For whatever reason, the gift certificate that I gave my Mother for her birthday about three years ago to Cafe Juanita went unused until last night. I guess the restaurant is a bit out of the way--Kirkland, and not Seattle, but still, I was surprised that the gift certificate still existed and that I got to go.
Cafe Juanita has won several James Beard awards, and it definitely could hang in a bigger city. It's on the same level as anything that I've had in LA and is arguably less expensive. They go out of their way to source local, organic, produce, ie I don't think Sysco makes a whole lot of stops there. Amen to that. Had some great dishes--foie gras with gingered apples and quince (an enormous piece of foie gras for a restaurant too--worth every penny of the 20$ the dish was), king crab on apple sorbetto with butter powder, pear salad with some truffle oil, fresh steelhead trout (which has actually been reclassified as a salmon now, I believe), and some Wagyu beef with gorganzola (didn't try that, but my Mom liked it).
Also had this wine, from one of the pioneers of high-quality white wines in Northern Italy. Here' s a decent profile. What an awful picture up above. Oh well. I'm trying to get my parents to like white wine, so I thought I'd have them try something off the beaten path (at least for them) that would match with a wide range of foods. Almond, peach, citrus and anise on the nose, with ripe mineral accented citrus fruit and a rich texture in the mouth. Lots of richness balanced by acidity; just really nice. 60$ off the list (incidentally, a whole lot of the wine list seems to be quite expensive, although they seem to be have a fantastic selection). B+ Lastly, I had a glass of 1982 Dow Colheita Port. 82 was the year I was born, so I kind of had to try it. Nutty, with lots of dried fruit character and orange. Hazelnutty-toffee finish that went on for minutes. Absolutely insane. A+ Definitely loved the restaurant; for sure I will be back. Even my Mom liked it, and she's pretty goddamned picky.
And on another note, I went to Anchovies and Olives on Monday night, and was really impressed. Went there with my friends Dave and Emily because it's right by their place. We decided that Poco Wine Bar was a little boring (had an okay glass of wine there with them), and this is a block away. Great happy hour; nice Pinot Bianco and Prosecco by the glass for $5--I think we had about 10 glasses of it or so. Producer escapes me, but it was nice and crisp. Awesome, awesome, fresh oysters that were only a buck. A lot of details escape me, but whatever kind of oysters (we had three different kinds including Prince Edwards) we had, the best was the one with pickled beets on top. And seriously, where else can you get 9 awesome, fresh, oysters for 9$? A great deal. Perhaps the best deal besides my Grandfather's house. Emily and Dave, despite being in their late 20's, had never had raw oysters before. Got to say I was surprised, but they're no longer oyster virgins. Dave ate 4 raw oysters; I think he's probably hooked now. Still peckish, even though I'd eaten dinner with my parents earlier, so I ordered the King Mackerel with hen of the woods mushrooms and raddichio, as well as the geoduck crudo in a cucumber basil broth. Both very well done dishes; obviously extremely fresh and perfectly cooked (or in the case of the geoduck, not). Not too expensive either. We also had a piece of Tallegio (probably my favorite cheese) coated with currant jelly, and a roasted banana bread pudding. I would go to this place frequently if it was by me. And it's relatively inexpensive. Imagine that. And of course, being in Seattle and hanging out with Dave, Emily and my other Seattle peeps makes me want to move back to Seattle, if only so I can go get happy hour wine at Anchovies and Olives with them more frequently. I will be back...
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