Posts Tagged ‘olives’
After a leisurely day in Santa Monica, we retreated to Sonoma Wine Garden for wine and snacks. Located on the deck of Santa Monica Place, a building originally designed by Frank Gehry and recently renovated. ‘Cradle‘, a sculpture by Ball-Nogues Studio, is suspended from a blank exterior wall. Dozens of polished stainless steel spheres are clustered in a provocative shape.
A chalkboard on a wine barrel at the entrance enticed passers-by with happy hour, live music and wines of Washington!
To the right is the dining room, and to the left is the bar. The surrounding patio is tiered with plenty of space for lounging in the glorious SoCal weather.
Wooden blocks stamped with wine logos dangled in the gentle breeze, an optical illusion is created with angled mirrors.
Candles flickered and outdoor heaters switched on, it was a beautiful evening to be dining al fresco.
In need of some rest after a day in the sun, Sonoma Wine Garden had a casual atmosphere with a bar menu and an extensive wine list.
We ordered a bottle of 2008 Fogdog Pinot Noir, a robust Sonoma Coast red wine.
We nibbled on marinated olives and truffle fries. Glistening globes of green olives were served in a recycled glass jar. They were mild and aromatic, with small pits.
Golden and crispy, the fries were perfumed with the earthy tones of truffle oil and topped with Parmesan and parsley.
Fairy lights twinkled in twilight as I reflected on how much I miss natural light.
I noticed a row of Enomatic dispensers and spotted one for Penfolds Grange at the cost of one dollar per millilitre!
One last glance at the horizon and we exited into the night.
Lecosho – Downtown, Seattle
Posted on: Monday 22 August 2011
- In: Downtown | Eating | Seattle | USA | Washington
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Seattle is vibrant in late summer. The brilliant weather has us all out and about. Keen to be outdoors in the balmy dusk, we strolled through Pike Place Market to Lecosho. The patio emptied of Downtown workers as we perused the drinks menu.
Our table had a direct view into the main dining room. Furnished in muted tones and dark veneers, the lofty space had a long bar and an open kitchen in the corner. Sunlight streamed in through the floor to ceiling windows.
Our table was brightened by a jug of blossoming dahlias.
Lecosho is the Chinook slang for swine and there’s a chubby pig on their logo!
We nibbled Marcona almonds and olives as we pondered dinner choices. A round and stout variety of almonds, the Marcona had a fine texture, and were fried and salted.
Complimentary bread was from Columbia City Bakery. I like the dainty glass butter dish on a distressed wood board.
The gentlemen ordered the Catalan style fish soup. An abundance of prawns, clams, mussels and finfish mingled with a saffron sofrito broth. I had a spoonful and the soup was infused with the briny essence of the fresh seafood.
The ladies opted for the ricotta gnocchi with chanterelle mushrooms, asparagus and Pecorino Romano. Pan fried with a crisp shell, the gnocchi was pillowy soft inside and paired well with the crunchy spears of asparagus.
The gentlemen eschewed dessert for whisky and Scotch digestifs, poured by Jerry who was the sommelier at the Il Corvo Sardinia pasta and wine class.
Ms S picked the bittersweet chocolate torte served with a quenelle of cream about the same size as the torte. Cracked and sunken in appearance, the slice was rich and velvety.
I had the vanilla rice pudding with stewed rhubarb topped with a petite madeleine. Dotted with vanilla bean, the bowl of rice pudding was decadently creamy.
I ate the petite madeleine last as its sweetness would have overwhelmed the delicate vanilla perfume.
We agreed to return to taste the restaurant’s namesake which features on the menu as porchetta, rillettes, sausage and pork chop!
It was night by the time we left, the chill of autumn in the air.
Cure – Capitol Hill, Seattle
Posted on: Sunday 26 June 2011
- In: Capitol Hill | Eating | Seattle | USA | Washington
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‘I don’t remember it being this steep’, I wailed. I’m oblivious to gradients when driving but you feel every degree when walking. We trekked up to Capitol Hill on a weeknight for a screening of Stephen Sondheim’s Company at the Egyptian Theatre. On a plateau opposite Cal Anderson Park is Cure, a small bar specialising in cheese and charcuterie.
A simple sign indicates the entrance to the bar and it’s a long and narrow space inside. There’s counter seating and bar tables at the back. A glass panel has the dual purpose of being a menu board and enclosing the charcuterie section where the cured meats are sliced.
It was a quiet place to recover from our walk as we sat and watched the playful action on the tennis and basketball courts across the park. Cure has a short menu with a selection of individual meats and cheeses, house plates, side dishes and specials.
The gentleman guided us through the menu and helpfully answered our questions. We ordered a customised trio house plate of culatello, lomo ibérico and queso patacabra, and the lemon, basil and garlic olives.
Garlic was the dominant flavour in the olives with hints of lemon and basil. We broke off shards of the sliced baguette to dip into the brine.
The menu described culatello as ‘the little backside, like prosciutto but better’. That is an emphatic statement to make to a prosciutto lover! I was sceptical of the claim, unwavering in my loyalty. Of a lighter hue than prosciutto, the culatello was delicate and tender. It had a similar melt in mouth feel to prosciutto but with a mellower taste.
Iberian pigs are fattened by a diet of acorns and the lomo ibérico, cured tenderloin, was meaty. A Spanish aged goat cheese, I found the queso patacabra to be a firmer texture and lighter flavour version of chèvre, a pleasant pairing for the cured meats.
This production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company with the New York Philharmonic was staged and filmed in April 2011. The stellar cast included Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Patti LuPone and Christina Hendricks. ‘Here’s to the ladies who lunch … I’ll drink to that!’
