As far as national recognition goes, Tom Douglas is arguably Seattle's best known Celebrity Chef. He's a James Beard Award winner and has appeared on both Emeril and Giada's television shows. He's also been a challenger on Iron Chef America, beating down my boy Iron Chef Morimoto.
While Douglas now has restaurants all over Seattle, his signature restaurant remains the Dahlia Lounge. I've been to the Dahlia a couple of times for lunch, but only recently visited for dinner.
My expectations were pretty high, and for the most part they were met.
We started with a simple green salad. The lettuce was fresh and the dressing tangy. The salad was topped with finely grated Parmesan. As a green salad, it was fine, not memorable.
The appetizer we ordered, though, is where the fun began. We had the farm fresh duck egg, served over brioche and topped with watercress and warm duck liver. Considering I'm not much of an egg fan, I'm shocked at how good this dish is. I was always afraid of liver growing up, but I've become a big fan. Together, the duck and liver make a delicious appetizer.
For her main course, Jill ordered the Grilled Washington grilled beef strip loin, which is served with a baked potato fritter and asparagus. The baked potato fritter is amazing. Nicely crisp on the outside, hot and smooth on the inside, it was highlight of the dish. The asparagus was fine. The steak though, I didn't think was up to snuff. I know it's a strip loin, which is one of the more muscley cuts of steak, but it was still overly tough. Cutting through it with a steak knife was a bit of a chore.
While my inclination was to also order the steak, at the last minute I decided to try something else. It was a wise choice. The Grilled Parmesan Dumpling is a must order. It's served with mushrooms in a fava bean ragu. I've never had anything like it. It comes two to an order. I highly recommend ordering it as a second appetizer or even as your main course. I don't even like fava beans, but the whole dish really comes together.
Dessert. Ahh, dessert. Jill ordered the fresh donuts served with vanilla mascarpone and jam. I ordered Tom's world famous creme caramel. I'm a big fan of donuts, and I really liked these little bite sized pieces of fried dough. I tried with both sauces. But, I actually liked it best with just sugar and cinnamon. The creme caramel, though, takes dessert to the next level. Oh my God, I've never had anything so smooth and light in all my life. It's hard to explain, it's like licking a pane of glass (really? I couldn't think of anything smoother than a pane of glass? I need to buy a thesaurus). Anyway, I'm obviously no good at explaining how the creme caramel feels in your mouth, but it's something you need to try before you die. It's that good. Hmmm, I may need to put together my Ulimate Meal soon.
So, the Dahlia Lounge. It's been around forever. If you live in Seattle and are reading this, you've no doubt already been. But, for my friends in New York, mark this down as another place you'll need to try when you come to visit.
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