I like this casual place at the corner of two quiet residential streets in the north part of Capitol Hill. I usually go there when I’m around the Seattle Asian Art Museum or the Conservatory Housein Volunteer Park. I like that you can sit outside and even though it’s along the street, it remains quiet and car noises will not disturb you.
I had Lunch there with a friend, she was coming from Green Lake and I was downtown, it was the perfect location with easy parking.
Don’t expect too many options and sophisticated menu, it’s more homestyle food but the salads we had were tasty and fresh.
We were lucky enough to be able to go once again to the Willows Inn and stay for a night.
It was an amazing dinner : a succession of small dishes and “snacks” prepared with flowers, vegetables, mushrooms, shellfish, and meats sourced locally on the island and the surrounding water. All these small dishes are unique and outstanding. Blaine Wetzel and his team are amazing!
And the day after, look what we had for breakfast…
Buttermilk biscuit
Cured meat, goat cheese and reefnet salmon
Yogurt with honeycomb
On our way back to the ferry… we said bye to the deer. A very nice conclusion of this escape from the city.
It all began with a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is a global organization, whose mission is to help bring projects to life through crowd funding.
When I heard of this particular Kickstarter campaign, I was immediately hooked.
An ex-chef from Willows Inn wanted to open his own restaurant in Seattle and needed a little help.
In exchange for a donation, we would be invited to a surprise pop-up dinner. Not just some ordinary dinner, but a contemporary 10-course dinner.
We were sure that coming from the Willows Inn (read my post about Willows Inn, the best restaurant in the Northwest), Jason Aldous would amaze us with dishes featuring locally foraged and farmed ingredients. We were not disappointed!
Lamb cooked in burning alfalfa, smoked beets, bracken fern
Rhubarb, pine ice cream, elderflower
Raw milk panna cotta, radish greens, miners lettuce, fermented honey
In addition to these dishes, we had:
– Parsnip bark,
– Rutabaga cooked in embers, preserved cabbage, smoked halibut broth, lovage
– Bread made with organic buckwheat and rye, butter made from cultured cream
– Sun Choke, walnut, caramelized goat curds and whey
However, Jason Aldous changed his plans and decided he will not open a restaurant in Seattle as previously expected. He is now the Chef at Camano Island Inn and Spa and we wish him good luck with this new plan. This is an address I am going to keep.
