We've been hearing about some special Valentine's dinners and events planned for the coming weeks. If February gives you visions sexy cocktails, multi-course meals and fancy romantic desserts, read on. 

Dining

For early celebrations with your sweetie, try Portfolio Restaurant at the Art Institute or Salish Lodge and Spa. Portfolio is adding a Valentine's Day inspired dessert menu from February 8-10, including raspberry and chocolate ganache lollipops. Salish Lodge and Spa is offering chocolatey spa treatments and special lodging packages in addition to a 5-course dinner featuring Oregon elk and lamb, and desserts made with the honey the lodge produces on site. Their Valentine's menu is available February 10, 11, and 14.

A few of Ethan Stowell's restaurants are offering Valentine's Day dinners. Staple and Fancy starts with plates to share like shigoku oysters on the half shell (mmm... delicious shigokus...) and pork belly with apples, walnuts, and arugula. Diners choose pasta, main, and dessert courses. $80/person. Anchovies and Olives is serving a multi-course seafood focused menu for $80 per person, and for an additional $15 guests can add three oysters and a glass of Prosecco to their amuse. At How to Cook a Wolf, $80 gets you four Italian-inspired courses including cured escolar with fennel, orange and black olive, and gnocchi with wild mushroom ragu and cavolo nero. 

Ericka Burke has a lovely dinner planned at Volunteer Park Cafe. The five-course meal begins at 7pm and features fondue for two and meyer lemon risotto with a sea scallop. Lots of sweets are available to take home, even a Valentine's treat for your pooch. 

Fresh Bistro's Aphrodite in Love dinner is 4 courses including braised beef short rib en croute with scallops, and passionfruit molten chocolate cake. The price is $75 per couple, with wine pairings available for an additional $30. Reservations are recommended. 

Poquito's Valentine's menu will feature the delicious flavors of Mexico with such dishes as beet and chayote squash salad and a surf and turf plate of two tacos - one lobster and one beef. Their regular menu will also be avaiable, and lunch and happy hour will be on the regular schedule. 

Wineries

Wine and chocolate are Valentine's Day classics, and wineries on both sides of the Cascades are pairing them up for visitors. 

On February 11-12 and 18-20, head to the peninsula for the Olympic Peninsula Wineries Red Wine and Chocolate Tour where eight wineries invite visitors to experience wine and chocolate pairings. Get directions and find the list of wineries on their website. 

The weekend of February 18-19 is the annual Red Wine and Chocolate event in the Yakima Valley. Buy a $30 pass (before February 10 - $35 after that date) and visit any of 50 wineries serving up tastes of their wines paired with fine chocolate desserts. This tour is open to pass holders only. Get your tickets and read more about what each winery has planned here. 

Celebrating at Home

For an romantic evening at home, swing by Melrose Market for some cheese from Calf and Kid, a couple dozen fresh oysters from Taylor Shellfish, and a bouquet of flowers from Marigold and Mint. Marigold and Mint is an organic, sustainable flower farm and retail space, growing many of their own flowers and sourcing others from Floret farm in the Skagit Valley. They are currently taking orders for Valentine's bouquets which you can pick up or have delivered, and have a selection of unique hand-colored cards.

For cocktails at home, these two from Elliott's Oyster House sound cozy and delicious, and take advantage of the artisinal, infused liqueurs of broVo Spirits. 



Elliott’s Oyster House Venus 

3/4 oz broVo+RG Rose Geranium Liqueur
2 tsp Campari
1 tsp Rothman and Winter Crème de Violette
4 oz Chilled Prosecco 

In a champagne flute, combine broVo liqueur, Campari and crème de violette. Top with chilled Prosecco and gently stir. Garnish with an orange twist.




Elliott’s Oyster House Persephone
 
1 1/2 oz Metaxa 5 Star Brandy
3/4 oz X-Rated Fusion Liqueur
3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz Aperol
1 tsp Agave Syrup
Mango Fruit Caviar (optional garnish, recipe below) 

In a chilled cocktail glass, add 1 Tbs Mango Caviar and set aside. In a shaker tin, add remaining ingredients, shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass with Mango Caviar. 

Mango Fruit Caviar

In a sauce pan, combine 1 cup mango juice and 2 tsp Agar Agar. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  Reduce to a simmer and continue whisking until Agar Agar is dissolved, about 3 to 5 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes and pour into a syringe or squeeze bottle. Gentle squeeze drops into about a cup of vegetable oil. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Strain out oil and gently rinse fruit caviar with apple juice.  Pour fruit caviar into about a cup of apple juice and keep chilled for up to 3 hours.

A couple weeks ago, I went with Jess Thomson (our recipe maven)  and Angela Murray (our social media editor) to a preview of the current exhibit at the Burke Museum, called Hungry Planet. You might already be familiar with some of the images, from the Time Magazine "What the World Eats" photo gallery that's been online for a couple of years. Seeing it in person--really lovely supersize prints, nicely curated--is well worth it. Even better: a curator at the Burke worked with some local Salish folks to do a fascinating companion exhibit about our local food traditions. And PCC is sponsoring a pile of regular events, including health-related discussions and food traditions around the world--that list of events and dates is here. 
The main photos of Hungry Planet are very simple: the idea was to capture what food a family eats each week somewhere in the world. As you might imagine, what makes up a family unit (and their weekly food supply) varies greatly from the US to urban China to the Andes. Some families--like Japan-- have everything in tidy little packages. Others, like Ecuador, have only a giant burlap bag as packaging. One in particular (guess who) includes a lot of fast food from various global brands. 

As Jess, Angela and I wandered around looking at photos and reading the signs, we got inspired to try a little project ourselves; some Burke employees have signed on as well, and I'll be pestering some of our regular contributors to participate in the coming weeks. I thought it only fair that I kick it off myself. What we wanted to see is what Seattle eats in a week, the same way that the exhibit shows--with a photo, and a list of what the ingredients are. As it turns out, arranging a photo of a week's worth of groceries was nearly impossible for me. There are only two people in my household, and we don't do a "weekly" grocery event. I have a pantry filled with dry goods, and a freezer filled with meat from my buying club and frozen fruits from last summer's garden and market. With no kids to plan for, we tend to eat on the fly. And, not surprisingly, we eat out some.

What's not shown in this photo? A birthday celebration dinner at Kingfish and a night out with friends at El Pilon. Two working lunches with contributors--one at Eltana and one at Five Fish Bistro. Three separate coffee dates for me, all of them at the Columbia City Tutta Bella, each with an 8-ounce latte. There are also small portions of things--spices, leaveners for baking, dabs of mustard and hot sauce--that aren't on display.
 
What's overly represented here? Well, my husband and I will not drink the entire half gallon of milk or a quart of half-n-half or the whole bottle of cider vinegar in one week. We will not eat the full 5-pound bag of flour or box of butter or slab of Parmesan cheese. I will turn some of the ingredients into a batch of cookies, and some into a loaf of bread; I will add bits of whole grain flours from the freezer into those recipes. I will eat a pickle or two from our homemade pickle supply. At some point, I am likely to buy a bar of perfectly terrible candy, like a Snickers. I didn't try to estimate how much tap water we'll drink--it's many gallons. 

But even with all these caveats, it's interesting. It looks like so much food for two people! Granted, half the pile is fruit or vegetables, which is pleasing. And again, some of the packaged goods represent more volume than will actually be eaten. But the pile covers about 3/4 of our kitchen table. I'm glad that with the packaging, all but the baking chips have either recyclable or compostable wrappers. I'm glad that all the proteins, almost all the produce, and all beverages but the calamansi juice are WA-grown. 

I've tried to list the ingredients in a way that's similar to what you'll find at the Burke exhibit; I chose to not include my husband and myself in the actual photo, which is different than the exhibit. 

Jill Lightner, Columbia City (Seattle), 2 adults
Dairy: 2% milk, half and half, unsalted butter, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, whole milk Greek yogurt
Other beverages: ESB beer, white wine, pear hard cider, calamansi juice, black tea
Meats: ground beef, canned salmon, eggs*
Condiments: cider vinegar, olive oil, peanut butter, raspberry jam, honey, sugar cubes
Produce: bananas, apples, onion, lacinato kale, carrots, grapefruit, lemon, crimini mushrooms, canned tomatoes, salad greens
Pantry goods/baking: unbleached white flour, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, semi-sweet chocolate, brown and white sugar blend
Snacks: 1 bag Halfpops

*I include eggs are part of meat because I've always found it absurd that grocery stories include them in their Dairy section. Eggs have exactly nothing to do with dairy products! 

I'll be posting more photos from other folks in the coming weeks--the exhibit extends into early June. If you'd like to participate, we're looking into setting up an online gallery via Flickr, but for now, you're welcome to send images to me at editor @ edibleseattle.com. Be sure to include a list of what's pictured, what neighborhood or city you live in, and how many adults and children are in your household.

Amy Pennington's been a regular in our pages since our very first issue back in 2008. Along the way, she's also written two terrific books (Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening; the former was an inspiration of her column with us, Modern Pantry), launched Urban Garden Share, designed and labored in countless food gardens, done numerous canning demos around town, been featured in Gwyneth Paltrow's newsletter on two separate occasions, and been a generally wonderful person to have in our corner. Now our favorite queen of condiments is busy getting famous--she's got a new urban gardening column at Food52, was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and--drum roll--has signed on to be the hostess (with the absoute mostest) of Check, Please, a new restaurant show coming to KCTS. 

We're not certain when, if ever, she gets around to sleeping. Along with being crazily talented and the hardest working girl in town, she's a complete smart-ass, makes delicious Italian-via-Long-Island red sauce, and has some of the oddest food likes (raw oats) and dislikes (cheese) of anyone in the industry. She's just enough of a bad influence to be fun to have dinner with, and just enough of a good influence that she'll get you to yoga class the morning after that indulgent dinner. 

We hope our wonderful locavore readers will apply to be on the show. We know you'll have a blast with Amy, and we think it'd be splendid to see some of our dedicated farm-to-table restaurants on television.

Wherever you are in the city, if you want to spend your New Year's Eve eating delicious food and enjoying some tasty beverages, we figure these special dinners are a great bet for welcoming the new year.

West Seattle
Fresh Bistro's Lucky New Year's Eve Dinner is based around six major cultural categories of "lucky foods." The four-course prix fixe menu features a trio of appetizers, choice of Curry Lentil Soup or Waldorf Salad, your choice of Vegetable Torta, Crispy Sole Almandine, Pan Roasted Pork Chop, or a Grilled Painted Hills Tender Beef Loin, and a choice of seasonal desserts. Join them for brunch the next day for a little hair of the dog with $3 bloody marys and mimosas.

Belltown
If bubbles are your thing, Mistral Kitchen boasts one of the cities biggest collections of sparkling wines with around 35 on their list. More then half of their bubblies are Grower Champagnes, small productions in France where the grapes are grown and the wine bottled on the estate, with an emphasis on the region's distinctive terroir. The casual side of the restaurant will offer a New Year's Eve 3-course meal for $75 as well as the ala carte menu, or head to the more formal Jewel Box for a 7-course meal for $125. Wine pairings also available.

Bellevue
Dance in the new year at Pearl Bar & Dining's New Year's Eve Ball. The restaurant is serving a 3-course prix fixe menu for $55, and wine pairings are available for another $30. Dinner service is from 6-8pm at which time the space will transform into a dance floor with a champagne toast at midnight. Tickets for the nightclub event are $30 from Brown Paper Tickets or $40 at the door.

Ballard
Bastille's chef Jason Stoneburner has created a celebratory menu of caviar inspired dishes, duck pate, roasted rib eye, and lots of small plates including gougeres and braised beef cheek, and the Wine Director will be pouring Grower Champagnes. Diners will be treated to a sparkling wine toast at midnight. Reservations highly recommended!

Near the Airport
Copperleaf Restaurant at Cedarbrook Lodge  will be serving a 7-course dinner including such delicious dishes as a cauliflower soup with bartlett pear, pinenuts and pickled red onion and Anderson Ranch Lamb Saddle with Full Circle Farms parsnips, Brussels sprouts, and black truffle beat jam. Dinner is $75 with wine pairings available for an extra $35. Call 206-214-4282 for reservations.

Capitol Hill
At Volunteer Park Cafe, chef Erica Burke is planning a 5-course meal for $75, with wine pairings an additional $20. The menu looks delicious, particularly the prawn and blood orange salad with shaved fennel, watercress and pomegranate seeds, and the meyer lemon chevre cheesecake. There's only one sitting at 7pm, and reservations are required! Reserve your place at the table here.

Guest Post by Graham Kerr


NASH'S FARM STORE, Sequim
Just when we thought we may have seen it all we came across Nash Huber, farmer and ....... what on earth can you call him? Nash arrived in the area in 1968, the year Treena and I began the Galloping Gourmet series in New York. He arrived with only $50 in his pocket (we had much in common!)

Nash had a background as a chemist, a love for the soil and the work ethic on equal footing with those who built the pyramids! Over the years he has made his mark amongst the great farmers of the United States. Nash champions organics and heirloom seed protection but most of all, he could have written the manual on relationships at the grassroots level.



Along with many borderland farmers, Nash is now facing the wholesale retreat of Latino migrant workers. The three border patrol agents have suddenly morphed into 40, and for one reason or another, our Latino neighbors have moved out. The problem is that the “Anglo” alternative worker does not have the work ethic that Nash shared with his workers.

For this area to thrive, one of two things has to happen. Either we deal creatively with the immigration issue and the migrant workers return or we put Nash in charge of reintroducing the early farming work ethic. Exactly how he would do this I don't know, but that he could do it, I have no doubt. If I could still leap over a chair I'd sign on overnight!

THE WILDFIRE GRILL, Port Angeles
High above Port Angeles in a large converted house you will find the Wildfire Grill and an incredibly energetic couple who have created a truly innovative restaurant. Denny is the Chef/Owner and his wife, Lori, has woven the ambiance that has turned a house into a destination.

We had a delicious dinner in the company of Preston Onskt, a local seafood entrepreneur who connects just twelve great restaurants to the very best seafood and wild mushrooms available (www.Wildwestseafoods.com).

We ate the strange Geoduck clam served in a ceviche style, followed by a thick fillet of snow white, absolutely fresh halibut sitting upon a luscious slice of polenta brimming with blue cheese!! No room for dessert as usual.

I went back to meet the kitchen crew and inspect the only other wood-fired oven in the area. In this case they drop the oven temperature by about 100 F and use it to cook most all of the dishes. It works brilliantly. The great surprise was the large screen TV in the kitchen tuned to ESPN. I have always admired a chef’s ability to keep their eyes on the 'game' but this went well beyond anything I have seen ...anywhere!

Our adventure would stop in Port Angeles, whilst I presented at the Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival, one of the top 100 events in the United States where 4000 Dungeness crabs were waiting to be introduced by just one so-called 'culinary icon,' which I have always thought of as an old, seriously cracked portrait with candles on either side..Oh well!

We arrived at Port Angeles’ Red Lion Hotel where we had a lovely room overlooking the water with an inviting (and level) walking trail just outside.

A huge tent had been erected right alongside the hotel with a giant crab painted on the roof. Forget the GPS -- you can smell your way in! Julian and his son Steve McCabe emerged from this cloud of tantalizing aroma to greet me. They are the master crab cookers who oversee the boiling of just on 7,000 lbs. of the broad-shelled Dungeness. At about 1.8 lbs each, that’s 4000 crabs!

It's an art form to get the crabs just right and then to arrest the cooking, remove the legs and rinse the stomach free from the crab “butter” that is used as the distinct flavor base for Toga’s (of Toga’s Soup House) famous Crab Bisque. Of course the “butter” is helped with double cream and Sherry but then, in the midst of this Oktoberfest - styled seafood feast, who (other than me) was counting!



I had the distinct honor of being part of the “launch team” for the event along with Festival Producer Scott Nagel, Mayor Dan Di Guilio, and the most delightful North American Indian elder and story teller, Elaine Grinnell.

For my part, I introduced an omelet that I named for Port Angeles. It was filled with freshly cooked crab (surprised?), green garbanzo beans, and cheese. The odd part was to coat the omelet in a sauce made from steamed local parsnips whizzed for 4 minutes with evaporated skimmed milk until the texture is of velvet. This I seasoned with a mixture of Star anise, dill, lavender, powdered root ginger and cayenne pepper, which is my take on a seasoning typical of the Pacific North West. We shall see if it eventually catches on!

I remain, in the midst of all my innovative ideas, profoundly encouraged to learn recently that Van Gogh never sold a single painting during his lifetime. Let's laugh about this sometime when we run across each other on the Olympic Culinary Adventure route!


The Olympic Culinary Adventure Loop is a project of the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission in partnership with SeattleDining! and the Olympic Culinary Loop Association, is a self-guided tour to 16 destinations offering authentic farm-to-table experiences in four Peninsula counties. A downloadable route map and description of each destination can be accessed by visitingwww.olympicpeninsula.org and clicking on the Olympic Culinary Adventure banner.

Guest Post by Graham Kerr

Our Culinary Adventure on the Olympic Peninsula continued with a very full two days using the Resort at Port Ludlow as an extremely comfortable and warmly hospitable base.

FINNRIVER FARM AND CIDERY, Chimacum
Here you will meet Crystie Kisler and should you have that pleasure, you will have a perfect prototype of the sort of politician who would get close to a 90% approval rating (nobody is perfect)! I intend to return and learn from the special people at Finnriver. They greatly value their land and continuously try to make every decision to make a living while doing nothing that does harm to the soil and the river that runs through their property.


We took away a bottle of their Black Currant Brandy and used it to macerate some mixed dried fruit, serving the entire compote over some great vanilla yogurt -- fantastic!

You will find a champagne method cider that won a Double Gold award and great fruit in season at Finnriver. You might guess that I am a fan!

RED DOG FARM, Chimacum
Yes, they do have a reddish dog! They also have a self-service produce stand that works on the honor system. Everyone on this young persons’ farm is hard at work apparently having fun growing and harvesting some truly fabulous food off some quite recently acquired land. That said because nobody is available to take your money . . . you simply tot-up your own bill, pay-up and leave happy . . . and best of all, it works! Isn't that refreshing in our tough old world?

CHIMACUM CORNER FARM STAND
From the outside it isn't that inviting, but inside is a real treat! Here is my really passionate suggestion. No matter how the weather behaves, make a decision to have at least one picnic on your tour. If you do, there could be no better place to find all the trimmings for a very special mobile feast. Great produce and fruit, excellent pastries -- it's almost like being in Paris! The cheese selection is admirable, the breads from a local bakery look splendid, and if all this were not enough, the team that runs the store is both knowledgeable and friendly. My only suggestion would be to invest in a few of those wicker picnic baskets; I wouldn't mind betting that they would start an annual gastronomic pilgrimage to the Peninsula!



PORT TOWNSEND FOOD COOP
I do hope you get the chance to visit with Brendon O'Shea. He is the produce buyer and the most knowledgeable and encouraging man you may ever meet. For small scale local organic farms to survive there has to be a passionate outlet. Port Townsend has largely resisted the big box stores and therefore you can see why the Coop is such a busy, vibrant place. And such a wonderful way to review the quality of the local produce that Brendon so ably promotes.



I even found a Charentais Melon! I haven’t seen one of these superb small sweet melons since a 1972 visit to the South of France. What a treat!

JEFFERSON PUBLIC HOSPITAL
Now I know you might raise an eyebrow (or two?) at including a visit to a hospital, but I really wanted to meet a young chef who was described to me as "a young Graham Kerr!” Chef Arran Stark, had he been around in my days of relative “glory,” would have left me for dead!



Arran is an absolute enthusiast for fresh local food. He would be an asset anywhere, but positioned in such a verdant corner of the world he will flourish and so will everyone that he encourages. This very modern high tech hospital may well become a hospital of choice for folks who want to recover in comfort with a splendid view and truly great food!

ALDER WOOD BISTRO, Sequim
This small restaurant is a must for any culinary tour. Chef/Owner Gabriel Schuenemann and his gorgeous wife, Jessica, will be your hosts and can introduce you to some of their innovative ideas. If we are to see some truly great dishes emerge from this part of the world, then I am convinced that some will have been created in the Bistro’s immaculate kitchen with its built-in wood-fired oven.

If you eat a little late for lunch, Gabriel may let you try your hand at making your very own pizza. I combined good parmesan with figs, prosciutto, and sundried tomatoes somewhat smothered with the Schuenemann’s homemade (and homegrown) basil pesto. Delicious!! ...yours could be even better?

COLETTE’S BED AND BREAKFAST, Port Angeles
I almost don't want to tell you about this treasure! It is already justly famous but it could become so busy that I couldn't get back in for another visit. This charming place is flat out beautiful! Every conceivable way that a Bed and Breakfast could have been designed to delight has been done. Yes, it is expensive in prime season, but some good deals can be found off season, after October. I know because we are coming back later this year.

The garden, which stretches down to the coastline bordering the Straits of Juan de Fuca, is magnificent and the view looks straight across to the city of Victoria in British Columbia. Anyone thinking of starting such a venture should spend a night or two because this is the gold standard for restful hospitality.


...To Be Continued...

Guest Post by Graham Kerr

My wife, Treena, and I are now home in Mt. Vernon and have already booked our return visit to the Olympic Peninsula in mid-December this year. It was there or Hawaii, so you can see how impressed we are with our own backyard!

When very much younger we used to ride elevators (called lifts) in London department stores and listen to the attendant call out what could be found on each floor.  I feel much the same as I try to cover the many visits we enjoyed on our recent Olympic Culinary Adventure!

At TAYLOR SEAFOOD, near Little Creek outside of Shelton, we met with Gifford (Marco) Pinchot III. This man is both a mine of information on the ecology in general and the way that foresters can work together with fishermen. It has not always been so promising!


 

Marco cooked us the best mussel dish I have ever eaten . . . anywhere. Huge, succulent in prime season, garlic, olive oil, basil sundried tomatoes and the pan deglazed with Chateau Ste. Michelle's Sauvignon Blanc, which we drank out of china cups in their carpark! If you want a speaker sometime, try to get Marco -- he is excellent.

It's a short drive to the ALDERBROOK RESORT, located right on the Hood Canal. We stayed there about 20 years ago and were amazed at the transformation.  This is luxury in the grand European style with the benefit of a local staff that greets you as if they own the place.

The rooms are small by some US standards but every inch is beautifully finished. The coffee maker is ultra-modern and even I found it easy!


 

Chef Lucas Sautter cooked our evening meal which was fairly standard and garnished with a very well done couscous cooked with local heirloom beets.  I tasted the locally blended Red Mountain Claret that won a Double Gold Medal at the 2011 Seattle Wine Show. Great color, pronounced oak, and tannin that should keep it well for at least another 10 years.

One small request. Would it be possible to have local grass-fed beef offered alongside the world famous North Dakota corn fed?  I appreciate the tremendous difference in texture, but feel that we need to begin to provide such important choices for a new generation of diners.

The next day we drove for about 45 minutes along the Hood Canal winding up at the HAMA HAMA OYSTER COMPANY where we met Lissa James, whose family has been living and working there for over 100 years. They live immediately inland and take very seriously the local ecology.  In recent times the pH value of coastal waters has been changed by accumulated run off . . . of many kinds. If it keeps becoming more acid then we stand a real risk of destroying this national treasure, which is now the largest seafood producing area in the United States.


 

We tasted Hama Hama’s excellent smoked salmon and oysters and found some wonderful locally produced jalapeño jelly in the small but growing gourmet pantry at the Hama Hama Seafood Store.

Another half hour on the canal-side road brought us to Brinnon and a wonderful meeting with Joe and Joy Baisch who have the lovely ELK MEADOWS B&B about 5 miles inland in the midst of some of the lushest foliage you may have ever seen.

Joe and Joy are local community entrepreneurs who have a real heart for both the young and the mature in their small but growing neighborhood. If you can meet with them, even stay with them, you will leave with renewed hope for the future of rural America. The work they are doing provides a very clear path to a resilient future . . . take the time to listen.  Please!

Yet  another 40 minutes along a road where you may not encounter more than two or three cars (at this time of year) and we arrived at THE RESORT AT PORT LUDLOW. We had been there before when we came by boat and tied up in their excellent Marina.

 

The rooms are large and comfortable; ours had a fireplace and one of those huge jacuzzi baths that you hate to fill in case you contribute unduly to climate change!

The Resort’s Fireside Restaurant is under the firm hand of their charismatic Chef Dan Ratigan, a native Upper New Yorker who has now been in the Pacific NW “long enough to be acceptable.” From personal experience, I think I know what that means!!

Dan is totally committed to finding and using extraordinary local ingredients in his world ranging cuisine.  We had a rack of local lamb that was superb and every vegetable was both tingling fresh and local.  We talked about serving the vegetable 'chorus' in a family-style dish and simply leaving the meat on a clear plate.  Dan did that for us and it was a real treat. I hope that this will become a general method to be used by every restaurant that has such a lively relationship with local suppliers.

I seem to have run out of space so let's carry on with our Olympic Culinary Adventure in my next post!


The Olympic Culinary Adventure Loop is a project of the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission in partnership with SeattleDining! and the Olympic Culinary Loop Association, is a self-guided tour to 16 destinations offering authentic farm-to-table experiences in four Peninsula counties. A downloadable route map and description of each destination can be accessed by visitingwww.olympicpeninsula.org and clicking on the Olympic Culinary Adventure banner. 

On Tuesday, October 18th, I'll be chatting with Oran Hesterman of the Fair Food Network (the event's at the brand-spanking-new Book Larder; it's free, and gets started at 6:30pm).
It's a revamping of our earlier Edible Conversations series, and it'll include a conversation between he & I about a few topics raised in his book, followed by an audience Q&A. We wanted to give you a quick idea of some of what we'll be discussing, so here are a few bits from an email thread we shared last week. Oran's answers are in bold.

Guest Post by Graham Kerr

My wife Treena and I have completed the equivalent of 28 loops around the world in a succession of culinary adventure tours over the past 52 years.  You need to know this piece of relatively useless trivia in order to fully understand the enormity of my next statement.

Only once have we ever had such an eye-opening experience as we are currently having on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and that was in Reggio Emilia in central Italy back in 1966. The present day peninsula is a whole new slice of life in the making.

There is no doubt that we are in the midst of considerable change. Issues of the economy, health and the ecology press into every thinking person’s mind but somehow in the sheer speed at which we live, we can only give them a passing nod. That is, unless you give yourself a real break and drive out onto Highway 101 as Treena and I are now doing, and go North in a back-to-the-future trip you shouldn't miss.

In the past four days we have begun to understand our immediate and long term future food in the Pacific Northwest. We have listened to people who come from families that have invested their lives for over five generations in food production. You can call them organic or sustainable, both are often true, but Marco Pinchot III, the great grandson of a famous forester, calls the movement that is most needed: resilience.

We really don't need more of the same, even if it is done a little better. What we desperately need is to run the longer distance race that is set before us and set up goals for the next 100 years.

Today's oyster is now the DEW line (distance early warning radar defense during the cold war) for us as humans. The Ph of our coastal waters is changing, as it gets more acid, due to our collective run off, the oyster and other shellfish and some fish will cease to exist. Eventually we will follow.

But we are a resilient people and always have been, and this is why Treena and I are having the time of our lives on this trip. At every single stop of this Olympic Culinary Adventure tour, we have met world changers on their way to making the Olympic Peninsula one of the world’s most important culinary destinations. This is a vibrant test bed for a collaboration between growers and fishermen and chefs and ecologists, with a small but increasingly knowledgeable customer base.

If you want to see the best of food continue to be produced resiliently, then you need to take this tour as soon as possible. By all means taste the difference that passion makes and listen carefully to the folks who have valued this fabulous slice of our great nation for over 100 years.

They are not going away and you'll find it hard to do so after only a few delicious days in this beautiful, restful countryside.

Keep tuned in, and I'll give you a complete run down of our stop over choices this time next week when we have torn ourselves away. We have, by the way, booked to return before the year is out. This is just too good to miss.

 

The Olympic Culinary Adventure Loop is a project of the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission in partnership with SeattleDining! and the Olympic Culinary Loop Association, is a self-guided tour to 16 destinations offering authentic farm-to-table experiences in four Peninsula counties. A downloadable route map and description of each destination can be accessed by visiting www.olympicpeninsula.org and clicking on the Olympic Culinary Adventure banner.

We've put this in our print calendar every year since we started publishing, but this year, the peninsula's Crabfest gets special mention here. Why? In part because ever since Anna Roth's story about local food (and history) on the peninsula, we've been in love with the place. In part because Dungeness crab is crazy delicious (we bet you knew that). In part because now that they've begun demolishing the Elwha river dam, it's a great time to celebrate coastal seafood in their native habitat. And in part because the festival grows every year, and it's the right time to go--big enough to be exciting, small enough that it's not a solid mass of tourists. Last reason: a chunk of the proceeds benefit watershed education programs on and near the Dungeness River. It's this weekend, October 8th and 9th.

Every hour, there's a new chef demo--primarily featuring crab, but you'll also find fresh-shucked oysters, wild salmon, Alaskan sea scallops, and a couple mixed seafood dishes like a Brazilian seafood stew and paella. Non-food-focused fun includes the Grab-A-Crab Tank Derby, a combined air-sea rescue demonstration by the U.S. Coast Guard, a raptor demonstration, a Sunday morning Crab Revival, and hands-on educational activities and exhibits at the Feiro Marine Life Center on the Port Angeles City Pier. Admission to the festival is free. For the complete schedule of events, and useful links to plan your visit, check www.crabfestival.org

These events are scheduled for August 13, but we figure if you're really good, you can make it to all three! 



Canning Across America and the Ball canning jar company are teaming up to host a nationwide canning party. Can-It-Forward Day will allow folks across the nation to connect over one of our favorite kitchen pastimes, "puttin' up." The event's center stage will be right here at Pike Place Market, where experts will demonstrate canning methods, and chefs will demo what to do with those preserved foods. Can't make it in person? Get involved by hosting or attending a canning party (they've even prepared special Can-It-Forward Day jar labels), or sign up for the Web TV broadcast of the day's demos and have your canning questions answered in real-time. Tell your friends, and let's get canning! August 13, 8am-4pm PDT. Read more on their website, here.




Village Green Perennial Nursery is celebrating their 8th year with an ice cream social featuring the amazing creations of our friends at Full Tilt! Stop by between 1 and 4pm to stroll the garden center (complete with whimsical clay sculptures made by the owner, Vera Johnson), check out the live music, and slurp down delicious Full Tilt ice cream before it melts. (We are, after all, optimistic that the sun will be out!)



Whole Foods stores all across the state are hosting a "Meet the Makers" event from 1-5pm, offering an opportunity for the community to meet local food producers who are a part of Whole Foods' Local Producer Loan Program. The program provides low-interest loans to help small local producers grow their businesses. They've loaned $203,000 to producers in the Pacific Northwest, including to Mt. Townsend Creamery who will be at the Westlake and Redmond stores for the event, and CB's Nuts who will also be at the store in Redmond. Meet the makers and enjoy live music and delicious samples!

My goodness. I just glanced down at the calendar and realized this weekend is completely overstuffed with events and activities! This list--it is impressive!

Saturday, July 16

Samish Bay Bivalve Bash  The Bivalve Bash has been a smash for 8 years running, and the 9th annual should be no exception. Head to Taylor Shellfish in Bow for the low tide mud run, oyster shell sculpture contest, shucking contest, games, food (lots of clams, oyster, and mussels on the menu, as you might've guessed!), and entertainment. 
10am-5pm, Taylor Shellfish Farms

Northwest Solarfest  A sustainable-living fair celebrating and educating on renewable energy. Learn about wind, solar, and geothermal power, electric cars, and more. Food, entertainment, and a beer garden!
10am-6pm, Shoreline Community College


Sunday, July 17

West Seattle Garden Tour  This self-guided tour of 10 West Seattle gardens promises such destinations as the "As Time Goes By Garden" and the "Outrageous Waterfront Garden." Who knows, maybe it will even be sunny out for your garden-touring pleasure! 
9am-5pm, West Seattle 


All Weekend

Sequim Lavender Farm Faire  The premier lavender event in North America, this fair is described as 7 festivals in one. Tour 7 farms and check out lavender crafts and culinary demos while snacking on some lavender-laced food and beverages (lavender cheesecake and margarita, anyone?). 
10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Friday, July 15 through Sunday, July 17, Sequim

San Juan Island Lavender Festival  Speaking of lavender, another festival celebrating the fragrant plant is taking place on San Juan Island. Stroll through fields, cut your own lavender bouquets, and visit the demonstration center for growing and cooking tips. 
Saturday – Sunday July 16-17, 10am-5pm

Northwest Raspberry Festival 2011 This event started today, but you'll still have a chance to celebrate North America's largest raspberry harvest on Saturday. Shop at the "Berry Fair" street market, participate in the fun run, and, of course, eat tons of raspberry treats. Into classic cars? They'll be there, too.
Friday July 15, 10am-8pm, and Saturday, July 16, 8am-6pm, Lynden

Vashon Strawberry Festival  The Vashon Strawberry Festival is an old-fashioned small town fair, recognizing its 1909 roots when Vashon was a strawberry farm mecca. Start your day with a pancake breakfast, then enjoy the grande parade, classic car parade, artists in the park, kids carnival, music, and vendors. Stick around for the Saturday evening street dance!
Friday July 15 - Sunday July 17

Kirkland Uncorked  This regional art, food and wine festival on the shores of Lake Washington benefits the Heart Hope Institute. Check out the boat show, artist showrooms, and tasting garden with grilling demos, wine, and beer from Pyramid. 
Friday, July 15, 5pm- 10pm
Saturday, July 16, 1pm-10pm
Sunday, July 17, 1pm- 6pm 

                                        photo courtesy of Northwest Cider Association


Cider! For us, you need say no more--just keep refilling our glass. We are therefore delighted that many of our favorite ciders will be together on July 9 at Northwest Cider Association's Summer Cider Day! Head to Fort Worden State Park in Port Towensend to experience the creations of 10 local cideries and more than 30 cider styles.You'll have plenty of chances to talk with cider makers about their processes, or drive the "Cider Loop" where three nearby cideries will be giving tours. Enjoy food, drink and music, and don't miss cheese pairings from Mt.Townsend Creamery.

This event is both kid and dog friendly, so no need to leave anyone at home! $25 ($20 for NWCA members) gets you 10 tastings and a souvenir glass. Click here for tickets.

                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                

I tend to get excited when I see the words "Dinner Series." Whether it's focused on a theme, showcasing an ingredient, supporting a cause, or taking place somewhere cool, I always feel like a dinner series is going take amazing food prepared by amazing people to a new level of awesome. These three upcoming series sound like great fun, and they are different enough from each other that they hopefully offer a little something for everyone. As we hear about others, we'll be sure to let you know!


Tom Douglas is throwing a salmon party in Victor Steinbruek Park, a chance to bring awareness to some of the park's issues and polish up its reputation. Proceeds from Salmon-Chanted Evenings will go to the parks department and will help provide a concierge and information cart for the downtown park, as well as an over-sized chess set and free gardening classes through Seattle Tilth. The dinners will be served buffet style, and unlike some events with mighty hefty ticket prices, this chance to experience a Tom Douglas salmon feast and help the park will only set you back $15 per person. The first one in the series took place last weekend, but there are three more dates on the calendar! For tickets or to volunteer, visit the website. 

Copperleaf Restaurant at Cedarbrook Lodge is gearing up to host some special dinners to pair with wines, ciders, and brews from local artisans. If the weather cooperates, you may even be able to enjoy these prix-fixe dinners on the terrace, overlooking the pond and gardens. Find reservation information at their website. 

The Copperleaf Special Summer Dinner Schedule:
Pike Place Brewery Dinner – Friday, July 22nd
Finnriver Cidery Dinner – Friday, August 12th (Note: If you make it to this one, you just might run into our editor!)
Syncline Wine Cellars Dinner – Friday, August 26th (Sean Sullivan writes about these guys in our current issue. Check out "Integral Parts: the science and passion behind Syncline Wine Cellars" on page 26.) 


Finally, it's time once again for the Dog Mountain Dinners, taking place on their farm in Carnation and offered by the non-profit School for the Lost Arts.  Dinners are prepared by guest chefs from up-to-the-minute-fresh farm ingredients and include wine pairings. Tickets for the multi-course meal and farm tour are $100, and half of that is a tax-deductible donation to their agricultural training programs. See the list of dates and chefs below, and go to the Dog Mountain website to reserve your spot! 

Dog Mountain Farm Dinner Schedule:
June 11  Chef Daisley Gordon of Campagne & Alexandria Nicole
June 25  Chef Ryan Loo of Earth & Ocean & Tefft Cellars
July 9  Chef Travis Kukull of Tillicum Place Cafe & Kestrel Vintners
July 16  Gluten Free with Chefs Danny & Shauna Ahern and Apex at Alder Ridge wines
July 23  Chef Adam Stevenson & Elsom Cellars
July 31  (Sunday) Chef Seth Caswell of emmer & rye with Wilridge Winery
August 5  (Friday) Chef Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita
August 13  Chef Jelle Vandenbroucke & William Church Winery
August 21  (Sunday) Chef Dustin Ronspies of Art of the Table
August 27  Ashlyn Forshner & Isenhower Cellars
September 10  Chef Michelle Retallack & Tefft Cellars
September 24  Chef Mark Fuller and Marjorie Chang Fuller of Spring Hill Restaurant & Bar with Apex at Alder Ridge wines

There’s a special party happening at the Palace Ballroom on June 20th. We realized that sitting around with a bunch of smart people drinking wine while talking about books and food isn’t quite everyone’s idea of a special party—there’s no dance floor, for one, and we doubt anyone will wake up the next morning with a terrible hangover. But it's our kind of party.

It’s called What We Talk About When We Talk About Food, and it was one of Kim Ricketts’ favorite events at her own company. There’s a panel of smartypants authors talking about their books, while we less lofty folks eat snacks, drink good wine and pester them with questions. It’s the first one of these to happen without Kim's physical presence, so we expect grief to rear its ugly head on occasion—but with Amy Pennington, Becky Selengut, Lisa Dupar, Anna Roth and Keren Brown as the featured authors, it’s sure to be ridiculous and profane and entertaining as hell, too. In other words, it’ll do Kim proud.

You can buy tickets online right up to the day of the event; they’re $25 each and include a glass of wine and appetizers. All four authors will have their books on hand for purchase and signing. We hope to see you there.

Copper River gets the lion's share of attention during the annual salmon run--and we'd be the last to criticize its luxurious richness. We even like to stretch a point, and write about Alaska fisheries like they're local, mostly because so many fishing vessels are based here, and because anything that affects our watershed will come to affect theirs in the future.

But right now, we have a different salmon run to celebrate--and it actually is local, not all that far off our coastline. Washington Chinooks are delectable, with plenty of fat (hey, it's salmon--it's good fat) and a delicate texture that makes you want to gobble up twice as much as you really need to be full. These Chinooks are troll-caught, with actual single hooks and lines, just like if you were to head out to the coast to catch one yourself. There are three variations you might see right now: red, white and marbled. Whatever the color of its flesh, it's a Chinook, and while I'm sure there are some experts who could identify each in a blind taste-test, I'm just not that talented. Having eaten both the red and the marbled, I thought maybe the marbled had a milder flavor...but with different chefs and totally different preparations, it seems pretty silly to make a definitive statement. I'll keep eating all shades for a few more years quite happily before getting around to declaring in favor of a specific variety.



Thanks to Slow Food Seattle, the Makah tribe and the WA Trollers Association, we've got a list here of places that will be serving Washington troll-caught Chinooks this weekend. Have you seen the weather report? If you're anything like us, you'll be outside every second, soaking up Vitamin D all day, and feeling far too lazy to cook. Try these words on for size: Reservations. Glass of rosé. Crispy skin salmon.

If you're the more ambitious type, you'll be able to find steaks and fillets of WA Chinooks at Wild Salmon Seafood, Seattle-area Whole Foods Markets, and Key City Fish in Port Townsend.

Seattle Area

• Art of the Table 
• Copperleaf Restaurant at Cedarbrook Lodge
• Corson Building [check out Bethany Jean Clement's strange and wonderful visit with chef/owner Matt Dillon.]
• Diane’s Market Kitchen 
• Emmer & Rye [Seth's recipe for salmon with salsa verde and early summer veg is a favorite.]
• Lecosho
• Luc 
• Matt’s in the Market [Our In the Kitchen story doesn't mention it, but they have great WA cider on tap!]
• Pink Door 
• Ray’s Boat House 
• Rover’s 
• Sitka & Spruce
• Spinasse
• Stumbling Goat 
• TASTE Restaurant [One of the most dedicated restaurants in town for local sourcing...and one of our editor's very favorite dessert chefs, too.]

 

Bainbridge Island / Olympic Peninsula

• Hitchcock, Bainbridge Island [The current issue's In the Kitchen focus...and it looks like perfect weather for a ferry ride!]
• Alderwood Bistro, Sequim 
• C’est Si Bon, Port Angeles
• Wildfire Grill, Port Angeles
• Woodman Lodge, Snoqualmie
• Four Swallows, Bainbridge Island

Metropolitan Market is celebrating 40 years as one of Seattle's favorite groceries, and they've invited the community to their month-long party. They have a whole slew of events, giveaways, tastings, signings, and barbeques planned throughout the month of June, and you can find the complete schedule at their website. Below is a list of the events we are most excited about!

Kirkland

June 18, 12pm–2pm  Becky Selengut Good Fish Book Signing 

June 24, 4pm–6pm  Amy Pennington Urban Pantry Book Signing

June 25, 12pm–2pm  Cupcake Royale Sprinkle Party for Kids  

 

Proctor

June 16, 4pm-6pm  Becky Selengut Good Fish Book Signing

June 25, 4pm-6pm  Amy Pennington Urban Pantry Book Signing

July 2, 12pm-2pm  Cupcake Royale Sprinkle Party for Kids

 

Sandpoint

June18, 12pm–2pm  Cupcake Royale Sprinkle Party for Kids

June18, 3pm-6pm  Becky Selengut Good Fish Book Signing

 

Admiral

June 11, 12pm-2pm  Cupcake Royale Sprinkle Party for Kids

June 17, 4pm-6pm  Becky Selengut Good Fish Book Signing

June 26, 4pm-6pm  Amy Pennington Urban Pantry Book Signing

 

Queen Anne

June 8, 4pm-6pm  Fran Bigelow of Fran's Chocolates Book Signing 

June 24, 4pm-6pm  Tender by Tamara Murphy Book Signing

June 26, 11pm-1pm  Ethan Stowell New Italian Kitchen Book Signing 

Want to read about why we think the folks above are the cat's pajamas? Since our May/June 2010 issue, Amy Pennington has been coaching us through preserving seasonal goodness in her column, "Modern Pantry." Check out Canning 101 on our website (excerpted from her book, Urban Pantry) and scroll to the bottom of our list of recipes for some of her delicious jams, marmalades, pickles, and chutneys. Sean Hughes wrote about the special confections of Fran's Chocolates in "The Salty-Sweet Smell of Success" in our May/June 2009 issue, and in March/April 2010 Cupcake Royale owner Jody Hall talked with Jill Lightner about her "Revolutionary Cupcakes." Bethany Jean Clement visited Chef Ethan Stowell and the contents of his refrigerator in the story "Goldfish and Gruner Veltliner," Summer 2008, and shared sparkling rosé and green chili pork (from one of Murphy's very own pigs) with Chef Tamara Murphy in March/April 2009. And, last but certainly not least, Jill Lightner shares how thrilled she is about Good Fish, the new book from Becky Selengut (who has been one of our contributors since almost the very beginning!) in the issue on newsstands now. (Just look for the stunning red onion on the cover.)

Happy Birthday, Met Market!

 

The great geoduck, an unmistakeable icon of the northwest coast, is finally getting a party of its own! Join the town of Allyn this Saturday, June 4, at their first annual Allyn Geoduck Festival to celebrate our native king clam.

Dig for a duck at low tide (you'll need a shellfish permit), with awards given for heaviest and longest shell, have your photo taken with geoducks, and, of course, sample their deliciousness with dishes from Xinh’s Clam & Oyster House, Steven’s Fine Dining, and Lenny K's Boat House. Taylor Shellfish will be there, sponsoring an oyster roast (YUM), oyster shuffleboard, and an amateur oyster-shucking contest. The day also includes a chainsaw carving contest, a natural history walk, and beach scavenger hunts.

See their website for more information, and for the schedule of events!

A little geoduck trivia:

• They are one of the longest-lived creatures on earth, with an expected lifespan of 146 years.
• They burrow about 3 feet into the sand—their name comes from a Nisqually word meaning “dig deep.”
• They are the largest burrowing clam in the world, averaging 1 to 3 pounds. 
• Puget Sound Shorelines reports that the largest documented geoduck from the sound weighed in at over 7 pounds! That's a lot of clam. 

It's that time of year again—Seattle International Film Festival is back! I spent some time combing through the SIFF schedule recently, looking for films our readers might be interested in. Here are the ones that stood out to me as being food and/or sustainability focused. Leave a comment to let us know about others you have your eye on! 

Sushi: The Global Catch This documentary from director Mark Hall explores the history, future, and ultimate cost of one of the world's most popular cuisines. Trailer and screening times: Sushi: The Global Catch

A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt Some say “nutcase,” but chef Paul Liebrandt says “artist.” When you see his plates, you may be inclined to agree. Director Sally Rowe spent several years filming to put together a profile of a somewhat controversial chef as well as a food industry responding to economic ups and downs. Trailer and screening times: A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt

Revenge of the Electric Car Following up his 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car, director Chris Paine brings a fast-paced look at the resurrection of the green vehicle. Trailer and screening times: Revenge of the Electric Car 

Life in a Day Okay, this one isn't keeping with the food and sustainability theme, but it just seemed too charming not to mention. From Executive Producers Tony and Ridley Scott, this film is a collection of video clips submitted by more than 80,000 people in 192 countries, all of which were shot on July 24, 2010. People get married, herd goats, fight in wars, and dance with their neighbors as the sun rises and sets on a day on Earth. Trailer and screening times: Life in a Day 



 

 

It's not often that breathtaking photography and amazing seafood are brought together quite like this. On November 16 at the Burke Museum, Braided River, Blueacre Seafood, Steelhead Diner, and Jon Rowley are teaming up to present a seafood feast and celebrate the photo exhibit and book, Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest. 

Salmon in the Trees is by nature photographer Amy Gulick and documents life cycles in one of North America's rarest wild places. The work explores the interconnection between the forest animals, the salmon, and the trees in Alaska's Alexander Archipelago. 

(Watch a two-minute preview of the book here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbveinprUDk)

Tickets are $75 and include the photo exhibit, a feast of Southeast Alaska seafood (oysters, wild salmon, Dungeness crab, spot prawns and more), and a signed copy of the book. Proceeds benefit Seattle nonprofit Braided River and their work preserving wild spaces in Western North America through images and storytelling.  

Meet the photographer, see the exhibit, and enjoy the feast on Tuesday, November 16, 6:30-8:30 at the Burke Museum on the UW campus. Tickets on sale through November 12, so hurry! Purchase from Brown Paper Tickets. The exhibit is on display through February 13, 2011.