I went to Seattle this past weekend for the first time ever. I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that one of the first things I do when planning a vacation is plan where and what to eat. If I'm not familiar with the city's food scene, I check out the
James Beard winners,
Food & Wine recommendations, and the
Best Thing I Ever Ate episode guide (which I have converted to a handy spreadsheet by location! Oh yeah and that had me at Serious Pie for lunch while I was in Seattle...a great place to stop in for lunch).
The Seattle trip was partly a celebration of a good friend from college's 30th birthday. She put her full confidence in me for our dinner out, so I wanted to make it great...you only turn 30 once despite pretending to be 30 for at least 10 years. As a result, I opted for the 2010 James Beard award winner for Best Chef in the Northwest, none other than Chef Jason Wilson of Crush.
Not knowing how jet-lagged we'd be, we decided to err on the safe side and make an earlier reservation for 6:30. Umm...I don't like being the first at a restaurant...It's just a rather awkward all the servers are staring at you feeling. But oh well, someone's got to do it right?!
Crush is in an old tudor style home and the dining room is juxtaposed in white with a modern design feel that is apparently meant to be a blank slate so the food is the main feature. It's not very cozy with no one else in it (it didn't help that the night we dined they were trying out a new playlist that sounded like a cirque de soliel soundtrack mixed in with drum & bass). But, as it filled in and the food began arriving, it became quite comfortable and inviting.
My dear friend had never done a tasting menu before (I know...basically a cardinal sin to me), and having heard me speak so lovingly about them, she was easily convinced that this was 100% the way to go. Thank goodness! We ordered and settled in for the 6 course meal with wine pairing.
It began with the arrival of a glass of Veuve Cliquot (not too shabby a start...cheers to 30!) and shortly thereafter the paired amuse bouche - A parsnip flan topped with maple syrup reduction and bacon infused creme fraiche. It was a delightful little mix of thanksgiving and breakfast that had me beyond thankful that I chose this spot. The sweet, earthy parsnip flavor and the maple were the strongest components. I loved this dish!
Some chive and cheese gougeres arrived next. I was pretty underwhelmed by these but sometimes I'm not a huge gougere fan, because I find them a bit eggy. Shortly after, the bread arrived, but I paid zero attention because our next wine, a Rose, also appeared. This is another problem with being the first...it often results in the food coming incredibly quickly. For the first three courses at Crush, it felt like a race between us and our servers to see if we could finish our food and wine before they came by with the next. Thank goodness this slowed down after three courses. The rose was paired with a small piece of fresh salmon with morels and radishes and mustard horseradish-like sauce. A good, fresh dish, but nothing that will stand out in my mind compared to the rest of the courses.
Next up was a lovely white burgundy that was just shy of being memorable, because the dish paired with it was revelatory. Hand-rolled potato gnocchi that had a semolina crunch to it with peas and corn in a wonderful light buttery sauce with fresh herbs that let the corn and peas speak for themselves. What did they say? That they were straight from the garden just picked mere minutes earlier. I would work tirelessly on a garden if it meant having this pasta dish even once a week!
I'm not entirely sure I have the words to describe what came next. It was BY FAR my favorite dish of the night and it even ranks with some of my favorite plates ever. Largely it stands out because I'm shocked at how well all the flavors worked so together. But more than anything, I'll remember it simply because it was amazing. Beautifully seared scallops atop a cauliflower puree with brown-butter currants and curry sauce topped with thin slices of fried cauliflower that added a nice texture. I took one bite of the dish and knew I was in love. The tender scallops with a nice crisp exterior, the puree of cauliflower with a very mild curry hint, and the sweet buttery-rich currants had me reminding myself to slow down and enjoy every last morsel of food on the plate. When they came to clear our plates, we had been so meticulous about savoring it that it looked like no food had ever touched either plate. Oh and it was paired with this fabulous red wine that I liked so much that I had them write the name down for me (Dobbes Griffins 2007 pinot noir).
Full, so full. Thank goodness our waiter took pity on us and gave us a nice long break before the next dish. After our break, we began with a plum and magnolia sorbet atop a sprinkling of this magical sweet green dust. I begged the waiter to tell me what it was...basil dust (fresh basil ground up with sugar). Brilliant. And I would like to take this moment to say how much I like the mid meal sorbet thing. I am a firm believer that more places should start doing it again.
Our final savory dish was a braised short rib in a red wine sauce with pureed potatoes and buttered baby carrots with a parsley pistou. I swear that there was truffle oil somewhere on this dish but I couldn't pinpoint where exactly. Regardless, this was very good but a tad too generic and wintery for me after some of the other plates. This was also paired with a red wine that was very nice and bold with the short rib.
After another very much needed reprieve from eating, we were brought our final wines - a sparkling dessert wine and a sherry. You know what that means?! Instead of us getting two of the same desserts they brought us each a different dessert! As if I didn't love this place already. The one they placed in front of me was PB&J - a creamy rectangle of peanut butter with crunchy brittle and a thin layer of chocolate with strawberry jam sauce and a housemade strawberry soda with a white chocolate straw. Beautiful plating and really nice flavors. The other dessert was a blueberry torte with a pastry cream. The blueberries tasted as if they had just been picked that day, the crust was light, and the cream was light and airy.
All in all, this was a fabulous meal and an excellent introduction into the tasting menu world. You can't dine here without leaving with a huge crush on chef wilson.
