Pip's Plate

I discovered recently that the Seattle restaurant 94 Stewart came across my review of their restaurant from last month.

Although my review was not very good, I would like to acknowledge 94 Stewart for taking it upon themselves to accept the fact that I was not pleased with my experience there:

11.04.06 – Found a new review on Pip’s Plate. We apparently were not what they expected, but we can’t be for everyone and we accept that. We’ll continue to pour our hearts into everything we do and hope you notice.

It is comments like these that make me realize why I was interested in 94 Stewart from the get go. I was very interested in their philosophy and I still am. From my walk down to the restroom in their restaurant, it is clear that their diners love the food and the experience that 94 Stewart offers.

Their recognition on their website really makes me want to go back to try it again. So I make this commitment to you, 94 Stewart, that the next time I am in Seattle, I will stop by for dinner and hope that I will not come upon an off night for the menu.

This makes about 4 servings. It’s good with a little sour cream and avocado on top. I’m certain this will be the first of many chili recipes since I have a hard time recreating any that I like. This one was particularly good so I will record it here. It’s fairly spicy too…so leave out the crushed red pepper and hot sauce if you like it less spicy.

Chipotle Chili

6 slices turkey bacon (Wellshire Farms is the best), diced

1 medium onion, diced

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

olive oil for sauteeing

2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (use also 1 T sauce)

1-15 oz can whole peeled tomatoes with juices

1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1-15 oz chili beans, rinsed and drained

4 c veggie or chicken stock

1 t crushed red pepper – optional

a few dashes hot sauce (I prefer Cholula) – optional

zest of kaffir lime

In a large stockpot cook bacon until crispy in olive oil. Add onion and garlic – sautee till fragrant, about 2 min. Add chipotles with sauce and distribute throughout bacon, onion and garlic. Add tomatoes with their juices – make sure you crush up the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces. You can easily do this by crushing them in your hand over the pot.

Add beans, stock, red pepper and hot sauce (if adding). Mix well and bring to a boil. Add zest of kaffir lime. Reduce to simmer – allow to simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Here is an easy recipe that works really well with leftover chicken. I bought one of those all natural rotisserie chickens from the grocery store for this dish. Just make sure the chicken is shredded.

Barbeque Chicken Sandwiches w/Blue Cheese & Carmelzied Onions

makes 4 sandwiches

1 rotisserie chicken or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1/4 cup brown ale (try Newcastle or Bell’s)

3/4 cup barbeque sauce ( I like Kowalski’s brand BBQ sauce – all natural w/out any wierd ingredients and it tastes really good)

roasted garlic bread, sliced (if your local bakery carries this kind of bread, great! otherwise any rustic style loaf of bread will work)

4 oz blue cheese (my favorite of the moment is Oregon’s Rogue River blue cheese – a raw milk cheese)

1 medium onion, sliced

1 T evoo

Heat 1 T evoo in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute 1-2 minutes, till fragrant. Reduce heat to med-low or low and cook onions till carmelized.

Meanwhile, combine the chicken, brown ale and BBQ sauce in a small saucepan; heat over medium heat till thick and the flavors have combined (about 5-8 minutes).

Slice blue cheese and place on slices of bread. Divide onions among the slices, then top with BBQ chicken. Place the other slice of bread on top. Enjoy!

Of course brown ale will go well with this quick meal. To round out the meal, serve with sauteed broccolini and tomato basil soup.

Where better to spend my birthday than at Chambers Kitchen in the new Chambers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis? Apparently there is nowhere better to go. The new restaurant leaves much to be desired at other Minneapolis restaurants. The scene is alive with art, people, and exceptional food. Chambers Kitchen is without a doubt one of the best (if not the best) restaurants in Minneapolis.

We made our reservation weeks in advance, which I recommend everyone to do. Our server, Michael, said something about Friday and Saturday nights being booked up until New Year’s Eve. So if you haven’t been, go to Open Table to reserve now!

We were seated promptly at 6:30 – the dining room was filling up as we sat down. We loved our table, even though at first I was a little concerned. It was a 2 top right beneath the stairs. Very low traffic and quiet. The only *surprise* was that clearly no one working there has ever sat at that table. If they had, the hostesses would not be wearing such short dresses/skirts (yes, we could see straight up their skirts). We ignored it, but I hope they do something about that. It’s the only aspect of the restaurant that didn’t seem intentional.

As for the rest of the dining experience, we were treated like royalty from the moment we sat down. It appeared that everone working there helps each other out in a way that you never see at a restaurant that has only been open for 3 or fewer months.

We opted for the 6 course tasting menu since we were having an impossible time choosing anything on the menu. They also offer a 7 course tasting menu, in case you’re feeling even hungrier. The tasting menu is not always available on Friday and Saturday nights since the kitchen gets very busy. Try going early on a weeknight if you’re interested – I highly recommend it.

Each course is delicious and intentional. The sauces complete every dish and bring it to the next level. They stand up to the contemporary art throughout the hotel, certainly functional art. And each course is served on beautiful plates that remind me of an oyster shell.

We started with the Rice Cracker Crusted Tuna. The tuna was excellent, a perfect way to start the night. The Asian seasonings were simple enough and the Siracha-Citrus Emulsion paired very nicely to give it a bit of a zing. Michael served the Taittinger “La Francaise” Brut with this dish – a nice pairing, crisp and dry but fruity enough to highlight the citrus flavors.

Next, we had the King Oyster Mushroom and Avocado Carpaccio. Before ordering the tasting menu, Michael said this was one of his favorite dishes. The texture was incredible – the mushrooms and the avocadoes were a symphony in my mouth with the jalapeno oil and lime sauce creating a bright spicy finish. We had the Sherwood Estate Sauvignon Blanc with this dish. They were nice together. The grapefruit in this New Zealand white really popped out the flavors of the jalapeno and avocado.

We then had the Smoked Bacon Wrapped Shrimp served with passion fruit mustard and cumin honey. Whoa! This was my favorite dish of the night. The smoky flavor from the bacon and the punch of the mustard in the sauce was unlike anything I’ve had. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and the bacon was not too overpowering. Also, I was surprised that the passion fruit in the sauce did not bother me – usually I don’t care for its perfumey and piney flavor. However, the sauce could not have been more perfect. We had Mas Carlot “Les Enfant Terribles” with this dish – a mouvedre/syrah rose from the Southwest tip of France. I also enjoyed this pairing. It was a little dry with a touch of berry.

We next moved on to Jean-Georges’ signature dish: Sea Bass Crusted in Spice with sweet and sour broth. Unfortunately I think this was the dish I enjoyed the least. There were aspects that I really liked and others I didn’t care for. The fish itself was delicious, but the crust had too much pepper in it and that was all I could taste. The broth was very nice, but I wish the fennel had a more pronounced flavor. The sauce was made with Banyuls vinegar, an expensive and exceptional French vinegar. Our wine pairing brought out too much of this acidity, and I hoped for a wine with a lot less acidity – next time. I believe we had the Paul Blanck Pinot Blanc. Perhaps the reisling would have been better.

Our last entree was the Black Pepper Sirloin with steakfrites. Those of you who know me may be wondering why I had a steak since I don’t care for it – well, sometimes (when it’s your birthday or you’re at an excellent restaurant or both) we all do things a little out of character. This time I was happy I did. The steak was excellent, but the carrot-lime puree served with the steak made me speechless. That part of the dish was so good that I wanted an entire bowl of it. I wonder if I can get the recipe? It tasted like sherbet, but there was no dairy in it. The carrot flavor was mild but present. And to eat the steak with this carrot-lime puree is heaven. The fries were fine, but nothing special. We had the Beaucanon Cabernet Sauvignon with this dish. Another pleasant pairing recommended by our server.

For dessert, Michael brought out a sample of three for us served with wonderful dessert wines. My favorite was the Passion Fruit Souffle served with Chocolate Sorbet. This may in fact be the best dessert I’ve ever had. I really enjoyed it, and the wine pairing smoothed out the whole experience. We had the Lamonth Guignard Sauternes with the souffle.

The Warm Chocolate Cake served with vanilla ice cream is found on almost every fine dining restaurant’s menu. It was good, but I hoped for something a little more exciting. (I prefer the chocolate mole cake at JP’s Bistro.) We had this dessert with a Hungarian wedding wine – Tokaji “Red Label.” It was yummy and went very nicely with the chocolate dessert.

We also had a little Chinese take out box filled with Passion Fruit sorbet. Again, I’m not a fan of passion fruit, but the 2 previous dishes with that flavor were incredible, so I tried it. Unfortunately I did not care for it.

I can’t wait to go back to the Chamber Kitchen for an equally impressive meal. There are many things on the menu that I didn’t get to try and would like to: I saw at least 1 Junmai Ginjo sake that piqued my interest, the mozzarella sald with grilled figs, the sashimi, the lobster…pretty much everything sounds delicious.

I also have to extend a warm thank you to our server, Micheal. He was intelligent, pleasant, and friendly. It’s a pleasure to find a server who does not automatically assume the worst when seated diners under the age of 30. Thanks again, Micheal.

Chambers Kitchen

901 Hennepin Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55403

612.767.6900

After an excellent lunch at Etta’s Seafood, my friend and I decided to lunch at one of Tom Douglas’s other Seattle restaurants: Dahlia Lounge.

We succeeded in having the second best dining experience at this restaurant (the first would be Etta’s). Whatever Tom Douglas is doing, he’s doing it very well at more than one restaurant.

The lunch crowd at Dahlia Lounge was definitely more hopping and business than at Etta’s, but that was fine. Our server was very friendly although a little busy.

I had steamed mussels served with smoked tomatoes, saffron broth and lemon garlic cream sauce. OMG! This dish kicks every other mussel dish’s butt. I thought my Tour of Mussels in Minneapolis this past year proved that Minneapolis has good mussel options, but the Dahlia Lounge shot right up to first place.

This dish had outstandingly fresh flavors. They mussels were perfectly cooked – tender, almost velvety in texture with a hint of the sea. The sauce was a light yet robust smoky tomato saffron sauce – delicious. The tomatoes themselves were incredible. I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes, but these were great. Smoked tomatoes will also go on my list of things I need to make.

The Dahlia Lounge serves a natural soda called Dry. I haven’t seen it anywhere but this restaurant, but it’s much better than the Izze sodas I’ve had. My friend had the lavender flavor and I had the lemongrass. Man, they were good! I’ll have to see if my local coop can start carrying it.

We shared Tom’s World Famous Creme Caramel for dessert. Oooh! Yummy! Silky and creamy, firm and not gelatin-like with a hint of vanilla bean.

Dahlia Lounge

2001 4th Ave

Seattle, WA 98121

206.682.4142

I think 94 Stewart Restaurant was the restaraunt I was most excited about when thinking of my plans for Seattle. However, I was severely disappointed and underwhelmed.

Like Union Restaurant, 94 Stewart changes their menu daily. And unlike Union Restaurant, it is painfully obvious at 94 Stewart. The creations had little thought put into them and the flavors were dull, the food under or over seasoned. The only good part of the meal was the wine.

Let’s start there, with the wine. The wine list is huge, and their website only offers their wines by the bottle list. Since my companion m doesn’t drink alcohol, I am very unlikely to order a bottle of wine all for myself. Luckily, they do offer half bottles. Their wines by the glass list is equally as underwhelming as the food. I noticed they had Elk Cove pinot noir – one of the best I’ve had. So I had to get it. What a deliciously, velvety wine. It opens up beautifully as it breathes.

As far as the food…well, again, it was underwhelming. For a starter, I had the Fried Avocado with Dungeness Crab. The presentation was out of control and totally impractical. The chef clearly did not eat this dish in its presentation form. It was served in a margarita/wine glass on a plate with greens spread over the plate. The server was obviously challenged when carrying this plate out to the table. Half of the avocado was intact and sticking out of the glass. The other half was cut into slices and scattered over the top of the glass. The crab mixture was tossed with corn (in retrospect, I’m not sure if it was even fresh corn) and some dressing. The crab itself was very good. The avocado…not good. The breadcrumb crust was salty, but the avocado did not absorb any of the salt. I like eating a fresh avocado with a little salt on it – the avocado “sweats” a little as it absorbs the salt. For some reason, this preparation was flat and a little greasy.

M had the best dish of the night as her starter: grilled romaine with blue cheese and a balsamic-fig reduction dressing. It was delicious but unoriginal.

For entrees, I had the Monkfish poached in milk with brusselsprouts and potatoes. Unbelieveably disappointing. The fish was tender, but it had almost no flavor after being poached in the milk. The sauce was … how do I even describe it? … watery and flavorless. Apparently there was butter in it, but how you can screw up a sauce with butter, I don’t know – but 94 Stewart accomplished it. The good thing about this dish was the texture and flavor combination of the monkfish with the brusselsprouts. Who knew? The texture combo was incredible. I will have to remember this for home.

M had the scallops with risotto, the other entree I was interested in. Again, underwhelming. The risotto, although good, was much to rich to pair with scallops. She also thought the scallops were a little undercooked. It was hard to tell what the focus of either dish was. They were sloppy and flavorless.

Our service was okay. Andy was a pleasant man once we had a conversation about Kevin Bacon – he was zero degrees from him 2 months ago when he served him. Oh! I almost forgot. When he brought out our coffee, one of the cups sloshed over onto the saucer. He placed mine down then gracefully he took the saucer with the coffee on it and THREW IT behind the curtain that was behind our table to get rid of the spilled coffee. WTF? It was bizarre.

Those curtains also proved to be another hilarious aspect of our night. Guests have to walk by our table and go through those curtains (they separate another section of the dining room that wasn’t in use that night). One woman came back from the bathroom, and presented herself through the curtains and said, “Ta da!” as she walked through. Bizarre.

One more thing about the way to the bathrooms. Guests have to walk down a long hallway that is covered with comments from guests. Every single comment said, “Great food! Great service! I’ll be back!” There were hundreds of these comments, literally.

I can’t help but think we hit 94 Stewart on an off night. But how could everything we had be mediocre at best and still have all those comments? Perhaps they have a new chef.

94 Stewart Restaurant

94 Stewart

Seattle, WA 98101

206.441.5505

Heaven, I’m in heaven! My first thought as I walked into the market: “Why don’t I live in Seattle?”

After lunch at Etta’s Seafood, my friend m and I walked through the Pike’s Place Market in downtown Seattle, a nice little recommendation from our stellar server Debbie. What a treat! I’ve never seen such a variety of fresh produce and fish all at one time in one place.

The selection of fresh mushrooms at one stand was breathtaking. Chanterelles, Porcini, Maitake, Lobster, Shitake, Crimini, Portabella, and some other I didn’t recognize. I think I stared at them for a good 2 minutes. It is a dream to think of that selection in Minneapolis.

I also saw persimmons for the first time. Amazingly enough, m was thinking, “Maybe we’ll see persimmons and I can show Pip what they look like.” What do you know? The next stall had fresh persimmons, but m said they weren’t ripe.

The fish markets were fun. I’ve never seen so much fresh fish in one place. Again – HEAVEN. The prices were ridiculous: $8.99 for a pound of giant fresh scallops. They were easily 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches tall. Mussels were only $3.99 a pound. Saw the usual fish: salmon, halibut, shrimp, etc. but they had to go and throw in the random Monkfish hanging over the side of bin. If you’ve never seen one, look at this.

Again, all I could think was, “Why don’t I live here?”

This is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. It was so good in so many ways! I was there for lunch, and I immediately wanted to go back for dinner the same day.

This restaurant is one of several owned by Tom Douglas in Seattle, WA. Etta’s Seafood is located by Pike’s Place Market and has a nice view of passersby and the water. (Sidenote, the people watching was superb.) Etta’s was so good that we went to another of Tom Douglas’s restaurants the next day for lunch.

My friend had never tried oysters before, so I encouraged her to try them. And she is glad she did! She was asking for oysters at every restaurant we went to after that. I started her off with Kuomomoto oyster – a good first time oyster, sweet, small, a little fruity. Then I had her try a briny one so she could taste the range of flavors that oysters can have. She had a Gold Creek. I also had a Gold Creek oyster, it was light yet briny and medium sized. I also had a Penn Cove oyster – yummy! It was definitely a larger oyster and brinier than the Gold Creek, but I prefer the briny flavor. They were both outstanding and give new meaning to “essence of the sea.” Etta’s served them with a tabasco mignionette that was delicious.

Next, we shared a salad of endive and greens with bacon, baby beets and Point Reyes blue cheese. The salad was slightly overdressed with a shallot vinaigrette, but it was still excellent. The flavors of this dish were clearly thought out and worked very well together. I’m hesitant to order any salad with blue cheese because it is usually too much blue cheese and that is all you can taste. But Etta’s served this salad with the perfect amount. Every flavor was present.

We both had the pan seared halibut from our server’s recommendation. Which by the way, our server Debbie was incredible. She deserves an entire post of her own. The halibut was incredible and rivals the halibut served at JP’s Bistro in Minneapolis. It was perfectly seared with a crispy crust and juicy, tender, flaky on the inside. It melted in my mouth. It was served with sweet potatoes, red peppers and a jalapeno cream sauce. The sauce was excellent and tied the whole dish together.

Our server recommended we try the pear tart for dessert served with a yogurt sauce. It was very good, but I don’t have a lot to say about it.

Etta’s Seafood

2020 Western Ave.

Seattle, WA 98121

206.443.6000

My recent trip to Seattle was quite fun. The first night there, we went to Union Restaurant in downtown Seattle. It was only a short walk from our hotel, which was very nice for the walk back after dinner. I love a walk after dinner.

Since we were a party of 8 and the restaurant we originally had a reservation at did not tell us until 2 days before that their restaurant was closed for a private party, we had limited options. We ended up at Union Restaurant with a 6:30 pm reservation (no, we’re not 70, but at least there was a 2 hour time difference so it felt like 8:30pm).

The restaurant was pretty empty. Sure, it was 6:30pm. But by the time we left around 9pm, it was still pretty empty. It was a little suspicious, but maybe Wednesday night isn’t a popular going out for dinner night in Seattle. Also, with so many great things written about this restaurant, I couldn’t help but think, “Where is everyone?”

First off, our server was an idiot (more later). She was terribly unconvincing. She also spoke much too softly; I could barely hear a word she said. She had zero personality and no confidence. Her recommendations were also not the best.

They change their menu daily, and they do so with care. The food was excellent. For a starter, I had the Fluke Crudo with olive oil, cucumber and fresh ginger. Fluke is flounder. The server described it (from her notes) that it is rich and buttery. I disagree. It was very fresh and crisp, but not an oily fish (like toro or mutsu – those are rich and buttery fish). I couldn’t taste the ginger, but the cucumber was a nice accent to the fish.

I also tried the Dungeness Crab appetizer. It was very good, but a very different flavor than the Fluke Crudo. The crab was tender and fresh, with basil oil and frisee. The flavor was bright and earthy, very fresh with a hint of lemon.

For an entree, I had the Ahi Tuna dressed with extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. The “side” dish served with the tuna was a little bizarre: small cauliflower pieces, green olives and parsley. The tuna was easily the best I’ve had. I didn’t know ahi tuna could be so delicious. It’s unfortunate that Minnesota cannot get tuna that fresh or good. It was perfectly seared – just a few millimeters of seared crust. The simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil (good quality too) and fresh lemon juice was so easy but so perfect. I will remember this dish for a long time.

I also tried the Pork Chop served with Fresh Chanterelles and Polenta Gnocchi. Ok, this is where the server really started to annoy me. It was clearly not gnocchi. It was polenta squares sauteed in a lot of butter. When we mentioned to the server that the menu said “gnocchi,” she replied, “Gnocchi is just a word to describe a lot of things.” It was painfully obvious that she had no idea what she was talking about. The dish was very rich. The chanterelles were the clear winner of this dish. They had excellent flavor and were very fresh. The pork was very tender, but a little too done for me (it was cooked medium well).

The wine I had was outstanding. I have to remember to look for it in the local shops. I had a glass of the 2005 Domain Lafond Lirac Blanc. It’s medium bodied with a floral bouquet that led into a deliciously dry and crisp finish. It paired very nicely with the Fluke and was fine with the Ahi.

Dessert was also very good. I had the Almond Cake with Fresh Blackberries and Ginger Ice Cream. I’m not a big fan of ice cream (yeah, call me crazy) but this ice cream was out of this world good. It was made with fresh ginger and it was the perfect amount – any more and it would have been spicy. My friend had the Butterscotch Creme Brulee. It was good, but she said it was cold at the bottom. The coffee was also good, but nothing special.

Union Restaurant

1400 1st Ave

Seattle, WA 98101

206.838.8000