repetition is ok, isn't it ok?

i have a love hate affair with chicken. when i make it for myself, i love it and for that matter, when someone makes it for me, i love it all over again. when i am dining out, ordering is near impossible as it usually is not good, overpriced or just stupid (it's chicken damn it!). but when i am in l.a. this week, i plan on ordering chicken...oh yes and this is where, VERSAILLES!!! great god above - this is the famous garlic chicken and it is as good as it gets. man oh man, this place is great and no secret to angelinos. i want to try new places but why when food is that good and you are there for only five days? which means i am going ot in-n-out burger and if i am lucky, maybe a visit to el tepeyac and really crank up the cardiac arrest...i guess if that was the goal i'd go to roscoe's too but i digress. why eat healthy while in l.a.? but back to the bird for a moment as i am seriously going to consider the other outstanding chicken in soCal, (i wouldn't do you like that) zankou chicken. for real. i am off to oc/la tomorrow and will report back on my findings or revisits when i get back.

until then, here's a distraction for you - chick this out.

paseo the peas

talking about food is another element that makes eating a great experience. everybody's got opinions and god knows i am not in the least bit shy to share mine. it wasn't too long ago i was asking my pal bksmag what his fave sandwich in seattle is (i actually value his opinion knowing he can easily make the best sandwich in town) and he threw down an entry. mind you that was months ago and just recently another pal h.LO asked me about the best sandwich in town - - - i see a theme...and we all came to the same conclusion...! behold the paseo cuban pork sandwich



this is the hands down winner. both h.LO and i were going on and on about the greatness of this thing. so sorry about the size of this picture as this sandwich deserves so much more...this is not an enormous sandwich, it is big for sure but the tastes are pitch perfect. pork that is grilled and has the flavor of char and maintains the simple pork taste along with carmelized onions, aioli, pickled jalepenos, crunchy romaine lettuce on the right baguette which is both hard and soft - this is thee seattle sandwich. and paseo gives you a little cobette of corn too! oh - did i mention the price at a mere $7.50, this sandwich gets better and better with every visit. what must be mentioned about paseo is that nearly everything else they make is quite good. small, crowded, cash only and a bit nutty, get yourself over here and enjoy.

paseo 4225 fremont ave n. 206-545-7440

2 0 0 7 etc.

ah, the year has come to an end and i thought, why not do a year end type reflection on what snacktruck enountered this year...hmmm. at the beginning of the year (and i mean exactly on jan. 1) i had my finger on exactly what i wanted to eat this year yet i seemed to have lost touch with that. what happened here? i can only reflect on this and come to the conclusion that i got very excited with the 'concepts and potential' of what the year would bring only to know have the hindsight that what i thought i wanted was just merely a hope - not even close to reality. i wanted healthy, vibrant, alive and challenging nourishment and i got some, but not exactly what i wanted. this is not to say i did not have a fun year eating some other things which were tasty and a lot of fun...i did. behold my year of some new, some old and some rediscovered.

that picture above is of tavolata. my first visit brought me there on super bowl sunday and had an exceptional meal consisting of the insanely large t-bone steak with cippoline onions, a sublime gnocci and a standard yet fresh green salad. after going back here and there and having many a good pasta and perfectly grilled tuna, tavolata become one of my favorite places to eat in 07. another place that hit the target this year was the jolly roger at the maritime brewery. anybody who knows me understands my love of this place and i must say i think it is getting better and better. just last week i went there with two people who know the difference between good and great food and we all left feeling as though we experienced one of the finer lunches in seattle! details unnecessary as i will say this, anything ANYTHING you get there will work. whether it be bar food or one of the incredible dinner specials chef dave miller is making - this is one of seattle's unsung places to eat...if you know anybody who has been here - they know. another standout is green leaf in the ID. i love vietnamese food and this place shines like few others in seattle. a month back i was there with three other friends and we ordered bun rice vermicelli, pho, ban xeo
(crepe), fresh rolls and damn it if everything was simply out of this world.


yet, 2007 belonged to not a certain place in seattle and not really even seattle but pdx. i went to portland a lot this year to see what exactly is going on down there...and i came back with many great dining experiences and get this, i have a ton more to try. biggies were le pidgeon, simpatica catering and some taqueria in the alberta neighborhood. what is funny is that i will be back there in a couple weeks! enough of my ranting and raving - i am going to be lazy and ask you to check out this nytimes article on what the hell is happening in the rose city.

back to seattle and hats off to our fair city with lots of new places which were quite good like beato, decent like barolo, some a bit too precious for my taste like tilth and others just plain nutty, coupage - which i liked. next up, i am going to find myself at quinns, how to cook a wolf and txori. reporting later.

feliz ano nuevo amigos!

ask and ye shall receive

after starting this blog, many people have asked "where is that photo taken from at the top of your blog?"! and the answer is las columnas bar in seville, spain. i loved this place...loved it so much that i went about three times. inexpensive and tasty tapas reign supreme here and what i loved about it was the size...so big people leaked out since there were so few tables. check out the above shot and you can see what i mean. here i have my picture of delicious pork lomo in a soft roll with tomato and olive oil - man oh man is that good. what separated this place among the million other tapas places in seville was the modus operandi of the place - - first, they had this huge, almost horseshoe like bar with a grantite top...so when someone would order their drinks and tapas, one of the many bartenders would keep tally of what you had by writing on the granite top with chalk! and this place was bananas every single day - so busy that i would watch these guys remember who ordered what and my jaw would hit the ground on the entire debacle. pretty damn good tapas too for i had not only the aforementioned lomo but ham (duh), weird salads consisting of tuna, olive oil, olives, potatoes and boiled egg...like a spanish nicoise but not really. so, when in seville, check out this place or get across the river for some great food.

Junbi dekita...Oishii !!

check out this picture with the specials of the week/day/month - i don't know! recognize it? yup - it is from maneki. two of my favorite people in the whole wide world run the place, jean and oka-san! and i like them because every single time i go there, they always want to chat and we always chew the fat for an extended period of time. btw, do you have a favorite resturant? sure you do but do you have one where the owner snacks with you sometime or, does he/she let you in after they close and still serve you? and does this same owner make fun of you and your idiosyncrasies in the nicest possible way? did i spell that right? anywho, jean is the bestest ever and i am here to write it out and make it public.

i went to maneki with k.fey after she suggested sushi so last friday night we went and had an exceptional dinner...the black cod was stellar...sweet and sticky black cod collar in miso, then broiled can be one of the greatest things to eat on earth. we ordered up some takoyaki and it was sooooo good! tako can be tough and it can be unyeilding but damn it, when it is done right whether in sushi form or takoyaki, it is one thing - delicous! the special tuna was blue fin and we ordered up some sashimi to get the optimal taste and it was delicate, tender and a slight firmness that lent well to the pureness of the fish. phenomenal. some spicy tuna roll, miso and kinpira and we were pretty happy. i am not sure where else i can get kinpira (gobo), crazy inexpensive black cod ($6.95!!) and many other traditional japanese items but maneki comes through every time.

and on a totally different tangent, maneki and jean remind me of so much i love about los angeles. which is maybe why i like it so much. maneki can be anywhere and it would remain the sweetest, nicest and most sought after place to dine in my eyes. i love it when people say that maneki is unorganized, bad service and uneven food but damn it, i love this place! i consider this place one of "my" places even though maneki is no secret to many seattlites yet i feel welcome there like no other place.

i got a crush on you

my birthday was in october yet i am going to write about my birthday dinner now. why now? because i was going back and forth with different resturant people, some food freaks and others last friday night about where to eat in seattle. i recalled my birthday dinner with ms. jen/o. she took me or shall i say she suggested crush, i was like - uh, no problemo. i really like owner/chef justin an awful lot, he and his wife nicole are neighbors of mine, they go to another fave or mine, sweet and savory and he is just an exceptionally kind guy. so, off we went. and j.o. had never been there so when she suggested sharing the tasing menu along with two other starters, i was game! over the top and maybe a bit too much but check out this octopus salad with chickpea fritters along with some chorizo...

this was one of those dishes that upon first bite, perfection. above the pic of this salad is the largest of grilled scallops along with some foie gras placed on top...which was a birthday gift from chef jason. lovely man like i said...this too left us speechless. i wrote notes down on sauces, complexities and what not but they are lost. that is what i get for posting this 60 days after the fact but i guess i did come to one conclusion, crush is my place for a solid, unflinching meal in seattle...any thoughts?

clandestine is a big word

there is so much talk around our fair city about 'underground' places to dine at. yes, gypsy, cache, one pot and others have flourished and i have hit one pot and cache and both are distintly different from one another. i am going to leave you wiht these nice (borrowed) pics above from a one pot deal in georgetown a couple months back (see anybody familiar in this group shot?) and when i report back next, snacktruck will bring you a guest star blog entry on the nice folks at cache and the first of two christmas dinners they are throwing together!!