Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A holiday that is centered around food. And this is the reason why I feel thank Thanksgiving is pretty awesome. It’s the start of the holiday season, you’re around friends and family, and you can stuff yourself silly with food; all together it’s a winning combination. But amongst the volume of eating you’ll find yourself with a mountain of leftovers. Unless you can go through a 14 lb turkey, several side dishes, and pumpkin pie, chances are you’ll need to find something to do with them. Have no fear, David Chang has ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers. And they sound amazing.

David Chang is the brightest culinary star of the moment. An opinionated and supremely talented chef who has been a game changer in the restaurant world. His Momofuku restaurants are considered some of the best in New York and his style of food is utterly unique and blow-your-mind delicious. Recently, he and Peter Meehan released an amazing cookbook, Momofuku, that tells the story of Chef Chang and his restaurants. Needless to say, David Chang knows how to make enticingly tasty food.

Last year, I wrote a couple of short posts about Thanksgiving; one was about what wine to have with the dinner, the other was what to do with the leftovers. Chef Chang has taken what to do with those leftovers to another level. In a recent article in Food & Wine magazine, Peter Meehan did a short feature on what David Chang would do with Thanksgiving leftovers. And the results sound amazing. For example:

• Mashed-Potato Spring Rolls
• Turkey Cracklings
• Soy-Braised Turkey with Turkey Rice
• And more!

What’s really cool about some of these recipes is that they aren’t too ‘chefy,’ – recipes that are crazy complicated with obscure ingredients and technique most home cooks don’t have. Most of these recipes are straightforward and use the leftovers that stick around from Thanksgiving. I’m already looking forward to trying some of them.

Enjoy this Thanksgiving! Take in the moment, exhale, eat up, and most of all have fun!

Photo courtesy of Food & Wine

In the world of cooking, I’m always amazed at the ability of the chef. The culinary artists that can take ingredients, technique, and personal style to create something amazing and delicious. Their ability to elevate the food they work with is a big reason why I love food so much. We live in a chef culture where television networks create stars out of these folks; they become a part of pop culture, not just food culture. In some cases this is a good thing. Food fans will travel far and wide to experience their cooking. They’ll devour their food and their cookbooks. All of this I think is very cool. That is why I am completely taken with this food book; Coco. If you love food and chef culture, you will too.

The premise of the book is this; take 10 of the world’s true ‘masters’ in food, and have them pick 100 chefs that are emerging chefs worldwide. Coco: 10 World-Leading Maters choose 100 Contemporary Chefs comes to us from the folks at Phaidon. You may know them from their cookbooks like Silver Spoon, Pork & Sons, or 1080 Recipes, but their entire product line is excellent. I first discovered Coco on a recent trip to New York and stumbled upon Phaidon’s store in SoHo. This day happened to be their grand opening and much impulse shopping commenced. Coco was there and when I leafed through it, I instantly fell in love with the premise.

Here is a rundown of the 10 masters featured in the book:

• Ferran Adria
• Mario Batali
• Shannon Bennett
• Alain Ducasse
• Fergus Henderson
• Yoshihiro Murata
• Gordon Ramsey
• René Redzepi
• Alice Waters
• Jacky Yu

The format of Coco is to spend some time with each of the 100 selected chefs. There is a brief bio, some recipes, and one of the masters will espouse on their choice. What’s interesting is to find the theme that binds the choices of the masters. I love learning about food and the people that make it, so I enjoyed the write-ups. For instance, you could delve into what Mario Batali values; a sense of niches, an appreciation of history, and high standards.

What I like about Coco is that you can pick it up to leaf through a few pages at your leisure. It’s a weighty book that clocks in at over 400 pages (!), but flip through it, open it up randomly and read about a chef you’ve never heard of before. It also has the ability to be a good resource; traveling to the Bay Area? There are about five chefs doing their thing there. New Orleans? Always a great eating city and they have two representatives. Locally, Seattle is proudly represented by Kevin Davis and his Steelhead Diner. I’m a fan of the place and so is Chef Batali. You’ll find all sorts of interesting chefs and restaurants around the world, so when globetrotting strikes your palette will be ready.

One of the interesting tweaks about food lovers is that we acquire and accrue cookbooks voraciously. Chances are we never ‘read’ the entire thing. Most of the time they are used to impress our fellow food friends. But they always serve to inspire us. They give us ideas. Point us in a direction we may not have considered. And Coco is all of these things.

A thought that has been bouncing around my head has been on the subject of food magazines. I admit that I love the idea of them. Some are excellent. Some have ‘opportunities’. But after going through one recently, I reminded myself that there isn’t a perfect food magazine.

I’ll admit there are plenty out there that are very good. Food & Wine leaps to mind. Saveur is also excellent. Cook’s Illustrated is outstanding for information. And with the demise of Gourmet, our world of food writing becomes a bit darker. But none of these magazines are perfect.

One of my favorites, though, was Chow. But to my disappointment, the magazine stopped printing and moved to a web presence exclusively. Chow was the closest to my views and perspectives on the world of food. RIP Chow. Ultimately, I’m a sucker for food mags and grab them at the ready on impulse. And given the number of magazines in the market, it seems that publishers think that there is a niche worth filling too.

Why is it that there isn’t one that completely gets it? (Although to be fair, there isn’t really a perfect magazine for any industry, I just wish there was one for food). Some magazines hit it too heavy with recipes that aren’t realistic or empowering. Some have very poor levels of editing and photography (I really want to out the one mag that inspired this post, but I’m taking the high road, but trust me, they sucked). Others just don’t really get it. The world of food and wine is deep and organic. It moves naturally with a skittish flow. Trends come and go. The ultimate point for any great magazine is to tell a story that can inspire. A lot of today’s current magazines aim for this but don’t always hit the bullseye.

What my expectations are for the perfect food magazine is this; great writing, interesting recipes, innovative ideas, a good mix of irreverence, and all of it wrapped into one beautifully designed package that screams to be read. I don’t think this is too much to ask.

I suppose that in today’s gloomy print publishing world, the thought of a perfect food magazine is fleeting. I may be alone as this recent article by the LA Times Russ Parsons points out; magazines are becoming more niche and focused in their goals. Which is fine, but within those defined goals, I still want the right mix that speaks to me. In the end, I have hopes for that ideal mag and will continue to read and dip my toe into what the newsstand has in store for me.

When we went for our trip to Las Vegas this summer, we wanted to get away, but we also wanted to visit a particular restaurant; Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood. We wanted to go not just because it’s consistently recognized as being one of Las Vegas’ best restaurants, but also because of the principles and ideals it and its chef/owner Rick Moonen holds.

Last year I had the good fortune to attend one of Amazon.com’s Fishbowl events. Fishbowls are small gatherings where visiting authors chat about their books and do a signing. The Fishbowl I went to welcomed Rick Moonen to celebrate his book, Fish Without A Doubt. As a food nerd, I enjoyed the event because Chef Moonen talked about his history as a chef, the opportunities and challenges with writing a book, and also his personal responsibility to be mindful of the ocean and the catch that comes from it. Coming from what the Seafood Choices Alliance named in 2006 as the ‘Seafood Champion‘, his words hold much weight. He was engaging in that tough, yet amicable New York way. His enthusiasm for cooking and sharing what he knows was apparent. We chatted briefly about seafood and where he planned on dining while in Seattle. He said that Steelhead Diner was on the docket and I mentioned how I was a fan. Armed with his business card, he said to stay in touch. Cool.

Here are the three cool things about Rick Moonen and his RM Seafood:

• A respect of the ocean

During the Fishbowl, a takeaway was that Chef Moonen wants to spread the word about the state of the ocean and what we can do for it. He told a story of visiting the Fulton Fish Market and noticing through the years that the size of swordfish became smaller and smaller. When he found out why (overfishing) he quickly removed swordfish from his menu. He’s taken this high regard for fish to his restaurant.

What I like about his respect for the ocean is that Chef Moonen has been an early advocate for it. From his restaurants in New York, to his RM Seafood in Las Vegas, he aims for being responsible and sharing what he knows about the state of seafood; to be mindful of where it comes from and only serving fish that is recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And the food at RM Seafood is delicious. A restaurant in Las Vegas that serves up good food, yet still has moral standards? Sounds like an oxymoron, but they strive for that ideal.

• Fish Without A Doubt

The cool thing about Fish Without A Doubt is that it was the inaugural book for the Gourmet Book Club. If you like interesting cookbooks, this one stands out for being informative and showing how technique can be applied to different types of fish. Good stuff.

The book definitely fits into my estimation of a ‘cool food book’. It’s loaded with stuff from recipes to information about the ocean. The tone is conversational and peppered with Chef Moonen’s anecdotes. I like the form of the book because it’s broken down by cooking styles. Within those are the recipes which provide loose guidance into what fish to use. ‘Loose’ in that the recipes offer suggestions for the type of fish to use. For example, the butter-basted halibut mentions cod, snapper, black sea bass, or scallops as substitutes if the mood strikes.

• RM Seafood

We’ve been wanting to take a trip to Vegas for some time, so when we finally made our plans, heading out to RM Seafood was one of our priorities for the weekend. The restaurant is located inside of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, part of an excellent lineup of restaurants in Mandalay Place. Amongst the massive wash of great restaurants in Las Vegas, our experience at RM Seafood was wonderful.

When we were seated we looked over our menu and took note of the choices. RM Seafood has a raw bar, sushi bar, and a entree menu. Armed and intrigued with the menu we went with the halibut nigiri, Maine lobster roll, and the beer-battered fish & chips. Solid lunch choices, a bit safe, but able to test the mettle of the place by going with the classics.

First off, the halibut sushi. In talking with our server, he mentioned that the chef team tries sushi from all sorts of different types of fish, and when they find one that works, they’ll feature it. Halibut as sushi stood out for it’s strong ocean flavor, distinctly halibut, with a firm texture. Will be interesting to see more sushi places try introducing this to their menus.

I loved the lobster roll. I’m a sucker for this New England staple. And the crew at RM Seafood do it well. The chunks of lobster are massive and cooked perfectly; still sweet and tender. A good lobster roll is a like a good crab cake; it needs to stand on it’s main ingredient, anything else is just filler. RM Seafood uses a ton of lobster. And what makes this dish even better are the homemade potato chips that come with it!

The fish & chips were exciting because of what they used for the beer batter; Anchor Steam! Hailing from San Francisco, Anchor Steam is one of my favorite beers. At RM Seafood they have it on draught. Beer me please. And the fact that they use it for the fish & chips made for a potentially tasty fried fish dish. And it was very good. Big massive pieces of halibut in the crisp, light batter. Good stuff.

In talking about RM Seafood, I must mention the decor and service. The place is the coolest, most modern of diners. Sleek surfaces, casual white leather, the place exudes this funky industrial vibe, yet still comfortable and warm. And a big thumbs up goes to the RM Seafood team. They provided great suggestions and pitch perfect service. Accommodating, but not at all over-bearing, they knew the menu and steered us properly. Well done.

There you have it. Amongst the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas lies Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood. A restaurant that has noble ideals that it executes deliciously. Led by chef who has a profound appreciation for the ocean.

Photo courtesy of About.com

This past summer, we took a quick trip to Las Vegas. Why would we want to go out to the desert with it’s 100 plus temps? Was it the gambling, the shops, being poolside? Nope, it was none of those; it was for the food! Las Vegas is deliberately building up it’s reputation as one of the world’s great restaurant cities. With big name chef firepower like Thomas Keller, Bobby Flay, Joel Robuchon, Daniel Boulud, and many more – food fans have been flocking to Vegas in droves. But amongst these bright shining stars, one restaurant is standing amongst them but with much less celebrity. It’s status is earned for the best of reasons; its food. The place is in a strip mall and it is awesome. I discovered something a lot of other people know; Lotus of Siam is a restaurant to visit, and visit again.

When I was planning on visiting Las Vegas, I wanted to keep the process rather organic. Mostly ask friends and visit restaruants suggested by word of mouth. With a place like Las Vegas, I knew that there would be a ton of outlets to tout restaurants. I didn’t want to get caught up in the noise, so I figured asking around would cut through the fat. Thank you Twitter. With one quick Tweet, I was on my way to Lotus of Siam. I received a bunch of messages to visit Lotus of Siam. I’d also asked other food friends who’s insight I respected; their response was to go to Lotus of Siam. From executive chefs, to food writers, to Vegas aficionados, they all mentioned the place. And my friend, The GastroGnome, said that amongst all the restaurants in Vegas, go to Lotus of Siam. Okay then, Lotus of Siam it is.

Here are my three cool things about Lotus of Siam:

• The decor (or lack thereof)

Lotus of Siam is the culinary child of Saipin Chutima, for it is her restaurant where she brought over her northern Thailand menu. Her Lotus of Siam is out in the middle of a strip mall on the east side of The Strip. When we pulled up to the place, we wondered; is this it? It looks like any other forgettable restaurant that is in a strip mall, the type of place that you would easily ignore. But we stepped in and were greeted with a ton of people in the waiting room. The waiting room also held all sorts of the accolades that Lotus of Siam had received. And they are many. Much of the blog world likes to bring up that Gourmet magazine’s Jonathan Gold called ‘Lotus of Siam the ‘best Thai restaurant in North America’ (although I couldn’t find any article with this reference.) As you get into the restaurant, you’ll notice that it’s look is very unassuming. Rows of tables, its look no different than other neighborhood Thai place. But look up at the walls and you’ll see pictures of celebrities with Saipin and the team. It’s been said that you can gauge a resto on the celebrities in the pictures. If that’s the case, then Lotus of Siam is off the charts unbelievable.

• The food

Ah, the food. This is what we go to restaurants for. The ability to amaze, surprise, and transport us through a culinary adventure. In the case of Lotus of Siam, they took us through northern Thailand. Granted, I’ve never been to northern Thailand, but after my dinner, I’d imagine it would be a delicious trip. The menu at Lotus of Siam is different than most Thai places I’ve been to. After visiting a fair share, they start to homogenize; phad thai, phad see iew, various interpretations of the same thing. But at Lotus of Siam, their menue was different and intriguing.

When we ordered we conferred with our server. Utilizing his perspective to try some stuff of interest and representative of the style. He steered us properly. We started with the Nam Kao Tod; a deeply flavorful dish of crispy rice, herbs, chiles, and bitter sausage. This was a perfect way to start our dinner; it fired up our tastebuds to make us want more.

Our next two were items were courtesy of our server’s opinion. One was the Kra Phao Moo Krob, a dish of roasted and crispy side pork that is rich in flavor. The other was the Khao Soi, a yellow curry with beef that was also full of flavor. Flavor. This would be my chief takeaway from Lotus of Siam’s dishes. Flavor unlike other Thai places I’ve been to. Flavor that lasts long after the bite is over. Flavor that is much lauded and now I understand.

• It’s a non-Vegas restaurant

What I loved about Lotus of Siam is that it is an anti-Vegas restaurant. What I mean is that it’s unassuming, it let’s its food stand out for it, not the decor or the design. We went to a bunch of restaurants throughout the weekend. All were good, all were beautifully decorated, but none had food better than what we can get in Seattle. While we enjoyed our visits, they didn’t resonate. But not with Lotus of Siam. Their food stood out on it’s own. It didn’t try to be too clever. Lotus of Siam is a Thai restaurant that invites you into their dining room and lets their kitchen do their thing, something I wish more Vegas restaurants would try.

I know that it’s tough to gauge a restaurant on one visit, but based off of the enjoyment that so many people had for it, the reviews, and my experience, I loved my dinner at Lotus of Siam and will gladly go on future Vegas trips. Hopefully then we’ll have more people in our party so that we can try out more stuff! But until then, add me to the list of people who says that Lotus of Siam is a must visit.

Photo courtesy of American Road Trip

This is an idea that has been floating around for sometime amongst some of our local streetfood vendors for some time. A ’streetfood festival’. A one-stop shop of the local purveyors of mobile cuisine in Seattle. A Mobile Chowdown that will commence this Saturday, October 11!

This is all sorts of cool because the Mobile Chowdown will be the first time that all of Seattle’s streetfood vendors will be in one place together. And the place will be in the Interbay neighborhood off of 15th at 16th and West Bertona. Interesting location for an event like this; though, Mobile Chowdown’s Twitter feed stated that it was a good spot for the various trucks to park and share their goods. Plus, the Interbay area ties together Queen Anne, Magnolia, and Ballard.

Who will be at the Mobile Chowdown? Here’s the quick list linked to their Twitter handles:

• Skillet – Purveyors of delicious burgers and bacon jam. I hope they are serving poutine. Notable for their Airstream trailers throughout town.
• Parfait Ice Cream – Artisanal ice cream that is delicious. The Fresh Mint & Straciatella is a home run.
• Maximus/Minimus – Pulled pork sandwiches in either a spicy (Maximus) or sweet (Minimus) sauce. They also serve up tasty veggie chips. And their truck is a sight to behold.
• Marination Mobile – Often found on Capitol Hill, the Marination Mobile serves up Hawaiian and Korean streetfood.
• Gert’s BBQ – Southern soul food (amongst their many catering items). Be sure to grab some of their ribs.
• El Camion – A taco truck, they’ll be serving up Mexican cuisine goodness.
• Dante’s Inferno Dogs – Announced yesterday, Dante’s will provide their hot dogs.

Karen Robinson of Seattle Magazine wrote up some good stuff about the Mobile Chowdown and even touched on the trivia contest that they’ve been having about the event. So be sure to follow the status of Mobile Chowdown on their Twitter and their Facebook event page, this should be a fun event! Be sure to bring cash and an empty stomach. See you in the parking lot this Saturday from 11am to 3pm for the Mobile Chowdown.

After a recent dim sum outing with my Mom, we went for a short drive on the Dearborn side of the ID. With a quick throwaway comment, she said, ‘there is a really great cheese shop right around the corner from here.’ What? Seeing as how I never heard about this, I was a bit surprised by her comment and had to check it out. Besides, we were in a weird part of SoDo that’s very industrial. How could there be a gourmet food store here? Low and behold there it was, Big John’s PFI.

Off of 6th and Airport Way lies Big John’s PFI. In an unassuming brick building; you wouldn’t see this treasured gem but for it’s red, white, and green awning. To say this place is hidden would be an understatement. Intrigued and curious about how my mother knew about this place and I didn’t, we looked forward to what Big John’s PFI had in store for us.

We were blown away. As soon as you walk in you’ll notice a massive cheese case to your right. About 30 feet of goat, sheep, and cow’s milk bliss of cheese and all different types. Looking left you’ll see big five-gallon jugs of bulk goods. And this isn’t just crappy trail mix in bulk like other grocery stores. Big John’s has the good stuff; emmer, roasted fava beans, dried spices, a load of different types of rice, oats, and bunch more. At dirt cheap prices. I was in food retail heaven and I wasn’t even 10 ft. into the store. I couldn’t control my excitement.

The decor of the place is kind of an antithesis to Whole Foods gloss; concrete floors, fluorescent lights, and haphazardly arranged aisles. But the whole of the place is charming. The staff is super helpful and available, and the selection of foodstuff throughout the shop is off the charts excellent. This is where Big John’s PFI really shines; their products are diverse, which gets your culinary curiosity going. A lot of the products are super hard to find elsewhere. Much of their line leans heavily on Mediterranean products. With an entire aisle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, what’s not to love? Their wall of pasta has a great assortment of shapes and at great prices. And there is an aisle of just jam! If anything, go to Big John’s PFI for the bulk foods, but definitely stay to look at the random grocery items.

I’m so thankful that my Mom introduced me to this culinary treat in Seattle. I would have never known about Big John’s PFI otherwise. It is a family-owned shop that is hidden and without advertisment, but they’ve been around for almost 40 years. Surely, places like this have helped to shape the food scene of Seattle and I’m anxiously awaiting my return visit.

I wrote this post, mostly, to get something off my chest, but to also express an appreciation. Every so often, the Williams-Sonoma catalog graces itself in my mailbox. Though I haven’t patterned the timing for when it comes, I look forward to receiving this little food magazine for a couple of reasons: (1) it’s loaded with fun and interesting tidbits of information, and (2) it has some of the most preposterous kitchen items.

• Fun, food information:

The pages of each catalog are littered with little drops of info that I never knew I wanted to know. In fact, I first learned about grilled chocolate sandwiches in an issue of Williams-Sonoma. They also have an exclusive deal with Thomas Keller to sell his kit detailing how to make Ad Hoc’s fried chicken at home (though it is sold out and no longer available).

As of late, what I have really enjoyed in their recent catalog are their highlights on about a dozen chefs around the country. These chefs are on their career upswing of creativity and style and the catalog gave quick hits of info on each of the chefs, their perspectives, and a recipe to boot. From Gabriel Rucker of Portland’s Le Pigeon, to John Besh of August (amongst others) in New Orleans, to Michelle Bernstein of Miami’s Michy’s. I’ve enjoyed reading about all these folks and now I have a few more restaurants to add to my list.

• The utterly ridiculous kitchen tools:

Ok, so what I find really fascinating about the Williams-Sonoma catalog is the number of preposterous kitchen tools, utensils, machines – you get the point. Pretty much each page includes at least one item that is borderline unbelievable, to the point where I couldn’t see how something like it could be usable. It’s mostly entertaining and humorous, and makes me think about what I would do with a big Scrooge McDuck vault of money.

Here are some items that I particularly found interesting and ostentatious:

• Tomato knife – Really? For $15? Just use a sharp knife
• Monogrammed steak brand – Because your dinner guests won’t know which steak is theirs. I think the one on the plate in front of them would be a good designator.
• Jalapeno pepper roaster for the grill – It’s even in it’s second edition redesign due to customer feedback.
• Potato scrubbing gloves – I’m speechless.
• Green herb snips – Honestly, scissors wouldn’t cut it?
• Chicken roasting pan – Ok, this one is the most unbelievable. You must see this thing; it’s a roasting pan with a suspension arm to hold the chicken while veggies roast underneath. This thing is more of a weird marvel of engineering than a useful kitchen tool. I’m mesmerized by this thing.

So next time the catalog comes in the mail, don’t be so quick to dump it to the recycling pile, you may want to see what’s in store. It could include a new recipe to try, a rising chef, or a totally unnecessary piece of cookware. Yes, Williams-Sonoma is a massive chain that pours on the excessiveness – the point that I even reconsider my needs v. wants. But I like them because a store like Williams-Sonoma helps continue the food discussion. They sell and provide quality merchandise, highlight and feature great chefs, and provide an outlet for home cooks to release their inner Top Chef skills. And that I think it is very cool.

photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma

Much like other food nerds, I love food (and wine) cookbooks. Much like how teenage girls gobble stuff up about vampires (Buffy is so much better), food geeks are voracious with food books. And why not? They provide solid insight, light the spark of inspiration, and provide a level of information and complexity that we love. Even the famed David Chang of Momofuku fame goes nuts over cookbooks. Whenever I visit bookstores, I always swing by the food section to see what’s new and soak in the visual merchandising. One book really caught my eye; Ferran Adria’s new book with Richard Hamilton and Vicent Tolodi, Food for Thought, Thought for Food. Adria’s new book? Heck yes.

Ferran Adria is in the conversation of the best chefs in the world. His restaurant, El Bulli, is often considered the best restaurant in the world. Stepping into the lore and detail of these two things is something that I always find fascinating. I soaked up that TV show where Tony Bourdain was able to step into the kitchen of El Bulli. I looked forward to the release of A Day at El Bulli, the Phaidon book that illustrated the inner workings of Adria’s restaurant. Now I have another resource to pull back the curtain of Ferran Adria.

But this book is a bit different than A Day at El Bulli or his El Bulli cookbooks, Food for Thought, Thought for Food is more of a long look at the discussion of the art of El Bulli and Ferran Adria. Surely it’s about the food and the experience of the restaurant, but this book is a bit more editorial and written with the perspective of food as art. It’s quite interesting and beautiful book to look at. Much of the essays throughout the book are written by artists and their experience at El Bulli. This was an interesting perspective; take the creative world of artists and put them into a restaurant that looks at food from another angle.

A big part of the book was about Adria’s controversial inclusion into the renowned Documenta art series in 2007. Documenta 12 was the specific art series and the book covers Adria’s role in art quite well. But his part in Documenta 12 was controversial because many in the art world didn’t feel that food and a chef in Spain should be included. But for the food world, we do think that food can be art. Food can elevate an experience and influence an audience emotionally; this is indeed artful. This is my two cents, put ingredients in to the hands of a talent like Ferran Adria, food can be art.

Wrapping it up, Food for Thought, Thought for Food is a really interesting and beautiful book. It catalogs most of the dishes that have come from the El Bulli kitchen; from the early 90s to 2008. It discusses the El Bulli philosophy and the 12 dishes that are important to its evolution. While not a traditional cookbook, this is one that can provide a bit of discussion; from the subject matter to the ideal that food as art, any food lover would be taken with this book. And the cover is freaking awesome.

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In late-July I had the fortunate opportunity to drink some of the best wines from Washington with one of the best wine critics in the industry; that’s right, the second year in a row to have an evening of drinking wine with Stephen Tanzer of International Wine Cellars.

I went to this event last year and loved every minute of it. Last summer it was at the brilliant Art of the Table and I remembered all of those details vividly. The wine, the food, the conversations; at the time, my wine knowledge was just starting to come into its own. I was like a giddy kid on his first day of college; excited to get started with this next chapter, but humbled enough to know I had plenty to learn.

Fast forward a year later, and I know a bit more, but there is still so much I can glean. That’s why I was just as excited for this year’s tasting with Steve. The event was at Tom Douglas’ Palace Ballroom, a bit more spacious and a few more people were able to attend. One of the cool things at this year’s tasting was that four winemakers were invited to the event; Bob Betz of Betz Family Winery, Mike Januik of Januik Winery, Ben Smith of Cadence Winery, and Andrew Rich of Andrew Rich Wines. I thought this was really cool because they were able to share their expertise, insight, and stories as their wines were poured.

I loved the perspectives that each of the winemakers and Steve brought to the tasting. We covered viniculture, viticulture, the characteristics and differences of the most-sourced vineyards, the local wine industry, how we differ from California, and the potential of our region. This information was timely and absorbed, we were an audience of wine geeks and we willingly gobbled it up.

The theme of this year again was to taste what Steve thought were the best of this year’s releases of Washington Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. These are two of the grape varietals that Washington excels, so it was exciting to see what Steve considers the pinnacle of these two wine types. Also, to throw a curveball into the tasting, Steve also brought out two of his favorite non-Washington CS and Syrah to add context to the tasting. I looked forward to drinking some wines that I know I wouldn’t be able to afford.

Here are the wines that were poured for the evening:

Cabernet Sauvignon-based

• 2006 Cadence Tapteil Vineyard Red Mountain
• 2006 Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon Franschhoek
• 2006 Betz Pere de Famile Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley
• 2005 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Ciel du Cheval Red Mountain
• 2004 Corliss Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley
• 2004 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley

Syrah

• 2006 Gramercy Cellars Syrah Walla Wall Valley
• 2006 Delas Saint-Joseph Sainte Epine
• 2006 Andrew Rich Syrah Les Vignes en Face Columbia Valley
• 2006 Abeja Syrah Walla Walla Valley
• 2005 Long Shadows Sequel Syrah Columbia Valley
• 2005 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard Walla Walla Valley

My takeaways from the evening. Washington makes some awesome wine. But at the same time, I didn’t have the same magical wow moments that I had in last year’s tasting. All the wines were very, very good, some on the verge of great, but none of them gave me that euphoric moment where I go ‘holy crap, this is freaking awesome’.

Was it my own expectations that clouded this? Have I become a bit jaded, while unfairly comparing this event to last year? Instead of lauding the event on it’s own merits, I placed it in the company of it’s predecessor. Not exactly fair, but I still had an unbelievable time, drinking wines with some great people in the company of a wine reviewer whose words have much more weight than most in the industry. From this event, I knew that there was still opportunity for me and my curiosity and appetite for wine is as voracious as ever.

That said, I must say that some of the wines were delicious, interesting and had me going back to them over and over. My favorite Syrah was Gramercy Cellars 2006 Walla Walla Valley Syrah. Last year Steve was very impressed with the stuff that Greg Harrington was producing at Gramercy Cellars. Sourced from Walla Walla’s Les Collines vineyard, this was a nice wine; fresh and with great style. The nose was elegant with pie notes shining through. On the palette it was bright, with light acids; it was easy drinking and had a nice, smooth finish. I liked this wine because it had a story to tell. And I kept going back to it to see what it had to say.

For the Cabernet Sauvignon, my favorite was the 2006 Pere de Famille from Betz Family Winery. All of the evening’s Cabs were excellent and really close to each other in my eyes, but the push in this case was Bob Betz’ thorough his storytelling about the wine. He talked about it in a such a way that we were a part of the winemaking. We learned about the three vineyard sources for this wine (Ciel du Cheval, Kiona, and Klipsun) and the differences between each of the vineyards. This wine was lush; it started with kola nut on the nose, and it was brambly, earthy and easy-drinking.

Another thing I loved was the food that the Palace Ballroom team served. It perfectly complemented the power and weight of the wines we were tasting. I love good food and wine matching; generally there aren’t many ‘bad’ matches, but when there is food that can elevate the wine and vice-versa, that’s a pretty cool thing. This was the case tonight; the team at Tom Douglas Restaurants did a great job

Thanks David Hamilton for organizing this event, I do look forward to going again for next year. And I’ll still look forward to being blindsided by the brilliance of wine. I suppose that’s the point; to keep drinking and discovering that next great sip.