On Any Given Day...

tasting of local beets...
roasted red, sous vide gold, beet paint and granite, cuttlefish, candied walnuts
walnut powder, celery leaves, viognier dressing

warm rabbit loin salad, figs, arugula, honshimejii mushrooms
mostarda, green apple mustard vinaigrette

seared foie gras, white donut peach brulee, spiced duck breast, hazelnuts
roasted cherries, cacao nibs, crispy duck tongues, nasturtium leaves

grilled wild striped sea bass, black garlic, green zebra tomato, fava bean-olive tapenade
lobster mushrooms, nectarine-tomato stuffed squash blossom, poultry jus

summer melon, elderflower compressed cucumber, cucumber sorbet, borage blossom

american bison loin, eggplant caviar, caramelized heirloom garlic, crisp potatoes
honey glazed cipolline onions, smoked olive oil
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missing in action...
slow braised beef short rib, lentils, truffles, artichokes, baby turnips
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One can expect to find a collection of ideas, ingredients, concoctions and dishes, all harmoniously composed for one to consume and enjoy while dining with us here. There really is no limit to what is obtainable, only the need for time, desire and wallet. Our cooks are at the ready...our service team at attention and me at the helm with much anticipation, commitment and passion in which to release the demons from within. I am not speaking freakin crazy and stupid, but more-so calculated, imagined, created and crafted from whims brewed earlier that day. I don't like to think about it earlier than a few hours ahead though. Sometimes, I will give our cooks a bit of heads up, but I like to keep them on edge. Someday, they might even come to appreciate that...hopefully! They rock! They really are great. Best kitchen ever. The summer season here in Seattle has been very good to us and is creating for a very wonderful palette and toy box to paint from and play with. It is crazy that with all the things going on in my life that things actually come to fruition as they do, and sometimes even better than I had anticipated or dreamed of. The dishes can take a life form of their own right in front of me. Cool shit. Here is a gathering of last week's collection...good thing I have a plethora of  inspiration...

Vegan Tasting Menu...

If there is one thing that I can and have come to appreciate about something Charlie Trotter has said, it is about the appreciation and excitement about vegetables. In a typical line-up of ingredients on a plate, there is protein or two(sometimes more), a starch and a magnitude of vegetables(unless you are a Japanese minimalist), and even then, you probably would omit the protein. He had written that the excitement lie within all the wonderful, amazing, colorful, complex, intricate, tasty and vegetables, in which there are hundreds. Not just a smattering to choose from whereas to get bored, but a never-ending array of edible counterparts to really construct the most ethereal a dish. I don't buy into everything he has said or written about, and my only time dining there was slightly hindered by his rudeness, but that aside, I think he is a smart chef and an amazing intelligent craftsman, businessman and restaurateur. I have been inspired many times by his cooking and that and of his team. So why am I giving all this praise to one who was so rude you might ask? Well...it is his love of vegetable cookery and even vegan that has inspired many chefs tables here as well as this post and set of humble photos. I hope you enjoy the dishes as we all did, both cooking them and eating them. It is a passion that I will continue to foster within my cooking and ideas.

apricot-tomato salad, frozen avocado, tomatocello gelee, heart of palm
lemon verbena, tomato jus

tasting of beets...
roasted baby red, sous vide gold, beet granite, beet paint, pickled beets, walnuts
walnut powder, arugula, scarlett runner buds

olive oil braised baby white asparagus, zucchini puree, peas
shaved French breakfast radishes, borage blossoms, apple-rhubarb-olive oil nage

roasted cauliflower, cauliflower cous cous, cauliflower puree, truffles
roasted lobster mushrooms, chervil, artichoke chips, romanesco

seared yellow wax beans, roasted Yukon gold potatoes, tomato-nectarine stuffed squash blossoms
chard, smoked olive oil, red pepper juice, poblano coulis

alias craig onions, eggplant caviar, eggplant pave, root beer-thyme glaze, black garlic paint,
nasturtium petals and flowers, chanterelles, saba

beet cous cous, grilled king trumpet mushrooms, fava bean puree, green garbanzo beans
salsify chips, onion jus

coconut chocolate, corn, cherries, nectarines, nectarine sorbet
cacao nib-cashew nut gelato

Let Them Eat Cake...

a collage...a production...a juxtaposed arrangement...a sinful montage. Two very cool cats who got hitched last weekend asked that we engage in the making of the celebration cake as well as the sheet cakes for the big special day. Not sure where we were going with it or a starting point other than chocolate, and lot's of it. I was given a digital image of the Geary designed museum in Spain...here we go I thought. I'm not a master cake builder, but have done a few and here is what I designed. Our pastry girls kicked butt on this one. The guests were stoked and enjoyed it immensely. Outlined below are the flavors and multiple layers of the decadence that was indulged in that night.

dark chocolate sponge & flourless chocolate sponge

hazelnut meringue, chocolate nut crunch bar

dark chocolate ganache, gianduja mousse

huckleberry gelee, toffee, mascarpone mousse

brown butter powder, dark sugar streusel, chocolate pearls

hazelnut macaron, truffle apricot conserve, earl grey truffles

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More Summer Inspirations...

A handful more of summer inspired shots. I am always excited over the flavors and combinations that transpire from that summer moment. Straight out of the garden, the water or the fields. Good times.

halibut crudo "two ways"
sesame-herb tartare taco in nasturtium & torched sashimi tranche
grilled nectarine, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber-fennel salad, katz olive oil

dungeness crab salad, watermelon, radishes, arugula, frozen avocado
spicy crab stuffed heart of palm, peach-tomatocello vinaigrette

pan roasted striped sea bass, honshimejii mushrooms, truffled pea risotto
corn, bacon, jus de poisson, shaved truffles

compressed plums, rhubarb-pepper jelly, frozen fennel pollen yogurt

snake river farms wagyu culotte, chanterelles, vadouvan carrots, baby turnips
hazelnut-pear composure, chocolate soil, cassis-peppercorn sauce

american bison loin, black garlic, panisse, green garbanzo beans, cherries
roasted onions, huckleberry reduction

 

Feels Like Summertime...

The summer fun, amazing ingredients and good times have sure hit us here in the Northwest. As a general rule, we tend to be on the waiting list for the wonderful foodstuffs from the farms compared to the rest of the country, but well worth the wait. I love it here. It is my home. It is where I belong. Where I have developed my whole love of cooking. It is the place that I have sank my teeth and my roots into to hopefully leave a small mark for the future within my legacy. Summer is an amazing time for cooking...it is lighter, more vibrant, uber-fresh, local and wonderful. It exudes flavor and the farms and of the moment. Sure, other seasons do that too, but not to this magnitude. Here are but a handful of concoctions that were crafted as of late for a few fine folk...

truffled scrambled eggs, chervil creme fraiche, crispy potato

heirloom tomato-peach salad, sturgeon caviar, frozen avocado, basil
lobster-viognier vinaigrette

seared diver scallop, foie gras, corn. roasted cherries, rhubarb gel
cocoa-hazelnut soil, saba dressing

dungeness crab tagliatelle pasta, fava beans, pancetta, lobster essence

steamed alaskan halibut, tomato-nectarine stuffed squash blossom,
scallop-togarashi-sesame "taco" in nasturtium, meyer lemon potatoes

apricot-fennel salad, frozen fennel pollen yogurt, apricot soda

snake river farms wagyu culotte, chanterelles, baby turnips, black garlic
green chick pea-almond-olive tapenade, chick pea fries, blackcap sauce

peach & tapioca charlotte, almond frangipane, plums, raspberries, nectarines
nectarine sorbet, lemon verbena ice cream, almond macaron crumble