It maybe a shack but the taste is far from small. Little Uncle serves up a street style Thai experience on the eastside of Capitol Hill. The menu consists of the staples Tofu Phad Thai, Kao Soi (curry noodle soup), Braise Beef Cheek buns, and a rotating special. Outdoor seating is limited but if it were a nice hot day, even sitting on the sidewalk would be popular option.

I’m down with Little Uncle. The Tofu Phad Thai was impressive with a nice blend of spice and sauce. The curry noodle soup was bursting with flavor and very satisfying. The beef cheek buns were good but I was expecting a little more. I know these pictures are from the colder months of Seattle but the Little Uncle experience is enjoyable in all weather. Also, I hear there’s a Dungeness crab special that I’ll definitely be back for.

Cuban Bowl - Snout Co

Kim chi meatball over rice patty (I love asian food) from Marination Mobile

Gumbo and Jambalaya from Jemil’s

Harvest Vine Proscuitto

Salmon Crostini from Spur Gastropub 

Platted L to R clockwise - Chicken sausage with bacon jam Skillet, Crusted Tuna, Chicken Liver Mouse RN 74, Steak Tartar Blind Pig Bistro, and Tapioca Dumplings Monsoon

Top Chef Masters Thierry from Luc doing work! 

Cocktail curators from Ba Bar

Ticket Winner… Alicia Pearce and friend. Evidence that you can win with reading the blog! 

Swag with Swag bag

As I mentioned before… Hands down Seattle Weekly’s Voracious is one of my favorite food events of the year! The tasting awards brought together some of the area’s top restaurants, food trucks, and cocktail curators for a huge foodie celebration. Can’t beat an open bar and all the tasty tastings you can consume. Not to forget, lots of socializing and that Seattle folks came very nicely fitted. Plus partying in the Paramount… why not!   

Where else are you going to get all these all-star food participation under one roof! 

Chef John Roberts

English pea boisson (truffle creme)

Scallop ceviche

Beet carpaccio

Pan roasted ling cod

Spring lamb loin

Lemon meyer pie

The Edgewater is Seattle’s historic pier hotel that once hosted Rock and Rolls’ elite, The Beatles. (There is a famous picture of them fishing out of their room). Recently, the Edgewater took care of one of my heroes, travel food extraordinaire, Anthony Bourdain (Layover Seattle). Lucky for us, the foodhipster206 team received an extension of that hospitality with a generous invite to the Spring Blogger dinner at their signature viewtastic (indoor & outdoor) seafood restaurant, Six Seven.

The tasting highlighted some of Chef John Roberts’ freshest spring menu creations.  The experience began with a showcase of the season’s fresh starters; a delectably smooth English pea boisson, flavorful and spicy scallop ceviche, and the visually stunning beet carpaccio that would make you forget the beef. The main dishes for the night were the pan roasted ling cod and spring lamb loin. Both were splendid and well executed with a wine pairing. Wrapping up the tasting course was a lemon meyer pie that could satisfy any sweet tooth. 

It’s always a pleasure to have dinner at Six Seven and enjoy the company of their team and the Seattle food blogging community. It was a fun event to partake in and thank you to the Edgewater for an awesome night!     

pics from last year’s event

Hands down one of my favorite food events of the year! Seattle Weekly’s Voracious Tasting brings together some of the area’s top restaurants, food trucks, and cocktail curators for a huge celebration. It’s an open bar and all the tastings you can consume. This year’s all-star participants include IL Corvo, Blind Pig Bistro, Spur Gastropub, Harvest Vine, Taste, Marination Mobile, and others.

I’m stoked for the event and best of all, I can hook you up with a pair of General Admission tickets ($90 value). There are the 3 easy ways to enter and I’ll randomly draw the winner Thursday, March 28. You can enter once in each of my social channels (max 3 entries per person). Less people enter, the better chance you’ll have to win.

Either

• Tweet @davenguyen206 with “Hook me up”.
• I’ll post a Voracious pic on Instagram @davenguyen and comment with “Hook me up”.
• I’ll post a Voracious pic on the Foodhipster206.com Facebook page and comment with “Hook me up”

Event on Thursday, April 4, Paramount Theater at 7pm, Presented by the Washington State Beef Commission

If you’re feeling city, artsy, and hungry, try a day at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). The brunch at the Taste Restaurant, located on the street level of the SAM, is as delicious as it is convenient.  Since we are dormant SAM members, we made it a priority to spend a weekend day exploring exhibits and using our membership discount for some sustainable food. 

The TASTE brunch experience was tasty. The dishes are locally sourced from the area’s best suppliers right to your table. I ordered the Croque Madame since I was feeling like something buttery and savory. It included gruyere, smoked ham, and a sunny side egg on top of a brioche bun. I savored every bite for as long as I could. My fiancée went with a festive pork belly succotash. The pork belly was very nicely executed on a bed of squash, beets, and fennels. It was an artistic display of earthy components that reminded me of confetti.

Though our dishes at the Taste were good, I regretted not ordering the chicken and waffles. Every time one passed by, I couldn’t help but stare and drool at the beautifully constructed work of art. Nevertheless, the brunch experience compliments a day at the museum very well. I consider it one of the better brunches in the Seattle downtown area.

After the museum, we visited DeLaurenti at the Pike Place Market to munch on the best cookie in Seattle….the massive chocolate chip cookie with whole hazelnuts. If you haven’t had it, check it out! 

Roasted local carrots and fennel with yogurt

Bone marrow

Roasted trout

Braised pork shoulder 

Roasted mad hatcher chicken

Dinner party peeps

This third restaurant installment from Renee Erickson is another winner for Seattle. The Whale Wins is a picturesque open setting that promotes a wonderful dinner party experience. The menu advocates a meal that is to be shared with your friends for optimal enjoyment. Sharing is caring, right? The food is a compilation of seasonal vegetables and fresh local protein, wood fired and executed with Southern European and English influences.

Partaking in a family style meal, we ordered quite the collection.  Our first dish was the local roasted carrots and fennel served with yogurt. I’m a fan of the wood fired vegetables and wished I ordered more. There’s always next time though! The other starter was the Painted Hills bone marrow, which was pretty rich and succulent.

For the main shared dishes we got the trifecta of the roasted trout, braised pork shoulder with winesap apples, and the roasted mad hatcher chicken. I can’t speak for the party, but the main entrées performed very well. The roasted trout had a nice char and a citrus pop for a balanced taste. You can’t go wrong with the braised pork shoulder, and to couple it with apple, it made the perfect combination. The roasted chicken was good, but I definitely rank the trout and pork shoulder heads and shoulders above.

If you get excited like I do for the Boat Street Café and the Walrus and the Carpenter, then the Whale Wins will not disappoint.

Dungeness crab appetizer with fish sauce and coconut foam

Poached chicken breast with pumpkin, collared greens, peppercorns, and quinoa

White chocolate and tarragon ganache dessert with campari pearls

Top Chef judges table

As featured in Top Chef Seattle, FareStart is a fantastic non-profit organization that provides culinary training for disadvantaged individuals in our community.  The students go through a 16-week culinary program that builds their cooking skills to be ready for the restaurant industry and gain living wage jobs. On a weekly basis, FareStart holds a guest chef that gives the students the experience to work with a premier Seattle chef to prepare an exquisite three-course meal.  

Some of these dinners sell out weeks in advance. These dinners are an amazing opportunity to support the program and taste the cooking of the guest chef. We attended a dinner that featured the cooking of Chef Matt Castello from the Inn at the Langley. The Inn at the Langley does some of the finest gastronomy constructions in Washington. So instead of going to Whidbey Island, it’s like they are coming to us. 

For our meal, we were served a dungeness crab appetizer with fish sauce and coconut foam. The entrée was a gastronomic creation that featured a poached chicken breast with pumpkin, collared greens, peppercorns, and quinoa. The last course was a white chocolate and tarragon ganache dessert with campari pearls. All the dishes were very delicious, full with flavor and creatively orchestrated. Please help support this wonderful organization, and stop in when you can. 

Traditional Korean music from Morning Star Cultural Center

Cooking demonstration from Chef Heong Soon Park of Chan

Bird nest salad and spicy pumpkin jook

Citrus kimchi galbi (short ribs)

Creme filled pear

Earlier this month the team was invited to the 1^st Seattle Korean Food Festival. The event was put on by the Seattle Korean Consulate to help showcase local Korean cuisine. The program included food from the winners of the Korean Food competition that took place among the local culinary programs, Le Cordon Bleu, the Art Institutes of Seattle, South Seattle Community College, and Lake Washington Institute. The winners were judged on their creative and modern interpretations of Korean cuisine.

The judges of the competition were renowned members of the Seattle food community, Chef Rachel Yang of Revel, Chef Heong Soon Park of Chan, and food critique Hanna Raskin. The winning team, Le Cordon Blue, served a tasty three-course meal that included a bird’s nest salad with spicy pumpkin jook appetizer, citrus kimchi galbi (short ribs) entrée, and a crème filled roasted pear dessert. The food was delicious and it’s good to see programs like this help inspire a young generation of chefs in Seattle. 

Shoutout to food models Voss and Kirsten of Neon Nightmare Vintage, and Alicia

Chemex

Pastries

Armadillo (spinach, feta, and onions)

Omelet with fig and goat cheese

Soldier eggs with lava crystals and prosciutto wrapped toast

Eames

Arabica Lounge is definitely one of Seattle’s most fun and eclectic eating experiences. The coffee is top notch and the Arabica Lounge is creating quite a buzz with their distinctive brunch and pastries. The setting is creatively cool combining mid-modern and rustic vintage furniture with artistry decor. The owner’s passion is to provide a space for enjoyment, relaxation, and socialization along with delectable food.

With all the artistic personality bursting in the space, the innovation has also translated into their dishes. The menu is French inspired with a commitment to quality ingredients and presentation. Arabica Lounge is one of those places where I wanted to order everything on the menu and in the pastry window.

For our meal, we ordered the soldier eggs with prosciutto and the omelet with fig and goat cheese. The soldier eggs dish was visually impressive and whimsical with toy soldiers scaling egg-carton mountains. The presentation was imaginative and Instagram worthy. It was fun dipping the prosciutto wrapped strips of toast into the soft-boiled egg yolk. The deep fig with goat cheese omelet was a stand-out as well. The figs were sweet and nicely contrasted the savory goat cheese in the omelet.   

We also sampled from an assortment of pastries inspired by the chef’s worldly influences. My favorites were the cardamom shortbread cookie and the armadillo. The cardamom cookie had a nice light flavor with a bit of a bite. The armadillo was a flakey savory pastry filled with spinach, feta, and onions. Also, the Arabica Lounge provides a good selection of gluten free and vegan options to accommodate all patrons.

During our dining experience, we saw a wide variety of people coming into the Arabica Lounge. From old-time Capitol Hill residents to hipster-cool students, the experience and food appeals to everyone. We had an awesome time and the staff is super friendly and welcoming. Brunch is everyday. 

Chef Emily Crawford Dann in the kitchen

Smoked black cod and parsnip brandade 

Mussels and pancetta with bok choy in aioli vinaigrette 

Black soybean with seabass in a paprika broth

Wheat berry and dandelion greens topped with pork loin and meatballs

Toasted coconut on roasted cauliflower and pumpkin cooked in brown butter over yogurt

Carrie Majeske, Ford’s Product Sustainability Manager

Last week the foodhipster206 team was invited to a sustainable fusion-style dinner party hosted by the Ford Motor Company. The event was an inspired collaboration with chef Emily Crawford Dann of the Corson Building to create a tasting menu that utilized some of the sustainably sourced items that are found in the materials used in the new Ford Fusion Hybrid and its future models. The featured sustainable food items were soybeans (found in the head-rest materials of the seats), wheat (used in the reinforced plastic), coconut husk (for interior molded parts), and dandelions (in the floor mats and interior trim).

The dinner party was an enjoyable time as I got the chance to meet other Seattle food bloggers, chefs, sustainability community members, and the Ford team.

All the dishes served were intriguing and shared family style. The night started with an impressive smoked black cod parsnip brandade and a flavor-packed mussels and pancetta dish.

The features of the night were the entree courses as it consisted of the sourced items found in the Ford Fusion. The black soybean was paired with a nicely cooked seabass in a paprika broth. The wheat berry and long cooked dandelion greens were topped with juicy pork loin and meatballs. The toasted coconut was sprinkled on a pairing of roasted cauliflower and pumpkin cooked in brown butter over house made yogurt. All these combinations worked out fabulously and were executed really well. 

The night also highlighted a discussion with Ford’s Product Sustainability Manager, Carrie Majeske. Carrie walked through Ford’s approach to choosing and sourcing each of the ingredients. Ford’s motivation for this project was to position itself for a future where petroleum and some of its other car products might be scarce and volatile. Ford also emphasized that the recycled products used in the Fusion Hybrid would have ended up in landfills such as the plastic bottles, denim scraps, and coconut husks. In addition, Ford is dedicated to ensuring that the sources of their items are not competing with the food chain or from conflict areas.

The night capped off with some dessert, more socializing, and an opportunity to test-drive the Ford Fusion Hybrid. The charming Corson Building was a beautiful backdrop for the Ford Fusion Hybrid event as it articulates the Corson Building’s mission of bringing together community through sustainable organic food.

*It is unfortunate that after this blog post was originally released, there was a recall of the 2013 Ford Fusion and Escape vehicles with the 1.6L engines. Please note that the recalled vehicles are different than the Hybrids that were showcased. Having the opportunity to meet the staff and representatives of Ford, I found that they were extremely friendly, passionate, and demonstrated their dedication to quality and innovation in their sustainable technology. Despite Ford’s recent setback, I hope that consumers will still appreciate Ford’s long-term commitment to its customers, safety, and the environment.

For further information about the safety recall, please see Ford’s linked message.

A few weeks ago, we were invited to the Duke’s Chowder House “Salmon Show n’ Tell” event at the Alki Beach location in West Seattle. The night was very enlightening and helped further my knowledge of sustainable fishing. The owner, Duke Moscrip, and Larry Andrews, of Alaskan Seafood, provided an educational segment on sustainability practices for fresh wild salmon. They talked about their experiences in Alaska, background on the various salmon species, and their advocacy for a longer salmon cycle.

In addition to the sustainability discussion, each species of salmon was displayed and filleted in front of us. The head chef, Bill Ranniger, expertly prepared each type of salmon for sampling. The salmon tasting featured King, Coho, Sockeye, Keta, and Pink. The spread of food was a real treat as it also included a generous entrée comprised of Duke’s signature dishes. The items highlighted were the baked salmon stuffed with gruyere and crab, the broiled blueberry and goat cheese salmon, a pesto salmon slider, and a salmon chowder. The whole meal was pleasantly paired with wine from King Estate and finished with a batch of the restaurant’s personally sourced whiskey.   

My favorites dishes were the stuffed salmon and the chowder. The stuffed salmon was succulent and the combination of gruyere and crab worked well. The salmon chowder had the right balance of savory flavor, perfect for a chilly day. We had a good time at the Duke’s event and it was very enriching to understand the restaurant’s passion for using fine quality components in their dishes.

During the evening, Lola is Tom Douglas’ modern take on Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. In the morning, Lola is one of Seattle’s most flavorful, well-executed brunch spots. 

At Lola, you can treat yourself to one of its many standout items on the menu. My favorite dish is the Eggs Benedict. The dill gives the hollandaise sauce nice character that compliments well with the perfectly poached eggs and tasty biscuits. It also comes with a side of garlic smashed potatoes that were cooked and seasoned with herbs very nicely. These potatoes could probably be one my favorite side dishes.  The other dishes ordered were the omelet and the pancakes with sausage and vanilla mascarpone. My other go-to item at Lola is their made-to-order donuts (not pictured) that come out nice and warm with jam and mascarpone. So good!

I liked Lola so much that I made it #2 on FH206 brunch picks in Seattle.  As a side note, you can make reservations for Lola on OpenTable to avoid the wait.

Hangtown fry

Wonder no more….. The Wandering Goose is the newest Southern inspired brunch spot where many Seattleites have been filing in, week in and week out. Located on the eastside of Capitol Hill, the Wandering Goose is a charming vintage breakfast café that serves food in a setting that is both a socially relaxed dining experience and a delectable grab-and-go spot.

After realizing we had to join the queue and order at the counter, our first thought was to quickly claim a table as the restaurant was pretty packed. For our order, we went with the recommendations of the hangtown fry and the veggie plate. The hangtown fry was an intricate combination of savory tastiness served in a skillet of fried oysters, pork belly, a poached egg, and potatoes. The veggie plate was a delicious option as well, as we got try the mac & cheese (my weakness), and have our veggie fix of collared greens and peas. To top it off, the veggie plate also came with the shop’s signature biscuit.

The Wandering Goose definitely hits its mark by serving food that is comfortable, affordable, and satisfying. The Friday Supper will be next on my list of wanders.