By Kevin Finch on January 7, 2012
Thursday night we met two friends at Downriver for dinner. Four hours later we walked out the door. We were not eating the entire time: lively and wide-ranging conversation carried the night. But the new chef at DRG, Ryan Stoy, did surprise us with two off-menu dishes that were a delight. One will be what I really want to order every time I walk in the door in the future.
Chili lime-cured yellowfin tuna and avocado roll with an orange and green onion salad, broken Sriracha, and a blood orange olive oil vinagrette.
Posted in dining | Tagged Downriver Grill, Northwest restaurants, Ryan Stoy, Spokane restaurants |
By Kevin Finch on December 18, 2011
I had a very good meal last night at Salvatore Ristorante in Seattle. But I’m more than a little irritated about one thing: the price that appeared on my bill for one of the “specials” of the night.
I find it bad form to price specials higher than the typical regular entrees on the menu. This verges on criminal if the specials are described verbally rather than in print and the server fails to mention the price.
Enter my outrageous osso bucco. It was my first visit to Salvatore. I glanced at the menu and noted most of the entrees were upper teens and lower twenties: decent prices for a well-recommended Italian spot.
Then my server came over and launched into a verbal recitation of 14 (count them, 14) additional specials. He seemed particularly enthusiastic about the osso buco and I’d heard another waiter praising it to another table so I left the menu behind.
The dish was good… especially the bone marrow… but the bill arrived with a shock. The highly praised dish was nearly double the cost of much of the menu: $37.
I sucked it up and paid without complaint, but I’m complaining now. Osso bucco certainly should cost more than the basic pasta dishes on a menu, but pricing it just under $40 when the menu entrees hover between $20 and $25 is more than pushing it. Then selling the heck out of the dish but failing to mention its price to guests upfront is restaurant robbery.
Posted in dining |
By Kevin Finch on December 3, 2011
Leaving Seattle in 1999 meant leaving behind one of my favorite sandwiches on the planet: the Vietnamese Banh Mi.
I didn’t expect this.
The Inland Northwest has a number of Vietnamese restaurants, but the focus of all my favorites is on the classic northern Vietnamese soup Pho. Absent from the menus were the equally wonderful sandwiches that take a tiny torpedo of crusty French bread and turn it into an exquisite vehicle for grilled pork, grilled chicken, ham, or pate. Whatever meat you choose is topped with fresh cucumbers, shredded carrots, cilantro and a smear of mayo.
It is a great sandwich… but not one I could find locally.
Until now. A friend, Eric Wilson, texted me to insist I needed to try Vien Dong on East Sprague. It is a hole-in-the-wall serving Vietnamese and Chinese dishes.
Delight greeted me the second I opened the menu. Next to the page of Pho options was a page of sandwiches: Banh Mi.
Try one… soon. At $2.75 maybe you should try two.
Posted in dining | Tagged Banh Mi, restaurants, sandwiches, Vien Dong, Vietnamese food |
By Kevin Finch on August 24, 2011
I’ve been complaining that I missed summer. The wet spring spilled over into June. Work never really took a break. Life with three active teenagers (one about to leave for college) was less than restful. Even the typical (if truncated) summer outings to visit family in Montana and California didn’t do the trick.
Add in a crisis or two and… no summer.
I’d basically resigned myself to that until last night when we walked into Fleur de Sel in Post Falls to celebrate our daughter’s birthday. It was her request; I think we raised her well.
The whole meal – as anticipated – was excellent. Laurent runs a fine kitchen. Yet the biggest gift of night was a taste of summer in a salad.
There is no other way to put it. One bite and summer arrived. The Shrimp, Avocado, and Mozzarella Salad WAS summer for me so I need to stop fussing.
Posted in dining | Tagged Fleur de Sel, Laurent Zirotti, Post Falls restaurants, restaurants, salad, summer, summer salad |
By Kevin Finch on March 13, 2011
Brunch at Luna is a gift… the space is inviting and the menu is familiar without appearing tired. Jed will happily make you a Mimosa or a Bloody Mary while Lallah, Kara, or Barbara offer you a booth, a table, or a stool at the marble bar. Hope established a beachhead even before your drink arrives. Then you get to order.
Let me suggest that you consider long the somewhat misleadingly named Smoke Salmon Sandwich. It is really more an inventive Eggs Benedict with salmon in place of the ham and a side of sliced tomatoes and greens. If it were simply a Benedict with smoked salmon it would be a formidable brunch option, but with the addition of the ‘sandwich fixings’ it moves from formidable to nearly transcendent. Good luck trying to eat it as a sandwich, but something this tasty is worth a bit of awkwardness and knife-and-fork work.
Posted in dining | Tagged bunch, Eggs Benedict, Luna, smoked salmon sandwich, Spokane restaurants |
By Kevin Finch on February 9, 2011
If you appreciate a straightforward hamburger that reminds you of the best of McDonalds before it became the juggernaut of the restaurant world, the relatively new and unpretentious Stop N Go Family Drive-In on East Sprague should be your next stop. If you know where Ms. Kitty’s is (hopefully not from stopping in) you know where to find Stop N Go. It is just to the east and it is quite possible that its proximity to Ms. Kitty’s is why the sign emphasizes FAMILY Drive-In. The menu over the counter does have pictures, but nothing scandalous unless you are upset by the outline of a fish or a fully feathered chicken.
What makes Stop N Go refreshing is its simplicity. Cash only. Three burgers: a cheese burger, a double cheeseburger, and a triple. $1. $2. $3.
Fries for $1.25 or in a tub for $3.
Fish or chicken if you really like complexity. An ice cream cone (called a Softie on the menu) or a shake.
Tax is included in the price so a buck actually gets you a burger.
Don’t expect lettuce or tomato, but the Double Cheeseburger with fries and a shake is $5.25 and should leave you with a grin on your face. A great dipping tartar for the fries (or fish) is free.
Posted in dining | Tagged cheap eats, hamburgers, Spokane restaurants, Stop N Go, Zip's |
By Kevin Finch on November 4, 2010
This week I slipped into Italia for lunch and ordered one of the bruschettas on the menu with a side caesar. It was perfect… simple, tasty, and just the right size for lunch. When asked, I agreed to glance at the dessert menu even though I didn’t plan on ordering anything.
I typically get much more excited about savory appetizers and only order dessert if there is some compelling reason (like a review where I feel obligated to comment on the sweets). Yet I noticed that Italia offers a single scoop of ice cream with a piece of orange biscotti. $2.50.
This turned out to be as perfect as the bruschetta and salad: a small sweet finish that wasn’t going to break the bank. Several other places in Spokane are also offering small dessert portions, and this is a trend I love. A bit of sweet at the end of a meal can be fine end to a meal, but anything more reminds me of the Monty Python skit where a man explodes from a bite of a mint after an obscene meal.
Too often I’ve approached that same point myself… usually due to a full-sized dessert after a big meal. So it is rare that I order dessert when not working on a restaurant review. Yet this would change if more desserts were offered in sampler sizes.
By the way, the scoop I ordered at Italia was pumpkin with chunks of chocolate and roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds). The pumpkin was subtle and the pepitas added a great touch while the orange biscotti was close to addictive. Add the cup of Roast House coffee and I’ve become a dessert convert… at least at Italia.
Posted in dining | Tagged Anna Vogel, Bethe Bowman, biscotti, dessert, Inland Northwest restaurants, Italia, Northwest restaurants, portion size, Roast House |
By Kevin Finch on November 3, 2010
If it is time for a lobster tail and you appreciate a view of the Spokane Falls, Anthony’s has a deal for you. $19.95 gets you a tail all for yourself with chowder or a salad through the month of November. While we can’t speak authoritatively about the West Side locations, in Spokane the view is a brilliant bonus.
Posted in dining | Tagged Anthony's, Anthony's at the Falls, lobster, Northwest restaurants, Spokane Falls |
By Kevin Finch on November 2, 2010
Savory has been the buzz of the food scene for months as its details of its ambitious vision hit the press. More recently the skeptics have had plenty of fodder for gossip as the official opening date was pushed back repeatedly and rumors of turmoil in the kitchen leaked out. This week the rumors end and reality sets in. You can finally taste the initial results of all that buzz for yourself.
During their soft opening over the weekend to work out a few kinks, I slipped in to look around and try a few dishes. Already the kitchen is turning out a great steak and the steamed clam appetizer with a bit of chorizo sausage kick is great. Yet possibly the one item I couldn’t get enough of was a condiment: Savory’s from-scratch saffron aioli.
Aioli is just glorified mayonaise, but do it right and it can turn into culinary crack that addicted patrons will smear on anything and everything. My personal resolve to eat lean melted after just one fry dipped in the stuff.
Savory has also done a great job with the space and it looks like they’ve hired good staff. Chef Curtis Smith from the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy has stepped into the top spot in the kitchen as Interim Executive Chef for two months while the owners continue to look for the right combination of cooking chops and personality to preside over an open kitchen with a special chef’s table section.
One architectural detail of note: the men’s bathroom includes a wall of street-level glass that allows you to stare down Grand Avenue toward the cathedral while taking care of business. In theory the nearly floor-to-ceiling window is one way, but you just might be tempted to head outside to confirm this fact before dropping your drawers.
Posted in dining | Tagged aioli, Curtis Smith, Northwest restaurants, restaurant openings, Savory, Spokane restaurants |
By Kevin Finch on November 1, 2010
Chef Ethan Stowell just published his first cookbook, Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen.
Yet if you look closely at the photo on the cover of the book you would be forced to conclude that Stowell is missing most of his right pinkie. Some horrific kitchen cleaver accident?
Not so. During an interview today with Jamie Peha and Anne Nisbet today on their Seattle radio show Table Talk, Stowell assured them he has only suffered a digital accident. In real life he still has all ten fingers, but lost part of his right pinkie to Photoshop for the book.
Posted in culture, dining, play | Tagged Anne Nisbet, digital accidents, Ethan Stowell, Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen, Jamie Peha, Photoshop, Table Talk |
By Kevin Finch on October 24, 2010
In her blog, All You Can Eat, Nancy Leson did a great job describing a night at Seattle’s recently-opened Book Bindery which sits next to the ship canal on the north flank of Queen Anne Hill. Your typical big box warehouse this is not. Most of the footprint is taken up with the Almquist winery and distillery, but the end of the building formerly used to make books is now a restaurant. Not just any restaurant either. The space manages to be both casual and elegant and the food Shaun McGrain is sending out of the kitchen suggests that the Book Bindery is poised to slip past many of its culinary neighbors to claim a top spot in the local ranking of fine dining establishments.
Order a glass of the Almquist Family Vintners wine and start with the simply stunning Compressed Watermelon with Crispy Pork Belly and Garden Basil. At $12 it just might be the best appetizer I’ve had all year. Check out the food images posted on the the restaurant website for the full food porn picture of this amazing dish.
No doubt Seattle will deluge the Book Bindery so if you have the chance to book a reservation soon… do it. With nearly all the entree prices in the twenties, it is truly a fine dining find.
Then there is their decision to close Sunday night and stay open on Monday evening. This seems like a possible stroke of genius and insures them a steady stream of other chefs and industry professionals looking for a great place to go on the one night of the week nearly everyone else is closed.
Posted in dining, wine | Tagged Almquist Family Vintners, Book Bindery, Nancy Leson, Seattle, Seattle restaurants, Shaun McGrain |
