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26/08/2009 Starbucks VIA Cocktail Mix-Off Although Starbucks' new instant (or as they call it "ready-brew") coffee, VIA, has been in the Seattle market for several months it seems Starbucks is working on raising interest as they prepare for the national roll-out. Understandably, a ready-brew/instant coffee could be considered a gamble for the company and so last week they took an interesting tack in promoting the product. They assembled four bartenders from the Seattle area known for creating technically perfect, interesting cocktails. By technically perfect I mean that they are part of inner circle of mixologists who adhere to the standards set by the fathers of the cocktail combining elixirs in a way that results in a perfect balance of flavors, acidity and interest. Anything that tastes or looks like a Jolly Rancher candy would never be mixed or even considered by these folks. (I love Jolly Rancher hard candy - just not in my glass...)
These bartenders were challenged with creating a cocktail that used VIA as an ingredient. Last Thursday they met in a "mix-off" competition judged by four food and beverage professionals: Jennifer Shea (Trophy Cupcake), Eric Tanaka (Tom Douglas Restaurants), Jessica Voelker (Seattle Metropolitan), Ann-Marie Kurtz (Starbucks). The gathering took place on the Garden Terrace of Hotel 1000. This was a fun venue as it sits on the southwest corner of the 4th floor of the hotel, giving you city views, the impression of being outside (even though it's completely glass enclosed) and an intimate space for a group. Fewer than 100 people were on hand to view the proceedings and I was happy to be included. Prior to the actual competition Howard Schultz explained the history of VIA, how Starbucks came to even consider making an instant coffee, and how this all led to their current R&D department and strategy. I found the information really interesting and it also put a human face on the product. I wish they had the story somewhere on their site - if they do I couldn't find it - as I don't think I can represent it properly from memory. I will say it started with one man who approached Starbucks years ago with a sample of an instant coffee. His idea eventually landed him the first R&D position at Starbucks and was the beginning of the department. While unable to bring the product to market during his lifetime, the seed he planted has been realized in the VIA product.
After Schultz' opening remarks the competition began. Kelly Moore filled the MC role and Andrew Bohrer provided the color commentary. The four competing mixologists were: Erik Hakkinen (Zig Zag Café), Keenan Ahlo (BOKA Kitchen + Bar), Andrew Friedman (Liberty), Anu Apte (Rob Roy). Cocktails were prepared in two rounds. In the first round Friedman and Ahlo mixed up two very different cocktails. Friedman was first with his Kentucky Coffee, a straight-forward drink with whiskey as the base and lemon adding a nice citrus zing. And, of course, all of the cocktails included VIA as an ingredient. This was my second favorite cocktail of the evening.
Ahlo's entry named, Starbucks VIA India, was a much more complex concoction featuring gin, benedictine, coconut milk and curry. It was almost a dessert. I enjoyed the hint of the exotic the curry and coconut milk brought to the drink.
There was a short break before round two featuring Hakkinen and Apte. Hakkinen's entry, the Beccacino, included bourbon, benedictine, Irish mist, amaretto and orgeat. He layered it for a nice presentation. It was by far the strongest drink in the competition - and my favorite of the bunch.
The final entry from Apte was the Columbia Coffee Fizz and was another fairly complex drink. Her drink really highlighted the VIA using more than any of the other drinks. It also included aged rum, green chartreuse, whipping cream and Dry Soda vanilla. The cocktails were judged on creativity, taste and their "VIAriffic" quotient. The judges all received full cocktails and while they were judging smaller sampling portions were distributed to the crowd. The contestants were competing for a $5000 prize that would be donated to a charity of their choice.
After the final round the judges' scores were tallied and it turned out there was a tie between Apte and Hakkinen. The tie-breaker was based on crowd applause and Apte won quite resoundingly. Based solely on the fact that her cocktail really was VIArrific I think this was the right result but I still preferred both Hakkinen's and Friedman's cocktails.
The evening was enjoyable and it was a fun and creative event. I had just one small disappointment with the evening. While the guests were assembling prior to the activities I spotted Howard Schultz standing at a table and being ignored by most of the group. I approached him and asked if he thought featuring VIA as a cocktail mixer was in any way confusing or would detract from the company's line of liqueurs. His response and attitude were dismissive which I found unsettling. He basically said, "totally different" and slightly turned away. While the products are totally different, featuring VIA as a cocktail ingredient brings them into the same arena. Even if he thought it a "stupid" question, which apparently he did, you'd think he could come up with a more eloquent answer than that. As I customer I was interested. As a stockholder I was even more interested. As a blogger I would have liked to understand his thoughts. I did not represent myself to Schultz as any of these things but I would think that in Seattle he would assume that there was a good chance I was a customer and, since this was a PR event, he might have guessed I had some "news" perspective. I guess I was surprised at the response and so it is sticking with me. I'm not sure that I will ever use VIA in a cocktail - perhaps to make a coffee drink while camping - but I would use coffee liqueur and since I have a bottle of Starbucks Coffee Liqueur on hand, I think Starbucks wins either way. VIA is currently available in Seattle, Chicago and London. 06/03/2009 "Spring" Oreos It seems all kinds of products are getting into the habit of modifying colors to align themselves with holidays or seasons, hoping to increase sales. I'd say the tactic probably does work. I know that I find myself buying more holiday versions of candy, in particular. Oreo actually started their version of holiday or seasonal varieties several years ago but this was the first time in a long time that one of the colorful versions induced me to purchase. I guess I may have needed a splash of sunshine so when I saw the yellow-filled "Spring" Oreos I bit.
I actually find them a bit disconcerting to eat. The brightly colored yellow fillings seem like they should be lemon flavored. But they are not. Instead they are just the "regular" flavor. Still that doesn't seem to have actually slowed down my consumption. I just have to squint a little when I take the first bite so I screen out the lemon vibes I get from the yellow filling. 19/02/2009 Some interesting newsI happened to be in the area of Skillet today at lunch and stopped by to grab a decadent burger. As I walked up I noticed a familiar face waiting for his lunch, Gabriel
Claycamp of Culinary Communion. He was accompanied by chef/instructor Katie Coleman. Gabriel always has something new cooking and he tells me that they received their restaurant license a couple days ago and the plan is to start offering lunches at Culinary Communion House on Beacon Hill. The concept will be, paraphrasing Gabriel's words, somewhere between Le Pichet and Salumi but leaning a little more French. Having taken one of Culinary Communion's charcuterie classes I think this is a very good thing!
Watch their website or sign up for the newsletter (bottom left of the home page) to keep up with the news! 27/08/2008 City Kitchens Anniversary SaleFor those of you in Seattle and surrounding areas.... City Kitchens Anniversary Sale has started and runs until the end of September. Everything in the store is at least 10% off and many things are marked down more than that. This is a great time to pick up those odds and ends that never seem to go on sale. Last year I picked up great steak knives that were 50% off, among other things.
City Kitchens
1527 4th Ave (just south of Pine)
Seattle 206.382.1138 19/08/2008 Colony Collapse Disorder I've been holding back on writing this post but have finally decided to go ahead with it despite my reservations. We'll get to those in a moment.
I'm sure most of you are aware that the honeybees are dying or disappearing and we don't really know why. This phenomenon has been named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and really nothing is known about it except that it happens. Research is going on at a few universities to try to figure out what's causing it and if we can stop it.
I have a special fondness for bees, not just because the are an important part of our food chain, but because I love hearing them buzzing around my yard. I'm not so interested in yellow jackets and wasps - although they have jobs, too - but in the honeybees and bumble bees that spend time pollinating my summer crops and flowers. There's just something about them I find soothing. And I would be incredibly sad to lose them even if we somehow found another way to pollinate crops.
About a month ago I received an email from Häagen-Dazs about a new awareness campaign they've created to help bring the plight of the honeybees to our attention. They've created a video, a site and a donation program to help with research. And this is where my reservations kick in.
The site is one of those maddeningly cute sites that take forever to negotiate. There is some useful information on it, but I would think most people would bail out before actually finding it. Still, if you can stick with it there are suggestions on how everyone can help out, among other things. Also, they have developed a special flavored ice-cream called Vanilla Honeybee. When you buy it or several other flavors they will make a donation to one of two research programs. The problem is that they don't tell you how much they will donate. Still something is better than nothing, I guess. However, perhaps you would be better off just donating the entire price you'd pay for the ice-cream to one of the research programs, you know?
So, I've decided to write this post to help draw attention to the issue, even if Häagen-Dazs methods for educating people leave something to be desired. At least they are doing something and that is good.
The photo at the beginning of this post was taken at UBC at the Outstanding in the Field dinner I recently attended there. To date, they have not been affected by CCD. Yay! They have several honeybee hives on their farm and as you can see in this photo a thriving colony has returned home for the evening. The photos at the bottom of the post were taken in my garden. Bumble bees are also important pollinators. So far this issue does not seem to be affecting them, or maybe we just have not yet realized it. I have had periods of time when I've found several dead bumblebees on my plants. I don't ever spray but my guess is that someone in my neighborhood is using some sort of pest control that affects them. This makes me so sad. The video in the center was created by Häagen-Dazs to help raise awareness. Here's what they say about it: "When a honey bee returns to the hive after finding a good source of nectar, it will perform a unique dance for its hive mates, detailing the distance, direction, quality and quantity of the new food supply. The richer the food source, the longer and more vigorous the dance. This is our Hip-Hop interpretation of that dance".
And here's the link to their site where you can learn more: Help The Honeybees
  16/07/2008 Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon Sunday I attended the first Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon sponsored by Taste TV and held at the Bell Harbor Conference Center. I had actually been asked to be on the tasting panel, which just meant that in addition to tasting I had a list of categories for which I was supposed to nominate chocolate companies. This was a hard, if enviable, task. I tried very hard to have a little taste from every chocolatier but even that small amount soon became chocolate overload. And I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't taste the entire line-up each chocolatier was offering - that would have sent me over the edge for sure! In case that sounds like a complaint it's not. Just sort of setting the stage so you know the context for my comments to follow.
So let me provide you with the list of official winners. This is from yesterday's news release:
Some of my nominations lined up with the winners and some did not, but honestly there were very few ways to go wrong with all the chocolate talent in that room. And, I find, that with chocolate as with many other things, personal preference plays a big role. I tend to skew towards the dark chocolates while others may prefer milk chocolates better. The one thing I found a bit surprising is that flavored chocolate has become so popular that "plain" chocolate does not even exist in many of the companies' products. And I think that's a shame. I had the idea that I'd try all the plain chocolate to try to keep judging on a level playing field but soon found I wouldn't be able to do that. So here are just some observations from my tasting. Listed in random order.... Cocoa Chai: The truffle I tried was a little spicy and very smooth - very good. They were nicely decorated, nothing too garish or odd. The only thing I was surprised at was I asked if she used a specific type of chocolate and her answer seemed to indicate there was not a real rhyme or reason to which chocolate was used. Perhaps she didn't fully understand my question. Cadeaux Chocolates: I loved these chocolates. Very smooth. I had a bittersweet espresso and it was perfect. The espresso was present and it enhanced not overpowered the chocolate. Kekau Chocolatier: I actually tried three of their samples because the flavors were so interesting. All were good, but my favorite was the smokey blue cheese. I know, sounds weird but it was really good. And I just realized that the blue cheese they use is from Rogue Creamery - no wonder I like it so much! E. Guittard: I sampled their 91% cacao bar among other things. It is way too bitter for eating on it's own but for baking or to use with a sweeter chocolate it would be perfect. I use their various chocolates quite often in baking and always love them. Poco Dolce: They have the most gorgeous understated packaging. I'm not really sure why it appealed to me so strongly but it did. I am sad to say that I didn't have a chance to really taste their chocolate. I had one small bit of one type and I thought it was okay. I meant to come back when the table was less crowded, as I felt my taste was not representative, but didn't have an opportunity. Alma Chocolate: Alma touts their chocolates as being (almost) sin-free. Some might take offense at their nod to the spiritual world with designs based on world religious icons but it seemed very light and rather whimsical to me. I tried one of their salted lavender caramels and it was heavenly! Oh! Chocolate: Thinking this was a new venture I asked the guy some questions only to find out they've been in the Seattle area for about 20 years! How have I missed them? Especially with all the press they've received over the years? I don't know but I'm glad I know about them now. They had two chocolates that I really liked. The first was a Pinot-Noir flavored truffle that was topped with pink peppercorns. It was delightfully spicy! The second was a blackberry chocolate with good blackberry flavor that wasn't too strong but complemented the dark chocolate. And they've just opened a Madison Park store... L'estasi Dolci: I tried two of their offerings but found they were not really to my taste. I found both the mint-ginger truffle and the Pinot Noir truffle to be just too sweet, although the taste of the mint-ginger was good. Amano Artisan Chocolate: I loved talking with these folks. They were really knowledgeable and handled their tasting more like I was expecting; sort of like a wine tasting. They were tasting three premium chocolates, all 70% but each sourced from a different country and each with different characteristics. I think these were the only guys who talked about holding the chocolate on your tongue and letting it melt to realize all the characteristics of each type. I was really surprised that wasn't a common theme as that is the only way to really pick up on chocolate nuances. This table was educational as well as interesting, similar to a wine tasting but with chocolate! Grendel Sweets: They were too sweet for me. Cosmic Chocolate: I liked the sample of chocolate I had here but I would probably never buy these chocolates. Most of the designs I found to be a bit garish or more suited to teenagers than adults. And their website drives me a little crazy, too. Dilettante Chocolate: I think I've been guilty of taking Dilettante for granted. Sometimes I forget about those tried and true companies - especially if they are successful and grow outside of the bounds of what we consider "artisan". But growth and tenure aren't always bad and Dilettante proves that. Their chocolates are still excellent. And I had a great time talking with Dana Davenport, the founder. So amazingly knowledgeable and his love of the business was so evident. Island Angel Chocolates: In talking to the man at Island Angel I was really looking forward to sampling his chocolates. He seemed so interested in what types of tastes I preferred and recommended a lavender chocolate for me. I did not like it at all. I was so disappointed. I wanted to like it. And now I don't know if it was just his recommendations were off or if I really didn't like their recipe. I think it was the latter, unfortunately. Posh Chocolat: I sampled one of their Fleur de Sel Caramels. I think the underlying chocolate was good but there was too much salt on the candy to really be able to tell. Theo Chocolate: I'm already skewed when it comes to Theo. I really like their chocolate. Although they had all of their bars available to sample I restrained myself to two new bars, the Hazelnut Crunch Milk Chocolate and the Fig, Fennel and Almond Dark Chocolate. Both were good and I do like their milk chocolate as it is 40% cacao. Still my favorites are their Origins bars. Lula's Chocolates: This seems to be the only casualty of the day. I'm pretty sure I really liked these but I can't read my notes! Dang it. But I must have liked them because the part I remember is that they are currently only in California but will soon be in Whole Foods here in Seattle. That and that Lula was the grandmother who's recipes are used today. ;-) Claudio Corallo Chocolate: This was another table where I learned a lot! I really liked these people and the photo at the top of the post was taken at their table. What you are looking at are the roasted cacao beans. I tried them. They are a bit bitter but not as much was I'd expected and you can see where the final taste of the chocolate comes from. I tried their 75% chocolate and I liked the taste but felt it was a bit grainy. Fiori Chocolatiers: I only tried one of their samples and it was so good! I had the Lavender y Miele which was the most lovely and delicately flavored chocolate! Hints of lavender and a bit of sweetness (but not too much!) from the raspberry blossom honey enhance the gorgeous chocolate perfectly! Intrigue Chocolates: I've had these chocolates a few time and always find their flavors intriguing.... On Sunday I had a sample of their St. Basil. That herb is just lovely with chocolate. I've missed a couple but got nearly all of them. In addition to the chocolatiers there were a couple of tables with chocolate spa products and one brownie maker. All in all, it was a nice event and I encourage you to go next year. I took photos of nearly every table, however betweent the lighting and the crowds none of them are really great. However, they will give you an idea of each of the chocolatiers offerings. You can see them here.
29/04/2008 Things that make you go, hmmmmm.....I'm all for creativity and trying out new concepts when it comes to food and the dining experience. In fact there are many little gimmicks that catch my attention. For instance, Happy Hour is really a gimmick but one that has been around so long that we all just accept it as "natural". And, as you may have realized I happen to love Happy Hour! But every now and then some new promotion comes up and I really just wonder what the chef or PR person or whoever was thinking.
That's the case with this latest idea from Veil. I haven't been in for a little while so maybe they need to boost numbers or maybe they just thought this would be a fun thing to do but their latest idea is an upscale TV dinner.
Here's some info from the press release:
And there's a photo of the new compartmentalized plate. I don't know, call me a stick-in-the-mud, but for some reason this whole concept doesn't really resonate with me. Or with what I think of when I think of Veil. 08/04/2008 Local 2008 Nominees for James Beard AwardsThe 2008 James Beard award nomintions are out. The award ceremony and reception takes place on June 8th. Here are the nomimees from the Northwest.
OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR AWARD
Presented by Waterford Wedgwood
A working restaurateur, actively involved in multiple restaurants in the United States, who has set uniformly high national standards as a creative force in the kitchen and/or in restaurant operations. Candidates must have been in the restaurant business for at least ten years.
Tom Douglas RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR AWARD OUTSTANDING WINE AND SPIRITS PROFESSIONAL AWARD David Lett OUTSTANDING SERVICE Canlis BEST CHEF: NORTHWEST (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY) Maria Hines Holly Smith Ethan Stowell Jason Wilson 2008 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Awards 07/04/2008 Food & Wine's Best New ChefsFood & Wine has announced their Best New Chefs for 2008 and Ethan Stowell of Union, Tavolata and How To Cook A Wolf is among the winners.
While I still have not been able to warm up to Union - a series of odd things has kept me from enjoying a meal there - Tavolata is one of my favorite spots and I've been looking forward to checking out Wolf.
For more information on Ethan and to see who else made the list check out the article. 01/04/2008 Benefit Dinner for Higgins chef, Bob KramerIf you live in or near Portland please consider attending this fundraiser to help a local chef.
benefit4bob&tania kramer
for a different kind of chef’s collaborative
sponsored by Higgins Restaurant and Oregon Culinary Institute
Sunday, April 6th
5:00 pm Hors d’Oeuvres & Raffle
Oregon Culinary Institute, 1701 SW Jefferson $75.00 Per Person Donation Please RSVP to Melanie or Christina
at mhammericksen@pioneerpacific.edu or 503.961.6213.
If you’re unable to attend dinner but wish to donate,
please email benefit4bob@gmail.com or call Melanie at 503.961.6213.
Cash or checks payable to U.S. Bank.
together we can help
Participating chefs/restaurants include:
13/02/2008 Food & Wine Likes Washington RedsYesterday my March issue of Food and Wine magazine was delivered. I read it last night and was happy to see an article called Terrific Washington State Reds including a list of twenty the writer, Ray Isle, especially enjoyed. A number of the wines listed were on the spendy side but I was really pleased to see the Waterbrook Melange Red ($15), which I've recently used for a couple of large-scale events and one of my all time favorite Washington reds, Hedges Three Vineyards, were also on the list. The Hedges was highlighted as a star selection. This wine is good enough to make an impression but at $22 can also sneak into the "wine I like to have around just for me" category. 28/01/2008 Wine Blogging Wednesday Logo Contest One of the events I love (although you'd have a hard time telling with my lack of recent participation...) is Wine Blogging Wednesday or WBW, as it is more widely known. In my mind it's the most successful of the blog "events" that occur on a regular basis. I find it interesting, educations and fun to participate in! A couple of years ago a logo was created for the event. But as the event has matured there is a need for the logo to, also. Amazingly enough the 42nd event is now in process! That is success! So if you think you'd be good at creating a logo for this event you should check out the details here.
The contest runs through March 31. 21/01/2008 The Positive Side of Winter in Seattle Saturday I decided to go to Pike Place Market for a stroll. I didn't really need anything - I have several events occurring over the next few days that will take care of my dining needs - but just wanted to get out and enjoy one of my favorite places.
I didn't arrive until noon, yet was able to park 1/2 block away from the main market - unheard of in the summer and even spring and fall weekends! I could freely walk among the stalls only occasionally having to wait for people or to take a detour around groups that had stopped in the middle of the aisles to talk.
I was able to actually look at what was in the cases in Delaurenti's. I walked right up and bought a bunch of tulips from my favorite grower. I bought one of my favorite lunch time treats, BBQ pork hum bow barely pausing as I walked by the counter.
Was it cold and gray on Saturday? Yes, but a warm jacket and being able to enjoy the vendors and the wide array of offerings made my day.
If you've been hiding indoors, now's the time to get out and take a stroll through the market - no tourists to speak of, plentiful parking and, as always, friendly vendors with interesting wares. 18/01/2008 Black Sheep Creamery Benefit CHEESE FOR A GOOD CAUSE
A Benefit Event for Black Sheep Creamery February 1, 2008 ::: 6-9PM
721 NW 9th Ave Ecotrust Building - Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center Portland, Oregon
For more information contact Tami at pnwcheese @ yahoo.com. Hope to see you there!
21/10/2007 Cafe Campagne Offers Take Out CassouletI offer this announcement as a public service.... I have many friends who love cassoulet but it does take a time commitment to pull it all together so here's your "easy" answer! From a PR release for Cafe Campagne:
Did you catch the reference to the cassoulet "haute" line. Ha! 11/09/2007 Two New Chefs Join VeilI've been super busy - news is super easy.... but I thought this was interesting primarily because Dana Cree seems to be bouncing around like a ping-pong ball...
10/08/2007 Georgian Room at The Fairmont Offers Special "I-5" DinnerNow this is a novel idea... I just received a PR email from The Georgian Room announcing a commuter special, meant to give you a place to go during the worst of the I-5 traffic over the next three weeks while the repair work is done. Here's the info as it was sent to me:
22/05/2007 French Cheese Tasting at the Seattle Cheese Festival In addition to the cooking class at The Harvest Vine I attended one other seminar at this past weekend's Seattle Cheese Festival. I wasn't actually scheduled to take it but then M called me as another friend wasn't feeling well and they had tickets for the "Tour de France des Terroirs", a class focused on French cheeses and understanding how terroir affects the taste and characteristics of each cheese.
The class was led by two very interesting and knowledgeable instructors. Laure Dubouloz of Herve Mons Affineur Company and Francois Keautret, Vice President at Peterson Cheese Company. The first thing I learned is that an affineur is a person who finishes cheese. So the farmer or cheese coop starts the cheesemaking process and gets the cheese through it's first month or two of life and then they are handed off to a company like Herve Mons for the final aging. These affineurs will have caves in one or more locations, where the cheese is stored and, depending on the type of cheese, the may also complete the final washes or other processes necessary to get the cheese to its ready-to-be-sold state.
For this class we sampled twelve cheeses from six regions in France. We were also provided with a selection of wines to go along with the cheese.
For each region, Laure and Francois would talk about the influences in the region that affect the animals used to produce cheese, the local flora that might impact the flavor of the cheese and other elements such as climate, history or terrain. It was very interesting! Then we would try one or more cheeses from that area. Generally, for each region we tried cheese from different animals - cow, goat, or sheep and sometimes a blend from two.
The six regions we "visited" were: Normandy; Loire; Jura; Savoie; Pyrenees; and Auvergne.
This was a really great class and I think I may have a new way of participating in the cheese festival! I loved the amount of information and the ability to really taste and learn about each cheese, plus the information they provided for us to take home was very complete and will be a useful reference in the future.
I'm already looking forward to next year's event!
 27/04/2007 Portland Indie Wine FestivalThis looks like a fun event! The Portland Indie Wine Festival will be held on May 5th and 6th at Urban Wineworks and Chown Garage in the Pearl District.
Limited to just twenty wineries (many serving several wines) festival attendees will have the opportunity to sample wines not normally widely available. And, from a quick scan of the list, it seems there are some great wineries participating!
Food from local restaurants will help round out the offerings.
Check the site for all the details and to buy tickets.
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