Author: Erin James

Luc’s Cassoulet and Cotes du Rhône Red

Luc’s Cassoulet and Cotes du Rhône Red

Posted by | Feb 18, 2013 | |

Sunshine-soaked February days can be misleading. It is still winter and sideways rain will soon return to remind you of that. Thankfully, winter food dishes are fully functioning and available to additional comfort to get through the gloomier days.

There are not many dishes that can comfort (and bloat, increase weight, etc.) like the French casserole dish of cassoulet. The marriage of beans, meat, pork skin and often slight breading is blissful — slow-cooked for the utmost melding. The dish is named after the physical dish it is cooked in, the deep-dish casserole bowl. Although cassoulet is more mass-marketed in France — canned in jars like Campbell’s soup — in the Northwest, it is still unadulterated prosperity in a pot.

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Ba Bar’s Pâté Chaud with their Moscow Mule

Ba Bar’s Pâté Chaud with their Moscow Mule

Posted by | Feb 13, 2013 | |

I have written a lot about Ba Bar for several publications in recent months. I’m aware, I don’t care and you can’t stop me from doing it again. I’m not playing favorites or trying to get in with chef/owner Eric Banh, I’m not biding my time there before I cocktail-stalk Murray Stinson or Jamie Boudreau up the way at Canon and I’m certainly not a Seattle U student although there are many times I wish I were still in college… I just love the food, plain and simple.

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Tots and Lager at the Jules Mae’s Saloon

Tots and Lager at the Jules Mae’s Saloon

Posted by | Feb 10, 2013 | |

Saddling up at the bar top of Jules Mae’s Saloon in Georgetown will insure you a greeting by Johnny Cash’s middle finger. The legendary photo snapped of the Man in Black is used to explain the forms of payment accepted at the saloon (“cash” or credit) and sets a tone for the bar that there is no going back from.

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Skillet Counter’s Ultimate Grilled Cheese and Cider

Skillet Counter’s Ultimate Grilled Cheese and Cider

Posted by | Feb 1, 2013 | |

Now, with the Center making monumental steps toward modernizing itself with its city, the Armory is paying its respect and homage to its origin by welcoming the area’s foodie notions onto its historic grounds. What once was a downcast and stark food court is now a beacon of hope for cuisine, both for tourists and locals.

Although the shopping mall mainstays still do reside (i.e. Subway, Starbucks, dual pizza stops), Seattle chefs have made their presence known with pop-up versions of their flagship restaurants, including Pike Place Market’s Confectional, Fremont’s Pie, MOD Pizza, local nut roaster Ceres and most excitably for this eater, Skillet Counter.

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The Hunt Club’s Oysters and Absinthe

The Hunt Club’s Oysters and Absinthe

Posted by | Jan 22, 2013 | |

The second Wednesday of each month brings this series to the hotel, dedicated to drink education and preparation. Presented by the knowledgeable staff of the Sorrento Hotel and its Hunt Club restaurant, they strive to feature “drinking lessons” on anything and everything from Champagne to Sangria, rum, infusions and beer. The powers that be bring in the city’s elite in the libation world with leading cocktail historians, craft distillers, guest bartenders and their own house mixologists who play their A game to show guests how to use the beverage to its greatest potential and what to pair it with.

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