Culinary Fool

 

 

 

 

 

For a long time Top Gun in the International District (ID) was my friends’ and my go-to dim sum spot.  Many a happy Saturday or Sunday morning was spent gathered around one of the large circular tables, spinning the lazy Susan ’round and ’round, while we shared and sampled and decided if we had room for just a little more.  The food was good and always hot (we didn’t too often select the cold items), there were plenty of carts circling the room, and if you didn’t see something and asked for it they’d make sure they directed whatever cart had some in your direction.  And at the end of our meal, when we’d eaten enough to keep us full for the rest of the day, we’d settle the bill and each owe about $10.  $12 tops. 

 

At some point they opened another Top Gun in Factoria.  But we never went there.  It just wouldn’t have been the same without the surrounding ID.  Even when they closed the ID location we didn’t make our way across the bridge.  Instead, we tried to find a substitute here in Seattle.   We solicited recommendations from everyone we could think of but nothing ever seemed to be just right.  We had a little luck and some okay meals but somehow the magic was gone.  And we even contributed to our own downfall.  Not being sure if a place would be good or not we only sent out small scouting parties for our research.  While dim sum with four people can be fun, it’s not the same as dim sum with ten or twelve. 

 

 

 

 

 

So finally, last weekend M and I took the drive across the bridge to Factoria to the "new" Top Gun.  It took us a minute to find it as it’s a little buried behind a construction project.  We actually just noticed the sign as we were turning the car around thinking we’d passed it.  But we finally got there.

 

We arrived just as they opened and before we knew it the carts were making their way around the room.  Now, I have to admit that I really don’t know many (okay maybe any) names of the dim sum dishes.  I can recognize many of them but in all my years I’ve either used the pointing method (I’ll take one of those and one of those.)  Or the affirmative head shake method where they show you something and I just shake my head while saying Yes, please!  Or I rely on my friends who actually do know the names of things to ask for them.  So I eat them and love them and cannot really tell you the names of things I especially like.  But then, part of the fun of dim sum is just trying whatever looks good.  Maybe it’s better that I don’t tell you any names so you can experiment for yourself!

 

 

 

 

 

Our dim sum at the new Top Gun was good although we weren’t really able to try a wide variety of items.  I think it was a little more expensive, though.  There were only two bad things about our experience.  The first is that with just two of us we could only have a few different things before we were full.  The second is that the location still feels a little odd.  There was way too much light  from the walls of windows, for one thing.  I missed the little jigsaw of rooms that comprised the ID location.  The Factoria location has two very large rooms.  But I think if we gathered up ten or twelve friends and settled ourselves around a big circular table and really got the lazy Susan spinning around we’d be so busy laughing and enjoying the food we wouldn’t really notice any of the rest of it.  Still ,there’s a part of me that says the search is not yet over.

 

425.641.3386  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was in high school and college Christmas afternoon was always spent with my friends going to the latest and greatest movie.  Over the years I lost that tradition but every now and then I revive it for a year or two.  In November I was talking to a friend who was not going to be spending Christmas with her family for the first time ever and I suggested we bring back my old tradition.  She ended up with other plans but in the meantime a couple other friends decided to join in. 

 

After seeing "Up in the Air", which was both funny and sad by turns, we made our way to the International District (ID) to partake in another Christmas tradition – Chinese food for Christmas dinner! I don’t know the real history behind Chinese restaurants being open on Christmas, although I can make a very good guess.  Since they are the only restaurants open they are generally packed.  In past years it’s been hard to get into many of the restaurants in the ID so this year I was prepared with a list of four in proximity to each other, in case we needed to try a few out. 

 

Our first stop was Jade Garden and they estimated our wait at 15 minutes so we put our name on the list and waited.  We ended up waiting closer to 30 minutes but I loved that the host kept stopping by and updating us on our status so we didn’t feel we’d been forgotten. 

 

Once seated service was rather slow but you couldn’t really blame the servers who were working hard to keep the packed house happy.  In fact, we saw more help coming in while we were at our table.  They were doing everything they could do serve people as fast as possible.  The kitchen at Jade Garden is small and the seating area is pretty large – not the best combination on a hectic night.  They also did something I’ve never seen in a Chinese restaurant before.  Instead of bringing our whole order out at once they actually brought our meal a dish at a time so that they could get something out to every table.  I really liked that they had taken this thoughtful approach, even though I prefer getting all my food at once.  Part of the fun of Chinese food is creating a kaleidoscope of flavors, colors and textures and combining them in different ways.  But I thought they were very smart to keep everyone busy with some food on the table.  They also apologized about a million times.  That goes such a long way and I wish more places understood this very simple concept. 

 

We ordered three dishes for the three of us and had plenty of leftovers, too. 

 

The first dish to arrive was the Honey Walnut Shrimp.  Gorgeous shrimp, a sweet sauce and the crunch of walnuts make this a winner.  This is one dish, though, that I really like to eat along with something that is a little salty.  I didn’t have that option this night but I enjoyed it none the less.  Next they brought our Beef Chow Fun.  The noodles in this dish were amazing.  Soft and silky but with a little bite – the Italians would say "al dente" – I really could have eaten just a big bowl of the noodles on their own.  Although then I would have missed out on the tender beef!  Our final dish was Chicken with Black Bean and Peppers.  I am not a fan of green bell peppers so I avoided those.  There weren’t too many in the dish and the flavor of the chicken still came through.  I would have liked a few more black beans but that was just a preference not an issue.  

 

The only thing that would have made the meal better was if it had come out all at once so I could have made new combinations with all the flavors!  I’ll just need to go back soon on a day that is not quite so busy so that I can have a more normal experience. 

 

I applaud everyone at Green Jade for their customer service and thoughtfulness on that very busy Christmas day.   

 

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New Year’s Eve morning found MO and me at the recently opened Toulouse Petit looking forward to enjoying "breakfast happy hour".  This new New Orleans influenced restaurant has been serving lunch and dinner for several weeks but just recently opened for breakfast.  To introduce Seattle to their breakfast menu and, presumably, to atone for any inconsistencies that might occur while they come up to speed they are offering (almost) any item on the breakfast menu for $5, from 9 a.m. till 11 a.m. Monday through Friday until January 31st. 

 

We arrived about 30 minutes after they opened and already the place was packed!  Of course this was a holiday or vacation day for many, but still I was surprised that shortly after 9:30 am there was a wait for a table.  We were seated just before the line-up started and had plenty of time to take it all in as it seemed the staff was also surprised by the number of customers.  Service from a customer perspective was rather leisurely, although we noticed the staff frantically running around trying to control the chaos. 

 

This new space is absolutely gorgeous.  Big windows light the large room during the day but there are very handsome light fixtures to brighten the spot at night.  Custom plastered walls, cushy booths and yards of tile bring a warm ambiance to the space.  I’d like to come back at night when votive candles line the walls. 

 

 

 

 

 

The breakfast menu is extensive with probably 30 or more egg dishes, a handful of a la carte pastries or fruit plates and a few pancake entrées.  It was hard to make a decision because everything sounded so good. 

 

I finally settled on Red Beans and Andouille with Eggs and MO chose the Avocado and Tomato Eggs Benedict, just one of the several Benedict options.  We started with coffee and tea.  Both were served in French presses, which was a nice touch.  MO originally ordered orange juice but we decided to cancel that order and instead to celebrate the holiday by indulging in a couple of the house special Creole Bloody Marys.  They were perfectly spicy and a great morning drink.  There are also several other "breakfast cocktails" on the menu. 

 

The coffee and tea arrived fairly quickly but there was a rather long wait for the Bloody Marys, probably due to the packed house and only one person manning the bar.  We feared we were in for a very long wait for our meal when a quick conversation with the people at the table next to us – who had ordered before we were seated – revealed they were still waiting for food after nearly an hour.  We joked about the fact that with the $5 price we could handle a little disorganization by the servers and kitchen.  However, it seemed that their food actually had been ready for some time as when they asked for an update, someone brought their order out and it turned out to be quite cold.  The couple left without eating their meal and none of the staff seemed to make an effort to find out why or to correct the situation. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our entrées showed up just a few minutes later – a little on the cool side but not horribly so.  However, MO’s Avocado and Tomato Benedict had somehow turned into the Blue Crab Benedict.  Our order was delivered by someone other than our server and since we did not see our server for several minutes MO opted to stick with the crab.  However, the crab Benedict was one of the few offerings that was priced higher than $5.  While this was not an issue for us, it may have been upsetting to someone else.  Our server never did realize she’d made an error and punched in the wrong order and we didn’t call it to her attention. 

 

The meal was excellent.  I loved my beans and andouille.  The eggs were not cooked as I’d ordered but were close enough.  MO’s Benedict was very good but also very rich.  Based on these two dishes I look forward to trying more of the menu in the future. 

 

When the check arrived we mentioned to our server that the orange juice that had been cancelled in lieu of the Bloody Marys was still on the bill.  She took the check to correct it and then kind of disappeared.  After some time, we placed credit cards on the table in anticipation of the check being returned.  Instead the server swept them up, ran them against the bill and returned with charge slips without ever having removed the orange juice from the bill. 

 

While I had expected some kinks in the service or from the kitchen, I was rather surprised at the number and extent of the issues that I saw around us. Since the opening had been several weeks ago I would have expected a much smoother operation, even though breakfast service was new.  In our case, it was a little hard to tell if we had a particularly scatter-brained and disorganized server or if she only appeared to be due to more systemic issues.  I am willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt since breakfast service was still very new to them and because the food was so good.  But I do hope when I return in a few weeks that there is a huge improvement.  Until then we’ll just wait to see what happens. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monday before Christmas I was on my way to meet M2 for afternoon tea at the Sorrento Hotel.  I try to make it there every year for the festive afternoon ritual.  I  was really looking forward to this year, especially since M2 is about to pack up and move south to sunnier climes so it might be our last chance to enjoy it together.  But in the blink of an eye plans can change. 

 

A few blocks from the hotel a woman ran a red light and plowed into my car.  Luckily neither of us was seriously hurt but by the time the police had filled out their reports, the tow truck had hauled my car to the body shop and M2 had ferried me here and there tea was no longer being served.  We decided to try to salvage the afternoon by stopping somewhere between where we were and my house, since she was also going to drop me at my house.  We were driving through downtown and had a couple places in mind when we passed by Mistral Kitchen.  Although I knew it had opened a couple weeks ago it was not quite in the location I expected.  Technically they are in South Lake Union but really just north of the main downtown corridor.

 

So making lemonade from lemons we jumped at the chance to check out this new incarnation of Mistral, the former prix fixe dinner house owned and under the creative direction of chef William Belickis. 

 

 

 

 

 

Perched on the corner of Westlake and 8th it’s a warm, welcoming and rather long space with the bar and lounge anchoring one end and the restaurant seating the other, all pulled together by the open kitchen at the back.  We settled in at the bar to check out the Happy Hour menu.  I am sorry to say that I don’t remember Happy Hour details, I was a bit more discombobulated that night than I thought, and it’s not yet available online but I do remember there are both food and drink specials. 

 

M2 ordered a lemon-lime concoction and I started with a glass of Happy Hour red wine.  And then we discussed and strategized what we’d select from the food menu.  Lots of interesting sounding plates tempted us!  We started with Macadamia brittle which, looking back, was an odd place to start, but we loved it.  It’s amazing how swapping macadamias for peanuts takes this traditional candy and elevates it to a whole new level.  But this menu item would best be enjoyed as a dessert not an appetizer so after our first couple bites we held off for the rest of our order. 

 

We both love charcuterie and so that was a no-brainer choice for us.  M2 suggested the cheese plate, too.  Once we ordered these items we realized we really needed something that was totally prepared there, not just assembled by the kitchen so we also added Branzino to the mix. 

 

The charcuterie platter had a nice selection of five meats including chorizo, soprasotta, prosciutto.  There were also a couple pieces of baked pizza dough on the plate.  The kitchen is working on perfecting their dough so their tests are showing up as little bonuses here and there.  The meats were delicious, but as you know I believe you really can’t go wrong with charcuterie.  The sample pizza crust makes me look forward to ordering pizza there in the future.  The cheese platter had a nice selection of three cheeses and, I believe, those selections will vary from day to day.  My only nit with these two plates was that the serving staff was not yet well-versed in what was being served but that should come with time. 

 

The branzino was a work of art.  Beautifully prepared and plated, cooked to perfection and served with an interesting array of roasted vegetables including baby carrots, turnips and black radishes it had a nice crispy crust on one side, and was soft and silky on the inside.  The branzino was on the dinner menu, not the Happy Hour menu. 

 

I have only one complaint about our experience at Mistral Kitchen.  While sitting at the bar we were chatting with the two people working that night.  At one point my wine glass was nearly empty and one person refilled it without asking if I wanted another glass.  Now, this can be a common occurrence but normally when the bartender doesn’t ask if I want a refill I expect the glass is going to be comped, however this glass was added to my tab.  Not a huge issue – it was Happy Hour, the price was low and I would have ordered another glass anyway but I think it’s bad bar manners to refill a glass without asking the customer if you plan to charge for it.  And the person who did it is a seasoned bar professional who has worked at some of the nicer restaurants in town and should understand this nuance. 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting that aside, we enjoyed everything about Mistral Kitchen and will be back to really explore the menu in the future.  And for those of you who appreciate finely crafted cocktails you’ll be happy to know that Andrew Bohrer, formerly of Naga in Bellevue, is directing the cocktail philosophy and menu. 

 

One quick note, Happy Hour really is happy hour.  The specials are only available from 5:00pm – 6:00pm daily.  So make sure you don’t miss it!

 

Update Jan 16: I returned to Mistral Kitchen last night with three friends.  This was just short of 4 weeks from my first visit.  Although I’m not ready to give up on them our experience was disappointing. 

 

The menu seemed rather scattered and was laid out in a way that made you have to interpret what were sides versus mains versus appetizers. They create daily menus but at 7:00 pm they were already out of a couple items and with a limited menu in the first place that’s an issue. There were a few shining stars in what we did order.  A chicken liver mousse on the charcuterie plate was outstanding, as was a squash soup.  The coq au vin was tender and gorgeous but seemed lacking in seasoning – something that would have made the difference between "good" and "wow!". 

 

But what really spoiled the evening was the service.  Our server was distracted, unorganized and we never seemed to get her full attention.  It took forever to get drinks.  At one point 3 of 4 were delivered and several minutes later we had to remind her to get the final one.  Assistants brought the wrong food to the table.  There were many small slips that on their own wouldn’t have been distracting but when you string several together become a major influence.  The bus boys, however, were great.

 

I know this is still early so I won’t return for at least another month, hoping by then they have all the kinks worked out – in both the menu and the service.  

 

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