I’m in NYC visiting my brother and, per usual, he has a list of restaurants he wants me to try–with Momofuku Ko at the top. He warns me that it’s crazy hard to get a reservation, especially since they only have two seatings of 12 per night. Luckily, checking at 10pm on a Friday night turned up three open spots. Go economy!

On the night of our reservation we meet up in the East Village and find the restaurant on an unassuming street, marked only with the trademark peach. I sneak a shot of the door, as they have a strict no photo policy. Once inside we are greeted immediately and led to our spot at the counter. The restaurant is very small and centers around an open kitchen where three chefs are at work.

We decide to splurge on the $100 (per person) wine pairings, justifying it with “when in Rome.” We start out with three amuse-bouches, all beautifully plated. The braised fennel on quark with hazelnut oil is a nice bite of fresh, but forgettable. The chicharon with togarashi is downright bad and akin to gas station pork rind snacks. Our last bite of biscuit with honey and black pepper is the best of the three, but overwhelmingly oily, sweet and dense.

Our next course of fluke with buttermilk, poppy seeds and chives arrives and our taste buds perk up. We both confess that the rocky start had us worried. The fluke is raw, thinly sliced and melts in the mouth. The combination of sour buttermilk and crunchy/nutty poppy seeds is intrinsically strange, but marries beautifully with the fluke.

The sea urchin with pea vines in dashi is gorgeous: bright orange urchin against dark green pea vines and cleverly disguised cucumber shaped like peas. I briefly wonder if they make a melon-baller that small or if someone cut them by hand. My brother and I are not fans of sea urchin texture, taste or smell, but this is creamy-sweet and wonderful with the cold, savory dashi broth and bright taste of  shiso. I look at my fork then back to the bowl of broth, wishing they served spoons with this course. I turn to my brother to comment and watch with abhorrence and jealousy as he tips the bowl to his mouth and slurps the remaining dashi. He sheepishly gives me a shrug that implies it was too good to waste.

Next comes hand-ripped pasta with snail sausage and crisped chicken skin in butter sauce. I think snails are repugnant and I don’t find them redeeming in the garden or on the palate. However, I learn that if you grind them into a sausage, mix them with spices and drown them in butter they can be quite tasty. The sauce is like a beurre blanc but without the wine or shallots; yeah, basically like a stick of emulsified butter on the plate (not complaining). This dish is rich, rich, rich and the added treat of crispy chicken skin garnish sends me over the top. Someone should market crispy chicken skin snacks. I would eat them morning, noon and night.

I’m overwhelmed with tastes, smells, sights and drink, but we plow on with a smoked egg with caviar, potato chips and sweet potato vinegar.  The egg has a wedge cut out of it, with caviar spilling out, like the egg has eggs. It’s so beautiful that we pause to ooh and ah… possibly a bit louder than intended. I think the chefs are smirking. The smoky egg splits open and barely cooked yolk combines with vinegar and crisp potato the size of garlic chips. It’s oddly comforting, like eating sunny-side eggs and crispy hash browns. I contemplate licking my plate.

I watch the chef prepare our next course:  pan-fried soft-shell crab with birred onions, celery noodles and fresh hearts of palm. I see him pull the apron off, snip the legs and slide the still moving crab into the pan. I hope my brother hasn’t seen this, but he casually asks if I’ve ever read “Consider the Lobster.” I don’t feel like debating the ethics of crustacean pain, so I change the subject until the dish arrives. According to the dictionary, birred means: “To make or move with a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion.” As far as I can tell the bed of onions on this plate are cooked down and “whirred” with a ridiculous amount of butter. Delicious. The celery noodles are long shaves of celery that resemble fettuccine. The fresh hearts of palm are miles better than the canned version, but kind of bland. I am usually disappointed with soft-shell crab; rarely is it crisp enough to mask the chewy shell. This fared better than most, but it’s my second least favorite dish on the menu.

Here is where I start counting how many dishes we’ve had, what’s left to come, and how much more I can eat without exploding. But it’s my favorite dish of the night: foie gras over lychee nuts, pine nut brittle, and riesling jelly. I have a thing for foie gras, my brother doesn’t. I offer to eat his portion; he declines. The foie gras is formed into a torchon, which is then frozen and finely shaved over the top of fresh lychee nuts and a sweet, crunchy brittle. Very odd, not in flavor, but in texture and temperature–chewy, crunchy, cold. Addictive. Giddy from wine, we affectionately refer to it as “meat sundae,” again rather loudly.

I flat out sigh when we get deep fried spare ribs with lots of different kinds of onions. I write “lots of different kinds of onions” because at this point I’m drunk and so full that my brain has stopped functioning and I can’t tell the difference between ramps, green onions, or Walla Wallas.  Is it good? Unfortunately yes, so I eat the whole thing.

Before the next course comes I visit the restroom to see if emptying my bladder will make more room for my stomach (it doesn’t). I return to find the beautiful and technically inventive guava ice cream with cream cheese crust. They make a quenelle of ice cream and dip it into a liquid cream cheese mixture, which evenly coats the oval and forms a semi-hard shell. I take only one bite… apparently, I do not like guava.

Our final course is black sesame ice-cream with lemon coconut curd and funnel cake. Eating black ice cream is a bit strange. It tastes dark, earthy and sweet. Not unpleasant, but it taxes the brain because the flavors are so diametric. The funnel cake is delicious/sweet/fried goodness. And also about the size of my head, so I only manage about a quarter of it.

I eat. A lot. And sometimes I even feel full. But this is I’ve-never-been-this-full-in-my-life-and-I-want-to-die full. I roll to the subway station and pass out happily on a cold, orange plastic-moulded seat.

For $100 each (not including the wine pairings), this dinner felt like a steal; basically $10 per course. Ko also serves a $160 lunch, which is more tastes / smaller portions, but I bet you’ll still have to let your belt out a few notches. If you go, I recommend not eating anything else for the entire day. And if you’re planning on wine pairings, do not, I repeat, do not stop for cocktails before dinner.

P.S. Due to the no photo policy, my brother kindly re-enacted some dishes for your viewing pleasure.

Technorati Tags: delicious, ko, momofuku, NYC

There are many reviews about Vios Cafe and they all have a similar consensus: a tragic story, good food and lots of kids. Before visiting Vios I thought it was odd how many of the reviews mentioned the presence of kids, but seconds after walking in I realized what they meant: there was a literal mosh pit of screaming kids at the back of the cafe. Other than that Vios was a pleasant, large, open space with lots of windows. The casual dinning area was scattered with shelves of imported pantry items for sale, up front there was a deli counter, and in back (near the mosh pit) were refrigerator cases filled with more goodies for purchase.

I ordered the lamb picadillo ($13.50) and when it arrived I was shocked at how small the portion was: two teeny peppers stuffed with lamb on a bed of greens. In the back of my mind I was thinking “what a rip off” and then the flavors hit my tongue and those thoughts quickly melted away. This was the best stuffed pepper I’ve ever had. The lamb stuffing was beyond tender, heavily spiced with rich, savory-sweet Mediterranean flavors and the soft red pepper was a perfect piquant foil.

For dessert I tried the galakto cake ($5), which was a bit of a departure for me since I’m not a fan of polenta cake. Galakto is made with semolina (as opposed to cornmeal) and has a slightly grainy, but wonderful, texture. It was served warm and topped with a hot, sugary syrup that made me swoon. I instantly thought of my mom (who loves polenta cake) and made a mental note to bring her here ASAP.

This is definitely a place I will return to—although probably not for a romantic date or with those that are hard of hearing.

Technorati Tags: Greek, restaurant, Seattle, Vios

A friend of mine is a rep for a wine import company that specializes in French and South African wines. This means that he spends his day visiting restaurants, chatting and drinking with wine buyers. Nice job, right?

A big part of his job appears to be schmoozing—he schmoozes so much that I rarely get to see him anymore. After complaining about this, he invited me along on an informal drop-in to check up on a customer. I was a little shocked when he took me to Brouwer’s Cafe in Fremont, as the cafe is owned by Bottleworks (a.k.a. beer fanatics); I was surprised to hear they served wine as well.

It was my first visit to Brouwer’s Cafe and I liked the place. The patrons seemed subdued (for Fremont anyway) and the decor was dark with a medieval bent. The heavy use of stone and metal seemed both Gothic and modern at the same time. I found this a bit disorienting at first—it was definitely not like any other restaurant I’d been in.

Brouwer’s Cafe has a really appealing menu. I would call it European pub food with a high-end twist, complete with high(er)-end prices. Pomme frites and Belgium stews abound. I suspect that what made the menu so appealing was the use of beer in nearly every dish.

We both had a glass of Chateau Lamartine Cahors and split an order of Mussels & Frites ($14). The mussels were incredibly plump and tasty steamed in a light cream and Hoegaarden beer sauce. The dish had excessive amounts of thyme, which was surprisingly good with the mussels. The accompanying aioli didn’t seem garlicky enough—until I stopped eating and realized my mouth had gone numb from all the garlic.

I really wanted to try the endive gratin ($6) which was layered with pancetta, gruyere and breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, I am in the habit of asking waitstaff for their opinions. When I asked about this dish the waitress screwed up her face and said it wasn’t good because the endive was undercooked. Undercooked? Can you undercook endive? I like to eat it raw. I should have just ordered it anyway, but after her reaction I felt like I would be insulting her if I ordered it. But it’s a good excuse to go back.

Technorati Tags: Ballard, restaurant, review

Pay attention to my blog. I’ve been busy and my blog has suffered. I just realized that I have over 50 (50!) half-finished posts dating back to September. Some of them are even kinda good.

Eat more bacon. I know this sounds like an odd resolution, but I feel like my blog has wandered from its bacon roots and I want more posts about bacon. Look for additional bacon reviews, coming soon!

Try new restaurants. I am a creature of habit and I have been eating at the same four restaurants for the past three months. I am surprisingly not sick of said restaurants yet, but really, it’s time to explore new things.

Finish off last year’s to do list. Looking over last year’s to do list, I realize that I only accomplished one thing.

I have my work cut out for me—wish me luck.

Happy new year!

Technorati Tags: bacon, resolutions

After reading Viv’s write up and then Laura’s review about Monsoon’s new dim sum menu, I was excited to check it out. It’s been years since I last ate at Monsoon, but I can still vividly recall their incredible wok-fried Dungeness crab in spicy, garlicky, black bean sauce. I’m not sure why Monsoon fell off my radar—especially because it’s only a few blocks away, but it was high time for a reunion.

Monsoon’s website said they opened at 9am for breakfast service, so I arranged to meet some friends there at 9:30am. Unfortunately, Monsoon doesn’t actually open until 10am. We sat across the street at Fuel to wait. It felt a little bit like stalking.

At 10am we rushed back across the street to claim a table front and center. I had forgotten how cute the place is—very stark and modern, but in a comfortable way. I was feeling a little groggy from the night before, so we ordered a round of green apple mimosas. They appeared to be “fresh squeezed” and the green apple was sour and bright (i.e. not artificially flavored). Something in the apple made the champagne foam up in a strange way, but they were delicious.

The menu had a short but sweet selection of dim sum items ($4 per basket) along with a few more traditional breakfast plates. We were here for the dim sum and ordered practically one of every item on the menu:

• Vegetable potstickers – A traditional pot sticker, perfectly steamed and sautéed, although not very interesting unless dipped in its salty, tangy sauce.
• Steamed bbq pork buns (hum bow) – These looked beautiful, but tasted off. I prefer the sweet and savory hoisin-based “bbq” filling, but this filling tasted bean-based and was dry and chalky.
• Shrimp dumplings – Perfectly formed dumplings with translucent skin. The shrimp filling was sweet and fresh, but the skins were undercooked or too thick. The result was terribly sticky and chewy dumplings.
• Pork shui mai with dried shiitake mushrooms – There were very pretty and topped with some sort of roe, but they tasted somewhat bland and non-descript.
• Crispy shrimp Chinese chive wontons – Large, round patties of minced shrimp and chives, wrapped in a rice dough and fried until crisp and lightly browned (nothing like Chinese wontons). These were savory and juicy; by far my favorite item we tried.

We also ordered one breakfast from the non-dim-sum menu: Duck Eggs with Shallot and Chanterelles ($11). In theory, this sounds amazing. In practice, it was somewhat bland. The duck eggs were creamy and fluffy, but I wanted them to taste more exotic. I also wanted more Chanterelles in the eggs.

Overall, the breakfast left me wanting for a trip to Sun Ya. I missed the noisy, crowded room with the carts of steaming goodies rattling by. I missed the sometimes fatty and sometimes grisly dim sum. More than anything, I missed the flavor. Monsoon dim sum seemed a bit toned down and flattened for the American palate, but it would be a great place for dim sum beginners… or the culinarily squeamish.

Which isn’t to say that I wouldn’t go back. I really do want to try the pan fried daikon cakes (which looked amazing), the duck congee and the Vietnamese soups (pho). Also, for dessert we happened to have one of the best (coconut) flans I’ve ever tasted. That alone would be worth a trip back. Plus Chef Eric Banh is very, very sweet. And smokin’ hot.

Actually, what I’d really like is to return for dinner; this seems to be where Monsoon excels.

Technorati Tags: breakfast, dim sum, Monsoon, restaurant, Seattle

Here are the food highlights from my trip to Portland (Oregon) over Labor Day weekend:

Friday, 9/2/05

• We arrived at our “downtown” hotel (which was nowhere near downtown, but for $40 per night via priceline we couldn’t complain too much). We decided to have a cocktail at the hotel bar, mainly because it was named “The Speckled Rooster”. It smelled like bleach and cigarettes, but after several cocktails neither of us cared. After a few hours I realized that I needed food, but even in my inebriated state I knew better than to eat at The Speckled Rooster.
• We walked (stumbled?) down the street and found a restaurant called Colosso, where I encountered the worst drink I’ve ever had in my life. It was so bad that I’ve managed to purge the details from my mind, but I can tell you that it tasted like the bad, bitter Chinese medicine my grandma gives me when I’m sick. Despite the awful drinks, we had some great food: an enormous plate piled high with delicious cheeses, various salami and a wonderful cayenne-spiked fruit chutney. We also tried some charred lamb skewers with great, spicy, cucumber riata.

Saturday, 9/3/05

• The next morning I was craving a big breakfast (a.k.a. hung-over) and B suggested Milo’s City Café. When I saw how many different kinds of eggs benedict they had on the menu, I was smitten. My eggs benedict came with pepper bacon, tomato and a wonderful, light and lemony hollandaise. I was full after the benedict, but my meal also came with a bowl of fresh fruit and a giant helping of yummy, deep fried potatoes.
• After too much (window) shopping in Portland’s gorgeous kitchen stores, I wanted lunch outside and near the water. There weren’t too many choices, so we ended up at Three Degrees Restaurant at the RiverPlace Hotel. It skewed a touch too yuppie for my taste, but on this lazy, sunny Saturday afternoon it was perfect. We settled into rocking chairs on the enormous Southern-style wrap around deck and drank vodka lemonades and people watched. We made a light snack out of the house smoked salmon salad—which was surprisingly tasty.
• For dinner, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in Portland: Gino’s. It’s not fancy by any means, but it serves really great Italian food in a down-home atmosphere. We started with an incredible scampi appetizer, which was basically a pile of shrimp sautéed in a ridiculous amount of garlic and wine. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the broth was heavenly with the accompanying wedges of garlic bread. I was saddened to hear they were out of porchetta that night, and I reluctantly ordered a simple, seared rib-eye steak. It was incredible. The steak was tender and flavorful and didn’t need any accompaniment except a touch of salt. Alongside was a nice sauté of fresh veggies. The only misstep on the plate was the mashed potatoes; they tasted fine but were ice cold. B had the seafood pasta, which was a lot like a bouillabaisse over pasta and it featured incredible, plump mussels, more shrimp, calamari and other bits of fish.

Sunday, 9/4/05

• On Sunday we went to my favorite breakfast spot in Portland: Byways Cafe. To me, this is the epitome of a diner; comfy, kitschy, Americana style, a bustling and saucy waitstaff, and simple, but good breakfast fare. Oh, and really delicious table jam that tastes homemade.
• I think we were petering out on food at this point, so we skipped lunch and had a quick, early dinner at La Buca. La Buca is a very casual, Italian eatery that is known for panini. I was torn between panini or the pulled pork over soft polenta; pulled pork won out. Unfortunately, it was a little greasy and the flavor tasted slightly off. B ordered the penne with four cheeses and sausage, which was pretty damn good.
• After dinner we decided to grab a drink at Doug Fir. The space was absolutely amazing and the mix of materials was mind boggling; it was like a super-hip and modern log cabin. I fell in love with the place instantly. Unfortunately, the place was so crowded, noisy and pretentious that we didn’t stay long. It’s rumored that Doug Fir has excellent breakfasts, so next time I’m in Portland that will be a must.

Monday, 9/5/05

• By our last day, we were thoroughly burned out on eating out, so we ordered in. Hotel breakfasts at high-end hotels are never that great, so it follows suit that hotel breakfasts at cheap hotels would be even worse. The eggs tasted fake, the bacon was burnt and the biscuits resembled paper weights. The hot chocolate transported us back to childhood camping trips with Swiss Miss on the campfire. Oddly enough, the combination of all these breakfast items was strangely satisfying and comforting.

Since this was a vacation, I decided to give my camera a break as well. Although, I just had to snap a picture of this license plate. I couldn’t resist.

Technorati Tags: Portland, restaurants, Vacations: Oregon

Day two in Oysterville started with a wonderful breakfast strata with sausage and mushrooms. It was hearty, steaming hot and filled with spicy sausage. (I especially love that this dish can be made entirely the night before and simply baked in the morning; perfect for a brunch.)

After a rather long walking tour through Historic Oysterville, we returned to the house for lunch. J had seen a shrimp ceviche recipe on The Early Show (with Bobby Flay) that had caught her eye. I’m generally not a huge fan of ceviche, but only because I’m very particular about it. This recipe was fantastic; well-balanced and not overly citrus-y, the tender shrimp pairing perfectly with the sweet mango.

J had also brought along a savory mango cheesecake from JW Desserts (on Whidbey Island). I’ve yet to visit JW Desserts in person, but I’ve already had several of his cakes. His sculpted cake gallery is amazing and not only do the cakes look great, but they taste great as well. In addition to desserts he also makes savory cheesecakes that are out of this world; creamy, rich and flavorful. J served the mango cheesecake with homemade rosemary crackers from The Herbfarm Cookbook.

And just for overkill, J also served fresh mozzarella from Central Market, heirloom tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil and good balsamic. With fresh and high-quality ingredients, the Caprese salad is sublime. We washed it all down with a nice Rosé.

After lunch we took another long walk, this time along the beach. And then it was time for dinner.

We decided to eat out, despite the warnings from our host that eating out in Oysterville wouldn’t be nearly as good as cooking in. We ended up at Moby Dick’s – a local “hotel” that houses a restaurant. The hotel had an odd style that’s typically described as “funky”; lots of dark paint in the slightly off colors usually found in the paint store’s bargain bin.

We started off our meal with pan fried oysters and a Caesar salad. The oysters were great—as they should be in a town called “Oysterville”. They were plump and briny with a crisp, cornmeal coating and a side of wonderful corn relish. The Caesar salad tasted fine, but since it was made with feta cheese, I’m not sure I’d technically still call it a Caesar. J had the halibut and fennel stew, but something about the dish was very off; the fish was dry and the stew had an unpleasant bitterness to it. R had the pork chops with ancho sauce. The sauce was decent, but as with most pork served in restaurants, it was very tough and rubbery. The best dish of the night was a rib eye steak coated in an olive tapenade served with mashed potatoes and green beans. This dish was solidly good, but not what I’d consider great. Overall it was a decent meal, but for the prices they were charging, I was expecting a great meal. Next time, I’ll listen to our host!

Technorati Tags: cheesecake, mozzarella, Oysterville, strata

So, um, seeing as how the next Seattle Food Blogger meeting is tonight, I thought I should post something about the last get-together. I’m cringing as I look at the date; it’s been two months since we dined…

This was the smallest gathering yet, just Orangette, Culinary Fool and myself. It was my turn to chose the restaurant and I was feeling pizza-y. Plus I was long overdue for another visit to Tutta Bella.

It was a hot, sweltering day and the wait for a table was long, but the complimentary wine-while-you-wait (wine-so-you-don’t-whine?) certainly helped smooth things over. After about 20 minutes we were seated upstairs where, unfortunately, all the hot, stale air was collecting. Acoustically it was probably the worst location in the restaurant as the ceiling was low and there was nothing around to absorb sound. Ignoring the table of screaming kids behind us, we ordered a bottle of wine and perused the menu.

Knowing the gigantic proportions of Tutta Bella salads, we decided to order just one Caesar ($5.50) and split it. It had a nice, creamy dressing although I wished it came with more anchovies. We probably could have shared this salad with another 2-4 people.

For pizza we ordered the Tutta Bella ($9.95) and the Pancetta e Pomodoro ($9.50) to share. The Tutta Bella came with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, caramelized onions, Isernio’s hot Italian sausage and mushrooms. The Pancetta e Pomodoro had golden pomodoro sauce, pancetta, mushrooms, slivered garlic and formaggi di casa. The Tutta Bella was a great, simple pizza, but it just couldn’t compete with the pancetta (what can, really?). The Pancetta e Pomodoro was much more delicate and at the same time more assertive and salty.

Even though the restaurant was hot and loud, I really, really love this place. Maybe it’s because it has that bustling, comfortable, neighborhood feel… or maybe it’s the wonderful pizza… or maybe it’s a perfect combination of the two.

I think this is an important issue so I wanted to pass on the link:
http://www.eatwellguide.org

It appears as though these are the same people who brought us the totally brilliant Meatrix, so that makes me like them even more.

Technorati Tags: food guide, meatrix, sustainable

I finally made my first trip to Campagne. It was my birthday and I was torn between eating at one of my favorite restaurants or trying someplace new. In an effort to not write about the same five restaurants, over and over again, I’ve been trying to branch out and be adventurous—so Campagne won out.

It was a beautiful day, by Seattle standards, so we opted to sit outside in the courtyard patio. We started off with a round of cocktails and a small plate of gougeres. I was surprised that the gougeres were served cold, and was equally surprised that they tasted really good cold. They were airy and perfectly puffed and had an intense gruyere flavor.

Per usual, we ordered a ridiculous amount of food but I wanted to try a variety of things to get a feel for the menu. Our first appetizer was Oeuf et Saumon Fumet ($14), which was described as a “soft cooked Araucana egg in aspic with smoked salmon, wild salmon caviar, creme fraiche and brioche”. When it came to the table I just about died. It was flat out gorgeous; a perfectly cooked egg encased in a quivering, vibrant yellow aspic. What a devastating disappointment to find that the aspic was entirely for show and void of flavor. The creme fraiche was frothed until light and airy, which was pretty, but tasteless. The only flavor on the plate came from the small portion of luscious smoked salmon, the salty caviar eggs and caper berries. It was like going on a date with a really, really hot guy, then discovering he’s more boring than watching paint dry.

Our next course was Tartare de Boeuf ($10 for the small portion). This was a “raw hand-diced rib-eye with sweet onions, capers, Dijon mustard, raw egg yolk and herbs served with arugula, parmesan and pommes frites a la canard”. First off, I love beef almost as much as I love pork. And the mention of potatoes and duck fat in the same sentence makes me swoon. Needless to say, I was positive that I would love this dish. When the plate came it was, again, a beautiful presentation. The golden fries were perfect, identical rectangles stacked in log cabin formation, but when I bit into them they were soggy, starchy and tasteless. The side of arugula was overdressed and oily. The tender beef was formed into beautiful quenelles, but tasted bland despite the addition of capers and onions. At this point I was starting to question whether or not it was me. Did my taste buds pack up and leave on vacation without telling me?

The last appetizer, Assiette de Charcuterie ($13) was the saving grace. It was an assortment of pates and meats “served with cornichons, Dijon and stone-ground mustards, and house-made pickled vegetables”. The country-style pork and chicken liver pate was rich with a strong and pure liver taste. The veal tongue was incredibly tender and packed with beef flavor; this was what I wanted the beef tartare to taste like. My favorite was the duck and rabbit rillettes. It had great texture and consistency with a solid duck taste that wasn’t over-the-top liver-y and it was almost sweet… maybe a touch of Cognac? The small scatter of fleur de sel on the plate was all the accompaniment it needed.

For dinner, S ordered the Ris de Veau ($27), “roasted veal sweetbreads on house-made spinach noodles with crispy pancetta”. I personally have a hard time with sweetbreads. It’s not the taste, but rather the chalky texture combined with the oily aftertaste that coats your teeth and tongue. That being said, if I was a fan of sweetbreads, I would have loved this dish. The generous lobe of sweetbreads was nicely browned and accompanied by tender, heavenly spinach noodles in a light cream sauce with generous hunks of crisp, salty pancetta.

J ordered the Boudin Blanc aux Deux Pommes ($25) which were “black truffle flecked chicken sausage served with roasted apples and potato puree.” The sausages were impossibly delicate; like gently poached chicken mousse. The sausage texture was great but the truffle flavor was barely detectable. The sausages came with a slightly sweet reduction sauce, roasted apples and a smooth, but non descript potato puree.

I ordered the Cailles aux Feuilles de Vigne ($23), “grilled bacon and grape leaf wrapped quail with roasted black mission figs and red wine-port glaze”. When I first saw my plate I burst out laughing. The odd way it was plated made the two quail look like they were having sex; stacked one on top of the other with the bottom quail’s legs askew. At first I didn’t like this dish. It tasted under seasoned and the glaze was greasy and watered down—not at all like the rich, flavorful sauces I’ve come to expect from French cooking. The dish grew on me after several bites, but it never managed to blow me away.

My favorite plate of the night ended up being the Assiette de Fromage ($12). Someone in the kitchen really knows their cheese. It was a well thought-out and enjoyable assortment of cheese—all were paired well, perfectly ripe, and delicious. We had a luscious Pierre Robert triple cream (cow), Mimolettevielle cheddar (cow), Idiazabul (sheep), Tome St. Loup (goat) and Persille de Beaujolais, which was a pungent blue (cow). We also shared a delicious Tarte aux Peches ($8) dessert. It had a nice crust and great peach flavor accompanied by a compote of perfectly ripe strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. And cardamom ice cream to die for.

Overall, it was a very pleasant evening. The waitstaff was professional and attentive. The open-air courtyard felt romantic and summery (and very un-Seattle-like). I really wanted to love Campagne, but too many of the dishes left me wanting. The value was a bit skewed in the wrong direction; so for what we got, it seemed pricey. If I’m going to pay that much for a meal, I want it to wow me. Is that too much to ask?

Technorati Tags: food, French, restaurant, Seattle