I can’t believe it’s been a year. It’s been so much fun writing about all my eating adventures. It has also helped hone my passion (obsession?) for bacon. Thanks to everyone for all the great comments and all the great food recommendations. Keep ‘em coming!
So how did I celebrate? Bacon would be the logical choice. But no, I celebrated with homemade wild boar jook. Bet you didn’t see that one coming…
Someone did it. They beat me to it. They made chocolate covered bacon. The informative post covers the history of chocolate covered bacon, the process and the (less than stellar) results. I guess not everything tastes better with bacon…
On another, meat related note, I can’t resist throwing in this link I found via Blog on a Toothpick: salami rugs. I want the bierschinken one. Badly.
A week ago, Hillel from Tasting Menu invited me to a launch party for his latest creation: Autumn Omakase, A Tasting Menu from Tatsu Nishino of Nishino. The party was held at Nishino and since I had never been before I was excited to check it out.
For the party Nishino was serving platters of sushi, fabulous shrimp and asparagus tempura, seared tuna with chopped daikon and little foie gras/shitake/tuna nibbles. Admittedly, passed appetizers are not a huge indication of a restaurant’s capability, but I was sufficiently impressed. I will be returning very soon to try out the omakase menu.
Now for the good part. Even if you don’t live in Seattle you can still try the omakase menu—you’ll just have to cook it yourself. Hillel’s latest cookbook is filled with beautiful images and nine of Nishino’s recipes, which have been broken down into steps that seem very manageable. I can’t wait to cook the entire menu!
Download it for free at:
http://www.tastingmenu.com/autumnomakase
Congrats Hillel! Another beautiful baby…
consumed on 8/3/05
So, um, seeing as how the next Seattle Food Blogger meeting is tonight, I thought I should post something about the last get-together. I’m cringing as I look at the date; it’s been two months since we dined…
This was the smallest gathering yet, just Orangette, Culinary Fool and myself. It was my turn to chose the restaurant and I was feeling pizza-y. Plus I was long overdue for another visit to Tutta Bella.
It was a hot, sweltering day and the wait for a table was long, but the complimentary wine-while-you-wait (wine-so-you-don’t-whine?) certainly helped smooth things over. After about 20 minutes we were seated upstairs where, unfortunately, all the hot, stale air was collecting. Acoustically it was probably the worst location in the restaurant as the ceiling was low and there was nothing around to absorb sound. Ignoring the table of screaming kids behind us, we ordered a bottle of wine and perused the menu.
Knowing the gigantic proportions of Tutta Bella salads, we decided to order just one Caesar ($5.50) and split it. It had a nice, creamy dressing although I wished it came with more anchovies. We probably could have shared this salad with another 2-4 people.
For pizza we ordered the Tutta Bella ($9.95) and the Pancetta e Pomodoro ($9.50) to share. The Tutta Bella came with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, caramelized onions, Isernio’s hot Italian sausage and mushrooms. The Pancetta e Pomodoro had golden pomodoro sauce, pancetta, mushrooms, slivered garlic and formaggi di casa. The Tutta Bella was a great, simple pizza, but it just couldn’t compete with the pancetta (what can, really?). The Pancetta e Pomodoro was much more delicate and at the same time more assertive and salty.
Even though the restaurant was hot and loud, I really, really love this place. Maybe it’s because it has that bustling, comfortable, neighborhood feel… or maybe it’s the wonderful pizza… or maybe it’s a perfect combination of the two.
