Seattle report

Leaving Seattle this morning after 3 days at the Craft Brewers Expo. Yes, great beer and fine people. Much to my surprise there was only one day of rain - must be those scientists tinkering with the weather causing a rift in the ethereal continuum. Oh yeah, on to food. We are staying downtown at the Sheraton and there are plenty of choices within easy walking distance. And, a Starbucks every half-block. How convenient. I particulary like the Starbucks at 4th & Pine. Nice ambience. Varied menu. T-Mobile Hotspot. Pierced, tattooed and grunged clientele. This is in contrast to the Starbucks at 4th and Pike which has nice ambience, varied menu, T-Mobile Hotspot, pierced, tattooed and grunged clientele. However, I would not recommend the Starbucks at 3rd & Pike which has nice ambience, varied menu, T-Mobile Hotspot, pierced, tattooed and grunged clientele.

First night dinner was at Emmet Watson's Oyster Bar in Pike's Place Market. This is a small, cheap, informal place with wooden booths. Although billed as an oyster bar, there weren't any oyster choices on the menu, just "oysters." So, I can't vouch for the varietal.
Started with 1/2 dozen on the half shell and 1/2 dozen baked (billed as their specialty.) All were absolutely fresh and wonderful. The baked were not Rockefeller and had a slight kick. "Entrees" were the grilled cod and grilled salmon. Both fish were incredibly fresh and cooked to perfection. Each plate was a bargain $10.95 although the fish portion was small. Served with great cole slaw and garlic bread. Also had a side order of fries. Alaskan Amber and Deschutes Mirror Pond were the accompaniments.

Second night we headed back towards Pike Market and stopped at Matt's in the Market. This is a tiny place upstairs and a little difficult to find. Only about 4 tables and a long counter. We got there early, around 5:45 and got seated at the counter with no problem. But the place filled up quickly - they do take reservations. All the cooking is done on a two-gas-burner hot plate. The results are incredible! My associate had pan seared halibut over a carmelized onion cake and I had wild salmon (again) over curried potatoes. We both started with a smoked catfish salad. Matt is very personable and is constantly hustling behind the counter but never too busy to chat with customers, both regulars and strangers like us. He has a nice selection of unusual wines by the glass and some nice local beers. A collection of hot sauces along the counter indicated that he also does Cajun and other eclectic food combinations. I was told that his catfish fests are legendary.

Third night was Bambuza, billed as Vietnamese but really more pan-asian. We began with salad-rolls which were vegie goi-cuon with a terrific peanut sauce and lightly crusted calamari in onions and a "salmon-colored" sauce. Don't know what it was, but it was great. We had grilled halibut and crispy, drunken chicken for entrees and threw in a plate of spicy broccoli as a side dish. My associate had an Alaskan Amber and I went for a Deschutes Black Butte Porter. This was a dynamite dinner and highly recommended.

That's the report. Gotta go try and find a Starbuck's before we leave for the airport.

Andy's Better Brother wrote:However, I would not recommend the Starbucks at 3rd & Pike which has nice ambience, varied menu, T-Mobile Hotspot, pierced, tattooed and grunged clientele.

Better Brother,

Funny, but I liked 3rd and Pike, though not to the same degree as the Starbucks at 9th, 11th, or 12th and Pike.

Seriously though, you hit one of my favorite places in all of Seattle, Matt's in the Marketplace which, along with Salumi, have me pining for a visit. Which reminds me there is a really great Starbucks at 8th and Pine.

Next visit I'll be sure to check out Emmet Watson's Oyster Bar and Bambuza.

Enjoy,
Gary

Salumi
309 3rd Ave S
Seattle, Washington 98104
(206) 621-8772

Matt's in the Market
94 Pike St
Corner Mrkt Building Ste 32
Seattle, WA 98101
206-467-7909
(Second floor)

G Wiv wrote:[Funny, but I liked 3rd and Pike, though not to the same degree as the Starbucks at 9th, 11th, or 12th and Pike.

Well, here we have to part company because I found the 3rd & Pike Starbucks severely lacking. However, I neglected to mention the 3rd & Pine Starbucks which really excelled.

All will pale however, to the 12 pounds of brisket that go on the smoker tomorrow (according to the Wiviott method, of course) for our Seder. I know, it's not the first night, but we treat it like the Federal Government, Seder is the first Saturday after the official start.

ABB--

What adaptations to Prof. Wiviott's justly-regarded methods did/do you have to make at 7800' up in the mountains? Just how hot IS cold smoke there?!

Geo

Geo wrote:ABB--

What adaptations to Prof. Wiviott's justly-regarded methods did/do you have to make at 7800' up in the mountains? Just how hot IS cold smoke there?!

I've never made any changes to the method! Everything that I have done following exact directions has turned out perfectly. There are some challenges, of course. I woke up today with the wind blowing at 15-20mph, gusting to 30, which made starting the fire in the chimney starter interesting. But, I got it done. Had to screw a piece of plywood to the deck railing to act as a wind break. Brisket went in at 9:30am and we expect to eat around 7:00 pm.

That's really interesting! I'd have thought some adjustments would need to be made. My dad was on staff at CSU [then Colo. A & M] when they worked out the first high-altitude cookbook for Extension. I remember him talking about how much difference it always made, esp. in baking.

Plus, adjusting the carb in the old Ford when we visited my grandparents in St. Louis!

But I guess in smoking & bbq'ing altitude just doesn't make much difference.

[? That old Cessna's gotta be carburetted, eh? What happens if/when you take it down to the hot, wet, thick air of, say, KC?? :^) ]

Geo

Geo wrote:[? That old Cessna's gotta be carburetted, eh? What happens if/when you take it down to the hot, wet, thick air of, say, KC?? :^) ]

Yeah. It is carbureated but you set the fuel mixture manually from inside the cockpit. The carbs are designed for extreme altitude changes, as you can imagine, but it's the mixture that requires the most attention. Most problems occur when flatlanders fly up here. They sometimes forget to take into account the drastic density altitudes that occur when you mix high temps and high altitude. They don't lean their carb properly, attempt to take off and then end up not being able to make anywhere close to full power as they sputter down the runway. If their lucky, they just stop. More often than not, there is crunched aluminum involved and hopefully no injuries. I ALWAYS lean at full power as part of my run-up prior to take-off.

Better get some food issue in here just to be safe. We have been known to hop down to Santa Fe early in the morning, have lunch at the Communist (or is that Community?) table at Pasqual's and then come home. Fun stuff!

Andy's Better Brother wrote:

Hey ABB,

I would strongly suggest putting something under that WSM to avoid Wife Rage when the inevitable stray ember leaves a burn mark on that beautiful deck.

BBQ Blast Shield tm

ABB, last summer were in Boulder. Our Vienna Beef rep asked us to visit a client on the Pearl Street Mall. His name's Eddie Emorian and he own's and operates the "Fast Eddie's Famous Chicago Hot Dog" cart. Eddie, a classic Chicagoan, moved to Boulder in 1995 after retiring from Anheuser-Busch. He sell's authentic Vienna Beef hot dogs with the correct condiments and buns, along with Pepsi products, and chips. He's open five days a week and six during the summer. Eddie's been voted the Best of Boulder many times with his cart has been featured in Chicago and Boulder newspapers and a few movies. Ask to see his scrap book. The sign atop his cart reads, "Chicago Spoken Here." At age 67, he's still going strong and makes an absolutely excellent Chicago style hot dog.

CSD

[quote="stevez]I would strongly suggest putting something under that WSM to avoid Wife Rage when the inevitable stray ember leaves a burn mark on that beautiful deck.[/quote]

Thanks, Steve. I already have a perfect circle from the chimney starter which I trickily put on a baking sheet the first time I used it. You'd think that I would've figured out that metal transfers heat through metal! Left quite an impression, literally. Deck refinishing is on the list for this summer.

chicagostyledog wrote:ABB, last summer were in Boulder. Our Vienna Beef rep asked us to visit a client his on the Pearl Street Mall. His name's Eddie Emorian and he own's and operates the "Fast Eddie's Famous Chicago Hot Dog" cart.

CSD, I am intimately familiar with Eddie's, having lived in Boulder since 1968. Actually, the first Vienna dogs were sold at Mustard's Last Stand on Broadway and Arapahoe. The place is still there. I worked there for a few months after they opened but ended up eating up all of my paycheck in dogs.