The setting. Willows Inn. Lummi Island.
We had the meal of a lifetime at The Willows Inn on Lummi Island. One year earlier, venturing into Stumptown Coffee’s Seattle roastery, frazzled, trying to get coffee set for the restaurant that was days away from opening, I met the guy that would tell me about this hidden gem, and eventually, one year later take me away for the meal of a lifetime. So yeah, it was an anniversary of sorts…the restaurant had just turned 1, I had three days off, and it was the “the first day we met” kind of celebration.
Really it was completely serendipitous that Chef Blaine Wetzel would be awarded one of Food & Wine magazine’s best new chefs only days before. Although to be honest, to me this title can in no way encompass the forward thinking and talent that Chef Wetzel and his entire staff possess…especially when considering the other Seattle chef that was also honored. This restaurant and the team behind it are in a class alone.
So mushiness and a touch of cattiness aside, let’s look at some food porn!
First, here are a couple of quick notes that elevate this experience:
- Nearly every element that was on our plate was hunted, fished, foraged, or gathered from Lummi Island. Really something to be celebrated.
- As sad as it makes me to hold back, I’m only going to share the photos that photographed best. The meal was so beautiful that I just can’t bear to post the crummy photos I took after sunset. It just wouldn’t do justice to the team that worked so hard to create this meal for us. Trust me, it’s hard not to share but what I do have will still keep you satisfied, I’m sure of it.
- The first and final courses were each served by the chefs, including Chef Wetzel.
- My guy had the wine pairing and I had the juice pairing. More on that below.
The welcome. A tiny cedar box filled with moss, smoke, and smoked sunflower roots. A perfect way to set the tone for the rest of the meal. Inventive in it’s core ingredient but so basic in how it was prepared. So much meaning in this first course–history in a single bite.
.
Mini crepes filled with herring roe, crema, and chives. It’s going to be hard to choose, but this was definitely one of my favorite bites: the wafer thin crisp of the crepe, the salty and slippery roe, the richness of the cream, and the punch of the most fragrant chives I’ve ever had.
.
House potato chips and sauerkraut with smoked wild halibut. Doesn’t hurt that the halibut was caught that morning. Truly, an amazing bite. For the super finicky gastronomes out there, I’m sure you’ll be expecting one or two gripes, so if I MUST say anything I’d say the chip was a tad soggy. But really, as it was it, and if I had a hundred afterward, it really was splendid. The tartness of the kraut with the rich, smokiness from the halibut was truly dreamy.
.
Shigoku oysters marinated in sauerkraut juice, tapioca pearls, sorrel. Heaven! Never would have guessed it, but the addition of the tapioca (underneath each oyster) was a brilliant touch. I had initially thought that they were the ones with the vinegar taste, serving as a mignonette of sorts, but it was actually the oyster that was marinated, lightly. A truly thoughtful and elegant dish. Also be sure to note the presentation: beach stones, iced. Muah!
.
Charred kale, truffles, bread crumbs. Light with the crisply toasted kale leaf, but slightly decadent with addition of the truffled breadcrumbs. All I could think was: “If I had a tub full of this I’d pop it like popcorn.”
.
Fresh scallop, milk, island arugula. This dish was DIVINE. Like the chives with the crepe, the arugula was more fragrant and peppery than any I’d ever had. This was a subtle dish for sure, but elegant in its simplicity. The milk was just beyond; a delicate touch that was just so sexy.
.
Fried scallop roe. Alright, so we’ve had conflicting stories of which part of the scallop anatomy this actually is, but regardless it’s another one of my favorite courses. To be clear we did not ask the chef to clarify, but in recent weeks here in Seattle we’ve heard different stories from different restaurants. Male or female organs…no one knows right now (and a super quick google search revealed nothing of much help), but regardless, this was slippery and buttery. Taste and texture-wise, think uni or monkfish liver. I feel like this course might seem out of place or odd to some, but for me the importance lay in the fact that this amazing piece of sea life is most often thrown out. Decandent to the very end.
.
Geoduck sashimi, organic grains, watercress. Geoduck has to be one of the most unpleasant things to look at, but it’s quintessentially Northwest and when it’s done right it’s amazing. I loved this dish. The briny and tender geoduck (not chewy at all) was the perfect accompaniment to the mix of grains and watercress juice.
.
Venison heart tartare, house capers, island greens. I will never get enough tartare of any sort, but this was truly stellar. There wasn’t an iron-y heart taste here as I’d expected, but somehow I was able to taste the venison (Psychosomatic? Perhaps.) The homemade capers really stood out here also. Again, I could have popped these endlessly.
.
Smoked salmon. This was the most intensely amazing bite of salmon I have ever had, and growing up with a hobby salmon fisherman, in Seattle, I’d like to think I know a thing or two about salmon. Here’s the scoop: Chef Wetzel sampled the locals take on smoked salmon. He took the best components of each and created this masterpiece.
.
One other important piece to note here is the use of Reefnet fishing. Along the shoreline we noticed large platforms with four towers at each corner. These pontoons of sorts are rolled out to the bay where each tower has a fisherman with a corner of the net. They trap the salmon and pull uniformly to raise the catch. Can you imagine the muscle this takes?
Reefnet fishing is a historical method that allows for a more humane and sustainable way to catch the salmon, but it also allows the fisherman to select the best catches and set free those that don’t meet culinary standards with minimal shock. I firmly believe that similar to cattle, toxic shock has everything to do with how our food tastes.
For me the skill here goes beyond the smoking, but lies in where he knew how to let the fish be what it is.
.
Local squid, kohlrabi, oyster emulsion. The charred bits of squid with the decadent pistachio-colored oyster emulsion was unbelievably good. The addition of the raw kohlrabi added a great bit of crunch and freshness. This was “the second” of the five listed courses.
.
Stinging nettles, fresh cheese, young pine needles. For me this dish sums up the importance of eating local and seasonal. Nettles are incredibly healing but also a culinary delight. The young pine needles, so clean and only lightly fragrant. These are the things we’re meant to eat at this moment in spring. We both agreed that we felt very “connected” to the island, feeling clean and almost euphoric after this course. This was the first tasting I’ve had where I wasn’t gorged (yet sluggishly happy). Instead I felt nourished, gastronomically* inspired (and happily envigorated).
.
The remaining courses (the unphotogenic):
- House bread and butter. The bread was very Tartine-esque, and the house churned butter was unbelievable.
- Smoked local shitake mushrooms (whole).
- Octopus
- Baked oyster, brown butter, tequila.
- Fried halibut skin with abalone.
- Chicken drippings as a dip to accompany the bread. SERIOUSLY. This actually happened.
- Halibut, bone sauce, house capers. This was the final savory course. The perfectly cooked halibut was incredibly juicy and toothsome. (Yup, toothsome.) The bone sauce, from what we could tell, was the result of extracting the fatty marrow from the halibut bones. It was incredibly flavorful and creamy, and when paired with the house capers again it was magical! Once again the best I’d had.
- Wild flowers, lemon verbena granita, cherry blossom ice cream, elderflower meringue. The single best dessert of my life. Cherry blossom ice cream? I mean, come on! It was gorgeous.
.
The little touches that meant so much:
- The juice pairinings. GENIUS. The sommelier is in the process of relocating to Lummi Island, and while my guy thoroughly enjoyed his wine pairing we both agreed that my juice pairing was beyond brilliant. The selections are made and created by Chef Wetzel and to sum it all up, his decision to pair huckleberry juice with the last course of halibut and bone sauce was the pinnacle of the evening. There really are no words.
- Coffee & tea. With this course we got the most incredible mini chocolate, chocolate chip cookies.
- The first and final courses: With the chefs serving it created the most wonderful, relaxed atmosphere. They were genuinely interested in sharing their food and conversing with each table. A lovely and meaningful touch!
- The service team was unparalleled. Relaxed, genuinely happy, and in turn the dining room atmosphere was the same. Unlike other tastings this dining room was quietly abuzz. Not a touch of stuffiness anywhere (just a note this was aThursday night).
.
In Conclusion
The meal for us was epic in its execution and in its message. Northwest cuisine finally has a place, a face, and a name. Until now, we’ve been lost: Seattle as a gastronomic* destination is lacking and with cities like San Francisco and Portland leagues ahead, I’m happy that Chef Wetzel is poised to help shape our culinary culture. I truly can’t wait to go again.
.
*Soap Box Moment: I am purposefully avoiding the word “foodie” here. This is another post for another time; but for now, I feel like this experience cannot be summed up, in anyway by that term.
Like this:
Baggu Leather Spring Collection
I’ve written about my love affair with my Baggu bags in the past, so with the introduction of leather bags a while back, and now this new Spring color line, I realize it may be time to update my collection. The naturally milled leather looks super-soft, no?
I guess I should admit that I’m pretty hard on my nylon bags so I’d have to think about the best way to use the medium leather bag in a slightly different capacity; I’m not sure it’d do so well with the way I navigate the farmer’s market. Perhaps I’ll start with a small pouch and give it a go. Check out their full collection here.
Leather bag S $120, Leather bag M $160, Pouch S $20, Pouch M $40
Like this:
Filed under: Clean, Farmer's Market, Food, Green, Health, Movies, Nature
As much as I love and often refer to Food Inc. it was a really heavy movie; all the things I had already suspected were not only confirmed but the stories and images, though not as gruesome I had anticipated, had resonated in a strong way. I was mad and angry and I sort of carried it with me for a while; it wasn’t a terrible thing, just not the kind of feeling I want to handle often.
On the flip side of Food Inc. there’s a new, seemingly more joyful and uplifting movie that’s out called Fresh. My awesome co-worker passed it along yesterday and I’m already trying to see if I can get into a screening next week. I can’t find much more info than what’s listed on their site, but it looks as if it’s been making the rounds at small screenings here and there (since 2009!). It would be great to see it go nation-wide.
My favorite farmer Joel Salatin is back from Food Inc. too!
Porkloin wrapped around pork belly with a crispy cracklin’ skin. I don’t really need to say any more, but you know I will.
Roli Roti has quite the following here, and if you’ve ever been to the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market on a Saturday you know what I mean. The queue for these guys is really long, I mean, unbelievably long and it’s that way week after week. Really anything that has pork belly on it will be good, so I get why people are willing to wait. I, however, am not patient, especially when it comes to food, so I haven’t bothered to wait in the line that probably averages at least 30 people deep.
A few weeks ago, to my utter delight, I happened to come across a line that had only a handful of people. A rare occurrence for sure, so I took advantage and hopped right in and began drooling right then and there. Just watching the rotisserie spit spinning is positively hypnotizing!
It was a very nice sandwich, and although I know this is not going to be a popular opinion, I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. To be fair I think the hype-machine has once again gotten in the way; nowadays it’s hard for anyone and anything to live up to the the fanatic gushes from hoards of Yelpers and bloggers like me (I am not a Yelper, btw). Don’t get me wrong, it was a lovely lunch and the ingredients were all great (sustainably raised pork and organic produce), but the cracklin’ crust was too hard – like, potential for a chipped tooth kind of hard, and the caramelized onions weren’t very flavorful, but oh how wonderful they looked being slathered onto the roll! And finally, I was left craving an acid (you know me) like a peach chutney or a light vinaigrette for the greens. If all of those things were there it would have been epic for me, and wait-in-line worthy. But as it was, I would say it was nice and satisfying. I don’t want to deter any potential visitors from the queue, especially if you’ve heard cheers from your friends, so I guess you could consider my opinion as a gut-check to all those raves you’ve heard or read.
Late summer succotash
I am both regretful and embarrassed to admit that I’ve been absent from the farmer’s market for a few weeks. I can’t believe it, how could I let that happen? I was successful in missing the best of what summer has to offer in the form of corn, berries, and peas. I mean, I managed to pick up some stuff here and there from Whole Foods, but they weren’t anything special.
If there is an excuse to be had it’s that we haven’t had a summer yet, so I think I was lost somewhere in the fog that looms over the house every day. San Francisco is known for late summers, and by that I mean that summer doesn’t start until September and usually lasts through October. At least that’s what I’ve experienced so far and heard many times over. It seems to be the case so far because last weekend we had a beautiful summer weekend, and somehow I was suddenly inspired to run to the market and stock up on anything summery I could find.
I did a great job in making up for lost time and managed to find lots of beautiful beans, carrots, squashes, tomatoes (dry farmed!) and peaches. I was, however, devastated to find that corn was nowhere to be found. You see, I had been drooling over the thought of Smitten Kitchen’s succotash for weeks, but wasn’t able to find organic corn at Whole Foods, and seeing as how I’m slowly making my way through Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and I’ve still got scenes from Food Inc. burned into my memory, I wasn’t about to settle for conventional corn. Luckily, in a last minute stop for a bottle of kombucha on my way home I serendipitously found a few remaining ears of organic corn! Definitely not the peak of the crop, but still in great condition, I was happy enough with their outward appearance to snag four ears for the succotash. This was indeed a good day.
Words cannot describe the amazing punch of flavors in this dish, and for me the mixture of the rich bacon and vinegar really bring out the sweet crunch of the corn. I really just can’t get over the fact that I missed making this at least a few more times before the corn disappeared for the year.
I’ve mentioned Smitten Kitchen before, but I must say again that Deb is my go-to for menu planning and inspiration, and please believe that if you’re able to sneak in this dish before autumn fully arrives, you will see why I rely on her so often. A beautiful food blog with wonderful stories and recipes. She adapted this recipe from Gourmet, and I’ve adapated it to suit what I’d brought home from the market.
(Late) Summer Succotash with Bacon and Garlic Croutons
Adapted, from Smitten Kitchen who adapted, barely, from Gourmet
Serves 6 as a side dish
- 1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices), sliced into lardons
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 small shallots, finely chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, dinely minced
- 3/4 pound dry farmed tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup carrots, diced
- 1/4 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch strips
- Kernels from 4 ears corn
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup pea shoots (original recipe calls for basil and arugula, but I had pea shoots on hand)
- salt and pepper to taste
Slice the bacon into lardon strips and cook over medium heat in a large pan. Once the bacon is crisp, remove and drain on a paper towel. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from pan and add the olive oil. Add the shallot to the oil and bacon fat and cook over medium heat until the shallots are translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute more (I use my microplane and grate directly into the pan). Add the corn, tomatoes, carrots, and green beans to the pan and stir to coat with the shallots and oil. Lightly sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Add the vinegar and cook, stirring, until the colors of the vegetables brighten and before the tomatoes lose too much of their shape. Transfer the succotash to a serving dish and let cool slightly. Toss in the bacon, pea shoots, and croutons.
Croutons
Since I already had the oven going I did these on a sheet pan on the top rack, but a grill pan work just as well and will give you pretty grill marks.
- 1 loaf rustic bread
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Cut 1-inch cubes from the bread, about three slices will yield enough. Toss lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread into a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in oven and be sure to keep watch. Usually takes me about 10 minutes in my oven set at 400-degrees, with a light toss mid-way through. Let cool slightly and add to succotash.
Rainier cherries are here! But only until early next week according to my friend at the Ferry Building farmer’s market. Funny, I remember the season being a lot longer when I was in Seattle, but it makes sense since they’re grown in Eastern WA; the best ones are anyway.
You can’t miss ‘em, they’re a gorgeous golden-yellow with a rosy red blush. But as beautiful as they look they taste even better, especially cold from the fridge (for me at least). They’re very delicate, and even more temperamental during the growing and harvesting process which is why they’re typically about $5-6 a pound. They’ve been known to go for $1 a piece in Japan!
I usually have a hard time finding organic ones, but today at the market there were tons. If you haven’t yet gotten yours, or if you’ve never had them you must run to get some now! Trust me on this.
Aside from the cherries I had to stock up on some produce since I didn’t make it to the Alemany market on Saturday. Mom’s coming in for a visit this week so I wanted to be sure to have some goodies on hand. I had my list, but of course got a few extras too…
Let’s see, from the top left we have parsley, Asian eggplants, gypsy peppers, English peas, carrots, field greens, Bing cherries, Rainier cherries, peaches, plums, heirloom tomatoes, spring onions. All organic, all for about $35. Not bad, I say! Oh yeah, I snuck over to Miette and got some strawberry and pistachio macaroons for later.
There aren’t any food vendors on Tuesday’s, and I was really, really hungry. The usual big salad for lunch just wasn’t going to cut it, so I decided to stop by The Sentinel on the way home. Just a quick take-away gourmet sandwich stop (from Dennis Leary of Canteen) I decided on the lamb and feta meatball sammie with a spicy tomato sauce, mushroom soup, and an oatmeal cookie. I saved that giant roll for another day, but it looks really good.
The soup was delicious – a richly fragrant mushroom taste with a bit of tang behind the creamy texture. The sammie was good too. The lamb was tasty and well seasoned, but the tomato sauce wasn’t as spicy as I’d hoped. Regardless, it was still a lovely lunch on the run. Oh yeah, the pickle was killer! I have half of everything left for dinner afternoon snack.
I love my Baggu grocery bags. They’re completely functional (they hold a ton of stuff), durable (holds 50 lbs.), and most fun of all they’re gorgeous. I’ve mentioned before that when I first started bringing my own grocery bags I needed a bit of an incentive to remember them each time. I found these Baggu’s, in their rainbow of colors and knew that I’d almost never be able to leave them behind. Come on, a fashion statement while shopping…fun, right? Well, it worked; I rarely ever forget my bags and I always get lots of compliments on them.
Aside from my rainbow of grocery bags, I also have a small collection of their mesh produce bags, which I ADORE! They’re a light nylon mesh that comes in small or large sizes, so they’re the perfect accessory for farmer’s market or grocery store shopping. I just throw a few in my grocery bag and I’m off to the market. They’re especially useful at the market with the loose produce like brussel sprouts or baby potatoes.
I’m going to get a bit catty here, but it drives me crazy when I see people grabbing plastic produce bags and throwing two lemons or an onion in. I’m sorry dear friend, but where do you think that plastic ends up at the end of the day? There’s absolutely no reason to house any of your produce in a plastic bag. I say go bag-less, or grab a set of these wonderful produce bags!
Visit Baggu online and check out they’re wonderful line of reusable bags.
Grocery bag: $8.00 each / 3, 4, or 5 bags $7.50 each / 6 or more $6.50 each
Small produce bag: $3.00 each
Large produce bag: $4.00 each
Lately I’ve been attempting to become more aware of what makes me happy. In general I can always say a nice meal or a nice sale at Barney’s, but in my new life away from work I feel this need to fully know and understand what I want and why. Gone are the days of shopping and regular date nights, which I do mourn in some ways, but honestly I’ve found so much more to love. I feel like I’m at summer camp, able to do with my days as I please: a little field trip to the market today, and maybe a little picnic at Dolores Park tomorrow. Lately I get giddy over the smallest things, and I realize how easy it was to miss these when you’re living a life that’s not truly yours. This was the reason I took the leap away from being stuck, to start carving out the life I wanted for myself.
Last week at the farmer’s market I was elated to find that spring had arrived in the form of English peas, young garlic, and spring onions. My baggu’s filled with my list and the additional spring items, I was practically skipping down the aisle. Before heading home I took a few minutes to shell a few peas and sit in the sun. I made a note: this was happy-ness.
The happy-ness continued over lunch with this quick dressing I threw together. The quickly sauteed garlic and onion was mild, but had a wonderful taste and fragrance, especially with the slightly browned pieces from the pan. With the splash of lemon it was the perfect spring dressing.
Spring onion and young garlic dressing
(enough for 2 entree-sized salads)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- two spring onions
- two young garlic bulbs and stems
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and over medium heat. Finely chop the garlic and spring onions and add to the skillet. Season lightly with salt and pepper and stir frequently so the greens don’t burn, about 2-3 minutes. They should maintain their bright green color, but some pieces will be lightly browned. Remove from the heat and let cool. Add the lemon and fresh parsley and stir together. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
I served with organic mixed greens, fennel slices, carrots, and freshly shelled peas.
Variation: Spring garlic has a short season, the vendor at the market told be about a month, so after the season I’ll rework this with regular garlic and scallions. Also, next time I think I’ll try adding a sprinkling of red chili pepper just before I pull from the heat.
My favorite Saturday errand is a trip to the Alemany Farmer’s Market. Not sure if it’s considered an errand if it’s something you look forward to though; for some reason an errand always seems a bit bothersome. I think the only not-so-fun part about it is washing and drying everything when I get home, but as much as this isn’t my favorite part, I have to tell you that it is SO WORTH IT. Reaching for clean fruits and veggies on a weeknight in the kitchen is a great feeling.
When I’m at the top of my game I plan my market run throughout the week, but at the very least I know I should always come up with some sort of list before I go, otherwise it could be dangerous. I believe it’s called sensory overload:
