Update: Where We've Been and Where We're Going!

Where We've Been:
Aaron - September 23: Paseo Caribbean
Hannah - October 21: Tilth
Tia - November 18: Kabul
Wendy - December 16: Baguette Box
Rico - January 20: The Mediterranean Kitchen
Travis - February 17: Tutta Bella
Lenny - March 17: Lark

And Where We're Going:
Jerrod - April 21: tbd/Volterra??

Wow, Ladies! We've already made it through one rotation! We've had some excellent choices and I'm sure April will be no exception.

So the big question is: Who picks in May? Could it be Dan??? I sure hope so!

If not, then I assume we'll just start the next rotation with Aaron picking in May, Hannah in June, and so on. In any case, everyone should start thinking about their next picks! I've already got one in mind for my next pick, which will be in August/September!

A quick note...

Just an FYI, Seattle Magazine's "Best Restaurants" issue is out on newsstands now... I noticed with a quick glance through that both Lark and Tilth made it into the top ten! We're so trendy!

Lark

Our meal last night at Lark was superb -- this was probably one of the best dining club meals so far. The atmosphere was great (the restaurant itself is gorgeous!) and the reasonable noise level made it possible for all of us to enjoy the great (if somewhat tasteless) conversation. I am pretty sure it's the nicest meal I've ever had while conversing about penises and how many places in which a person can be penetrated. I'm glad our waitress had a good sense of humor. Bless her heart!

Lark offers small plates, though their small plates are actually reasonably portioned. Our waitress suggested sharing 2-3 plates per person, and offered to put together a menu for us. Gotta give her props for the selection! It was outstanding! We had so many dishes, I will probably miss some of them... But here's what I remember:

• Cheese plate (can't remember the specific types - one was a soft cheese, another was a bleu cheese... they were all wonderful picks)
• Prosciutto with quince jam
• Pork loin with spiced Marcona almonds and garlic (this was probably my favorite!!)
• Steamed mussels
• Hamachi (yellowtail) with fennel
• Foie gras (poor little yummy duckies)
• Beef tartare (yum-o!)
• Crispy pork belly with dates (I could've eaten a plate of just the dates!!)
• Ricotta nudi (sp?? I thought these were kinda bland) with some kind of greens sauteed with bacon

And for dessert, we had:

• Apple/ginger crisp (I loved the ginger!!)
• Pineapple tarte tartin (this was my favorite dessert - it tasted like pineapple upside down cake but with puff pastry instead of cake)
• Chocolate madeleines with a chocolate dipping sauce
• Meyer lemon parfait (a bit too lemony for me)

All in all, a fabulous evening!

AND, for those who were wondering last night... Per www.m-w.com:

Penis

Main Entry: pe·nis

Pronunciation: 'pE-n&sFunction: nounInflected

Form(s): plural pe·nis·es also pe·nes /'pE-(")nEz/

Etymology: Latin, penis, tail; akin to Old High German faselt penis, Greek peos

Dating & Dining

So my recent spate of dating has been accompanied by a spate of excellent dining. Here's the rundown:

Fine Dining Date #1

Location: Barolo (1940 Westlake Ave in downtown Seattle)

Website: http://www.baroloseattle.com/

Type of Food: Upscale Italian

Vibe: Trendy, posh, romantic - definitely a place for special occasions

Overall Impression: Food was excellent! Reviews I'd read beforehand said that the food was inconsistent, but everything we had was amazing. We started with calamari (not the fried kind) in a light garlic and lemon sauce - it was possibly the most delicious squid I've ever eaten that wasn't battered and deep fried. For entrees I had the salmon. It was served rare, which is exactly how I like my salmon. And it's so hard to find a restaurant that serves its salmon anything short of overcooked and dry!! My date, "B1," (as he shall be referred to on this blog) had the filet mignon. It was soooo good! It reminded me why I love steak so much, even though I hardly ever order it. For dessert we shared a glass of port; since I generally don't drink, I can't comment intelligently on the wine.

The ambience was amazing too. Definitely the kind of place to visit the bathroom just to check out the decor. This is one of the see-and-be-seen restaurants of Seattle. According to the owner, who stopped by and chatted with us (he's a friend of a friend of B1's -- as a result, we got the hook up on a nice booth instead of a normal table for two), Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake had reservations there before they broke up. Don't know if that's true, but if they were going to be in Seattle, then Barolo would have been a great place to try. He also said that the local celebs and professional athletes eat there frequently as well.



Fine Dining Date #2:

Location: Palace Kitchen (2030 Fifth Ave in Belltown)

Website: http://tomdouglas.com/palace/index.html

Type of Food: Pacific Northwest/Eclectic

Vibe: Hip, fun, equally good for special occasions and casual dining (though a little spendy for a spur of the moment, "Hey it's 7 pm, let's grab some dinner," kind of thing)

Overall Impression: Food again was stellar! (Maybe my palate is easy to please because it seems like I enjoy almost everywhere I eat or can at least comment favorably on something. Maybe I just enjoy eating anything as long as I don't have to cook it. Anyways, I digress...) We started with the roast pork & chard ravioli and with the seared ahi tuna (served with "truffled green nectarines" and some kind of pepper). So delicious! I can't decide which I liked better -- the ravioli were so tasty, but I always love seared tuna and the peppers gave it this amazing kick. For entrees we shared the wagyu flank steak, which was served with sauteed kale and mashed potatoes, and a sea bass, which was served with celery root ravioli. The flank steak was amazing!! The bass was good too, but the flank steak was truly memorable. The marinade was amazing. For dessert we had Tom Douglas's famed coconut cream pie. B2, as he shall be referred to on this blog, knows all about my sweet tooth already (he sneaked cupcakes into the movie for me on our second date, which is a date move that just screams out "He's a keeper!!"), including my great love of whipped cream. So the coconut cream pie was a perfect choice for dessert -- it was basically a mountain of fresh whipped cream with toasted coconut flakes and white chocolate shavings. I think there was probably some pie crust in there too, but I was so focused on the football-sized mound of whipped cream, that I didn't even notice it. My god, can you say HEAVEN??

Ambience was more casual than Barolo -- more upbeat and energetic, which was perfect since we'd been wandering around downtown earlier and it was great to keep the energy going. I liked the decor, which was a combination of old/classic furnishings with industrial elements (like steel paneling on the wall that leads from the main room to the bathrooms).



Casual Date Dining

Quick notes - have also been to Typhoon on Western (good Thai, reasonably priced, especially for the location), the Indian place on 1st Ave in Pioneer Square (decent Indian food, reasonably priced, but we were literally the only patrons the night we went), and Virginia Inn (just for apps -- pretty good; got a great casual atmosphere).

Also recommended Casuelita's to Tia for her upcoming first date. I think that's a good pick if you're in the vicinity of the Sculpture Park.

That's all for now...

Help

Hi ladies, what is a good chinese restaurant in the Seattle/Cap hill/UDistrict area?

Thanks!