FFDN: Joule

This FFDN was actually in January but I'm doing my best to get caught up on my blog posts. I had heard of Joule when I first moved to Seattle and was looking at the restaurants in my surrounding neighborhoods. They do Sunday BBQ's in the summer with a twist. I had always meant to go but it always somehow would get forgotten when it was time to think of a place to go for dinner. 

Brian was the one that suggested Joule for FFDN. He had read in the Seattle Times that the executive chef/owners of the restaurant were actually going to be contestants on the Food Network's show Iron Chef America.  We had gone to the viewing party the Sunday before and had a sneak peak to what their cooking was like. In case you missed that episode, chefs/husband and wife team Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi lost to the newest Iron Chef, Jose Garces, by 1 point. They were robbed!! 

The menu is a fusion of French and Korean cuisine.  Joule's plates are mainly shared plates, which really is one of my favorite ways to dine. I don't like to be confined to just one dish. And most of the time there are so many different dishes on a menu that I want to try. Shared plates allow you to do this without having to order multiple entrees.

Left: duck breast, maple vinegar apple, daikon soubise

Right: fried whole mackerel, white kimchi, scallion salsa verde

Left: korean mochi, oxtail ragout, lacinato kale, soy cured egg

Right: kimchi chicken liver fried rice, sesame leaf, chili

I was extremely happy with the dishes we had ordered. I know some people that shy away from whole fish since the bones and head are still in tact. I personally don't have an issue with it and love a good fried whole fish. The most interesting dish was the korean mochi w/ oxtail ragout, and soy cured egg. When we were eating the dish we couldn't quite place one of the ingredients and seeing how we no longer had the menu we were at a loss. It was the mochi! For some reason I completely glazed over that part on the menu and only focused on the oxtail. To me, mochi is a delightful ice cream treat like we had a Nishino. But I guess mochi is really just a sticky rice cake which in the dessert form is just the outer shell encasing the ice cream. In the case of this dish it was just sliced and added to the dish for texture.

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by an ingredient in your dish that you weren't quite expecting?

Omakase at Nishino - A Post That is Way Overdue

Brian and I went to Nishino with some friends back in December. We had all wanted to try omakase* and had heard that Nishino was a great restaurant to do it at. Nishino gives their customers the option of regular omakase or exclusive omakase. We decided if we were going to try this, we were going to do it right - exclusive omakase for all!

Upon arrival we were greeted by their friendly staff and promptly seated at our table. We were a little disappointed to find out we wouldn't be sitting at the sushi bar like we had assumed. Instead we were seated at a four-top table within view of the sushi bar.

It was pretty liberating not to have to look at the menu and decide what nigiri, sashimi and rolls we wanted and how many we should order for all four of us. It was also exciting to try things that we normally wouldn't order. We told our waiter we were there for exclusive omakase and with that he was off to put in our order.

First Course

I feel like such a bad foodie that I can't remember everything on this plate but in my defense it was over two months ago. I do remember the 3 items to the right. King Crab, monkfish liver, and sweet shrimp. 

Second Course

Hamachi tartare w/ Salmon roe

Third Course

Seared foie gras

Fourth Course

Mixed baby greens with salmon sashimi. 


They poured hot sesame oil over the salmon which cooked it slightly. The sesame oil was a great addition to the dish.

 Fifth Course


From what I can remember it was clams in a miso broth soup. Very good course  to cleanse our palette. 

Sixth Course

Again, I feel bad that I can't completely remember what this is but i believe it was a shrimp roll that was tempura fried. 

Seventh Course

Pan seared black cod


This dish was the favorite of the group. The fish was cooked so perfectly that it just flaked so easily and wasn't dry. The bed of veggies also provided a great contrast of texture to the fish.

Eighth Course
Assorted nigiri and rolls


My favorite item in this course was the otoro, tuna belly. If you haven't had it, you must try it. It's a little pricey compared to other items on a sushi menu but it is definitely worth it. It is so buttery! You can order it as nigiri or sashimi. The sushi restaurant may also have toro as well as the otoro. These are different parts of the tuna belly. The otoro is the more premium cut. Both are delicious and you won't regret it.

 Ninth Course
Mochi and Fruit


At first I was a little disappointed that this was our final course and that it was mochi. It seemed like an anti-climactic ending to such a wonderful meal. But just like the rest of our meal, the chef knows best. It was such a light and refreshing way to end our meal. I think anything else would have been to heavy. Even though it looked like we had small portions, you have to remember that by this point we had 8 different courses of small portions so it was actually quite filling.

Our first experience with omakase was so delicious and everything we had expected. Our waiter provided the best service and timed the courses well. We didn't sit for too long waiting for the next course nor did he bring it right away without giving us enough time to savor the previous course. He also did a great job explaining the dishes and could pour champagne like a champ! He also told us that if we come back to Nishino we should probably wait until the next season since they plan their menu around seasonal ingredients. I definitely want to go back and see how their menu differs from season to season.

* The expression is used at sushi restaurants to leave the selection to the chef. It differs from ordering à la carte.^[1] The chef will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to heaviest, richest dishes.^[2] The phrase is not exclusive to service of raw fish with rice, and can incorporate grilling and simmering as well.^[3] Customers ordering omakase style expect the chef to be innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes, and the meal can be likened to an artistic performance by the chef (Source: Wikipedia)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was a great day. Brian and I started the day with a traditional Filipino breakfast. With our bellies nice and full we hopped on the bus and headed to the downtown Seattle library. If you live in the Seattle area and haven't been, you must go. The architecture is beautiful with such bright and vibrant colors inside.

Outside the library

We grabbed some books on Thailand and settled in some chairs to read up on the country. It was a little hard to concentrate on what I was reading because I kept looking out the window and enjoying the view.

We then decided to explore the library and I made Brian pose for an impromptu photo shoot and to practice my non-existent photography skills. I knew I wanted to shoot in the red hallway that I have seen on so many Seattle photography blogs. 

A few shots from our photo shoot 

in the red hallway

As I stated before, Brian and I were planning to stay in for Valentine's Day dinner. Yesterday I got Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook and picked out three recipes for our dinner. After our photo shoot we headed to Pike Place Market to get all of the ingredients we needed.  The market was packed with shoppers as usual. We stopped at a few booths and headed home to get started on dinner.

Little Gem Lettuce Salad

The recipe called for Little Gem lettuce but I couldn't find any so I used mixed baby greens instead.  The different citrus fruits in this recipe really worked well with the honey vinaigrette. Citrus is currently in season so the flavors really popped. The walnuts were toasted in the oven and sprinkled with kosher salt as it cooled. The walnuts added a well balanced nutty flavor with a slight sweetness as well.

Pan-Roasted Halibut

This was a very simple recipe with simple ingredients. It was just halibut, kosher salt, canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, and fleur de sel. This recipe highlights how food can still be delicious and delicate even with minimal and ordinary ingredients. I paired this with just plain calrose rice and served over a bed of hedgehog mushrooms w/ baby arugula.

Hedgehog Mushrooms with Baby Arugula

All three of these dishes are adaptations from Ad Hoc at Home. I didn't have all the ingredients for each dish so I had to improvise with what I could find at the market and what was in season. A good tip to remember is to talk to the vendors at the produce stands. Tell them what you are looking for and they can help find comparable substitutions. We enjoyed these recipes and their flavor profiles.

These are the only three recipes I have tried from his cookbook so far but I can definitely say I look forward to trying more.  The cookbook itself is beautiful and would make a great coffee table book or a gift for any home cooks that you know.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Friday Foodie Date Night

First off, I have been a bad blogger. I definitely want to average more than one post a week but this past week Brian and I have been house/dog sitting for his parents so it has completely thrown me off my schedule. But enough excuses...

Brian and I can easily get into a food rut. If we find a restaurant/dish that we love we usually become repeat customers. This is all fine and good except you can't try many new restaurants when you keep going back to the same ones. So for the past few months we've been consciously trying to choose a new place to try instead of going to our tried and true places. Last week I decided we need to make it a weekly thing. I instituted Friday Foodie Date Night (FFDN). FFDN will be dedicated to trying a new restaurant. In doing so we still have the rest of the weekend to go to one of our favorites if we don't feel like cooking.

** This blog post will be lacking pictures until I get back home to upload from my camera **

Last week's restaurant of choice for FFDN was Cafe Campagne in Post Alley. Cafe Campagne had great reviews and I was excited to try the French cuisine. The restaurant had a cozy and intimate vibe despite having the tables so close together.

I was not disappointed at all by Cafe Campagne. The service was absolutely spectacular. Our waitress was able to answer our questions and make great recommendations.

For now I will just leave you with a brief description of what we ordered and will expand when I add photos.

Appetizers

We ordered half a dozen oysters (I can't recall what kind they were) that the waitress told us had arrived from the coast just hours prior to us sitting down. Brian and I love oysters so it was a given that we'd have to order it. These were perhaps the freshest oysters we have ever had. They were pretty plump and of a decent size. In past experiences I have noticed that the larger they are the less flavorful they can be. That was not the case with these oysters.

The other appetizer we had was escargot roasted with parsley, garlic and shallot butter. I had never had escargot before but was excited to taste them. The escargot was delicate and just slightly briny. For some reason I thought they'd be a little chewier but they were actually delicate. We made sure to sop up the parsley, garlic, and shallot butter with our baguettes.

Entrees

Brian and I decided to order two different entrees and split so we could sample more than one dish. We ordered the cassoulet and confit de cuisse de canard. 

The cassoulet (white bean stew with lamb, pork, duck confit, and garlic sausage) had a beautiful presentation. It was brought to our table in a small french oven. The dish had a great balance of flavors that all came together. It was a hearty dish and perfect for that chilly Seattle night.

The confit de cuisse de canard, crispy duck leg confit served with thyme skillet potatoes, was delicious! The duck leg was crispy on the outside and the meat was tender. The potatoes provided a good texture to the dish as well since it also had a crispy exterior.

We were beyond full at this time and didn't even look at the dessert menu. But from the looks of the other tables Cafe Campagne had some good sweets to offer. We will definitely be back. I'd like to try their brunch menu and see what egg goodness they serve.