A trip to the Emerald City…
Martha & I celebrated our 15th anniversary with a quick 2-night trip to Seattle, conveniently tied-in with our participation in the Ray’s Boathouse annual Oregon Pinot & Copper River Salmon Extravaganza last Thursday night. The event was excellent – the season’s first CR Salmon on the grill (along with great slow-cooked brisket and about 275 killer side dishes and desserts), 10 of Oregon’s top producers pouring a line-up of sumptuous Pinots, and four Washington craft-brewers drawing pints of really nice micro-brews, and a gorgeous view of the sunset on Elliot Bay – all for $65 a head. How bad can it be? I definitely look forward to doing it again next year…
Ray's chef Peter Birk at the grill with fresh Copper River Salmon
A plate-load at Ray's
On the way up we stopped in the small town of Centralia, on a tip from our distributor about a little Mexican restaurant that has been drawing raves from all the foodies in the blogosphere. La Tarasca is the name of the place, a non-descript roadside joint that you would pass by a million times without ever giving it a second thought. That would be a huge mistake. This was truly one of the best Mexican experiences we’ve had anywhere. The family is from Michoacan, and their cooking stays true to their regional roots. The Pork adobado taco was a true standout – maybe the best ever. I’d drive the 90 minutes just for that taco. It was truly that good. Check it out on your next slog up or down I-5…
Carnitas at La Tarasca
We had two really memorable meals in Seattle. Our lunch at Matt’s in the Market overlooking the Pike Place Market was a delight. I had the brisket sandwich – basically the world’s greatest pot roast on a great brioche roll with horseradish aioli and arugula – god that was good. Not to mention their home-made salt & pepper potato chips, hot out of the fryer and ridiculously delicious. The highly-touted Catfish sandwich was also a big hit. It was apparent that people who really LOVE food are behind this place – it shows in every bite.
Brisket sandwich at Matt's - heaven on a plate
Dinner that night was at Lark up on Capitol Hill, a place that has been drawing raves since the day they opened a few short years ago. Chef Jonathan Sundstrom is really at the top of his game. The purity of the flavors in each dish, the quality of every locally-sourced ingredient – truly about as good as it gets. The Foie Gras terrine with addictive brioche toasts was downright amazing, and I’ve never had better, sweeter tasting asparagus in my life. (The lightly-truffled butter was a nice touch!) You may recall That Jonathan cooked our pre-IPNC dinner at the winery back in 2007, along with Portland’s “flavor-beast” Tommy Habetz (then of Meriwether’s, and now of Bunk fame.)
A shout-out for Seattle’s Hotel 1000 – we loved it. Great tubs, showers, service, bedding, free wifi, free phone calls, great tech hook-ups – overall a top notch experience. “We could live here” was uttered more than once!
Great to be back in Oregon now, but not so thrilled with the weather. We’ve got the wettest and coolest May of all-time on or hands, it looks like. We’ve gone from being a few weeks ahead of schedule to a couple of weeks behind. If we don’t get some warmth and sun soon (and it does not appear to be forthcoming), the vines won’t be flowering until July. So, we shall see…
Your's truly at Matt's
