home.

We took a break from the chaos to check out the Cheese Fest this weekend and had a really good time! Less cheese than last year, though that translated into less crowds. It was so sunny. Just a really great day to be out at the market with friends.

This pic is from last year, and the crowds weren’t as intense, but at least it gives you a little bit of an idea of what the event looked like:

Around noonish, we (heather, steven, yelena, ben, jon and I) had eaten enough cheese to give us bellyaches, and did what all reasonable people would have: decided it was time for wine.

If you’re in belltown and in need of a bottle of wine, I definitely recommend stopping into Seattle Cellars. The guy that was working (owner?) recommended three fantastic and vastly different bottles all in the 10-15$ range. They were perfect for the afternoon. The wine shop has a cooler with about 20 chilled bottles of white, rosé and sparkling, which is important to know if you’re looking for something to drink right away.

Onward and upward. Literally. Today’s adventure takes us to Steven & Yelena’s rooftop deck, with a fantastic view of the city, the sound, and the mountains.

…and our new house!

…which is incredibly close to quite a few friends. How cool is that?

We live on the west side of lower queen anne.  For any non-seattleites out there, that’s midway between the sound picture above (we’re really close to the “coast”) and the space needle.

What’s that in the backround? The seaplane! Are you listening, mom?

As we settled in to our afternoon of sunburn fruit and wine…

…we noticed that the sky was doing a weird apocalyptic sort of thing. How odd is this? Anyone ever seen the ring around the sun like that before?

Is it the end of the world? Perhaps. Or maybe it’s just time for another glass of wine. Pass the rosé please!

Bassanova (Ramen)

Have I told you about Bassanova yet? I must have. Maybe a few times. If it’s not my favourite spot in this city, it’s certainly in the top five. I have a week and a half left in this fair city, and I’m devoted to getting back there once more.

You hear me jon? Green.Curry.Ramen.

What makes it so good? Why do I bring everyone that will make the trek out there with me? It’s almost an hour from my house – nothing in seattle would make me take a bus that far. There’s something about the roasty pork-broth base + the perfect softness of their eggs + the creaminess you get from coconut + the kick of spicy (but not too spicy, because then you couldn’t slurp!) of the green curry…

This trip has brought us to some of the finest ramen joints in this ramen-tastic-city, and I just think Bassanova’s hands down the best. Rant and rave worthy. Slurp your noodles and finish your bowl, worthy.

You know what’s also great? Sprinkles. Goma.

Alex asked me what kind of fantastic japanese gems I learned about while I was here, and it’s got to be this guy. They’re the asian equivalent of pine nuts – sprinkle a little on the end of any dish… pasta, rice, salad… and you get this beautiful roasted finish. Slightly salty. The tiniest crunch. I’m going to have to pick up one of these goma grinders (above) before I leave.

Don’t take pictures into the sun, eh? But you know… I thought our mothers might be getting sick of looking at my food.

VD & The Escoffier Dinner

Jon’s really good at gifting. He always knows exactly what I will love, usually before I even see it. He finds experiences – wine dinners, weekend trips, concerts. Despite my best intentions, and the fact that I really really love him, I am a terrible gifter. I always go way too overboard (the flying-themed birthday?), or completely space out and don’t do anything (every valentines day / anniversary). Sometimes I just grumble and moan about how much I hate the holiday (christmas) instead of using it as an opportunity to spout my undying love in the form of presents. Whatever. Jon’s a good gifter.

I really wish there were a good, unobtrusive way to take restaurant photos. There’s usually terrible lighting, and you don’t want to be that asshole with the flash before every plate. So you point, shoot, and hope that you can colour correct enough later to be able to make out the image. Why bother? Because this goldfish can’t remember anything otherwise.

1. Lobster Salad with Avocado, Ikura and Fresh Tarragon, Served with Yuzu Vinaigrette w/ sparkling wine. This was cool. They took a half avocado and stuffed the middle of it with lobster. It started my main complaint for the evening though: portion control. Avocados are filling and you want me to get through 8 course?! Also, what the heck is that creamy yellow stuff? Last time I checked, a vinaigrette was supposed to be light.

2. Vichyssoise soup w/ crab meat

3. Puff Pastry Filled with a Fillet of Dover Sole and Layered with Fresh Spinach and Sea Scallops, Baked to a Golden Brown and Served with Sea Urchin Butter Sauce & sauv blanc. I didn’t know how much I loved uni until we got out here. Uni is sea urchin gonads, and every time I’ve had them stateside, they’ve always been fishy and quite unpleasant. Here, they’re melt-in-your mouth buttery lovely happiness.

4. Fresh Pasta Filled with a Savory Mixture of Duck, Shitake Mushrooms and Foie Gras, Served with Pancetta Champagne Sauce and a Borolo Demi Glace & Sangiovese Grosso. oh. my. goodness. This was the show stopper, folks. both sauces were excellent. the fresh pasta was excellent. the duck breast (though it could have been more rare) was excellent. My only wish is that you could taste the elements in the duck filling more. Foie gras is spectacular by itself. why hide it?

5. sakura sorbet The entire purpose of the sorbet course is to clean your palate. So why on earth would you make the sorbet taste like cotton candy?! Just because you can? Daft.

Midway through dinner, the live jazz band takes a break and they bring out the line of chefs. It’s really neat to consider all that goes into banquet serving, and a little part of me was longing for the days when I got to carry a crumber of my own. I mean, being a grownup is good too, but I do miss waitressing somtimes.

6. The entree. We’ve already had duck and sole and now we’re just getting to the entree. I think my stomach has adapted to the lighter japanese foods and the throwback to french-french was a system shock! And again, the portions were out of control. Scaloppini of Veal Served with Twin Sauces of Creole Mustard Butter and a Marsala Demi Glace, Garnished with Smoked Salmon Risotto Cake, Sautéed spinach and Rissole Potatoes w/ a hefty Merlot. I think this was my least favourite course. Despite how beautiful it was, the veal was just a bit too much. There were too many different flavours going on and… well, I just don’t love veal.

7. Japanese Musk Melon Accompanied with a Sun Dried Mascarpone Cheese Torte, Served with Garlic Bread Sticks. Can you call a slice of cantaloupe, a wedge of cheese and a strawberry a salad? I think not, people. The melon was downright delicious though, I tell you what.

8. Mille-Feuille Filled with Sweet Spring Berries and Topped with a Chocolate Cherry Wafer, Paired with Homemade Cherry Ice Cream & Gewurztraminer Ending strong here. Cherry ice cream was spectacular. The mille-feuille isn’t usually my favourite dessert because they’re nearly impossible to eat gracefully, but it was still really tasty! My belly was yelling “I’m full! no more!” but my head was about to steal more ice cream from the table next to us.

Boy, I love eating.  And tell you about what I eat.  I hope you don’t mind.

A History Lesson

Once upon a time, a girl took a misguided turn in life and moved to Denver. While it might not have been the wisest choice (for several reasons), it did set in motion a spiral of events that potentially changed history. It’s hard to say.

The girl and her boyfriend set off in search of lunch, and eventually settled upon a lovely little french restaurant just down the street. It’s a sunny day, they’re sitting oat the corner table on the patio, and the girl is filled with an unusual bout of optimism. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw an old coworker of hers, delivering food across the room. Despite the insistence of their waitress, who insisted in a fake french accent that she had no idea what I was talking about, the girl walked through the restaurant and poked her head into the kitchen.

“um. Is… Isaiah here?”

Le Central, photo c/o megafaunic

I sometimes wonder how fate works. Had jon and I not happened in on Le Central when we did, had Isaiah not gotten a job there and insisted that I apply as well… would things have turned out the same way, regardless? Would Isaiah and I have been in each other’s weddings, years later? Would I have found a different French restaurant to inspire such a love of food and wine? What if I had found a great Thai restaurant? Would my world view be different? Would I rant and rave about the virtues of fish sauce and pad thai instead of goat cheese and pinot noir?

Or maybe life is just a sequence of coincidences. I did meet my Maid of Honour years earlier, as a waitress at the Outback. And I didn’t come away from that experience with a great love of steak or purple aprons.

So. Where is this going? I wanted to tell you about dinner, of course. And particularly why this dinner was the best valentine’s day present ever. But this post is crazy long, and I want you to actually read it, so I’ll break here. More tomorrow, kiddos.

Enoshima – Spring Fest

Jon and I picked a bee you ti ful day to go down to the island of Enoshima. It also turned out to be the spring festival! I love it when that stuff works out. Although… “festival” means that our nice day on the island want jam-packed with other people.

There was a band….

…and jumpy castles. Oh my. I love jumpy castles.

Or maybe it’s just the idea of jumpy castles. Jon likes to remind me that I haven’t actually been in one for years.

Regardless, we have a lovely day wandering about, doing our best to avoid the crowds.

The street food here is so crazy!! Look at these little squiddy guys, on a stick! I’m pretty sure I like looking at them better than eating them.

There was a treasure hunt going on around the temple grounds! Jon was so sad he wasn’t an 8-year-old that could read japanese. Okay. Really the crux of the matter here was that we can’t read japanese. I think if the clues were in English, it would have been teamEggers vs. this boy scout, on the search for the big prize.

It was so cute! I wish there were treasure hunts in real life. (Do you think anyone cares that we take pictures of their little children all the time? I think that in america that might be frowned on. People of japan: I won’t steal your children! I promise!)

The tide was out, and on the back side of the island we were able to walk around the rocks. It was so beautiful.

Little kids were playing in the tidepools, and old men were trying to fish. Funny – I didn’t even notice that I was in this picture until just now. There were creepy crawlys in there! That little girl was brave!

I just love these pictures. I think they turned out really well.

We were able to take a little boat back from the island instead of walking the way we came. When I was here last year, the tide was high and it was really windy, and this wasn’t an option. I was so excited to not have to walk back up all the stairs!!

Next up, teamEggers visits the aquarium!!!