REVIEW: Cuoco

Recently I had dinner at one of Tom Douglas' newer restaurants, Cuoco. This Italian restaurant is part of three new eateries in the Terry Building in the heart of South Lake Union. Cuoco sits on the first floor below Brave Horse Tavern and Ting Momo, a Tibetan Dumpling House. Mr. Douglas did a great job fully restoring and renovating the old Terry Building. The restored exposed brick shows off the buildings history, and the beautiful wood work throughout the restaurant add a nice warmth to the setting. When you first walk into the restaurant you have a open view to the kitchen and the pasta work station. All the pasta is made fresh on-site.

To start the dinner, I sampled Cuoco's weekly wine flight. This week's selection included three Italian Reds: Primonero '08, Passamante '09, and Pezzo Morgana Riserva '07. The wine flight menu does a great job describing the taste of each wine. The taste I experienced was exactly the taste they described. All three were very delicious.

For my salad, I went with the Simple salad. This was a perfect start to the dinner as it was very light and had perfect flavor. It contains josh's greens, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon, sea salt, and young goat cheese.

For my main course, I ordered the Lasagna with bolognese sauce, besciamella and parmigiano. I was surprised at the size of the serving. It was huge! The lasagna was very tasty and had good flavor. I wish it came with a little more sauce, but otherwise it was good, that is, until I took a bite from the center of my lasagna. It was very cold. the outer portions of the lasagna were hot, but not the center. It's as if the center of it was refrigerated. I mentioned this to our server. I told him the lasagna is delicious, but the center was surprisingly cold. he came back a few minutes later to let me know that they were not going to charge me for the lasagna. I wasn't looking for any discount or free food when I mentioned it to him, but I was very pleased they were not going to charge me for it. I of course still paid my full amount and left a very generous tip. Just the fact that they were going to take care of it for me, showed me that they care about their food and their patrons. So I was happy to pay full price for the lasagna. It still tasted great!

For dessert, I ordered the chocolate gelato. This was a generous scoop and it was delicious. I would recommend trying out Cuoco. They have good food, good wine, and excellent service!

REVIEW: Brave Horse Tavern

This week my friend and I paid a visit to one of Tom Douglas' new eating establishments, Brave Horse Tavern. This is one of three new eateries in the Terry Building located in the heart of the new Amazon.com campus in South Lake Union. I have heard a lot of good things about this place, so I was excited to try it out. The day I visited was nice and sunny, so we decided to sit at one of the picnic tables outside.

I have heard a lot about the hand-made pretzels, so I tried one out as an appetizer. You can choose to have a number of dips with your pretzel. I went with the sour cream and crispy onion dip. This pretzel was delicious! It came to the table nice and warm. It had a perfect amount of sea salt dusted on top. I could have easily had three of these for lunch. Brave Horse Tavern also has a great selection of beers.

After my pretzel appetizer, I ordered the fennel and chili rubbed pork shoulder sandwich. The pork was served on a ciabatta with garlic rapini and green sauce. This sandwich was very tasty, although it was quite messy to eat. I didn't add the green sauce to my sandwich, as it would have made my sandwich soggy. Otherwise, it was a good sandwich. I look forward to going back for some more pretzels!

OPENING: Brave Horse Tavern, Cuoco & Ting Momo

Tom Douglas has added three new eateries to his already impressive lineup of restaurants. Brave Horse Tavern, Cuoco and Ting Momo are all located in the up and coming neighborhood of South Lake Union in Seattle. All three are located in the historic Terry Avenue Building in the heart of Amazon.com's new campus.

Brave Horse Tavern has 24 taps, handcrafted pretzels, and burgers. Cuoco is an Italian restaurant with house made pasta. Ting Momo offers Tibetan dumplings with a twist. All three are now open. I hope to be able to try all three soon to offer up a review of each.

REVIEW: Paddy Coyne's

If you love fish and chips you have to try out Paddy Coyne's. Located in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Paddy Coyne's is one of Seattle's great Irish bars. Their fish and chips is Alaskan cod dipped in Paddy's own ale batter and rolled in bread crumbs. The coating is perfectly crispy and the fish is flakey and tender. I highly recommend checking them out, especially if you like a good Irish bar. The service is always great, and you can pet the owner's dog who is usually hanging out on the sidewalk by the front door.



FOOD NEWS: Tom Douglas Strikes Again! And Again! And Again?!

The ever-growing South Lake Union neighborhood, a.k.a. Paul Allenville, has seen a lot of changes in the last few years. Amazon.com has moved its headquarters from Beacon Hill to the South Lake Union spot. Paul Allen, through his Vulcan Company, has built some condos, apartment buildings, and other commercial/corporate buildings.

Along with all this new construction comes some great restaurants. Flying Fish and Re:Public have already opened up. Now they will be in great company. Tom Douglas plans to open his second Serious Pie restaurant next week. It will share a space with Soul Wine owned by Michael Teer, who also owns Pike & Western Wine Shop at Pike Place Market. Soul Wine has just recently opened last week. The new Serious Pie will be slightly larger than the original in Belltown. According to Tom Douglas' Blog, the first pizza at the Westlake Serious Pie has already been fired up! This past week they had a "soft opening". I'm sure this Serious Pie will be just as popular as the original.

Leslie Kelly, from the Seattle Weekly Blog Voracious, met up with Tom Douglas at the new Serious Pie location. She was also given a tour of Tom's highly-anticipated new restaurant in the Terry Avenue Building. This large space will be the home of a new Italian restaurant on the main floor, with a tavern and a Tibetan dumpling cafe both sharing the second level. The Terry Avenue Building is set to open in March.

Back in November, SeattleMet.com reported Tom Douglas would also be opening a second Dahlia Bakery in the same space as the Westlake Serious Pie and Soul Wine. So it seems like Mr. Douglas is making his mark on the South Lake Union neighborhood. I'm looking forward to the opening of all his new ventures!

FOOD NEWS: New Tom Douglas Restaurant

The Puget Sound Business Journal and Tech Flash have both reported that Seattle Chef Tom Douglas will be opening more than one new restaurant in the South Lake Union neighborhood on the new Amazon.com campus. The new restaurants will be in the Terry Avenue Building. Douglas hasn't said how many restaurants will be opening, but expects them to open in mid-2011.

Located on Terry Avenue North between Thomas and Harrison streets, the two-story brick Terry Avenue Building was originally built in 1915 and designated a historic landmark in 2008. Once completed, the renovated building will connect to the site's scenic outdoor public plaza and pedestrian-friendly streetscape, with outdoor seating available for customers on both floors. (Source: Tom Douglas Restaurants Press Release)

Tom Douglas and his wife Jackie Cross own five of Seattle's most popular restaurants in downtown Seattle: Dahlia Lounge, Etta's, Palace Kitchen, Lola, and Serious Pie. Tom & Jackie also own Dahlia Bakery, Tom Douglas' Catering and Events, and the Palace Ballroom. Tom has helped put Seattle on the national culinary map.