Fish tacos

I'm in a rut. well, scratch that...I have several defined patterns that I follow at every opportunity and do my best to make sure they play out in the same way every time.
Is that a rut? maybe rut (s) ? or perhaps neuroses...

Regardless, for some reason I very much enjoy having "go to" options in my life. These include the way I drive the work, the shows I watch on TV, the jeans I wear, and most importantly the food I eat.

Typically I like to write about outstanding meals/items I find in my travels, but more often than not I am eating things that are pretty pedestrian. For some strange reason Rovers doesn't offer a fast breakfast sandwich, and Elemental isn't providing me with fast lunch fare I can eat at my desk.

So I have developed a system whereby I assign value to "everyday" breakfast/lunch options. I suppose its like my own internal Zagat rating system for less than inspirational food.
Here are the areas I tend to consider:

Time: What is the total time it takes to get in, get out, get back?

Ingredients: Is this thing going to kill me if I eat 200 of them this year? If the answer is no, then does it taste pretty good?

Cost: I should pack my lunch and eat breakfast at home, but i don't. Therefore I like to impose a daily cap of $10 to my breakfast and lunch fare. Not to say i don't break that cap from time to time, but its a good guideline

Reliability: I like places that are open when they say they will be, stock the items I like, and the same people help me every time.

These four key attributes are equally important, but the time element seems to trump the rest. Proximity to my place of employment is critical, so even though I know many places that serve better grub all over the city, I frequent the following:

My breakfast rut: Beba's. It is in the Darth Vader building (just like me) and the couple who run it are extremely nice, reliable, and know me. Every day I order the same thing...a toasted bagel with light cream cheese and tomato slices. Incredibly dull, but effective, inexpensive, and reliable. Beba's always has tomatoes, cream cheese, and fresh bagels. The only variation is the bagel flavor. I like to order either multi grain or jalapeno. I guess its good that they don't always stock the same flavor or I would have the exact same thing every day.

My lunch rut(s):

Option 1: Taco Del Mar. I like this rut because it gets me out of the office for 15 minutes or so. I walk the four blocks to TDM, check out the scenery/crackheads, and clear my mind. I think having a destination is what I like most, not the actual fare.
The overall meal fits within my system however;

time: 15 minutes including the walk. these fellas are efficient.

ingredients: not Whole Foods, but not Burger King either. I like the two tacos, black/whole beans, a little rice, and some soda. Its not health food but I've seen worse.

cost: the meal is $5.99. $4.99 on Tuesdays, and Mondays are double stamp day which gets you 20% towards your goal of a free meal...so if I eat there every Monday (double stamp), every Tuesday ($4.99 meal) and one other day during the week, after two weeks and an extra Monday I end up paying for five full price meals, two reduced price meals, and get one meal "free" based on my 10 stamps. So at the end of the day my out of pocket is $4.99 + tax per meal. Not bad.

reliability: I have two TDMs within four blocks. The one on first and blanchard rocks, the one on 4th and olive doesn't.

Option 2: Ralph's Deli. This is my other "go-to" lunch choice. It is overpriced, funky, and doesn't always have what I need, but they play Van Halen at about 90 db which kinda makes it worthwhile.

time: Five minutes in and out. It is literally across the street.

cost: this kinda throws me off. The sandwich is six bucks, then if you want anything else you pay a premium. example: diet pepsi...2 bucks.

ingredients: i get the same thing every time and i tell them precisely what i want on it so its pretty healthy; whole wheat bread, roasted turkey (they roast on site daily), lettuce, tomatoes, Dijon mustard, light mayo, and occasionally some guacamole. The pickle spear is a nice touch.

reliability: i'd say Ralph's is 82% reliable. pretty good, but not great. some variability in sandwich artists and occasionally they forget to roast the turkey which throws me off.

So that's my routine. Pretty lame, but its mine and I can count on it.
Got a better one?

Cafe Juanita

On Saturday I had a chance to visit Cafe Juanita, and I've gotta say it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

We settled in for about four hours at CJ to celebrate my Mom's 65th birthday!
I'm glad we didn't make any other plans that evening because it was worth taking time, exploring the menu, and besides they aren't in a rush to get you out the door (more on that)

The wine list at Cafe Juanita is pretty spectacular, and while I didn't have an opportunity to sample any vino this time around its clear they spend a great deal of time stocking the cellar with wonderful wines from all over Italy as well as great selections from the NW and California. In addition to wine, CJ has a nice selection of "aperitivi" which include small bits of interesting food paired with cocktails. Em and my Mom tried the Prosecco and aged Parmegiano which they both seemed to enjoy. Dad had the scotch and it comes with...scotch.

Once our beverages were in place (took some time) we moved on to appetizers. We shared the seared foie gras and the grilled octopus. Both dishes were excellent.
The foie gras was served simply with a vin santo drizzle. The portion was actually pretty substantial and it was perfectly done.
Our octopus was very nice and came nestled on a base of chick pea and fennel seed sauce that I could have eaten a bowl of.

Between our appetizers and salad we tried the barbaresco risotto which i found quite nice but "powerful." The flavor was intense and best enjoyed in small portions.

The salads were very well prepared. I tried the pear salad with pine nuts, parmigiano, and white truffle oil. This one is a MUST HAVE.

By the time the main course showed up I was already feeling a bit full, but the rabbit was too good to pass up. To call this dish tender would be a big understatement, it was literally falling off the bone and the flavor was outstanding. Served with a small crepe, pancetta, and porcini mushroom it was the highlight of my meal.

We finished up with dessert which was just ok for me...a small and not terribly interesting chocolate souffle and some even less memorable item I can't recall.

The servers were very good, pacing things quite well in general. the only thing that seemed off in that regard was beverage service. My wife wanted to try specific wines with courses and the wine got "lost" a couple of times which meant she practically finished her appetizer before her first wine arrived and the same thing happened when she ordered her entree.

All in all I was very impressed with the quality of food, the imagination of the chef, and the presentation of the meal. If you love food like I love food, do yourself a favor and make a point to visit Cafe Juanita. If you've hired a sitter to watch the kids, make sure they don't have to go home early, 'cause you probably won't make it home before 11.

cheers

Whole Paycheck

I love Whole Foods.
Yeah, its really freakin expensive, and I find it annoying that they don't have Diet Pepsi, Tide detergent, or absorbant paper towels...but they do have KILLER fresh foods.

Recently WF opened a new store in downtown Seattle on Westlake which is slightly different than the other stores I've been to. When you walk in there is a heavy focus on prepared foods, the wine section is closer to the entrance than other locations, and the canned/dry foods sections seem smaller.
Every weeknight between 5-7 they offer samples of food throughout the store which is very cool, but can easily spoil your appetite.

Last night I went to the new WF on Westlake, found free parking immediately, got in and out within 10 minutes! The fish selection at this particular store is beautiful, and on most days they have my wife's favorite (Chilean Seabass) as well as a new favorite, Turbot from Greenland.
I like to pan sear the Turbot with a little olive oil, lemon, white wine, shallots, and capers, then put the whole pan (covered) in the oven for a bit and serve medium rare. Try it with a nice Sauv Blanc.

If you don't have a Valentines dinner planned, consider dropping by WF for:

• Heart shaped crabcakes
• St Andre triple cream cheese
• Maybe a nice Oregon Pinot such as Medici
• fresh berries and ice cream

Cheers

Great event

Following up on my post from last week, we did in fact throw a great party on Friday night.
Northwest Exclusive hosted about 50 guests at the Barrel House in Yakima, where we offered a tasting menu of Beechers' cheeses, fruit, five cuts of aged beef, and several wonderful wines topped off with Ivory Coast Truffles from Theo Chocolate.

The feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive, and I'm pretty sure no one went away hungry!

The Chef for the evening, Paul was going full steam trying to stay ahead of the hungry tasters, and was very successful in preparing each sample perfectly. Thanks Paul!

Both Kestrel and Wineglass Cellars joined us and were kind enough to bring some very special pre-release wines for the group to sample. I was very impressed with both of these wineries, their new wines, and the great people. Wineglass Cellars brought their new 2004 Sangiovese which I found to be delightful; soft, smooth, and fruit forward but not sweet.
Kestrel brought both 2003 and 2004 Malbec as well as their Old Vines Merlot which was HUGE, powerful, and to my palate very "un-merlot." I love it.

These events are a fantastic excuse for us to share our passion for Northwest food and wine with our network of friends, colleagues, and known foodie/wine freaks. I can't wait to host another event one day soon. Watch for an upcoming Seattle date!

What I'm eating: Pagliacci Pizza Salumi Primo
What I'm drinking: O'douls Amber
Who I'm hanging out with: Em, Fletch, Baia, Matt, and Amy

Cheers

Prepping for Northwest Exclusive opening (east)

Here we are, t-minus two days before our second tasting event at Northwest Exclusive.
I really enjoy these events because I get to actually share a little bit of my favorite flavors, foods, wines, and brands from the great Northwest.

As you may or may not know, we held our "opening" in mid-November at Stevens Winery in Woodinville. The intent was to rally some foodies, wine freaks, and friends in order to explain what the heck we are up to with this little venture and provide them with some great food and wine to sample.

Tim and Page Stevens (owners of Stevens Winery) were kind enough to provide the space, pour the wine, and make it pretty damn easy to throw a fun event. I'm hoping our second event is as successful!

So we're invading central Washington, Yakima to be specific. On Friday we'll host about 50 guests and I'm pretty sure they're in for a treat. We'll serve four kinds of beef including Prime filet mignon, ribeye, and ny strip, as well as American Kobe ny strip steaks. We plan on pairing the steaks with a minimum of two great wines...probably selections from Wineglass Cellars and CR Sandidge.

This time around we're expanding the tasting menu a bit to include a pre-release sample of a very special wine (not telling,) and the most amazing truffles I've ever tried (Theo Chocolate truffles.)

My hope is we're able to show the folks in Yakima a good time and solicit some candid feedback about our products, packaging, positioning, and overall value proposition.
At a minimum I'm guessing they won't go away hungry.

If you find yourself in Yakima Friday evening, send me a text...I'll guide you over to our event.

Cheers

What's so great about salmon?

I mean beyond the obvious; omega-3 fatty acids, tender flaky texture, beautiful color and presentation, and of course proximity to my home state.

My business partner brought up an interesting question yesterday, he asked me whether I could differentiate between salmon varieties. When I think about it, I really don't have strong feelings about a particular brand or breed of the fish.

I just plain like salmon. I like Sockeye, I like King. I like Copper River, I like Yukon River. For that matter I've had some pretty good farm raised salmon from Costco (don't tell anyone.)

Recently I had an opportunity to try some salmon from Wild Alaskan Salmon Company www.seabeef.com and I've gotta say it was pretty special. They sent a flash-frozen, perfectly portioned piece of King salmon filet that had to be three inches thick! Before I tried this fish I thought "fresh, never frozen" was the only way to fly, but I learned that flash-frozen is actually less "fishy" because it is immediately processed/frozen at sea rather than making the long trek from fish boat to processor, to shipping facility, to warehouse, to your local supermarket.

My company, www.nwexclusive.com is considering adding this line of salmon to our product catalog because it is special. I'd like to find the perfect Oregon Pinot Noir to complement an alder-smoked chunk of "seabeef" and provide it to our best customers later this spring. Stay tuned...

You know what? i think I'm going to make a reservation at Etta's tonight to satisfy my craving for good salmon. Ever try their "rub-with-love" king salmon with cornbread pudding and shitake mushrooms? RIDICULOUS.

Cheers!

Seattle's Worst Coffee?

Heh heh.
I don't think I could possibly identify the WORST coffee in our city, but today I'm eeking out a living fueled by the great caffeine bean so in honor of our city's favorite cloudy day beverage I'm going to throw down the gauntlet and declare the best coffee experiences in the area.
Now I realize this is HIGHLY subjective, correlates directly to where I live/work, and if anyone in the area were to read this I might get shot...that is how passionate we are about our coffee here.

So with that said, here are the categories and respective kings of said categories:

1. Best coffee. I'm not talking about the best barrista, best wifi, best fireplace, or anything else. I'm talking about the beans. In order to qualify for this category I'm looking for rich flavor, limited bitterness, flexibility (does it work for drip and espresso?) and of course...availability.
While this company lost some of it's luster when Starbucks bought them, I still love the beans and place them at the top of my list. TORREFAZIONE

2. Best eastside coffee house. If you find yourself in Redmond, or anywhere nearby for that matter it is worth your time to drop into Victor's Coffee Company. They roast their own beans, make a mean drip coffee, an even better cappuccino, and they have wicked baked goods to boot. On any given day you'll find a nice smattering of Microsofties, fire fighters, Cingular..er AT&T folks, and soccer moms rolling in for their daily brew.

3. Best on Capitol Hill. This one is tough...I know there are a ton of great places up there, but my favorite place for a cappuccino is Cafe Vita. They make some of the best beans around, their barristas are pros, the space is great, and I have an opportunity to see what the latest piercing/branding/tattooing trend is all about.

4. Downtown. Real. Serious. Coffee. Zeitgeist.
But seriously, I like to go down there, grab some coffee, and head to Bud's Jazz Records in Pioneer Square...there's something magic about that combination.

5. Uptown. If you find yourself near Beltown or Queen Anne, I think a trip to Uptown Espresso is worth your time. Although I don't think its right to grade a coffee joint on flavored drinks, I've gotta say that their mochas are ridiculous. For that matter their cappuccinos are pretty damn good. They're just good.

6. On the fly. I like to avoid the drive-up espresso shack. nine times out of ten the experience is lame and I end up either a) letting the milk-laden beverage become tepid in my console or gulping it down just to get the caffeine. So when I found Northern Espresso located at the Bothell Chevron I was elated. This little gem does it right...they start with great coffee, use proper equipment, the barristas are pros, and they top it off with a killer chocolate covered coffee bean or two.

7. New To My List. Found this one today, but I've gotta say its one of the best coffees I've had in a long time. I stopped in to Motore Coffee at 9th & Stewart downtown Seattle. Had a big latte and it was fantastic. In fact I was able to ignore my seasonal affective disorder for more than 2 hours based on this beverage alone. Thanks Motore!

Tonight I'm pretty sure I won't be doing this:

-Eating fall-off-the-bone tender osso bucco with chantarelle mushroom risotto
-Drinking Stevens424 red blend from Stevens Winery in Woodinville
-Dining with my buddies Steve C and Bill M in DC

but, if I could I would.