For the first time since March 2020 I was able to travel. Neither I nor the world was ready for an international trip, so I was in the Pacific Northwest.
I hadn’t been to Seattle in at least a decade. I was surprised how much the city has changed and also how much it hadn’t. The great Italian specialty food store is still there at the public market, as is Café Campagne. Meanwhile, the city center is teeming with new condo buildings, yet there was no one out on the streets. Having spent so much time in Boston and New York, I forget how car-centric most American cities are.
I found the one sushi bar in my neighborhood that was open at my actual dinnertime (i.e., after 7 PM), which was serviceable. My meal — one of their omakase options — came to about $60 all-in. It was a little on the expensive side for what it was if I’m honest, but it did the job.
My feelings were similar about a trendy Italian place I tried. Good, not exceptional, and slightly tainted by the prices. There I spent about $70 all-in — almost as much as a meal at the River Cafe, but not up to their standard. I have ambitions to do a more thoughtfully executed version of their halibut in tomatoes, olives, and artichokes.
My luck at an even more expensive restaurant wasn’t any better. Despite their many awards, the food was uneven. My starter, a scallop and asparagus dish, was on the border of excellent. The main and dessert were not on that level. The fish came with about two spoonfuls of a very watery carrot purée and no sauce. The sorbet dessert was very one-note. For around $90 all-in, it wasn’t the best value.
Fortunately, everything at more reasonable prices was great. I’d recommend Le Pichet, a great French café that hasn’t sanded off the rough parts for its US audience. I had some good bowl food courtesy of a friend, and did a great and very reasonable lunch at a ramen place in the International District.
As far as baked goods are concerned, my longtime favorite, Le Panier, is still good by US standards. It was reassuring to see they were still in business and busy. A newer entrant I hadn’t tried before was pretty average. The croissants were bland and too brioche-y for my taste. I also tried one of the many French-Korean fusion bakeries, which I thought was trying too hard. None were on the level of St Honoré in Portland, as far as I’m aware the only MOF-operated bakery in the US.
While I had access to outdoor cooking facilities, I gave a couple of new techniques a try. Both need work. My grilled paella needed more heat and either a bigger pan or less rice. The hint of grilled smokiness didn’t compensate for the lack of flavor development, another error attributable to my lack of guts with the heat level. It’s not a good sign when your usual indoor version is better.
Trying to be resource-conscious, I attempted a cherry clafoutis on the grill with residual heat. It turns out residual heat isn’t really enough to bake with and even less surprising a grill is not exactly an oven. Not to say it was bad. But it was not excellent either. The bottom was a bit overcooked and the top a bit under, if only visually.
Looking forward to the next month, it’s once again time to attempt recreating the best peach tart I’ve ever eaten. It’s probably going to be impossible to recreate that magic: a random café on the side of a nondescript road in Nice, France at the height of summer. But I’m going to try again. From my photo records and memory, all I really know is that they used white peaches and a very hot (possibly wood-burning) oven.
Less ambitiously, I’ve been pretty consistently able to get my hands on great strawberries in the summer months. I really love giving them a boozy hit and serving them with a shortcake (or another biscuit, for texture) and pillowy soft whipped cream.
If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor cooking facilities, I’m a big fan of pizza on the grill. Get the heat very high, preheat for at least 20 minutes. Grill the dough, unadorned, one side first, flip, and then top and finish. If you have a pizza oven like the Ooni, I’m very jealous. That’s even better.
Heading into August also means it’s salmon season. It’s the one time of the year that I will not be depleting my stock of frozen fish. I’m generally not a fan of the farmed stuff, and the wild fish is only available in the late summer. My go-to is grilling the fish and serving with salsa verde. I’m also hoping to try recreating a dish I had at a restaurant recently: salmon on a bed of farro, pickled ramps, and sweetcorn bathed in miso butter and tarragon. It was really good.
Fresh with inspiration from my travels, I’m going to try recreating the olive-artichoke-tomato halibut as well, though with a shade more finesse, I hope. What I had at the restaurant was not very well-composed.
Back in March, my sister bought me a case of cascaetlli pasta, the hot ticket in the world of on-trend food podcasts, apparently. It took about three months to arrive, but now I have it, I feel like I have to do something with it. The shape is designed to hold big, heavy sauces, so my initial inclination was to make a ragù.