Crush

My wife and I decided to celebrate a special occasion at Crush in Seattle, Washington.  It is a French restaurant in a small converted home in the Central District/Madison Valley area, and had a strong reputation for good, innovative food.  We ordered the tasting menu with the foie gras supplement.  My wife called it the “sampler,” and I think the waiter took pity on us and was extra helpful. 

The amuse bouche was a little potato soup with chive and truffle oil.  On the show “Chopped,” the judges always harangue participants for the use of truffle oil.  It taste too strong they say.  It ruins the dish.  In this case, I didn’t think so at all.  The potato soup was very lightly seasoned, so the truffle oil added the “seasoning” that made the dish work.  It was a nice start.
While we are off track, I should take a moment to mention the delicious mocktails that I had.  One was a cucumber sour, the other a cardamom lemon drink.  They were both fantastic, and actually well worth the $5 price tag.  I was very impressed by the creativity of the bar, given the no-alcohol constraints with which they were saddled.

The next course was barramundi.  The squash bits were again the most delicious I have ever eaten.  The fish itself was cooked perfectly, moist while having the crispy skin you can see below.  The natural flavors were enhanced by the seasoning and I would order this dish again too..

I would like to take a moment to talk about their bread.  It was fresh, and very, very good.  My wife loved the little pretzel-y ones, and I devoured the cheese topped buns with a vengeance.  If they sold these out of a little stand adjacent to the restaurant, or in the front, I would come by and by them by the dozen!  The butter also did not disappoint. 

Next came the bacon and eggs dish. The flan was delicious. I was impressed by how they imparted a smoky flavor into the dish.  The salmon roe had a nice salty explosion and the sweet contrast from the maple syrup was nice.  This said, this dish was one of the less successful ones to me, and would have benefit from a bit more crunch. 

Hamachi.  This dish had a very nice balance of flavors. For me, the heart of palm purée stole the show because it was just so delicious. It was simple,and luscious.  I had no idea heart of palm can become that delicious, but now that I know I will play with it in my own kitchen.

"Spotted Prawn" Gnocchi. I tasted my wife’s lobster emulsion, and it had a much stronger flavor than mine.  Mine was light, but clearly "seafoody." Hers was clearly lobster.  This ding aside, I didn't care. The course was phenomenal, the best gnocchi course I've ever personally eaten. The spot prawn was so fresh and sweet, my only complaint was the dish wasn't five times its size.  The gnocchi was not toasted off, but that did not negatively effect the texture or dish like you might imagine.  No, this dish was brilliant.

Dating our experience, in the middle of our dinner we heard a loud "Did you just call me a prick, Chef, Jason Miller" before a customer stormed off. He then cried out “You’ll see my review shortly.”  Who knows, maybe the guy posted something nasty on Yelp.  I can’t imagine a real critic would have reacted in the way he did, in particular over the issue at hand (the cooking of the foie gras).  The name of the chef, it should be mentioned, is Jason Wilson, so you can imagine how definitive his review was.

Foie Gras.  This course came as an add on to the normal tasting menu.  We had heard it was well worth the money, and we were not led astray.  It was delicious, an intriguing "apple pie" themed dish.  To me, this was totally genius and something I never would have considered. For my taste, the foie was perfectly seared with a nice temp at service. I like mine to be seared on the outside, mid-rare in the center, and warm.  My wife became giddy while eating this. Though I wasn’t quite as hot on the dish as she was, it was very very good.

The Snake River wagyu beef course, following after the heels of foie gras, certainly delivered.  After her giddy gobbling of the foie, my wife then quickly declared this may have been the best dish of food she had ever eaten.  Her father will be crushed, because he grills steak right.  However, the rich, hearty truffle flavor from the Oregon truffles they use at Crush, with the Trumpet mushrooms (which my wife ate happily in spite of herself) and butter made this dish a fatty yum explosion. Mmm.  I think the mushrooms might have stole the show, but this again was a highly successful dish of food.

After such a rich dish, the pear and pink peppercorn sorbet was a nice break. It was a nice mix of texture and flavor, and the peppercorn created a delightful zing.

Finally, they fed us chocolate cake and praline ice cream.  Honestly, these let down the rest of the dishes because they were not memorable. The cake was moist enough, but it just wasn’t great.  I also happened to be a little sad that Crush didn’t share their homemade pop rocks they were parading around to a few of the other tables.  Oh well.  So…. in the end, Go here for a special occasion...

Crush

2319 East Madison Street 

 Seattle, WA 98112 

(206) 302-7874

4 of 5 (my wife will tell you 4.5 or 5)

The Harvest Vine

If you are looking for quality tapas in Seattle, look no further than The Harvest Vine in the Central District.  While there are still a number of places to check off, and How to Cook a Wolf could be described as a delicious Italian tapas option, The Harvest Vine does not disappoint for traditional Spanish delicious.

Our family spent a special evening for a special occasion ordering just about as much as we could off the menu.  Here was the damage:

-Beet, Sheep Cheese and Serrano ham amuse buche (not pictured).

-Sardinas.

Grilled sardines.  Silver and a perfect balance of delicate and the sea.


-Pato Confitado. 

Duck confit with parsnip potato mousse. One of the nights highlights. Crispy duck skin and fantastic mousse. A complete win that reinforced my wife's obsession with duck confit.

-Venado. 

Grilled venison with licorice sauce and oyster mushrooms. Expertly cooked and totally delightful.

-Vieiras. 

The pan seared scallops were memorable. If you can believe it, the caramelized onion was quite possibly the star of the dish - which I can't decide if this is good or bad (that the scallop is overshadowed).

-Lomo de Conejo. 

Grilled rabbit with fideo noodles. The rabbit was seasoned excellently and delectable. The noodles seemed like an afterthought, though others in the family were big fans.  Myself, I could have double fisted all that rabbit strait into my mouth it was so good. 

-Coliflor. 

Roasted cauliflower with onion confit. A little salty, but I would have eaten 3 pounds!

-Pulpito a la Gallega. (Not pictured).  Baby octopus. Uniformly we didn't care for it. The paprika didn't do it any favors, it was both not picturesque and a huge miss.

-Sepias. 

Seared cuddlefish with squid ink bomba rice. On the complete opposite side of the octopus, this total win dish may have been the best of the night.  It was composed of perfectly marinated cuddlefish.  The rice could have been a little more aggressively seasoned, but the squid ink did amplify the flavor nicely.

-Foie de Pato. 

Seared foie gras. It is a tantalizing slab of foie gras, is it not?  Unfortunately, it was slightly under temp on the inside (in my opinion), with baby food on the side (not pictured). Delicious none-the-less, but overshadowed by less expensive, better dishes during the evening and far outstripped by other foie gras dishes around town.

-Garbanzos con Tomate. 

Garbanzo beans with tomato cumin sauce. The strong cumin flavor made the dish good but not fantastic.

-Cerdo Iberico.  (Also not pictured.  We ate it too fast!)  This fresh pork cut from a pata negra pig was another absolute smash hit. This was the single best bite of pork I've ever eaten!  Ever - Eaten!  Cracklin skin on the outside, juicy fatty soft meat.  I can still taste it on my tongue...

-Remolachas. 

Red and golden beets.  My beet hating wife ate and enjoyed these.

-Tabla Iberica.   

The cured meats plate was very good, with a wide variety of flavors coming from the same base ingredient (one piggy piggy). 

-Profiteroles. 

Oh yah.

Overall, the meal was great.  We were sad to have visited when the duck breast was not on the menu though, and a little disappointed by the inconsistent seasoning - with (for example) some of the rice being underseasoned, and things like the cauliflower being overseasoned.  These inconsistencies kept this meal from being perfect.  However, the cuddlefish, venison, pork, duck, sardines, beets, and rabbit were memorable, and the only protein problem was the octopus.  The service was solid and took nothing away from the kitchen, which you can actually see if you sit in the front of the house.

Harvest Vine
2701 East Madison Street  
Seattle, WA 98112
(206) 320-9771

4 of 5

Sushi on North Beach

Nigiri Sushi

Finding sushi in San Francisco is like finding a prostitute in Singapore.  Easy (so I'm told).  Finding good sushi is another story...

After some internet magic, I came upon Sushi on North Beach.  Word was they had a very good tuna and foie gras nigiri offering.  Having had a few very nice examples of how sushi and foie gras can work together beautifully, I wanted to give this restaurant a shot.

The place was small, sort of hole-in-the-wally, and the servers were pleasant.  I went a little buck wild ordering, because when I was provided the specials for the day they had a number of real winners.

The Good:  1. Hotate (Scallop) nigiri.  The scallops were large and fresh, and it was above average.  2. The special nigiri, a Hawaiian butterfish (escolar or walu), was also outstanding.  Two other real winners were the yari ika (calamari) and house special foie gras (with tuna).  3. The calamari actually stole the show, it was delicious, soft, clear white and obviously fresh, soft, not chewy, with a shiso leaf hidden underneath.  I love shiso, and this addition was a welcome surprise.  4. The foie gras nigiri were two little pieces of decadence.  Since the combination is so delicious, and works well together, I have no idea why it isn't everywhere fine sushi is sold.  I'm surprised that in a location that was also featuring otoro (tuna belly), they didn't double up on their luxurious components for a killer special.

Fresh Calamari

Hawaiian Butterfish

Tuna with Foie Gras

The Average:  The ultimate roll and spicy hotate,  1. The ultimate roll had very nice flavors, it was sort of a roll version of the foie gras nigiri.  I learned a little lesson at this restaurant, which is that when you order maki rolls, they quality and proportions are not as good as nigiri sushi.  I have been to a number of places where you don't notice as substantial a drop-off, and places where it doesn't matter (because no matter what you're never going to get anything better than average).  The concept of a place that is good, but that doesn't do a good job of controlling rice to inside goodies, and foie gras to other ingredients, is a little new.  Additionally, the obvious drop off in quality is also new.  Sushi on North Beach defined this new category.  2. The spicy hotate was not memorable, but it was nice.  The scallops got thin through the roll, but returned to more acceptable levels around the edges (where it was more obvious).  I asked the chef to add thinly sliced lemon, as much to test his knife skills as because I enjoy the flavor with scallops.  The result was, in a word, average.  Not thinly sliced enough, but not terrible, and certainly not the highest quality lemons.  3. In the non-maki category, the ikejime (wild sockeye) special was good but not great.  It was buttery, and mostly delicious, but not uber fresh like I expected, or fatty either.  I guess I should have known better than to order salmon since we live in Seattle.

Ultimate Roll

Inside Ultimate Roll, Foie Gras is barely visible

Spicy Hotate

The Bad:  Very bad.  On a whim, because it was fresh, I ordered otoro (tuna belly).  I had enough nigiri already, and the server said they made it into a nice maki with some scallion.  I said, "deal."  Well, when it got to the table, it looked a little more white than I'd expected.  I tasted the first one, and it was very fishy.  Second piece, same problem.  Third piece, I broke open.  I ate a small sliver of one piece of "otoro" and then looked at the other.  First, it was two tones.  That means, not fresh.  Second, it didn't look like any otoro I've ever eaten.  It was clearly not otoro, and not fresh.  It tasted like "white fish with scallions" that you get at any run of the mill sushi place in the middle of the country - the middle, as in, not on the coast.

"Otoro"

Inside, where you can clearly see the color difference between top and bottom - Not Fresh!

In a rather unusual display of patronage, I called over the waitress.  I asked her, evenly, how fresh the otoro was?  She said it had come in this morning.  I pointed out it was very fishy.  She suggested it was supposed to be fishy.  I told her that the fish had two tones, clearly indicating it was not that fresh.  I asked her to inquire with the chef what the problem was.  I decided not to express my suspicion that it was actually a piece of white tuna or something else, distinctly not otoro-y.  The fact is, that chef NEVER would have served that piece of fish on a piece of nigiri and tried to pass it off as fresh otoro.

To the server's credit, she took it off the bill.  To her discredit, she tried to tell me that's how otoro was.  Little did she know that I'd had it three times in the past week.  Would she have removed it (after telling me it should be fishy) had I not spent $50?  I can't be sure, but it did come off my bill.

The final verdict.  They lost a half to a full star because of the otoro incident, and the discrepancies between nigiri and maki quality.  Unlike most solid three star establishments, I'm inclined to give them another chance... maybe...

Sushi on North Beach




Neighborhood: North Beach
745 Columbus Ave
(between Filbert St & Greenwich St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415)788-8050 
3 of 5

For readers who might not have had real otoro before, here are two shots of real stuff.  Notice the difference.

Real Otoro (Type 1), Kuala Lumpur

Real Otoro (Type 2), Singapore

Nishino

Nishino has the distinction of being my wife's favorite sushi restaurant in the Seattle area.  I think this owes to the fact that her first experience here was a very enjoyable omasake tasting menu that featured excellent, fresh ingredients.

Quality sushi restaurants must have two elements, in my opinion, a quality chef and quality ingredients.  I think that talented chefs in standard, savory restaurants, can turn relatively average food into great food.  For example, the snout to tail movement, fantastic chefs turn unloved parts of an animal into tasty morsels.  Also, a good recipe can go a long way, with a little spice.  You cannot tell me that my favorite Chinese, Middle Eastern, or Mexican places are using the best cuts of meat or getting stocked by Mr. Local Farmer who believes in Grass Fed (and notes the distinction between Grass Fed and Grass Finished) meat.  I feel that would be the equivalent to what is necessary for good sushi.

Now, a truly high quality ingredient will make the difference most of the time between a 4 and 5 in pretty much all circumstances, but I don't even think a sushi restaurant could get a 4 without high quality fresh ingredients.  And I don't think a Mexican place can get a 4 if they don't make their own tortillas.

In the end, how can a premium on quality ingredients be surprising with sushi?  You're eating something raw.

Our first omasake experience was a two hour food extravaganza, and featured thinly sliced hamache with jalapeño, spot prawn ceviche, nice nigiri fish, two maki rolls, and other delicacies.  That experience actually caused me to decide to start this blog.  This experience, a modified omasake (if you will), was just as good.  We didn't have a full two hours, we actually only had 45 minutes for dinner, and we sat at the bar, saw the same talented chef (who is not the head chef) as last time, and told him we'd like what was fresh.

The amberjack, scallop, and spanish mackerel (haji) came nigiri style.  They were fresh and delicious (so fresh, and so delicious we devoured them before taking a picture).  We ordered the tempura style anaheim chili with stuffed oysters and foie gras with seared tuna and mushroom off the kitchen menu.  The chilis were fried to a perfect golden brown and had the exact style of battered breading that I prefer (when it's not a panko style breading, I like my breading thin with minimal greasiness).  The contrast between the texture of the breading, slight texture of pepper, and soft oyster in the middle was a pleasing bite.  I would have liked a more spicy element somewhere in the center because these Anaheims were a little weak, but you never do know what you're going to get with them.

The foie dish was my wife's first bite of foie gras ever.  She said "Why have I not eaten this before?  Why don't places all over have this?"  It was very nice.  I would have preferred the temperature to be a little hotter overall (it was served room temp), but you have to be careful not to damage the foie.  Overall, I would give the dish a solid B+.

Finally, we received a salmon tartar order (a sushi/kitchen hybrid), arboretum roll, and Madison Park roll.  The salmon tartar was a hit.  The rice was made so crispy and delicious that I would go and buy it to take with me in a lunchbox if I could.  The tartar was good, salmon generally being fresh in Seattle, however I thought it again lacked a little capsicum.  I think some thinly sliced jalapeno worked in, along with thinly sliced lemon on the top (my wife's thought) would make this dish an A+.  As it was, again, I'd say a strong B+.

The arboretum and Madison Park rolls were good.  The arboretum roll looked a little scant, but tasted nice.  The Madison Park roll was served in a crepe, and was the chef's pick when we asked him to surprise us with our last dish.  Unfortunately, I think he was a little harried with the volume of people at the bar and in the restaurant that he was prepared sushi for, and while we both enjoyed the Madison Park roll - we were sad by the lack of creativity.  Without much in the way of daily fresh roll specials, this nice end to our meal was a period and not an exclamation point.

My wife then insisted on mochi balls, white chocolate with raspberry, which she loves.  They are a step up from the ice cream mochi balls you can find at Uwajimaya, but a little spendy for what you get.  That said, these mochi balls are her favorite and are tasty.

What is a solid B+ worth in stars, for another very enjoyable performance from the crew at Nishino (including the best sort of wait staff, attentive but not intrusive)?

Nishino
3130 East Madison
Seattle, WA 98112
206.322.5800
4 of 5