II Corvo: Handmade Pasta

              Nestled in the lower area Between Pikes Market and the Piers, this little shop makes homemade and authentic Italian pasta. I got the opportunity from one of my chefs to walk down and go see how the pasta was made and try some out. Our group ordered three dishes of pasta and got the full experience of the restaurant. The question from others is, is it worth going to? From the beautiful location, a unique twist to Italian food, flavorful dishes and simple presentations, Il Corvo presented a surprising delight.

                Most people my now know too much about this restaurant do to the fact that it is brand new and in an interesting location. Il Corvo shares its space with Procopio Gelateria, an Italian gelato shop located between lower Pikes Market and the piers. Due to this, the whole atmosphere has a rich feel of Italy with its small patio seating and limited space inside. This adds a more authentic and different experience that you might not get anywhere else. Il Corvo has limited opened hours on Monday thru Friday, aimed to provide lunch to people.  

The number one reason this restaurant stands out is the menu itself. Each menu item is prepared by hand and the menu changes every day. To add even more freshness, they make each item from local ingredients from pikes, which highly inspires the menu. The owner and chef, Mike Easton, told me that every item is special because it uses different and seasonal ingredients. He takes great pride in providing some of the most unique and fresh pasta that Seattle has to offer. Every morning he wakes up, goes to pikes to find ingredients, then spends the rest of the morning hand making pasta. This makes his menu limited to three to four items a day and makes sure all of his dishes are under ten dollars.  

The most important part about going to eat here is, of course, how the food tastes. When my group got to the restaurant, we ordered all three dishes offered. This included: marinated olives, parpardelle with tomatoes and asparagus, roasted eggplant Ravilolini, and gnocchi with blue cheese sauce. The marinated olives were the appetizer which also got a side of bread to dip into the oil which the olives are marinated in. Up next was all of the pasta; simply served on plates with just the right amount. The parpardelle was a thick noodle served with diced tomato, asparagus, squash and onion. The flavor blend of this was had an amazingly light but flavorful appeal that was the taste of summer. The ravilolini had a bold, rich flavor that filled you up fast but made you want to buy more. This dish was topped with fresh parmesan and a light tomato sauce which added a great texture. The last dish, the gnocchi, was by far the most unique. The spongy feel of the boil potato soaked up the flavors of the blue cheese. It was one of the most unusual yet satisfying pasta I have had up to this date.

Overall, this restaurant is a pasta and foodie lovers paradise. It offers a great range of flavors, types of pasta and a great experience. If you have some money and you are getting hungry in the Pike area, I would highly suggest going and trying out Il Corvo. It is a great excuse to go out and try something new, unique and fresh.

Pike Market Sandwiches

Pike's Market in famous for its fresh, local and community appeal. If you even go walking down the main street, I would advise you to go and try a sandwich show called "michou". This tiny and well hidden shop is located right next to Le Panier. It first glance it seem to be just your average bakery that serves soups and salads but you are wrong. It is so much more then baked good and such. The main attraction is the sandwiches they make which a fresh, local and very cheap. Each sandwich is prices all the same and for half a sandwich it is around $2.75 and for a whole it is about $5.50. They may seen flat and small but the looks are deceiving. I personally got the "Caesar Salad Chicken Sandwich" and it filled me up better then a foot long at Subway. If it by chance doesn't fill you up fully, the pastries will. For one dollar a got a Turkish style doughnut. The pastry was huge, almost too big for me to finish in one sitting. All in all, this place is well worth checking out and trying out. If you enjoy sandwiches, you will highly enjoy this place.

Beans, Rice and More

As a new quarter and a new class starts, I learn a new food from a region of the world. I am currently taking "Latin Cuisine" which is a class based on Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. These past few weeks the focus has been Mexico, which to most people, is just tacos and burritos. The fact is mexican food can go so much deeper into flavor then just beans and rice. One example is the soups they make, tomato or garlic soup. They are simple, flavorful and have a very appealing look to them. They also are big on stuffed pepper which are personally my favorite. These tend to very depending on what pepper is used to stuff with but the options are almost endless. You can have a meaty, savory filling or use more sweet ingredients such as fruit w/ pork. By far one of the most underrated and more complex dish that they make is the mole. Most people associate this dish to being a sauce with cocoa in which is true but, like an Indian curry, has many types. These dishes tend to be very heavy on peppers, spices and seeds but can also be fruit and vegetable oriented. All in all, Mexican food has more to offer then just simple and sometimes boring dishes. Once you truly explore what the country has to offer for food you can truly appreciate it.  

The Waterfront Seafood Grill

It has been a while since i have posted a review or anything for that matter so i will start off with a fine dining restaurant. The first thing to say about his place is make sure you have a lot of money! All of the dishes are $30 and above though they do have the option of "small plates". I'm not trying to scare people off due to the price because trust me, you get your moneys worth. What nice too about the seafood grill is they do have a happy hour at the bar before the restaurant opens so if you just want a 1/2 off  appetizers, they do that that option. If you are there to eat dinner then they have a very good selection. The Waterfront Grill of course serves a wide selection of seafood but they also have a section of steaks. When i went, I had the thai curry w/ the side of truffle mac and cheese topped with crab. This alone was a lot to handle which they do great about with their dishes. You get them and it might not seem like a lot but it really will fill you up and get you moneys worth. The presentation of the dishes are also premium which all the ooohhh and aahhh factor. From this one experience, i would highly suggest this restaurant if you have the money to spend on it. it is a great addition to the fine dining community and proves itself strongly. To add a bonus feature, they also have a prime location which give you an amazing view of the bay area with, at times, an amazing sunset.

Shellfish Preparation

One of the many ways to prep seafood at a restaurant or at home is to serve the clams and oysters raw. For those who have not does this your self, be warned, it is difficult. Your first step is to clean the shells of any sand or sea grim, this is also the time to tap on all open shells. This is to check if the animal is still alive, if it does not open discard immediately. For mussels you also want to remove "the beard", a long hairy string that dangles from the side of the opening of the mussel. The second step, also the hardest, is to open them with either steaming them to cook them or prying them open to eat raw. Steaming is easy because you just heat water, aromatics and a little bit of wine, toss in the seafood and cook till they open. Just like before, do not eat any closed shellfish and discard immediately. For the raw method you are doing to need a oyster or clam knife to pry them open with. The trick is to open them when they least expect it (refrigerate before hand) and stick the knife through the opening in the back if the shellfish. if it still gives you trouble them let it rest and try another one. The last step for this is to dislocate the shellfish from the shell and clean out any shell or sand that got in.

Buffet Platters

So it is week 8 school and we did buffet style platters. We built a meat, vegetable, fruit, cracker and cheese displays and though it seems simple the concept is fairly hard. When cutting the vegetables you need to have a base plan that you want on the plate (in reality the customer would specify). A simple cut such as a large dice compared to a spear or julienne cut. The platter needs to be close and tight so that when someone takes some food that the overall presentation does not get effected.You also got to think how the person addresses the plate from their view and know exactly what would attract them. During our official presentation Chef had us look closely at what people took and how. To an odd surprise, most people do not like taking the back parts of the platters while they will strip the front area of the plate. This, to a cook, means you need to place the most expensive part of a platter in front so the costumers take that first. Another part is how customers do not like reaching over to get a specific food. Most people we saw tried everything except the two plates in the back which rarely got toughed. Overall i think i was a very fun way to make food and over was very happy with the presentation.

Pates, Terrines and Galantines

When asking people if they have ever tried some form of pate, most people will say no. This style of making meat is just not very popular but also goes unnoticed when people do make them. Almost everyone at some point in there life has made meat loaf? Well that is a form of a pate. A Pate, Terrine or a Galantine is simply ground meat, known as forcemeat in the culinary world, wrapped in some form of lining and then baked. The different styles of these pates differ in the from of what it is wrapped in, if the meat is emulsified or how it is cooked. Most pates and terrines are baked while a galantine is usually poached.
First off i want to talk about how a galantine works and differs from other pates. For example we made a chicken galantine in class. The first step is to cut one whole chicken from the back to take off all of the skin and meat off the body of the chicken. This can prove to be harder for some people because you neek to keep all of the skin in one sheet without holes.

After carefully cutting the chicken you tenderize it and place it in the fridge. Now yet another tricky part shows up, the part on emulsifying the chicken. We use the 1:1:1 rule (1 lb chicken, 1 cup cream, 1 egg) in which you place the chicken, spices and the egg in a blender or more preferably a robotcoupe and pulse till smooth. Now the tricky cream part, if the cream isn't cold enough or the robotcoupe is too warm the cream will break and you got to do it all over again. After this you just place the mousse into your flattened chicken, roll it up with cheese cloth and poach it till it hits 155 internally.  Your end result is a rolled chicken galantine:

 
  All in all it is hard work but regular pates and terrines are a bit more simple. A pate uses a dough to wrap the meat in and if you don't keep the meat cold enough before baking it turns into a hollowed piece of bread. Terrines are the same concept but wrapped in bacon, ham, and other very thin meat cuts. The difference from the galantine too is how you bake it and not poach it. You need to bake it in a water bath unless it is wrapped in dough then after it is cooked in needs to be weighed down overnight. This makes it so the meat fully binds and will not have pockets or meat that is like sausage in the middle.

(see pictures page for full presentation)

Seafood in the Mountains

So this one is for my hometown folks or anyone who happens to visit Park City, UT. Park City is very well known its skiing, movie festivals and great hiking. Hidden in a resort is a very fancy buffet that most might not know of. "Seafood Buffet" is a sitting style buffet that is both self serve and portioned servings located at the "Deer Valley" resort. The great part about eating at this buffet is they are focused on flavors. They only give you a small portion and separate it from other foods on your plate. That way you can eat each section and appreciate what each has to offer. On the flip side there is a full salad and cold (Garde Manger) section that you are free to do as you please.
The over all menu of the restaurant changes over time so every time i have been there the food changes. You have a range from salad, soups, hot-cut meats, desserts and much much more. Usually they provide a unique dish such as alligator or "odd" food items such as that. Personally i think it is a big step in what we need as to explore what food can give us. Too many buffets use the same items and use comfort foods to please the customer.
The hitter of this buffet is the price and timing to get it when it is open. The cost is about $60 a person which if you have a large group can prove to be very expensive. Due to the prime location and how high class the chefs are it does seem sensible. With all the seafood you can eat such as king crab, clams, mussels, assorted dishes with fish and more. Keep in mind Utah doesn't have a ocean near so all of the seafood has to be delivered from far distances which can rack up the price. Also a thing about this buffet is it is seasonal, only open selected times of the year but if you willing to try some exellent buffet food i would highly suggest this place.

The Reality of a Waiter

To all you food loving readers who like a good read i have a great book selection for you. The book "Waiters Rant" by Steve Dublanica is a easy read, funny and draws you in to keep reading. This book is a story of Steve's life for being a waiter at several restaurants. It shows a vivid image of how it is to be a waiter and also gives insight on how to get a good job as a waiter and how to be a great customer. These funny, yet eye opening stories are sure to please readers and make you respect the job of being a waiter.

The Seattle Cheese Festival

So today was Seattle's Cheese Festival down at Pikes Market. This even was full of all kind of cheeses from goat, cow and some sheep. Some of the stands had cheese more focused on artisan cheeses or world styles. All of the stands let you try their cheese and could of course buy them if wanted. Depending on the cheese the price would range from 5 to about 11 dollars at most. All are also local which can be bought in limited grocery stores but you end up paying way less for the cheese at the festival. The festival also included a wine tasting tent which cost 10 dollars and had a wide range of red and white wines to taste and sample with cheeses. I would highly suggest this event to any cheese lover in the Seattle or even Washington area. Other states might have the same kind of event so go out an check out your local cheese providers if you have an event like this.

The Good Kind of Mole

So in Salt Lake City, UT there is a small local Mexican chain called "The Red Iguana".  I will not be giving a full review but i did get to try their moles. For those who do not know what a mole is, it is a sauce that uses fruits, vegetables, spices and cocoa as the base of the sauce. It is the equivalent to a "curry" in India but originated in the Latin American region. The Red Iguana's main specialty are these moles. When i went i had it on the go but you still get a sense of how much food and flavor you get when you order one. Just one of the dishes could easily serve two people and maybe even still have leftovers. Flavor wise they are unique in many ways; they are homemade moles so all of the ingredients are fresh. These moles also range in the area of flavors, most moles are heavy in cocoa but you can select from more fruit or vegetables oriented moles. Overall this has to be one of the best places i have tried to get a very great quality mole. I will say i have not tried anything else BUT i assume it would be just a great as the moles. They have many locations located though Salt Lake and i would suggest going to check it out if you have a love for Mexican food or want to try something new. 

The Grand America

So this mothers day me family went out for a brunch at the 5 star hotel, "The Grand America". This high class hotel hosted a fine dining buffet. This all sounds very fancy and high class when really it is a bit of an overstatement. The dining room was set up in a very professionally manner as with the whole music set up and how the chefs presented. The plating was very nice and all the servings were a good size (though traditionally much smaller). One thing i though was a great idea was how they had a kid section full of kid friendly foods. On that note, kids are allowed to dine there and it does provide great service to them. The rest of the food served might to a bit too complex in flavors or have too much vegetables to their liking. For me the down side was the flavor aspect. It was all unique and had interesting flavor combination but none really performed the way i imaged it would. On a fine dining scale i would give this just a 2 out of 3 Michelin Stars if i could. It is a great place to try something new but lacked a little bit in the whole fine dining aspect. With a cost of 60 a person it is a little bit pricey but you can get your moneys worth. This hotel is located in Salt Lake City, UT.

The Hurricane

No far from where I live there is a restaurant that looks like it is in a bit of a shady area but makes up for it with its food. The red brick colored building with the dim, yet noticeable painted writing of “The Hurricane” on the side. When you enter you are seated by the casual waiters who seat you in what looks like a 70’s style hamburger shop. The next step is to order; from juicy burgers to cold shakes to creamy pasta, the Hurricane has all of the classic American food. The burger of choice is the “Hurricane Burger”, stacked high with crispy bacon, a juicy hamburger patty, a side of assorted crisp vegetables and freshly fried French fries. After your meal you will be glad you went to this hole in the wall restaurant for their delicious burgers. Overall i Would give them a 5 out of 5. This is a great college hangout place or even for the family who is just traveling through.

The Art of Sausage

Today and yesterday i have learned how to make sausages. To be honest i wasn't as hard as i though it was going to be. Its a simple blend of flavors, grinding then packing them into casings. I have also learned what a scotch egg is, a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, battered then deep fried. It sounds a bit goofy and gross but overall was a great item. The mix of egg and sausage went very well together and would gladly order them if i every found one in a restaurant.

Mama's in the Kitchen

Mama's authentic Mexican restaurant is located on 2nd Ave. This little Mexican restaurant is a warm and welcoming place for all. Any fan of Mexican food will love this place, though i was a little bit disappointed in the menu. It has your usual tacos, burritos and so on but i was hopping they had a mole. All of the dishes i have had were great and served very fast. Sometimes by the time you start eating chips they have a hot plate of food for you. With only the disappointment of the lack of mole, the price is well fitted too. Dishes range from 10 to 14 dollars and it fills you up with no problem. All in All I would give it a 4.6 out of 5. Definitely worth trying and will be fun for all.

Wann's

Wann's is a bar/restaurant that is only 30 seconds away from where i live. This restaurant is home to hand rolled sushi and other Japanese foods. First off, there are about 200 sushi restaurant in Seattle so it is hard for one to stand out. With just a bit of work Wann's could be the hit wonder of sushi. What holds it back is the customer service, it is a hit and miss. The waiters and hosts are all very friendly but the food can sometimes take forever to get to you. It can even sometimes take longer to get a dessert then 5 sushi rolls. The price of it all is a little bit too much in my mind but it does fill you up fast and the happy hour is well worth it. With regular price being 8 to 15 a roll then other items that can reach up to 20, the choice is yours. Through happy hour most of the sushi and sushimi is 5 to 10 dollars a roll, a much better fitted price in my mind. Though the rolls are fat they still seem like you don't get very much. It does depend on the roll but still feels like you are not getting the worth. Out of 5 i would give it a 4 out 5. It is definitely worth checking out for the bar and of course the sushi.

Update

Hi, hope everyone had a great Easter. Today in class we were prepping our Hor d' oeurves. For anyone who doesn't know what it is, it is a very small appetizer. We have a range of items from empanadas to canapes. I should have a few photos up tomorrow for those who want to see. 

The Taste of Thai in a Bun

Today was the International Rhythm Festival in Seattle so because it was such a sunny day i decided to go out and soak up the sun. Seattle Center had many food stands up and i decided to try out a "Thai Chicken" hot dog. First off most sausages will make me sick due to the oil in the meat but thick chicken sausage did the trick. The bun was nothing to jump for joy about but the sausage its self was very good. It was filled with basil, tomato and other spices. It wasn't overcooked and has the right moisture so you did not need a sauce. Overall id give it a 4.5 out of 5. I do not know the name of the place of who sold it but it should be popping up when the Bite Of Seattle Fest hits.

The Taste Of Morocco

Just near of where i live, there is a small building near a large group of bars and other restaurants. This restaurant is called Marrakesh. On the outside it looks to be like nothing special but once you step in its like walking into a Moroccan tent. Filled with African style design form the ceiling to the low set table and chairs. You are kindly greeted by the owner of the restaurant as you set down on large pillows. When you are first handed the menu you feel like it might not exactly be what you expected, looks small and all "weird" items. Through the whole experience of the dinning you get a 4 to 5 course meal, from salad to dessert, all included in the price.
The next part is of how unique the menu is. From tagines to couscous dishes and the surprising b'stilla the menu is guaranteed to make you try something new and exciting. While you are eating there is also the delightful entertainment of music and at times, belly dancers. Overall with the price just being 18 to 25 a person it is not going to disappoint. They even have a group special that you reserve in advance and they cook you a whole lamb for the group, perfect for a birthday party. Out of 5 i will give it a 5 out of 5 for great food, entertainment and leaving with not just a smile on my face but the urge to go back soon.

Great Seattle Pizza

Today I am critiquing a local Seattle pizza place. Pagliacci is a fresh Italian style pizzeria located in 3 area in the Seattle area. With a great menu is some unique item that you can put on your "build a pizza", this place falls under one of my top favorite pizza restaurants. With the most expencive pizza being about 26 which is a 17" pizza, plenty big, the money is well worth it. If you order from the phone they will five you free delivery which works great for parties. On a 5 star scale i will give them a 4.7 out of 5.     

First Few Steps

As of today (4/21/11) I will be blogging about my experience as becoming a chef though school and work. I hope this blog will help other who want to do the same be more encouraged. I will post about once every two weeks or so (when i can). I will share my experiences in the kitchen and great food i have tried from around the world.