Qube closed down on July 3rd. For us, it wasn't surprising although I must admit it catches my attention when any restaurant closes.
We visited Qube last year back before Chef Lisa Nakamura moved to the Woodmark Hotel (wish I could find out the inside scoop on why she left) and the meal was alright, I can't remember the details now but the key point is that we were never drawn to go back... we don't feel bad that we didn't get to go back and try it again before it closed.
I guess a lot of people felt the same way.
The owner blames the ecomonic downturn and that people are spending less. Does that mean that this is just sign of things to come?
If so, that might not be such a bad thing, it seems like in Seattle there are a lot of higher end restaurants that really aren't that great and thinning some of those out would be a good thing.
Just like hiring good people is hard no matter what the economy is like, good restaurants will be busy no matter what the economy is like. A little more pressure to deliver a great dining value would be good for the Seattle restaurant scene.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Taste of the Nation Seattle - July 31
Check out the official web page for more details including what restaurants are participating. The lineup looks really good, should make for a great evening of food and drink.
O/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar
Earlier in the week my wife and I went to check out the O/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar in Bellevue. It's in Bellevue place where the Hyatt Bellevue is located.
O/8 has done a great job marketing itself. I've heard numerous commercials on the radio and it seems to get a lot of mention in local magazines, awards on Citysearch and the like.
First area of confusion for us was whether or not the restaurant and the wine bar were one and the same, whether they were different rooms, different locations or what?
Turns out, it is one restaurant which has both a dining room and a lounge. The lounge is the Twisted Cork Wine Bar. Bottom line is that you can sit in either part of the restaurant and order from the same menus, it's all about the ambiance you are looking for.
The wine list is pretty extensive, (Northwest focused) with an options for by the glass, by the taste, flights (3 tastes) and of course, bottle selections.
Everything by the glass (23 whites, 26 reds) is available by the taste (half glass) which is cool because you can essentially create your own flights.
We started with a taste of the 2006 Louis Latour ‘Valmoissine’ Pinot Noir, Provence, France (note: a Pinot Noir but not a Burgundy). Not surprisingly for Provence, it was bright but somewhat short and simple. A reasonable wine to start the evening with.
For dinner we both had specials: Hawaiian Ahi and Kobe Flatiron Steak, along with a taste of their recommended pairing which were the 2006 Jacuzzi Family Vineyards Barbera, North Coast, California and 2003 Dussek Family Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla, Washington respectively.
For our tastes, the Jacuzzi Barbera was so-so while the Dussek Cab was quite good, pretty bright and complex for the price point.
The food was alright but not outstanding. The Ahi didn't come across as fresh and soft as it should have. The steak itself was pretty good but the plate overall came across as a bit too "sticky". Given the price point for this restaurant, we expected more.
It was a good evening for us, we enjoyed being together and the ambience, environment and comfort of the restaurant were very good. They even had a jazz trio setting up to play as we were leaving.
Definitely some things to like, but for our 4 level rating system (Avoid, Don't Bother, Worth it, Outstanding), O/8 Seafood Grill gets a "Don't Bother".
O/8 has done a great job marketing itself. I've heard numerous commercials on the radio and it seems to get a lot of mention in local magazines, awards on Citysearch and the like.
First area of confusion for us was whether or not the restaurant and the wine bar were one and the same, whether they were different rooms, different locations or what?
Turns out, it is one restaurant which has both a dining room and a lounge. The lounge is the Twisted Cork Wine Bar. Bottom line is that you can sit in either part of the restaurant and order from the same menus, it's all about the ambiance you are looking for.
The wine list is pretty extensive, (Northwest focused) with an options for by the glass, by the taste, flights (3 tastes) and of course, bottle selections.
Everything by the glass (23 whites, 26 reds) is available by the taste (half glass) which is cool because you can essentially create your own flights.
We started with a taste of the 2006 Louis Latour ‘Valmoissine’ Pinot Noir, Provence, France (note: a Pinot Noir but not a Burgundy). Not surprisingly for Provence, it was bright but somewhat short and simple. A reasonable wine to start the evening with.
For dinner we both had specials: Hawaiian Ahi and Kobe Flatiron Steak, along with a taste of their recommended pairing which were the 2006 Jacuzzi Family Vineyards Barbera, North Coast, California and 2003 Dussek Family Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla, Washington respectively.
For our tastes, the Jacuzzi Barbera was so-so while the Dussek Cab was quite good, pretty bright and complex for the price point.
The food was alright but not outstanding. The Ahi didn't come across as fresh and soft as it should have. The steak itself was pretty good but the plate overall came across as a bit too "sticky". Given the price point for this restaurant, we expected more.
It was a good evening for us, we enjoyed being together and the ambience, environment and comfort of the restaurant were very good. They even had a jazz trio setting up to play as we were leaving.
Definitely some things to like, but for our 4 level rating system (Avoid, Don't Bother, Worth it, Outstanding), O/8 Seafood Grill gets a "Don't Bother".
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Arvid
After our last trip to Napa and Sonoma, my wife and I stopped for a day in San Francisco to visit some friends. In our travels we came across some amazing art work in one of the galleries.
Paintings of famous wine capturing part of the experience of drinking such wine. The painting evoked so much emotion and had so much detail you struggled to believe 1) that they were paintings and 2) that while looking at it you weren't there.
Turns out the artist is Thomas Arvid.
We ended up buying the following book, I highly recommend you check it out.
Paintings of famous wine capturing part of the experience of drinking such wine. The painting evoked so much emotion and had so much detail you struggled to believe 1) that they were paintings and 2) that while looking at it you weren't there.
Turns out the artist is Thomas Arvid.
We ended up buying the following book, I highly recommend you check it out.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wine & Spirits Magazine Hot Picks
Last Tuesday my wife and I went to the Wine & Spirits Magazine Hot Picks in Seattle. It was held at the Paramount theatre which seemed like an odd location at first but I really like the way it panned out.
They took out all of the seating on the main floor except at the very back which opened up the whole area right up to the stage (they used the covered pit as well). The Paramount has an ornate look to it and when you added in some lighting, some music and load of tables of wine and food, it just made for a great venue.
As you walked in to the event, there was white wine to the right, red wine to the left and desert wines right as you walk in. They grouped the wines by region which was a thoughtful touch.
The food was all tapas style... some were just tastes, bites of stuff. Restaurants represented included Monsoon, Qube, Herb Farm, Canlis, The Harvest Vine, Tom Douglas catering and Crush among a few others.
Really liked the lamb bites that Canlis provided and the prosciutto pizza that The Harvest Vine provided. It was cool to see all of the chefs from the restaurant there although I image the conditions they had to cook were far less than ideal. Even so, the food was tasty.
Among the wines, Pelton House and Cadence really stuck out as good. The Pelton House wines were made in more of a French style and we really enjoyed a nice discussion with the winemaker. Cadence had their second label, Coda there which was really quite good as well.
Overall, it was a really good event.
They took out all of the seating on the main floor except at the very back which opened up the whole area right up to the stage (they used the covered pit as well). The Paramount has an ornate look to it and when you added in some lighting, some music and load of tables of wine and food, it just made for a great venue.
As you walked in to the event, there was white wine to the right, red wine to the left and desert wines right as you walk in. They grouped the wines by region which was a thoughtful touch.
The food was all tapas style... some were just tastes, bites of stuff. Restaurants represented included Monsoon, Qube, Herb Farm, Canlis, The Harvest Vine, Tom Douglas catering and Crush among a few others.
Really liked the lamb bites that Canlis provided and the prosciutto pizza that The Harvest Vine provided. It was cool to see all of the chefs from the restaurant there although I image the conditions they had to cook were far less than ideal. Even so, the food was tasty.
Among the wines, Pelton House and Cadence really stuck out as good. The Pelton House wines were made in more of a French style and we really enjoyed a nice discussion with the winemaker. Cadence had their second label, Coda there which was really quite good as well.
Overall, it was a really good event.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Masterpiece/Winemaker's Dinner at the Lake Washington Technical College
A cool thing that we discovered after taking a wine class at the Lake Washington Technical College is that twice a year they put on a Masterpiece / Winemaker's dinner.
The culinary students prepare the dinner and each course is paired with wine. At the most recent event last Thursday, the wines were supplied by Parducci Winery (Mendocino Wine Company), last Winter the wines were from Kana Winery.
The beauty of this event is that the food is all wonderfully prepared by the culinary students as part of their graduate work, and the cost is about half of what you would expect for such an event.
I highly recommend that you look into the Culinary Schools around your neighborhood, I doubt that LWTC is the only school that does this kind of thing.
The culinary students prepare the dinner and each course is paired with wine. At the most recent event last Thursday, the wines were supplied by Parducci Winery (Mendocino Wine Company), last Winter the wines were from Kana Winery.
The beauty of this event is that the food is all wonderfully prepared by the culinary students as part of their graduate work, and the cost is about half of what you would expect for such an event.
I highly recommend that you look into the Culinary Schools around your neighborhood, I doubt that LWTC is the only school that does this kind of thing.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Dinner at Crush in Seattle
Recently, my wife and I ate at Crush in Madison Park (suburb of Seattle). As we drove up to the restaurant we realized that it is a converted Tudor style home which gives the restaurant a lot of character. The downside is that finding parking is a bit tough (no parking lot) and the restaurant capacity is somewhat limited (which on further reflection, may be a good thing).
As we walked in, we were greeted at the door by Chef Jason Wilson as the host was on the phone. This was a bit of a surprise, a pleasant surprise. While we were there, we didn't see him cook, he alternated between host his guests, and watching his staff/checking over the food.
As you walk in, the host stand is in front of you with steps to an upper floor to the immediate right. Scanning to the right there is a bar, behind which is the kitchen and some tables. To the left is a main dining area with tables.
The restaurant has a very clean look in a modern style (the Crush web site has a good picture of the dining room). The chairs were white, plastic egg-like things, very modern but not terribly comfortable. Overall, it looked nice and had enough warmth that it felt good to be there. Unfortunately, we found through the course of our evening that it was hard to have a nice conversation due to the high level of ambient noise. At times that was a little frustrating.
Chef Jason Wilson describes the food at Crush as Modern Northwest Cuisine. The menu changes quite frequently but you can expect to see a fair number of seafood dishes as well as grilled meats. We had the really light yet tasty Baby Beet Salad with Blue Cheese & Pear to start and had a pasta with beef rib for our main course. The pasta was a bit on the rich side for us as it had cream and olive oil but the quality of the food and cooking was apparent. I did spy what looked like really outstanding scallop and lamb dishes at the table next to us and kind of wished I had ordered something different. Next time I guess.
We ended our meal with bread pudding which was cooked the way we like it - not too sweet.
Overall, it was a good meal, probably the main thing that wrecked it for us was the noise level. I would be wary of going here for a date or romantic occasion for that reason.
Definitely make reservations, word on the street is that Crush tends to overbook on the reservations so bring patience - although it is important to note that we got seated right at our reservation time and had no complaints in that regard. Service was good.
As we walked in, we were greeted at the door by Chef Jason Wilson as the host was on the phone. This was a bit of a surprise, a pleasant surprise. While we were there, we didn't see him cook, he alternated between host his guests, and watching his staff/checking over the food.
As you walk in, the host stand is in front of you with steps to an upper floor to the immediate right. Scanning to the right there is a bar, behind which is the kitchen and some tables. To the left is a main dining area with tables.
The restaurant has a very clean look in a modern style (the Crush web site has a good picture of the dining room). The chairs were white, plastic egg-like things, very modern but not terribly comfortable. Overall, it looked nice and had enough warmth that it felt good to be there. Unfortunately, we found through the course of our evening that it was hard to have a nice conversation due to the high level of ambient noise. At times that was a little frustrating.
Chef Jason Wilson describes the food at Crush as Modern Northwest Cuisine. The menu changes quite frequently but you can expect to see a fair number of seafood dishes as well as grilled meats. We had the really light yet tasty Baby Beet Salad with Blue Cheese & Pear to start and had a pasta with beef rib for our main course. The pasta was a bit on the rich side for us as it had cream and olive oil but the quality of the food and cooking was apparent. I did spy what looked like really outstanding scallop and lamb dishes at the table next to us and kind of wished I had ordered something different. Next time I guess.
We ended our meal with bread pudding which was cooked the way we like it - not too sweet.
Overall, it was a good meal, probably the main thing that wrecked it for us was the noise level. I would be wary of going here for a date or romantic occasion for that reason.
Definitely make reservations, word on the street is that Crush tends to overbook on the reservations so bring patience - although it is important to note that we got seated right at our reservation time and had no complaints in that regard. Service was good.
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