It’s high time we scheduled another Seattle Food Blogger event—so the next one is set for Tuesday, April 11th.
If you’re in Seattle, blog about food and would like to join us, please leave me a comment and I will email you the details!
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.
The fourth Seattle Food Blog get-together was hosted by Molly from Orangette and she chose La Carta de Oaxaca for a meeting place. In attendance were:
Accidental Hedonist
Amuse Bouche
Culinary Fool
Orangette
Tasting Menu
We all started out with tortilla chips and guacamole ($3). The tortilla chips were light, airy and full of crunch. Dusted with salt, they were highly addictive, especially when dipped in the silky guacamole. I think they must add cream and/or whip it because it’s a surprising texture, but has lots of good avocado flavor.
I ordered my favorite dish of Mole Negro Oaxaqueno with chicken ($8). The mole is so dark it’s almost black and coats a falling-apart tender chicken leg. Some people complain that the mole is too sweet, but I think it’s absolutely heaven and hands down the best mole I’ve ever tasted.
I also split an order of Entomatadas ($9), which is now my new favorite dish. It was a thin cut of beef that was marinated and grilled to perfection. It came with two fried tortillas topped with wonderfully salty Oaxaqueno cheese and a choice of sauces. You could choose between red and green, but our waiter highly recommended the red. It was tomato-y-delicious and soaked into the tortillas in the most wonderful way.
I also tried a tortilla topped with shrimp (can’t remember the name of it), which was the only dish I disliked. The shrimp were hard and rubbery from soaking a little too long in a citrus marinade. Plus they had a sour acidic taste that overwhelmed any other flavor that may have been present.
Lastly, I had a bite of a Tamale de Mole Negro with chicken ($6). For some reason I thought I had already tried the tamales here, but then I realized I hadn’t. I kicked myself for missing out on them on all my prior visits. The tamale had the same delicious mole sauce as the chicken I ordered, but it was mixed in with chicken and tender and fluffy masa and then formed into a giant square tamale. It was wrapped in a banana leaf, which imparted amazing fragrance and sweetness. Come to think of it, this may actually be my new favorite dish at La Carta de Oaxaca. I’m already dreaming of my next visit.
I missed the second Seattle food blog get-together, but was really excited to attend the third one—hosted by Kate and Tara from Accidental Hedonist. They chose the location of Mashiko in West Seattle for a Japanese Omakase meal.
In attendance were:
Accidental Hedonist
Orangette
Margaritas and Mad Hatters
We ate our way through nine courses ($40 per person) and finished almost every dish!
It was a lot of fun and very, very delicious. Also a really a great deal considering the quality and quantity of the food. I can’t wait to go back… Thanks Kate & Tara!
A while back, Molly from Orangette and I discussed getting together a group of Seattle Food Bloggers to talk about food, eating, cooking, and blogging. Our favorite topics.
After much planning, we finally met everyone last night:
Accidental Hedonist
Amuse Bouche
Culinary Fool
Orangette
Tasting Menu
We had a delicious meal at Malay Satay Hut—everyone chose something from the menu and we ate family style:
Roti Canai – Flatbreads with a curry dipping sauce
Fish with Thai Sauce – A whole (delicious) fried Tilapia with a sweet and sour tamarind sauce
Mango Shrimp – A beautiful dish of sweet mango and shrimp served in hollowed out mango shells
Dried Curry Crab РA whole crab saut̩ed in curry sauce
Curry Beef – A spicy and rich beef curry
Nasi Lemak – Not quite sure what this was, but it was good—it came with rice, eggs, some sort of stewed meat and a chutney
String Beans РSpicy beans saut̩ed with shrimp
Noodles with Tofu – This was really good, but I didn’t get the name of the dish
The food was great, but I found it hard to concentrate on both the food and conversation at the same time, so out of politeness, I opted to concentrate on the conversation.
Actually it was great. We had such a varied mix of people in terms of how they approach blogging, how long they’ve been doing it and with what seriousness. It was a little odd at first because we all knew the intimate food-related details of each others’ lives, but had never met. The idea of being anonymous and not-so-anonymous at the same time is really interesting. I had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone. I hope we can do it again soon…
