Eat, Play, Run

Just Ate: Mediterranean Kitchen

I've been working in Bellevue for about a year. Mediterranean Kitchen is a restaurant near a bus stop I use if I wander after work. 

While waiting for the bus, I'd often read the reviews they have posted on their window. All of them, including a bit from the New York Times, rave about their "Farmer's Plate," barbecued chicken wings with garlic sauce. The wings are marinated overnight, then charbroiled and covered in a thick garlic sauce. The wings are served over a huge portion of saffron rice. Honestly, there's too much food. I left most of the rice and should've left a wing... but of course, I ate all of them.

My friend Adam, who runs the Blue State Barbecue blog, needs to give these wings a shot. He's the real authority on barbecue. But in my opinion, they're the best barbecued wings I've ever eaten. The caveat being, I haven't eaten many barbecued wings. So, a better recommendation would be: I loved Mediterranean Kitchen, and I will definitely return.

So Long, Farewell, blah blah blah blah

 I am going to start blogging again. So what's with the title of this post? I'm going to do all of my blogging over at runsenorun.com. 

I obviously got tired of blogging about food, and frankly, I need to lose weight. So, I'm shuttering this blog and will just concentrate on the other site.

That's all. Move along...

Mo's Dark Bacon Bar

For Valentine's Day, my friend sent us on a walking chocolate tour of downtown Seattle (more on that later). At one of the stops, the Chocolate Box, to be exact, I picked up a Mo's Dark Bacon Bar.

Bacon. Chocolate. What could possibly go wrong? The answer-- nothing. Well, OK, the price, $3.00 for a small candy bar is a little steep. But, the flavor of the $3.00 chocolate bar? Very good.

The chocolate is nice, while the bacon is actually quite subtle. But, once that salty flavor sits on your taste buds, the sweetness of the dark chocolate and the salty bacon are a natural.

Peanut butter and chocolate is a nice combo. But bacon and chocolate... even better!

MOD Pizza

MOD opened a couple of weeks ago in Bellevue. I really miss pizza by the slice. While MOD isn't really 'by the slice,' you do order a full pie for $5.88 and easily devour it in five minutes.

All pizzas are the same price, no matter how you top it. But is it any good? Well, the toppings on the spicy meat pizza I ordered were quite good. The cheese was OK, too. But the crust was very disappointing... it was dry and flavor-free. Too bad.

Overall, though, for the price, I would eat there again.

Bellevue: John Howie

Bacon tempura. Deep fried bacon. 'Nuff said.

Capitol Hill: Anchovies and Olives

 When GQ magazine called Anchovies and Olives the fifth best new restaurant in the country in 2009, I made it a priority to visit it the first chance I had. Located in a nondescript Capitol Hill building, the vibe has a serious New York feel. It's a little small, the tables are a little too close together, and the chatter is a little too loud. I loved it.

In all, we ordered four dishes, plus dessert. The first dish to arrive was soft boiled eggs topped with anchovies. The eggs were perfectly cooked... just hard enough to keep their form, yet soft enough to run down my chin. The anchovies did what anchovies do best, adding a salty/fishy flavor to the eggs. These were a real treat. Thankfully my friend only ate two of them, leaving me with four.

 Our next dish was a simple plate of prosciutto. I'm not going to wax on too much about the prosciutto. It was very good, with ample fat (this is a good thing). Thinly sliced, it was an appetizer.

 Our first 'main' course was potato gnocchi with pork and cauliflower. I much prefer ricotta gnocchi to potato, but it was fine. The pork was cooked in a style reminiscent of kalua pork. It was shredded, with a nice smoky/salty flavor, and very tender. Together, the sweetness of the cauliflower and saltiness of the pork mixed well with neutral flavor of the gnocchi.

We ended with probably the best dish of the night, the seafood risotto. This dish had so much flavor it made me break out in a giant smile on the first bite. The risotto was nice and tender, without being overcooked. The seafood was chopped small and did not overpower the dish at all. It's a very plate, and very good.

For dessert, we had a "molten" chocolate cake. It was good, but not great. Would've been nice to end the meal a little better. But, the four dishes that preceded it were excellent. I won't hesitate to eat here again.

Capitol Hill: Poppy

 One year after being told I needed to eat here, I finally ate at Poppy. It didn't disappoint!

My friend and each ordered the Large Thali. As you can see from the picture, the Large Thali is a lot of food.

Dishes ranged from celery root and chestnut soup to mushroom risotto to quail to shrimp. Veggie dishes included beets, cabbage and blood oranges.

Of the dishes, the quail was mind-blowing. Just wish it was bigger. Why do those birds have to be so damn small? The risotto was also delicious, while the beets were some of the best I've ever had (though not as good as the beets from Lupa, my favorite NY restaurant).

2009 Sushi and Sake Fest

My aunt and uncle invited me to sit at their table at the Sushi and Sake Fest, held at the downtown Seattle Westin. It's an annual event in support of the educational work of Densho: the Japanese American Legacy Project.

Participating restaurants included Flo, Hiroshi's, Kappo Chiso, Kozue, Mashiko, Miyabi, Nishino, Rice 'n Roll, Seastar, and Sushi Zen.

Mashiko provide the three appetizers served before the doors to the "sushi room" were opened, and they were fantastic. First up was asparagus with roasted black sesame sauce and shaved bonito. Next was slow braised beef short rib. Finally there was smoked salmon roulades, a salmon mousse wrapped with smoked salmon topped with Yuzu Tobiko and Shiso.

As for the sushi, I'll just post some pictures. All you can eat sushi and having the discipline to write down what you're eating and from where just doesn't work. It was gluttony at its best. Hence, I can't remember which photo belongs to which restaurant, but the I thought the photos themselves were kind of pretty. Enjoy...

 

New York: Blue Hill New York

This past summer, I visited the Stone Barns, home of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agricuture and the world famous restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The farm was beautiful with livestock and gardens. What I didn't do was eat there.

Fast forward to a recent trip to New York. My friend made a reservation to Blue Hill in the Village. This Blue Hill gets all of its food from the farm, so it's still very fresh.

Here are the foods we sampled, with a brief description:

Seems weird, but the highlight of the meal was probably the "This Morning's Farm Fresh Egg"... an egg served over mushroom and lamb quarters. I don't like eggs all that much. But, wow, this was so good.

This dish was simply titled "Fall Fruits and Vegetables." And, uh, that's what it was. Obviously, it was fresh. But, it was 90% veggies, and personally, I'm more of a fruit guy.

These are called Jerusalem Artichokes. But, as a root vegetable, they share more in common with potatoes than artichokes. They're a little crunchier and sweeter than potatoes.

Anzela ordered the "Klaas Marten's Emmer and Quinoa"... basically, chicken served two ways over butternut squash and pancetta. I liked this one quite a bit, probably more than Anzela.

For my main course, I had the Stone Barns Berkshire Pig. I know you're shocked I went with the pork. The pork was served over a bed of "Last Chance" string beans, curry and tomatoes. The pork was delicious, but I was less of a fan of the bed of veggies. The curry was very subtle.

For dessert we ordered a caramel apple. This was a seriously deconstructed caramel apple. The caramel in the form of a salted caramel sauce, the apple was served three ways, a terrine, dried chips and diced. I really loved how all the flavors came together. A fancy pants dessert, to be sure.

Marcela's Creole Cookery

Walking to Sound Running in downtown Seattle, I passed a colorful restaurant called Marcela's Creole Cookery. In front, they had a tiny table set up with a menu for people to peruse as they walked towards or away from Pioneer Square. The menu immediately grabbed me, and I knew I'd be back after my errand at Sound Running.

When I returned, I was greeted by a gracious hostess/server/possible co-owner and took a table. The music was fun zydeco, and though I was the only one in the joint, it seemed festive. Soon after I arrived, more people came in. It's the kind of place where tables just start talking to each other.

Anthony, fresh New Orleans, greeted me and called me by name the rest of the lunch. Oh, what lunch it was.

The muffaletta was out of this world. The best I've ever had. Though, I've never had it in New Orleans, so take that with a grain of salt. I don't like green olives, so I'm not sure why I loved the sandwich so much. But the generous helpings of ham, salami and cheese certainly didn't hurt. I ordered a quarter sandwich and was thoroughly stuffed. It was HUGE.

I also wanted to try the crawfish pie, so I ordered the two pie appetizer. Make an "OK" sign, then look at the hole your thumb and forefinger make. That's about how big eat pie is. So they're small, but they're quite wonderful. The crust is buttery and has a nice crumble. The middle is crawfish goodness. Really, really good.

I want to return every weekend until I've tried everything on the menu. The folks that run the restaurant are unbelievably friendly. I can't recommend Marcela's Creole Cookery enough. It's located on James between 1st and 2nd, in Pioneer Square.