Traveling Feast

A month ago I decided to compare the acclaimed maple bar from Countryside Donut in Montlake Terrace (north Seattle) to the bar I consider the national standard: Spokane’s Donut Parade maple bar.  Countryside’s bar was a respectable entry, but not in the same league as those coming out of the fryer at the Donut Parade.

Countryside also loses ambiance points for its suburban strip mall setting that sucks out location character faster than a Dyson vacuum.  I’m happy to go food foraging in strip malls, but I’d always prefer a beat-up downtown cafe to a line of generic storefronts facing a sea of parking.  But I digress.

Donuts are the point; maple bars in particular.  When I originally mentioned my January maple bar hunt, several Facebook connections claimed that the BEST maple bar in the Puget Sound wasn’t Countryside’s at all.  CHUCK’S DONUTS in Renton was the real destination for a serious maple bar pilgrim.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to investigate their claims last month.  Today, though, I did.

Back in Seattle and with a need for a visit to IKEA, I slipped off 405 and headed to Chuck’s first.

Like Countryside, the current location of Chuck’s is a new strip mall.  But this wasn’t always the case.

Chuck’s started in another spot in the mid 1960s by Charlie O’Neil with a closely guarded recipe for his famous maple bar.

Other owners followed O’Neil, but each time the secret recipe was sold with the store and the testimony of faithful patrons is that the bars have remained transcendent through each change of ownership.

I tend to be a dining optimist – hopeful that the next meal or bite on the agenda will turn up something truly wonderful.  In this case, Chuck’s delivered.  The current owners are Vietnamese and probably look nothing like the original Chuck, but they can turn out a donut that should make O’Neil proud his name is still on the sign.

The best maple bars I’ve had before today came with a glaze-style frosting, and Chuck’s secret recipe calls for a whipped frosting that is quite different and quite wonderful.

Once you get past your wonder at the frosting, there is the bar itself to consider.  I found it to be soft and moist with just the right amount of bite.  I’ll certainly be back, but noticed the whipped frosting is unexpectedly rich compared to the more common glaze.

Back home at Donut Parade I can get through two or even three before the threat of a sugar coma becomes real, but Chuck’s bar presents clear and present danger after just one.  This should save me at least a $1.25 a visit.

Is Chuck’s the best maple bar?  Possibly.  It certainly is wonderful,  but I think a hot bar from the Donut Parade might still be my personal standard.   Barely.  And I think I’ll have to stop by Chuck’s almost every time I’m in town just to reconsider.

Last week I followed up on a tip from Josie Urbick about a Seattle taco truck with a unique item on the menu: a Mexican hot dog ($4.50).  She described it as an almost unthinkable gut bomb that had to be eaten to be believed.

At 9 pm last Thursday I decided it was time.

I found Flair Taco on just off the main drag between Fremont and Ballard (North 36th Street that turns into Leary Way).  The beat-up truck sits in a parking lot at the corner of North 36th and Phinney Avenue North.  When I arrived, 0wner Angel Aguilar was unloading food for Flair’s Friday and Saturday bar close rush.

“The cops stand right over there on the corner,” he said, “and when guys come out of the bars they have a decision to make: try to drive or come eat tacos.  Most choose tacos.  This parking lot will be packed tomorrow night.”

I had already ordered my Mexi dog, and asked about the story behind it.  I make it a point to eat at nearly every taco truck I drive by and never had seen a hot dog on another menu.

“These are how everyone eats hot dogs in Mexico,” Aguilar said.  “I grew up eating them just like this.  Then I came to the states and saw a hot dog on a menu.  I ordered it only to be stunned.  This wasn’t a hot dog.  It had nothing on it!  Finally I saw the relish off to the side and thought at least they had jalapenos. But when I took a bite, I said ‘What the hell is this?’”

Long story short, when he opened Flair Taco with Johnny Flair, Aguilar added to the menu a hot dog the way Cardiac Arrest intended it.

I doubt I’ll eat another dog again without thinking about Aguilar’s Mexi version.  I’ll also be back with friends.  Sure it is a gut bomb, but some gut bombs are worth it once in a while.

I’m also making a note to bring my passport because Flair has another unique item on the menu called the Passport Meal ($9.00).  It is whatever Aguilar decides it is when someone orders it, but he categorically refuses to sell you one without seeing your passport.  His iPhone has picutres of everyone who orders the meal and comes with proper documentation.

I’m in love.  Mocha love.

This comes from a guy who only orders coffee if it might go well with what I plan to eat.  It is a good thing I don’t live anywhere near Redmond WA or my wife might look at our VISA bill and begin to ask questions.

“What are all these charges at Kitanda Brazilian Bakery and Espresso?”

“Uh…”

“This isn’t like you.  Are you meeting someone?”

“Well… um…”

“What is it?  Tell me! There are 100s of dollars of unexplained charges here.”

“I’m too embarrassed.  I didn’t think it would go this far.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m in love… but wait… before you do anything rash.  It is only coffee.  Nothing more.  Delicious, beautiful Brazilian coffee, but that’s all.”

Counseling would probably be required.  Things would be rough for a while.  We’d make it.  I’d probably be drinking green tea again within a few months, but there would be times I would break down and cry.

Yet since I live in Spokane I hope to never need to have the imagined conversation above.  Our VISA bill won’t reflect daily charges at Kitanda and I won’t need to invent excuses to drive to Redmond day after day.  But you can be sure I’ll be back when I’m in the Seattle area and I suggest you do the same.

One sip and you just might be in love too.

I claim that Spokane’s Donut Parade has the best maple bars in the Western Hemisphere (possibly the planet since large swaths of the world have no access to this pinnacle of raised donut perfect).  Yet food gurus Jane and Michael Stern have a different opinion in their fun volume entitled 500 Things To Eat Before It’s Too Late.

They claim the best maple bar they’ve had is at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland where the iconic bar comes topped with strips of bacon.  I’m looking forward to trying a Voodoo bar, but believe a truly classic maple bar needs to stand on its own without a pork assist.

This leads me to their second recommendation: Countryside Donut House in Mountlake Terrace in the Seattle metro area.

Chance would have it that I’m in Seattle today for a family emergency, but I have a break this morning in my duties long enough to head to Countryside.  Who knows?  Maybe a fine maple bar delivered at the right moment could help in the family emergency.  I’m willing to try.  And I’ll get a chance to see how the bars at Countryside compare to Donut Parade.

The restaurant in Browne’s Addition with the most Inland Northwest mindshare is clearly The Elk. It is an institution and for good reason, but I find I head into Browne’s Addition more often to slip into Cafe Marron across the street.  It is a bit quieter, and I enjoy both the space and like the menu.  Yesterday it was for lunch and I settled on the roasted beet salad that tosses the greens with the beets, candied walnuts, and soft goat cheese.  A little Bouzies bread on the side rounded out a nice meal.

Geoff and Debbie White opened the Perry Street Cafe in the fall of 2006.  I’ve driven by often, but never stopped in.  This morning I did and the number one item on my hit list was to try Debbie’s signature cinnamon roll.  Our waitress also suggested the home fries over the hashbrowns with the omelete, and I was grateful for the recommendation.  I’ll be back for both.

Here is the visual rundown:

Last night the table was set for 28 guests – nearly all of them connected to the restaurant and hospitality industry.  I’m sure I’m biased, but it was a brilliant evening with wonderful food from Jeremy Hansen at Sante, an amazing space compliments of the Brad and Sara Greene of The Purple Turtle, and an actual Big Table due to the creativity of Chris Olson of NOC Architects.  We will post more pictures soon, but here is one from the evening.

Chef Anna Vogel is offering $25 Prix Fixe Dinners on the Luna Daily Fresh Sheet inspired by the communal dinners she remembers from childhood that were served each night during the grape harvest.  “Grape Picker Dinners” they are called and come with a choice of two small plates, an entree, and two options for dessert.

I stopped by Tuesday night to try the dinner along with the Vin du Jour that is offered alongside the Prix Fixe for $5 a glass.  Both the dinner and the wine were a delight.  I started with the Organic Roasted Beet Salad featuring greens from the restaurant garden fifty feet from the side door, and finished with a simple vanilla bean ice cream served in a martini glass and topped with grappa macerated concord grapes.  Yet on the food front it will be Vogel’s “Pork Ragu” that I’ll be dreaming about for a while.  She braises the pork in tomatoes and fennel along with plenty of bacon and serves the pork and the rich sauce over creamy parmesan polenta.  Think high caliber comfort food.

But the other star of the evening arrived in a glass: an 2007 Cotes du Rhone from Le Pas Du Meunier.

The menu noted that this particular Cotes du Rhone was only available with the Prix Fixe dinner, and I’d say it is worth ordering the dinner just to get the wine.  Of course the huge bonus is the great food, but the wine itself was quite satisfying even before the food arrive.  Drinking it felt like sipping the best of autumn in a glass.

I hear stories about how awkward it can be to eat alone… stories of being shuffled into corners or tables back by the door to the kitchen, rude wait staff, and uncomfortable moments on loneliness in the midst of others so obviously together.  And I can imagine that eating alone all the time could be hard.

Yet so many of my meals out… reviewing restaurants… require me to eat with others, and this admittedly warped perspective has allowed me to discover the gift of eating alone.  Two of the best meals I’ve eaten this year have been meals alone: one in New York City on Memorial Day weekend (Eleven Madison Park) and a second tonight on the west coast in Seattle’s Le Pichet.

The food on both occasions was wonderful, and, come to think of it, French.  Elegant and daring at Eleven Madison Park.  Rustic and simple at Le Pichet.  Not that I’ve come out of the closet as a Francophile… I haven’t.

In fact, what was most memorable about both meals wasn’t the great food at all, but the wait staff and specifically how they treated me as I dined alone.  At Eleven Madison Park it was Reilly and Chris who went out of their way to describe the food and discuss the wine.  Tonight it was Aaron who did both.

I got to glimpse briefly their delight and expertise as they described the possibilities represented by the menus and my interest was met with enthusiasm and a willingness to take extra time pointing out details I’d surely have missed if I’d been at the table with a party rather than alone.

In fact, in the end it didn’t feel like I was eating alone at all.  They made space for me, offered real hospitality, and set a table that felt a lot like home.  The food was more refined, but what in the end I’ll remember long after I’ve forgotten the flavors is their grace.

When we need a fix of great Chinese we usually pile into the van and head to the South Hill strip mall  in Spokane that houses China Garden.

The restaurant tucked in next to an Ace Hardware store doesn’t scream EAT HERE in neon like most of the Chinese restaurants on the Division strip up north, but the food keeps us coming back.

Tonight it was Honey Walnut Prawns (sweet and undoutbtedly addictive), crispy Sesame Beef with just a hint of heat, and Broccoli Chicken.

If you have your own Chef Raymond favorites, please pass them along for the next time the family gets a Chinese food craving.

This summer we were about to go to press in July with a review of Cafe Neo – one of the only higher-end independent restaurants to survive on the north end of Spokane.  I even made a big deal of this fact in the review only to discover in trying to get professional photographs of the food that Cafe Neo wasn’t going to be the exception, but rather another example of the curious rule that keeps sinking restaurants that attempt to open up north without a pre-approved formula.  In retrospect my introduction was more prophetic than I intended.

The pictures included are mine snapped during the course of the meals I ate at Neo just before it closed its doors permanently at the end of June 2009.  Here is the posthumous review.

One Wonderful “Desperate Case” Of A North Spokane Bistro
Café Neo

An urban growth expert told me once that cities expand north first.  This makes real estate north of the current core a typically solid investment, but apparently there is no similar maxim for local restaurants.  If there is, Spokane would be a depressing exception since it remains almost impossible for upscale independent restaurants to survive on Spokane’s north side.

Café Neo opened last June, and I immediately assumed it would meet the fate of nearly all the bold bistro pioneers before it.  Situated in a half-vacant strip mall on Division by Whitworth University, I expected to see the “Space For Lease” sign back in the window within a month or two.  I didn’t even bother to put Neo on my list of restaurants because I didn’t want to fall in love with any dishes that I’d miss if Neo failed to survive like so many of its predecessors.

My pessimism was costly.  It kept me from both the delight of Neo’s Pecan Crusted Brie with a tart cherry and roasted garlic compote ($11.98) and their Schezuan Green Beans ($6.98).  Both beg to be ordered again, and only several bites in the green beans, I was calculating when I could return or recreate them at home.

Add to these appetizers the Crab Cake Po’ Boy on a Kaiser roll at the heart of the lunch menu ($12.98).  While the soft Kaiser roll would be anathema to any Louisiana po’boy purist, the full effect of the two crab cakes tucked inside the roll with fresh shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and stone-ground mustard aioli should not be dismissed so easily.  And if you can manage to set aside any fundamentalist dining tendencies for the duration of the meal, live a little and order one of your own.

The truth is that I may have underestimated both the determination and creativity of owners Kara and Scott Cook and executive chef Jeremiah Timmons.  The Cooks are anything but new to restaurant work; Scott started work in restaurant management when he was 16 and locally he managed Papagayo’s on Division, Cyrus O’leary’s and then worked on the management team that opened three Chili’s in the area.  Likewise, Timmons brings plenty of credibility to the kitchen:  he trained at the Western Culinary Institute Le Cordon Bleu in Portland and worked or managed kitchens in Maryland, Seattle, and Ellensburg before returning to Spokane.

Still, I’m convinced that all three are on a first name basis with St. Jude, patron saint of desperate cases, because they have also opened and maintained not only Café Neo but also Ambrosia Bistro and Wine Bar in the heart of the Spokane Valley, another supposed wasteland for upscale independent restaurants.  One restaurant in either place would be impressive; two just might qualify as a miracle.

At Neo this miracle includes half price bottle night every Tuesday, and a sit-up-and-take-note scallop dish that one top newspaper man in the city believes is the best entrée available anywhere… period.  This dish is Timmons’ pan-seared diver scallops dusted with porcini mushrooms and set on top of spinach and crisp cubes of Boursin cheese grits with a lobster sauce and fried leeks ($20.98).  A run-in with bad scallops several years ago makes me avoid most scallops on principle, but I had to see if the newspaper man had discovered the best entrée in town.  It certainly is a contender: even with my bad scallop bias, I don’t believe there was so much as a smear of sauce left on the plate, and the grits bordered on perfect.

Timmon’s Rack of Lamb ($24.98) served with a pomegranate-port reduction and mashed Yukon Gold potatoes is another standout on a dinner menu that boasts such creative comfort food a Crab Mac ‘n Cheese ($16.98), Butternut Squash Ravioli ($14.98), and a Walleye ($18.98).  I haven’t seen a walleye featured on a menu west of Minnesota for quite some time.

Timmons appears happy to channel entrée inspiration for his seasonally changing menu from all over the country.  His experience obviously helps here, but some of menu is simply the result of an active culinary imagination as well – imagination I love to see on the north side of town.  Like Ambrosia in the valley, Cooks wanted to create a neighborhood bistro when they opened Café Neo: a neighborhood bistro with a contemporary feel and a wine list worth exploring.  They have done just this, and I like the friendly and competent servers they have on the floor.

Bottom line?  Café Neo should have been on my restaurant list long before now, and I’d suggest you add it to yours.  Together we might be able to help Café Neo thrive on the north side.

Cafe Neo
10208 North Division
Spokane, WA 99218
(509) 467-5961

Slated to be published in Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living, July / August 2009 Issue

The last time I was driving through Vancouver WA I went out of my way to find a Burgerville location.  I was hungry (not all that surprising), but I specifically sought out Burgerville because of all I’d heard about how the company cares… for its customers, for the environment, and for its employees.  For a number of years the company has purchased premium ingredients and they try to celebrate local foods.

After a visit I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a fast food chain with a more obvious commitment to minimizing their environmental impact.  Clearly this makes for great marketing in the current cultural climate that celebrates all things green, but I believe Burgerville decided they cared before it was a marketing home-run.

Then today I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal praising Burgerville for not only offering health care to their employees, but for paying 90% of the premiums for any employee working 20 hours or more a week.  This doubled the cost to the company of their health insurance in 2005, but the company feels the end result has been great for employees and also positive for their bottom line.

The Wall Street Journal article notes that fewer than half of restaurant chains report that they provide any kind of health insurance and those that do typically pay less than half of the premium costs and limit enrollment to only employees working more than 30 hours a week.  Given this, Burgerville’s choice is that much more striking.

The impact has been equally striking.  Typically, very few restaurant employees enroll in company health plans even if they are offered.  This is due to the prohibitive cost of the plans even when the company kicks in half the money.  Burgerville before the change typified this generalization.  Only 3% of their hourly workers were enrolled in the company plan.  Contrast this to now.  Today 98% of the hourly workers and 97% of the salaried employees have opted into the plan.

Equally striking is the apparent direct link to employee retention.  In 2005, Burgerville’s employee turnover was 128%.  In 2006, after the company chose to cover 90% of the premiums, the turnover rate plummeted to 54%.

Overall sales and average ticket prices both increased at the same time.  While it might be simplistic to suggest that this was only due to the gutsy move in health care, it seems reasonable to suggest that this move contributed to both increases.

This probably means there will be plenty of Walla Walla onion rings waiting for me next time I’m in the Portland/Vancouver area along with a burger made from beef that is 100% antibiotic and hormone free.