FOOD REVIEW: Brunswick and Hunt

Brunswick and Hunt menus.

This review has been a long time coming. Brunswick and Hunt is one of my new favorite restaurants in Seattle. The restaurant is owned by longtime Seattle restauranteurs and brothers, Barry Rogel and Scott Rogel. The name of the restaurant, located at 70th and 15th in Ballard, has a great story rich in history.

When you enter the restaurant, you will notice the beautiful front bar to the right, made of American oak and birch. There is also an accompanying back bar in front of the kitchen. They were built near the end of the 1800's in Iowa by Brunswick Balke Collender and Company. In the early 1900's, the bars made their way to Winlock, Washington. That's where Barry and Scott found them. They had the bars moved to Seattle for a complete restoration. Opposite the front bar is a massive landscape painting by RJ Bocense titled, "The Hunt". As the story goes, The Hunt was painted as a companion piece for the "Brunswick", the front bar. The bar and painting have been together for over 100 years. The brothers had them both installed in their restored glory in the aptly named W.E. Hunt building in Ballard, and Brunswick and Hunt was born.

Heavenly Brunswick fried chicken with slaw and potato salad.

Brunswick and Hunt prepares fried chicken, one of my favorite foods, to perfection. The portion is generous with a breast, the leg and thigh joint. The chicken was juicy with a crispy, golden brown skin that is drizzled with truffle-honey. I could have easily ordered another helping. It is accompanied by a delicious coleslaw and a purple potato salad.

This ain't your Grandma's cornbread!

My friends and I also ordered the corn bread with honey butter to share. That is some seriously tasty corn bread.

Open kitchen offers great views of food preparation.

Brunswick and Hunt offers seating at the back bar that faces the kitchen. I love restaurants that allow you to watch the chefs in action. You get to witness all the fresh ingredients that are combined to create their delicious dishes. Not only is it entertaining, but you can learn a few things in the kitchen!

Brunswick and Hunt delivers farm-to-neighborhood food, and they do it right. I'm looking forward to many more visits to try out all of their other tasty offerings!

FOOD REVIEW: Urbane at Olive 8

More and more local restaurants are offering fresh, local, organic food. Urbane at Olive 8 in downtown Seattle is doing it right. Urbane is committed to sustainability and featuring local ingredients. They source a majority of their raw ingredients from within a 200-mile radius of their restaurant, reducing their carbon footprint.

Summertime BLT with organic mixed greens salad.

I had the opportunity to enjoy a nice lunch at Urbane this week. Their menu offers a great mix of small plates, sandwiches and large plates. I ordered the Summertime BLT with a side salad. The sandwich comes well stacked with all fresh ingredients of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado on whole wheat bread. The BLT was delicious! The bacon was crispy and it had just enough avocado to give the sandwich some good flavor. I really enjoyed the side salad also, fresh organic mixed greens, radish, Willamette Valley aged gouda and verjusnette.

Sign of a good meal.

As you can see, I really enjoyed the sandwich and salad.

Apples and caramel dipping sauce.

For dessert, I went with the very simple, but very tasty fresh apple slices with caramel dipping sauce.

Oh, so good.

Urbane dining area.

The restaurant itself is nice, clean and minimal. Urbane is one of very few restaurants in Seattle with LEED Silver Certification. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide a standard for environmentally sustainable construction and operating practices. This certification adds to Urbane's commitment of sustainability, not only with their farm-to-table food, but with their day-to-day operations. I'm impressed with their efforts, and I can only hope more Seattle area restaurants take on the same commitment.

View from window towards 8th Ave. and Olive Way.

Urbane is one of over 90 restaurants, wineries, breweries and distilleries that will be participating in the Sunset Supper at Pike Place Market on August 14th. This is one of the best parties of the summer! Proceeds from the Sunset Supper benefit The Market Foundation. Their mission is to end hunger, care for the sick, educate kids, and find homes for those without, right at Pike Place Market. Find out more about the Sunset Supper at their website, and be sure to purchase tickets to the event to sample some of the region's best food and drinks!

FOOD REVIEW: Manhattan

Over the weekend I paid a visit to Manhattan on Capitol Hill for dinner with some friends. Manhattan is located on 12th Avenue between Madison and Pike. As the name implies, the food is inspired by the east coast.

Manhattan has a craft cocktail bar that serves classic drinks as well as their own signature cocktails. I ordered a Salted Caramel Apple cocktail that was very tasty! It's vodka, apple liqueur, lime juice with a sweet and salty caramel rim. This cocktail was like drinking dessert! I loved the caramel around the rim of the glass, and it was the perfect combo to the taste of the apple and lime. The cherry in the glass was perfect contrast to the beautiful color of the cocktail. I also tried the Manhattan(2). It is a twist on the classic with rye, punt e mes (Italian Vermouth), peychaud's (bitters), orange bitter and served with an orange twist. Strong, but tasty!

Manhattan offers a good selection of food on their menu, from seared scallops, to fried chicken, to filet mignon. I went with the Grilled Duck Breast. This was served with grits, brown butter and sage, seasonal vegetables (carrots, asparagus, squash), and red wine sauce. The duck breast was beautifully served pre-sliced on an island of grits surrounded by red wine sauce. The duck was cooked perfectly. The skin was nice and crispy and beautifully scored. It was tender and juicy, and the perfect bite included the duck with some grits dipped in the red wine sauce! There was even some thought placed in the presentation of the seasonal vegetables. Cut to nice bite-sized portions and perfectly prepared.

As you can see from my empty plate, I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner!

 I really like the interior of Manhattan. We were seated in one of the booths located along the wall opposite the bar. There are tables through the middle of the restaurant, as well as tables with bench and chair seating near the front of the restaurant. The big orange wall behind the bar glows in the back light, as the rest of the restaurant is lit with different alternating vintage looking chandeliers. The decor is definitely chic, but comfy. On my next visit, I would love to just sit at the bar and try some of their other signature cocktails and some more of their delicious food.

Manhattan has two tufted walls with the others covered in patterned and textured wallpaper. The entrance to the restrooms is draped off with dramatic, heavy curtains.

Manhattan is also taking part in the Sunset Supper at Pike Place Market on August 15th. Check out my previous post about the Supper, or go to The Pike Place Market Foundation website for more info.

FOOD REVIEW: Loulay Kitchen and Bar

Loulay sign above kitchen.

It was my birthday recently and for my Birthday dinner, my friends took me out to eat at Loulay Kitchen and Bar, Thierry Rautureau's newest restaurant in downtown Seattle. I'm a big fan of Chef Rautureau's other restaurant, Luc in Madison Valley, so I was excited to try out his latest restaurant. Loulay is named for chef Thierry Rautureau's hometown of Saint Hilaire de Loulay in France. The restaurant is located at Sixth and Union on the Sheraton Hotel block.

Huge mirror and lights at Loulay.

The interior of the restaurant is very spacious. There is seating at the chef's counter, similar to Chef Rautureau's other restaurant, Luc. There are high-backed booths and tables in the main dining area on the first level, as well as, a 24-seat bar area. There is a balcony area that gives a perfect bird's-eye-view of the kitchen and main dining area. There is also a mezzanine level that seats about 30 diners and can be used for private parties.

View of dining area from balcony at Loulay.

I loved the energy of the restaurant. All areas were full of diners enjoying their food and wine. I can easily see Loulay becoming one of my favorite Seattle restaurants.

Amuse Bouche of Ceviche on toasted baguette.

Almost as soon as we sat down in our booth, we were greeted by Chef Thierry Rautureau himself! Thierry is well-known to visit with guests at his restaurants. He loves to chat with his patrons and get to know them. I've had the pleasure of talking to Chef Rautureau at Luc, and I was very pleased to see him yet again at Loulay. He mentioned that everything on the menu was delicious, and after looking it over, I agree, it all sounded very good.

Appetizers of Beet Salad, Duck Sliders, and Crab Beignets.

For a started, we were treated to an Amuse Bouche of Ceviche on a toasted baguette. It was the perfect little starter to what would be a most enjoyable dining experience. For our appetizers, we ordered the Beet Salad, Duck Sliders, and the Crab Beignets. All of which were spot-on and delicious.

Lamb and Polenta

For my main course, I chose the Lamb and Polenta. As expected, I was not disappointed. The lamb was tender and the delicious sauce gave the dish so much flavor.

Beignets with sour apples, malt ice cream, and caramel.

For dessert, we ordered the Beignets with sour apples, malt ice cream and caramel. The powdered beignets were reminiscent of the ones I've tried at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. 

Chocolate Truffle Cake with a praline bar, lemon cremeux, roasted white chocolate ice milk.

I also ordered the Chocolate Truffle Cake. It was complete with a praline bar, lemon cremeux and roasted white chocolate ice milk. This dessert was the perfect finish to an amazing night of delicious food.

It was a pleasure meeting The Chef in the Hat, Thierry Rautureau.

Chef Rautureau was nice enough to take a picture with us. He is an amazing Chef and I wish him all the best with Loulay. I will definitely be back for many visits.

FOOD REVIEW: Skillet Diner's Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Skillet Diner's Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Friday night I tried the grilled pork tenderloin at Skillet Diner in Ballard. It was delicious! It is herb crusted and comes with parsnip puree, cider demi, scapes, and white bean ratatouille. The pork itself was very tender and juicy. The flavors of the puree, demi and ratatouille were a perfect combination with the pork tenderloin. I was surprised by the large serving I received. I could have easily saved half to take home for lunch the next day, but it was so tasty I couldn't stop eating. This dish could easily be shared between two people, but I was a pig and ate it all myself. No regrets! I must also comment on the excellent service we received. We had 12 in our party, and our server was amazing! A must try are the made-to-order doughnut holes. You get 6 per order, and they come out piping hot!