It was one of those rainy November days in Seattle when you have longings for those hearty, tasty, Italian meals cooked in homes between Milano and Sorrento. If you have the pleasure to be in Seattle in November you too would take every culinary escape route you can to avoid the bleakness of winter. So, I decided to give Barolo a try.

The restaurant has been around for a few years, but for whatever reason it never caught my attention. While November might be bleak weather-wise, Seattleites enjoy a program called “Three for Thirty”, where a group of restaurants offer a three course meal for thirty dollars. In a recession this value is hard to beat.

Barolo is located on the Northern end of downtown where new condo buildings have sprung up recently despite the ongoing mortgage crisis. Barolo is a well designed, young, urban restaurant catering to customers in their late 20s to 30s that reminds me more of LA and New York than Washington. The staff could easily have been ordered from a model agency’s catalog. The interior is well designed, or as their web site calls it: “It’s where tradition and innovation merge in modern comfort; Italian ancestry and family spirit, encased in a warm and inviting setting surrounded by wax-dripping candelabras”.

So far so good. Now, let’s get to the experience:  When our drop dead gorgeous server approached the table I asked the question that I normally ask “what is your hidden gem on the wine list that represents the best price for the value?” My partner and I have been wine distributors in a previous life and know that most restaurants go for 200-300 percent mark up, but that there is always a hidden gem to be discovered that is priced just right. However, this seemed to annoy our server and the service level moving forward dropped like a heavy Barolo bottle in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The rest of the service encounter can only be described as “the beauty and the beast” - in one person. Even the most standard question often asked “how did you like the food?” was not offered.

This is a good segway to the food: Beautifully presented like a Botticelli painting but very indicative of the restaurant at the same time – great wrapping with little substance. The starter course of octopus was served with overpowering red pepper that had the elegance of a Russian babushka; the wild boar fillet on the main dish was delicious except the kale accompaniment was cold; the worst was the desert: panna cotta infused with peach and served with raspberries and blueberries. Now let’s step back a minute. I have spent some time in Italy and am pretty certain that this flavor combination is far from traditional. But then there is nothing wrong about being creative and taking traditional meals to the next level. Then why in the heck are you serving peaches and raspberries in the middle of winter in Seattle? This restaurant is about as much committed to local and sustainable food as Mc Donald’s is to the happiness of the birds in their Chicken McNuggets!

Overall? Barolo was as superficial as meeting a supermodel at a beach party in Beverly Hills; good to look at but heavens forbid you start to go deeper and might want to have a conversation! And the “Three for Thirty” did not serve them very well either. What is supposed to be a marketing and promotion tools to get local guests into the door has actually turned me into a customer that won’t go back. 

Would I go back? Hell NO!

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; November 16, 2009

We love Portland dearly, and what is there not to love about a city with the largest book store in the country and rain that makes moss grow on parking meters? But what about food? Do we Non-Oregonians know much about Portland’s cuisine?

Let me tell you how we “pigged” out on our last trip to the Northwest Food and Wine Festival! A friend of a friend who knew somebody who told them to tell us to check out Belly Timer hit the nail on the head. Belly Timber, as they explain, refers to Victorian slang for "food of all sorts" and is located in a beautifully restored Victorian building on the East side of Portland.

Now, when I hear Victorian, I think of grand aunt Maude’s dollies; not so at Belly Timer! The interior feels great, clean, comfortable, and  casual at the same time. 

We spent all day in the car and I needed a drink to get started. The emphasis is “I needed” and not “I wanted”  as there  are  moments in life where you have no option but to reach to … And here we go: the sophisticated cocktail list is divided in “up” and “rocks! We had a BT Collins which consisted of apple wood smoked New Deal vodka, preserved oranges, lemon juice and soda and a Ruby Negroni (Clear Creek Apple Brandy, Campari, Ramos Pinto port, and lavender) to calm the nerves. A bit weird but excellent and it did its job!

If your idea of heaven consists of pigs instead of angels then you have arrived. I have never seen a restaurant that is more committed to our little squeaking  friends than Belly Timber. We started our path to the dark side (where cholesterol is only a faint memory) with a crispy fried pig tail for $4 and a ham hock, hot pot. Now, I am sure we all have had escargot with butter and garlic before but never did escargot take me on such a creative tour. What about a small plate of escargot, yellow beets, chickpeas, and bone marrow for $9. We also ordered the grilled cauliflower, anchovy, cacao nibs, sage and juniper syrup. Now I’ve had cauliflower before  - mostly overcooked and mushy by my dear mother - but chef David Siegel, takes it to a new level. I loved the concept, although it was a bit too sweet for me, but then who is criticizing Pollock for using too much blue on his paintings?

We ordered three of the small plates for our main course: Pan roasted cod, fennel puree, octopus, blood orange and pepperoni for $10. While this dish was certainly the least appealing of all dishes we sampled (the pepperoni was overpowering the delicate flavors of the cod) we give the chef credit for being daring and innovative. But when we got to the spaghetti squash arborio rice cakes braised with wild mushrooms, kale and winter spiced mascarpone and the roasted quail with quince quinoa croquetas and duck liver mousse, we were enchanted!

Here were the things we loved:

- Creativity that blew us out of our socks and sandals (didn’t you know that this is what North Westerners wear in winter?).

- These guys so get pricing. We had six plates, one desert, two beers, and two cocktails and walked out with under $100 including tip! Now that is affordable indulgence!

I am happy that we found an artist that stands out in all the mediocrity  and the blandness so often found in restaurants that “play it safe”.

Would we go back! Absolutely! But don’t forget your Lipitor!

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; November 14, 2009 

I have to admit I am a fanatic when it comes to collecting cook books. Other people buy shoes, handbags, and stuffed animals, I have a hard time to pass a shelf with cook books. And from all the cook books I own I have two I cannot live without: Both are by Jerry Traunfeld, the chef and master of the herb universe "Poppy's". Traunfeld used to work for the Herbfarm in Woodinville before he opened his own place on Broadway in North Capitol Hill. The restaurant has a modern, a bit IKEA-ish feel to it with an herb garden in the back. I am proud to say that I have planted most of the herbs in my own herb garden that Traunfeld uses in his cook books ranging from ordinary sage and thyme to more hard core esoteric lovage, angelica, and lemon verbena.

The food? I am lacking words to describe it; innovative, courageous, daring, wowing, memorable and so on and so on. I am not a big fan of smoked, cooked or otherwise taste altered oysters. In my opinion, oysters have to taste pure and that’s it. Forget about your Yoga teacher, the true life altering experience are the poached oysters with sorrel and bacon or the fried mussels with lovage aioli. And when is the last time you had eggplant fries?

Main courses at Poppy’s are served “thali” style. Think about a big platter containing up to twelve small dishes.  How is that for a sampler?  For $32 you get food you haven’t even dreamed about: Roasted beet, quince and huckleberry salad; ricotta dumplings with king bolete mushroom and sage; chanterelle, chestnut and celery root risotto!

This is without doubt my favorite restaurant in Seattle which I visit at least once a month and where I drag all of my friends. It can't get any better in Seattle than Poppy (only a sunny day in December but that will never happen!)

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; November 14, 2009  

Don’t send me hate mail, but this is a dirty country. Somehow along the line we have learned to live with litter along the highway (Has anybody driven lately along I-5?), chewing gum on bus seats and most disgustingly, dirty breakfast places! What is up with that? I have no idea why we think it is OK to have breakfast in places that have a funky smell of mildew, and where ketchup splatters are part of the wall paper. Did I mention carpets? If you can’t walk on a restaurant’s carpet without the fear of catching all sorts of nasty diseases you have no business eating there. And there are always those nasty, sticky, jar’s of jam that the previous guest …..

And what does that have to do with Fenouil? A lot! Fenouil (if my French is not failing me, it means “fennel” in English) is one of the most beautiful and cleanest places to have brunch in Portland. The restaurant is located in the Pearl District. The interior is classic, elegant, and French country. White table cloths, extremely friendly service, and food to die for, make this a regular stop every time we visit Portland.

For brunch we sampled the Eggs Benedict for $12 (outstanding with the sauce hollandaise just right), and the duck confit hash with poached eggs, and caramelized shallots for $11. The duck was beautifully flavored and had a hint of game reflecting its freshness, the potatoes were rich in flavor from the duck fat (the only thing better than pork fat is duck fat and you never can go wrong with it) and breaking the egg yolk over the potatoes made for a heavenly brunch.

But wait, that is not enough! Complimentary they serve you freshly baked (just out of the oven and still warm) regular croissants, chocolate croissants and apple pastries.

And guess what? When you touch the jar of jam you won’t be left with sticky hands!

Congratulations to the Fenouil team for saving my Sunday mornings!

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; November 22, 2009   

 Have you ever been in the dog house? There are two ways to get out: 1) Bribe. 2) More bribes! In my opinion The Georgian at the Olympic Fairmont falls into the second category. What is there not to be impressed by? The beautiful, classic dining room lets you forget that you are in Seattle and reminds me more of New York and Europe than the West Coast. The ambiance is elegant but not pretentious, the service from Chris was very attentive, and the live Jazz music a perfect fit.

The good thing about this recession is that one gets deals at every corner. Even The Georgian has them. But somehow their marketing person went gaga when they advertise their four course meal at "$48 per person (regularly priced at $72)". Now, that is a bit tacky in my opinion. That is a bit like Saveway and QFC advertising their deals for the meat department in a Sunday flier. What is next? Coupon shopping for Fairmont and the Four Seasons?

We ordered the three course price fixed meal for $39 which is offered at $55 with wine pairing. An absolute steal in comparison to their regular prices. I had the Dungeness Crab Bisque that was infused with tarragon and cognac with cute little crab cakes, paired with a Gloria Ferrer bubbly. The seared scallops were served with crisp potatoes, leeks and butter sauce with heaps of fresh black truffle (came with a Rex Hill Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley). My partner ordered  sautéed local foraged morels that were too die for and we ended the meal with a black and white soufflé.

The food presentation was elaborate and a bit over the top (but then why not) as desert resembled a bit of a Chihuly glass sculpture.  

Our friend Jack’s birthday was the following day, so we also ordered a dozen of “truffled“ devil eggs to go and the dining room accommodated our take out request. Now, that is classy!

The wine list? A bit overpriced (think 2007 pricing when we all had money to throw out the windows) but well thought out. Exceptional selection of Austrian wines as well as hard to find discoveries from Northern Italy’s Alto Adige region (i.e. a Muri-Gries Pinot Grigio).

Overall, you will be hard pressed to find a better deal for upscale dining in town; they even validate your parking.

The downside? Four occupied tables on a Friday night. The word has clearly not spread to the locals and to all the spouses in the dog houses!

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; November 22, 2009   

(SIP = ZIP)

OK, one cabbage head for the greeting, "Welcome to Sip". Why with an empty dining room and a half full lounge does one have to wait 10 minutes without being offered a drink? Although, we were passed at least 10 times by some member of Sip's team? Oh I know why, because the male supervisor we observed set the tone! He passed 3 times without acknowledgment or an offer of a drink. What's that they say about fish?

Lot's of competition out there. We won't be back!

Written by Dana@aoctravelguides.com; November 26, 2009  

Trellis in Kirkland was the solution. We had a three course Thanksgiving Dinner for $49 and had non-traditional starters such as wild foraged mushroom soup or saffron mussel bisque. For the main course we went for duck and boar cassoulet and a free range roast turkey with sausage sage stuffing, Brussel sprouts, and plum and fennel cranberry sauce. The food as absolutely delicious and well prepared, much better than what is served at most homes.

We drank a well priced $56 bottle of 2007 Amavi Walla Walla Syrah (retails for about $28) that went well with the meal.

For dessert they offered traditional apple pie with cinnamon caramel ice cream and pumpkin pie with cranberry compote. However, we went with a lemon sage flan and a rum raison fruit cake. I am not sure how fruit cake got its bad reputation in this country but a good fruit cake should not be overlooked.

Overall, the food at Trellis was very good, the service had minor issues (bread basket and coffee only arrived after the second request) but then it was Thanksgiving and we were in a good mood. What we truly missed were screaming kids, the annoying football games on TV and the whispered acknowledgment that aunt Emily’s pumpkin pie was good but just not as good as last year’s!

Would we go back? Yes

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; November 27, 2009 

Now, I am way too young (how often can I say that!) to relate to speakeasies, but my visit to Chez Gaudy was just like being in a 1930s movie. Chez Gaudy is located in an area of Capitol Hill that is more known for its brown stone apartment buildings and the young, urban crowd showing off their latest nose rings than for gourmet food temples.

Chez Gaudy is hard to find; after all, isn't that the whole purpose of a speakeasy? There won't be any valet parking, signage or other hints that you have arrived at the right address. You enter the entrance from a dark alley through a door that could easily pass as a delivery entrance before entering the establishment. 

The room? Think Bohemian private club. Think 1930s. Think entering an Opium den doing something forbidden that your coworkers are not supposed to know about!  

I have to admit, I am quite jaded and hard to impress when it comes to restaurants. I have kissed too many frogs that didn't turn into princes. Chez Gaudy isn't your high-end culinary show off place where you take your country club girl or ivy league boy for a date; this is the place where you take your friends and coworkers for a good and affordable time.  

Let's talk affordable! Customers can wander around the restaurant and pick their own bottle of wine from the shelves (red) or from ice buckets (white) for an amazingly low price of $9. You are hard pressed to find a glass of wine in Seattle for $9 (See Sip) not to mention an entire bottle! Here is a fair warning to all the wine snobs and their entourage: As one might imaging you won't any Leonettis, Quilceda Creeks or Harlans on the shelves. To be honest, I haven’t even seen most of these wine labels and came to the conclusion that we are dealing with the value category of the value category. Is that a bad thing? No! I am European who grew up with gallons of table wine that was priced at a few Euros a bottle. In some parts of Europe wine can be cheaper than a Coke. So the purpose of the wine experience at Chez Gaudy was to have a bottle of decent wine on the table that you share with your friends without debating the "hints of tobacco, and vanilla on the finish". 

 We picked a Malbec from Argentina whose name already has become a faint memory and will be remembered dearly as the “red drinkable stuff”. The second and third bottle experienced a similar fate, picked, opened, poured, gulped, emptied. Sometimes I am in the mood of not thinking about wine, and tonight was just that night.   

The food? Think of a dim sum concept. But instead of carts being pushed through the place Chez Gaudy offers tapas style home cooking (macaroni and cheese, ravioli, gnocchi, salmon, etc.) at incredible tapas prices. The food was a bit heavy handed, a bit creamy, and a bit filling but a total experience!   

Chez Gaudy is fun, entertaining and entirely different from most other restaurants in Seattle. You will end up eating much more than you planned, you will drink more wine than you normally do, and your wallet will thank you for the indulgence on a shoe string budget, that is my kind of thing!

The downside: They only offer this style of dining on Tuesday nights! My advice be there right after 6 o'clock when they open to grab a table and catch the food that is coming out of the kitchen a la minute. The kitchen closes at approx. 8.30 pm. So, next Tuesday, instead of doing laundry or your grocery shopping, have something to eat at Chez Gaudy. Much more fun than doing errands!

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; December 8, 2009 

As the name suggests, Samurai Noodles located in the Uwajimaya building on 5^th Avenue South is a Japanese style noodle place. Everybody who has been in Tokyo has seen these ramen places centered around major public transportation hubs and train stations in Japan’s capital where locals have affordable food before heading out in the hours long commutes to the suburbs.

Samurai is small. Very small. At the best they can fit 20 people in the tiny place that is normally full to the brink with Amazon.com software engineers, the people that brought us Kindle and the largest selection on earth! Even if you might not be interested in cloud computing and server software issues, this is a great place to have steamy bowl of noodles. My favorite is the chili green onion ramen in chicken broth with spicy sesame oil and fresh green onion for $8.

The place is definitely not for you if you show up in groups, or with your data. This is a quick slurp your soup kind of lunch that is decently clean. And cleanliness is worth mentioning in an area that restaurants can be outright filthy and disgusting.

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; December 10, 2009 

I used to live in Italy and my first Italian dinner I had off the banana boat arriving in the U.S. was Olive Garden! Thank God I met friends that showed me that this country has more to offer when it comes to Italian food: One of the epicenters of great Italian food in Seattle are Via Tribunali and Ethan Stowell’s La Tavolata.  

We went to La Tavolata several times before and were always satisfied. And then SHE came along a few months ago, the dementor among the servers, the “I'll-suck-the-life-out-of-your-dinner-even-if-you-tip-me” signora. So, Tavolata fell off the radar screen and was pushed to the proverbial back burner.

Last night we wanted to start the evening with martinis. So we ended up at Union, the other Ethan Stowell restaurant that we fled quickly as the ambiance reminded us of the Frankfurt Airport at the best. That’s when the idea was born to give La Tavolata another try.

And guess what? SHE was there again! We were seated in a booth that we liked better than the community table (I already have enough friends and really don’t want perfect strangers to overhear who annoys me in the office, how sex was last night, and how my stock portfolio is performing. Call me anti-social but I prefer booths). We arrived at 8.30 pm on a Thursday night and the restaurant was nearly empty giving perfect views of the tall ceilings, concrete walls, and open kitchen. And just like in a relationship, people don’t change: "She", the server, was just as aloof and disengaged as the last time, but then it could be just me.  

We ordered the mixed salumi plate for $18 with a side of buffalo mozzarella served on a wooden plate. One would assume that there is not much that can go wrong as long as you buy from a good purveyor. However, the mozzarella had a sour finish which made me believe that that milk left that buffalo quite a while ago. Call me jaded, but my assumption is that with the slow economy restaurants sit on their ingredients a bit longer and might cut corners when it comes to cost cutting.

But what pissed me off (sorry for my language but it is an accurate description of my emotional reaction) is the fact that they charged extra for the bread! Wouldn't a plate of meat and cheese suggest that bread is needed and should be included? I felt nickled and dimed and the only comparison I can come up with is if Mc Donalds would charge extra for ketch up! 

For the main course my partner had Strozzapreti with lamb shank, savoy cabbage and marjoram for $16 that he really liked while I opted for the Tagliarini with beef ragu for $15. Beef ragu is the staple of Italian cuisine. Everybody makes it, most are average and OK, few are able to wow you. La Tavolata’s? Just OK, there was nothing wrong about it other than it was just not very interesting. The Tagliarini (think a type of Fettuccini) could have been a bit more al dente (but now we are splitting hair), the ragu had the obligatory pieces of carrots in. But it didn’t wow me. Kind of what I make at home on a weeknight.

Overall, we spent $100 for a cocktail, a glass of wine, one appetizer, and two bowls of pasta (and two bread baskets - see, I am still not over my bread issue) in an energy deprived restaurant with a dementor server. That was just too much in my opinion.

The best thing about the restaurant is the manager, a very engaging and nice person that truly cares about his customers.

Would we go back? Yes, if we couldn’t find anything better in the neighborhood or if we ran out of gas and the choice was between Olive Garden and La Tavolata.

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; December 11, 2009 

Each city has one of these beautiful old fashioned upscale hang outs for corporate lawyers and bankers where the local business elite rubs elbows and show off their latest cuff links. Normally, they are rightfully considered institutions having been around forever, with classic interior and wood paneling and impeccable service provided by a staff that considers serving a career and not a job while waiting to be discovered as an actor.

Professional service, wood paneling, and a riff-raff free environment comes at a price. At $13 a martini your "martini lunch" will have a steep price tag attached, especially if you go for their steak selection on the menu. 

However, there are the lunch specials that should not be overlooked: London Broil, meatloaf, spare ribs, prime rib, and yes, Beef Stroganoff, the good old American classic that can be as low rent as hamburger helpers and Campbell's mushroom soup or as elaborate and tasty as Metropolitan's. It was tasty with perfectly cooked pasta, creamy mushroom sauce with a liberal portion of meat and an outstanding horseradish-sour cream garnish. And I nearly forgot to mention that I started with a Lobster Bisque since one can never have enough cream based meals!

Overall, this was a wonderful make-you-feel-good-about-yourself meal  in an environment that is hard to find in Seattle.  

PS: Word of advice: Park your car over lunch at the United Parking garage, two blocks south on Cherry between 2^nd and 3^rd and Metropolitan Grill will validate your parking.  

Written by Manfred@aoctravelguides.com; December 17, 2009