weekend in washington, part 4

after the wine tastings, we headed up the road to a place that i had read about in a travel guide--the herbfarm.
A celebration of the FOODS and WINESof the PACIFIC NORTHWEST. A THEMATICnine course DINNER with six matched wines and a SINGLE SEATING nightly.

America’s Top 10 Restaurants ZAGAT SURVEY 2007

Top 50 Restaurants in the World TRAVEL & LEISURE

The Northwest’s most-celebrated restaurant; the ultimate expression of the Northwest’s bounty. FROMMER’S

well…with reviews like this [and many more]—we had to try it! 

the restaurant and garden; one of the resident pigs; looking down upon the restaurant

the place setting--just look how many forks [4] and wine glasses [6]!
each setting was presented with a small flower and a menu 'booklet'
our theme:  great northwest barbeque

upon arrival, the owners meet the guests with a cocktail punch and an informative tour of the gardens where many of the ingredients are grown.  you are also free to explore the wine cellar with its 25500 bottles and 4200 selections, including a madeira from 1795 [you can taste this old wine for a price...$1795/5oz or a mere $375 for 1 oz]

when the dinner begins, the owners, the sommelier, and the sous-chef give a very detailed description of the evening's offerings, often including personal stories to further explain the choices in food and wine they made for the night. it is quite impressive.

and now for the meal...

Along Our Salish Shore--BC scallop w/radish, quail egg
& sorrel~king crab, tomato gelee & basil~totten inlet kumomoto oyster with cucumber mignonette
capitello oregon brut with choice of herbs

Columbia River Autumn-Run King--lightly applewood smoked & slow roasted columbia river king salmon w/zucchini-chive noodles~salmon tartar~smoked steelhead roe~lemon thyme corn cream~baby corn salad
2007 domaine serene chardonnay, cote sud, dundee hills, oregon

Quack 'n' Slaw--local duck breast gently poached w/lovage seed~wood grilled foie gras~hazelnut duck skin crumble~celery root-apple nasturtium slaw w/oregon white truffle oil~caramelized hungarian pepper gastrique
2009 poet's leap riesling, columbia valley, washington

The Rib and the Belly--big-leaf maple-glazed tamworth pork rib & charred pork belly w/fennel-fines herbes~chicharron w/smoked olympic penisula paprika~sammamish valley three bean salad
2007 palotai vineyard dolcetto, umpqua valley, oregon

Grilled Wagyu Ultra--grilled wagyu new york strip w/fried walla walla onions~charcoal fingerling german potato salad [yes, it was rolled in ashes]~young carrots, leeks~housemade worchestershire-sugar beet-jalapeno sauce
2004 corliss estates malbec, columbia valley, washington

Farmstead Cheese & Bacon Jam--sally jackson okanagon farmstead goat cheese w/bacon-thyme jam~texas toast~bitter greens~cider-caramel reduction

Sweet Tea Popsicle--lemon verbena sweet tea popsicle w/melon and cinnamon basil salad

Brown Butter Waffles & Peaches--brown butter waffles w/peach sorbet~butter gelee pat~grilled red haven peach~huckleberry-anise hyssop syrup

Coffees, Teas & Native Beverages
A Selection of Small Treats--our house-churned jersey cow butter~rosemary biscuits~corn bread
2005 thurston-wolfe jtw reserve port

whew...one terrific evening--

weekend in washington...finally, part 3!

ok...i think i know one reason that i do not have more followers--not that it matters--but maybe if i was better at writing regularly [and possibly shorter posts], it would be more interesting.  just a thought.

anyway, i can't believe how long it has been since i have written anything.  so new plan--finish up my travelogue and then in the next few days, share how i have been procraftinating lately.


i think we left off with MHD and i heading to woodinville for some wine tastings.  last time we were in seattle, we met a winemaker named mike januik.  his winery is in woodinville, so we really wanted to check it out.  he shares a space with another winery named novelty hill.  oh, it was so cool--

and the best thing was that they had these cool, comfy chairs by a fireplace.  they looked like this only in a deep orange-red fabric--

well--seeing how i love great chair design, i had to know the manufacturer.  it seems the older i get, the less embarrassed i get when doing something odd...so i stood up, lifted the end of the chair up--yes, right there in the tasting room full of people--and found out they are made by hickory business furniture.
if you click on the link i have provided, you will see that the name deceives...they make some great looking lounge chairs, too.  so--if you visit our home in the near future...maybe you will see one of their beautiful chairs [i plan on purchasing a couple soon].


by the way, we thoroughly enjoyed the wine and MHD had a few bottles shipped home to us.


next, we went to the biggest, most commercial winery in town--chateau st. michelle.  the grounds were beautiful but we decided to just have one glass to share instead of a flight.

after an afternoon of relaxing and wine tasting...we headed to the herbfarm for a nine course dinner.  intrigued?  hopefully i will post about that very soon for the last installment of 'weekend in washington'...

a weekend in wa...well, not exactly

sorry...you may have already seen this video--i think it has been around a while, but i just couldn't resist.

hope it makes you smile--

one question, though--when are the men of the rooted going to do something like this???!!!