Jay Friedman

When I’m not on assignment and can choose a restaurant of my own, I face the same question as everyone else: Where, oh where, to go out to eat?

Here in Seattle, those who know me know I gravitate toward Asian cuisine, which is also what I’m likely preparing if I’m cooking at home. I don’t get bored with it. Like chefs who want a break from all the creamy, complex, and heavy foods, sushi (or, even better, sashimi) would be my first choice—but it’s too expensive (so a rare treat), and I tend to save that appetite for annual visits to Japan.

Chinese food, especially spicy Sichuan, is always a top choice for me. But I’m happy with most any noodle or dumpling, which lands me also in Korean and Vietnamese (and other southeast Asian) restaurants quite a bit. (I would go to more than my two favorite Thai restaurants if I didn’t cook that cuisine at home so often.)

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But with quick trips to Chicago, D.C., and Boston these two weeks only allowing me one real meal in each city, I stepped back and thought about how I research restaurants to make the right pick. Urbanspoon and Chowhound are great places to start, and I then utilize any other local resources I can find. When I boil down my world of choices in such cities, I find that it’s offal and other oddities that attract me most. And small plates, so I can sample as much as possible. Such food is often found in gastropubs. (Bonus: A pub means that, as a solo diner, you can comfortably sit at the bar or counter.)

In Seattle, if I meet someone like myself, I typically suggest places like Quinn’s, Spur, Joule, and Harvest Vine for small, interesting bites. And now I’d recommend giving 5 Corner Market Bar & Kitchen a try. It’s located in the old Lombardi’s space in Ballard. Chef Sam Crannell actually worked previously at Quinn’s, and with an extensive beer list, you can expect a great gastropub experience.

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5 Corner Market recently welcomed me in for a meaty dinner—from pheasant to foie gras to a rack of ribs. I was quite impressed with the flavors and the quality of the beer pairings.

Here’s the menu:

Smoked king oyster mushroom, sunchoke puree, carrots, paired with:

Bourgogne des Flanders, Brouwerij Timmermans-John Martin

Pheasant ravioli & chasseur broth, paired with:

Hennepin Farmhouse Ale, Brewery Ommegang

Oxtail, pommes Robuchon, shaved foie gras torchon, parsley, paired with:

Damnation, Russian River Brewing

Pork belly, black truffle grits, Mad Hatcher farm egg, BLiS maple vinaigrette, paired with:

Raison d’Etre, Dogfish Head

South Carolina mustard bbq ribs, bacon potato salad, paired with:

Grimburgen Dubbel, Brouwerij Alken-Maes

Sticky toffee pudding, caramelized banana Anglaise, smoked sea salt, paired with:

Choklat (Imperial Stout), Southern Tier Brewing

Note: If you like what you see, note that 5 Corner Market is hosting the next of Jay Friedman's Sexy Feast dinner series. Jay works with restaurant chefs in menu design, then as at a winemaker dinner, pairs each course with commentary about what the food teaches about sex and relationships. The Sexy Feast dinner at 5 Corner Market is this Monday, February 21, with space available and reservations required. More information is available here.

Sometimes I get so obsessed about comparing restaurants that I do crazy things.

Like creating a sushi (financial) spreadsheet.

I did this in comparing the three restaurants that reside in my top tier of favorites in the Seattle area: Kisaku, Shiro’s, and now Sushi Kappo Tamura, in Eastlake. The third is Taichi Kitamura’s new place, following his relocation from Fremont. (The old Kappo space has become Kitamura’s izakaya, called Showa.)

Tamura hits the sweet spot for me in terms of atmosphere. It’s a little more upscale than Kisaku, which is a great neighborhood restaurant, but it’s warmer than Shiro’s, which can feel more formal. It’s a cross between a casual experience and an, “Oh, I’ve gone out to dinner somewhere nice” experience. This especially comes through at the counter—the only place I like to sit at a sushi restaurant—where Kitamura holds court.

Like Ryuichi Nakano at Kisaku, Kitamura is a pleasant guy. He laughs easily, and is a genuine talker as time allows. And a fellow fan of good food.

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One thing I especially like about Tamura is its fine selection of ippin dishes.  While we were there primarily for some sushi (this was the second part of our two-part anniversary dinner), I was tempted by many of the small plates. We ordered:

Full Circle Farms mustard greens and Washington albacore tuna with almond wasabi sauce

A gift from the house: daikon and carrot salad with scallop and dried persimmon—an Oshogatsu (New Year) offering

Kinki no yakimono (grilled rockfish)

Kinmedai no netsuke (learn more about this golden-eye snapper dish, include its sex appeal, here)

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The main attraction, though, was sushi. We often do omakase, but as we were only planning to have a limited amount of sushi, we decided to go a la carte, pacing ourselves by ordering just a small amount at a time. We savored every bite, enjoying a chance to chat with Kitamura, as it was a mellow night at the restaurant to that point. I didn’t shoot everything, so here are a few of the dishes we had:

A sampling of nigiri

Salmon skin roll (I don’t normally like rolls, but this is a simpler one, and I love salmon skin)

Our two favorites: uni (maybe the best I’ve tasted in Seattle) and scallop (so sweet!)

As we prepared to leave, Kitamura presented us with some chestnut crème brule to share as a sweet finish to the meal.

As for that spreadsheet, it revealed that Kisaku is least expensive, followed closely by Tamura, and then Shiro’s as most expensive. Shiro’s nigiri prices were consistently at least fifty cents to a dollar higher than Tamura’s. Prices were the same at Tamura and Kisaku for a number of items (sweet shrimp, scallop, octopus, and sea urchin), but then jumped considerably higher at Tamura for others (egg, squid, and sockeye salmon).

Seafood quality is high at all three places, with Shiro Kashiba often able to access some unique items you might not find elsewhere.

So, when it comes to recommendations, I’d say that if someone wants to stay close to downtown and has a thick wallet, Shiro’s will be satisfying. My partner and I, though, prefer Tamura and Kisaku—for different reasons. Tamura’s got interesting ippins and solid sushi in a classier environment. But at the same time, Kisaku appeals to us for its good value, less formal feel—and for special preparations like maguro bincho zuke and my favorite: hotate konbu jime.

After years of swirling rumors, we're pleased to report that Pel'meni is finally opening in Seattle.

I've been waiting patiently after discovering these Russian dumplings in Juneau, then later enjoying them in Bellingham and also Madison, Wisconsin. (The Madison location is now closed). Don't expect a menu. You'll find just a choice of meat or potato dumplings, topped with sour cream, curry, hot sauce and cilantro.

Trust me: They're delicious. The later the hour, the better. Pel'meni plans to stay open until 2 a.m.

Doors open this Friday at 5:00 p.m. You'll find Pel'meni at 3516 Fremont Place North, across from 9 Million in Unmarked Bills.

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I’m a bit perplexed about pork right now.

It’s still an incredible ingredient—bacon in the salmon chowder might be the reason that Matt’s in the Market bested Bobby Flay in this week’s Food Network Throwdown. And I wait with bated breath for Seattle's third annual Cochon 555 event, where I’ll be again sitting as a judge while five amazing chefs try to wow us in preparing plates from five heritage pigs.

But that said, pork problems prevailed during two otherwise fine meals I had here in Seattle recently.

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The first was at Book Bindery, choice for my birthday dinner. We ordered scallops and sweetbreads as appetizers and enjoyed them both, though I’d argue that the latter should be correctly called “sweetbread,” as there was just one on the plate. The fish entrée was my favorite, as the pan-seared striped bass and its accompaniments were both beautiful and delicious.

But the “duo of pork” yielded mixed results. The pork chop was great, but the pork belly was pure fat. Well, maybe the slightest layer of meat, if I’m to be generous. After the disbelief of my first bite, I had to go in again, and it was the same, so I pushed it aside. As it’s rather dark in the restaurant, I pulled out my low-light camera to capture a shot, which you can see in more detail just above. (The entire plate is at the top of this post.)

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Next up was Lecosho, where I joined a group of food writers who wanted to explore much of the menu. The server was sweet about dividing up the Sardinian fish soup, and we also enjoyed the octopus salad. Then came four entrées. My gorgonzola burger? Check. A cheese-lover’s dream. (The accompanying parmesan soup was a bit bizarre in texture and taste, though.) Tuna melt? Well-executed.

As for the pork, it was another mixed bag. The house-made sausage with lentils was masterful—hearty and perfect for the winter day. But the porchetta sandwich? Unchewable. It got passed around the table for second through fourth opinions, and we all complained that couldn’t eat it.

Now, please know that I love pork as much as anyone else. I’m the one who complains when restaurants remove the layer of fat from pork belly for fear of offending the customers. The one who had the shortest stint of vegetarianism way back when, but still bought bacon to fry (not to eat) so that my scrambled eggs could cook in bacon grease. (Okay, I guess that didn’t make me a true vegetarian.) The one who made bacon ice cream well before Baconopolis became an annual event in Seattle. The one who loves the concept of anything close to bacon-wrapped bacon.

Should we have sent the problem pork dishes back to their respective kitchens? I don’t tend to do that, and agree with fellow food writer Jonathan Gold’s perspective on that practice. But the restaurants do deserve to get feedback on how their doing. And hopefully that will keep them from going too hog-wild with bad pork dishes.

Ahead of National Pie Day tomorrow (funny…we thought it would be on 3.14), a couple of your crack (pie) SunBreak staff checked out the new High 5 Pie on Capitol Hill.

And the neighborhood smells great.

You've been able to get some of these pies at Fuel Coffee and other cafes, but now Dani Cone has opened a dedicated 2,100-square-foot bakery and café to sell her Flipsides, Cutie Pies, Piejars, Piepops, and other handmade treats right at the baking source.

There's some counter seating with lookout to Union and Madison, but we perched at the handcrafted pie-shaped butcher block table--now if the table was also a lazy Susan, that would have been extra cool!--to sample some sweet and savory pies.

My favorite: the caramel pecan petit-5 ($1.50), which is a bite-sized delight. It offers a perfect marriage of crust and filling, whereas the Mile Wide pie ($90, estimated to serve 40 or more people) was heavy on the filling (albeit enjoyable, as it was not too sweet, and not at all syrupy). Added bonus: the option to heat your pie in a convection oven and/or have it a la mode.

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Look carefully beyond the sweet petit-5s in the photo above, and you'll see another favorite: the li'l smoky roll-ups. With hot dog, cream cheese and bacon action, they're also known as "squealers," and they're a very recent addition to the menu.

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Audrey enjoyed the sweet pies (obvs), but liked the savory ones just as much. A handful of broccoli mushroom cheddar and potato dill cheddar veggie petit-5s could easily act as a meal. There's also the authentic-made Frito pie (the baking manager is Texan), as well as a new ham and gruyere. And the breakfast pies (egg and cheese, et cetera) sound VERY tempting.

Cone talked about pie as a "memory trigger" and said she wants to provide a place where people can "come together and share that." Her pies promise to be creative and seasonal (we like the sound of the apple/cheddar/rosemary, for example) and sometimes silly (there was a Fruit Loops cream pie in the showcase).

With cupcakes, pie, and ice cream all available in close proximity, there's ample opportunity for a sugar rush in Capitol Hill at virtually all hours of the day. Can jello and pudding shops be far behind?

She knew she wanted to be a baker at a young age, back when she was living in Osaka. “At age 5 or 6, I would make a mess in the kitchen,” Setsuko Tanaka tells me. “I wanted to see how things mixed together, and what happened when you heated things up.”

So while she sometimes helped her mom, she started doing things on her own, not wanting instruction. She never wanted to follow recipes, preferring instead to experiment on her own. One of Setsuko’s earliest inventions: a biscuit sandwich of sorts, with a marshmallow dusted with Ramune powder and stuffed between two biscuits—then microwaved. She admits it was weird, liking it more for the process than for the taste.

Even now, Setsuko’s not a dessert eater. “I prefer pickles or senbei,” she tells me, adding, “I’ll take salt and sake over something sweet.”

But for someone who’s not inclined to eat sweets, she sure knows how to make them.

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Setsuko went to culinary school in Japan, where the curriculum required students to learn Western/French style, wagashi, and bread. She worked at a cake shop and after having a child started teaching home baking classes to other women who wanted to cook healthier and more simply after pregnancy.

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After coming to Seattle, Setsuko worked at the now-defunct Saiko Bakery, where the owner was melon-pan fanatic. And now she works out of the kitchen at Issian Stone Grill.

Challenges for her include working with American flour, which is heavier than Japanese flour. (She adds cornstarch or potato starch to all-purpose flour to reduce the gluten and make her products lighter.) Also, the matcha here is too dark (she thinks it’s too old or exposed to too much light), so she imports 2-kg bags from Kyoto.

Setsuko’s goal is to make as much from scratch as possible, and to make it healthy. And her desire is to continually expand beyond her Asian clientele, introducing more Westerners to Japanese sweets. She says that Americans claim to be “adventurous” in eating, but while they say they’re looking for something new, they’re timid to actually do so. “They want to know new things, but in reality, are eating hot dogs and hamburgers,” she asserts. When she worked at Floating Leaves Tea, she noticed that Asians would be anxious to enter (“Japanese people are used to small doors in Kyoto”), whereas Americans would be afraid.

A positive attitude goes far for Setsuko. “Eat one time, and I’m sure you’ll like it,” she tells new customers. Her rare cheesecake is popular, and she offers it in flavors like mango, red bean, green tea, and tofu. (I explained that when I first saw the word “rare” used in Japan, I was excited to have stumbled upon a most unusual cheesecake, and was a bit saddened to learn that “rare” simply meant uncooked.)

Also popular, pictured, is her green tea roll cake. “The Seattle population likes green tea, as they know it’s healthy.” It contains whipped cream (we talked about the art of making it just right) and homemade red bean paste.

This particular plating includes her mochi with whipped cream and red bean paste, and an experimental truffle she wanted to try out on me, made with tofu. Always the experimenter!

The roll cake was exquisite, with nice hints of ever-so-slightly bitter green tea coming through the slightly sweetened whipped cream. After all, when the Japanese eat dessert, you’re likely to hear, “That’s good; it’s not too sweet.” Quite the contrast to our overly sweet American-style desserts.

You can find Setsuko’s pastries at places like Issian Stone Grill, Kozue, and the Panama Tea House, to name a few. Or contact her directly at Setsuko Pastry to place a custom order.

Early last year, I was dining at the counter of a favorite sushi restaurant with a couple of food writers who were seated to my left. The conversation was pretty passionate, as we were bantering about best and worst places to eat in the Seattle area.

It turns out that a diner immediately to my right was "eavesdropping" on the conversation. (I can't say that I blame him!) As he got up to leave, he gave me his card and said, "If you like bold food, you should come to my restaurant."

The card belonged to Chef Dustin Ronspies of Art of the Table restaurant.

It's taken far too much time for me to file this, but I can report that Ronspies has every right to claim such confidence.

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Most people I know have never been to Art of the Table. The majority of them have never even heard of the place. But those who've been give it rave reviews.

Once you discover the restaurant, you might want to keep it a relative secret. There are only about twenty seats in the small dining room, including a number at a communal table, and two that peek into the kitchen.

Thursday through Saturday, Art of the Table is a supper club concept, with one seating at 7 p.m. for a chance to work your way through the chef's tasting menu for the evening. In the Fearless Critic restaurant guide, we called it a locavore experience that's easy on the wallet, or "a trip to Herbfarm—minus the long drive, pomp, and circumstance."

My most recent experience was a "Happy Monday" meal. These are a la carte small plates that are so reasonably priced and good that you might as well order the whole menu anyway. We did. It's great fun at a restaurant to say, "One of everything, please."

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This food is fun, creative, bold, and artistic. With apologies for the photo quality (it was fairly dark inside), here's the menu, as written by the restaurant, for that Happy Monday meal:

toasts: smoked salmon mousse, salmon gravlax*, olive~caper relish, crème fraîche~$8 (pictured above; one of my favorite dishes of the night, as I loved the two types of salmon preparation)

soup: potato~leek soup, chives, olive oil~$5 (this soup could have used more seasoning)

salad: sherried chiogga beets, roasted brussels sprouts, aioli, basil oil, pea tips, pepitas, roasted pear~$9

veg: wild mushroom ragú, cheesy grits, roasted garlic cream, nw truffles, bacon~$11 (earthy and hearty)

fish: shellfish stew of mussels, clams, calamari & shrimp, spicy tomato broth, grilled garlic bread~$13 (my favorite dish of the night, with fabulous broth)

oxtail: oxtail & cabbage tian, root vegetables, charred treviso & endive, red wine sauce, sunchoke chips~$14 

dessert: nut & caramel tart, rosemary ice cream, pear puree, vanilla apples~$8

Ready to pig out?

If you missed it the past two years, the good news is that Cochon 555, Taste Network's national pig-cooking, pig-eating, and pig-educating tour, is returning to Seattle next month.

On February 20th, as in the past, five chefs will cook five heritage pigs in whatever way they'd like: braised, grilled, pressed, pickled, rubbed, smoked, seared, sauced, spiced, injected, marinated, cured, or any other method of madness. Based on creativity, classic preparation, and overall best flavor, one will be named the prince(ss) of pork.

The participating chefs:

• John Sundstrom (Lark)
• Holly Smith (Cafe Juanita)
• Ethan Stowell (Staple & Fancy, and several more)
• Jason Stratton (Spinasse)
• Rachel Yang (Joule and Revel)

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To meet crowd demands, it looks like the pigs will be bigger than ever, this year upped to 150-175 pounds each. Also new this year will be a competition featuring two butchers facing off in a showcase of skills and speed. As always, attendees can watch demonstration of a whole pig breakdown between bites, as well as enjoy a chance to sample from a whole roasted heritage breed pig and also some (likely to be porky) desserts.

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Pig-eating at Cochon 555 is a democratic affair, as everyone gets to vote for the top chef to be the prince or princess of pork. (I've been thrilled to part of the panel of twenty judges who also contribute votes.) So you'll want to be careful not to partake too much in that fifth five of Cochon 555: the wine. Yes, five winemakers will be pouring pairings for the pork:

• Domaine Serene
• Elk Cove Vineyards
• K Vintners
• Scott Paul Wines
• Syncline Wine Cellars

A final change is the venue. Cochon 555 is moving downtown to the Westin Hotel. Tickets (regular entry, or VIP with extra eating--and drinking--opportunities) for the February 20 event are on sale now, and are likely to sell out.

As 2011 gets going, it seems that the burger business is booming.

A few months ago, USA Today asked me to pick a burger restaurant in Washington state for its "Great American Bites" series. This was a difficult challenge, but as I wasn't necessarily charged with selecting the best burger, I opted for an iconic experience in choosing Pick-Quick Drive In (which will soon open a branch in Auburn, the first expansion beyond the Fife location).

Many places talk about the toppings they put on their burgers, so I was interested in trying BuiltBurger's patties, which feature flavors on the inside. Previously available via shipping only (nationwide), owner David Makuen recently decided to open a storefront where the Financial District meets Pioneer Square.

Enter BuiltBurger and you simply walk up to the counter where you'll find the menu on the wall. Plenty of patties for your choosing; with the variety available, I recommend doing a sampling of three LittleBuilt sliders as a way of finding your favorite(s). Mine turned out to be a beef burger mixed with long-braised short-rib (with horseradish aioli and greens), though the Sriracha special had nice bite to it, complemented by refreshing pickled vegetables.

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You'll find burgers made with pork, pastrami, chorizo, chicken, lamb, and even a vegetarian option. Based on my burger binging this year, I've come to realize that I ultimately prefer a slightly charred ground beef patty that falls apart in the mouth (as compared, let's say, to pork-filled patties that have a slippery, more sausage-like texture), but BuiltBurger offers good quality and fun variety.

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The fresh sides are a healthy bonus. Salads the day of my visit were either spinach with pear, cranberry, and almonds, or jicama with orange, cojita cheese, and almonds. More likely, though, you'll choose some potato action on the side. While the fries are fine (they're hand-cut), I urge you to try the sensual potato beignets with a dip or two. Curious to know what makes them sensual?

With nearly everyone writing up Top Ten lists for the year (I'm deliberating whether to do the same), I thought I'd share one of the year's strangest dishes.

Last week, roaming around for noodle research, I made a stop at Bellevue's 101Yess. First off, this might quality for the year's strangest restaurant name, though if you know it's a Taiwanese place and break down the name, you might make sense of it.

I knew what noodle dish I wanted, but I also knew I had to try something on the side. And there it was: "Tasty Canned Sticky Rice." Fortunately, it's not food plopped out a can, though given the catfood-like appearance, it sure looks like it. Instead, it's sauteed sticky rice with pork and black mushrooms that's steamed in a can mold and then topped with "special house sauce."

That's the canned part. Tasty? Maybe more for the mouth than the eyes. Maybe.

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