Bakery Nouveau – Review 2

Restaurant: Bakery Nouveau – Review 2

Cuisine: Bakery/Desserts
Last visited: January 31, 2010
Area: Seattle, WA (West Seattle)
4737 California Ave SW
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: n/a (I wasn’t actually there)

Ambiance: n/a

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Pastry chef William Leaman
• Pastries baked several times daily
• Famous bakery in Seattle
• Gourmet bakery
• Traditional desserts with a gourmet/West Coast twist
• Breads/Desserts/Pastries/Chocolates/Jam/Lunch
• Award winning desserts
• Natural ingredients
• Seasonal ingredients
• Gift baskets available
• Daily/Weekly/Holiday specials
• Dine in/Take-out
• Mon-Thurs 6am-7pm
• Fri 6am-9pm
• Sat 7am-9pm
• Sun 7am-7pm

**Recommendation: Blueberry Pistachio Cake, Double Baked Almond Croissant

I am so lucky to have friends that love me! To get desserts from Bakery Nouveau twice in one month is seriously something to brag about! My friends went down to Seattle and recalled my post about Bakery Nouveau and with my “must go there” push they decided to stop there for lunch. They were happy, I was happy and I still am happy.

My 1^st review for Bakery Nouveau.

On the table:

Pumpkin Bread 4.5/6

• Super moist like a moist banana bread would be. It’s more like a cake than it is bread.
• Very buttery and a bit oily so you can see it on your hands. But it’s good!
• Very strong cinnamon taste, lots of canned pumpkin. I think there is lots of clove in there and maybe a little nutmeg too. It almost seems like all canned pumpkin in taste and texture because it’s so moist.
• It marbled with a brown sugar walnut crumb streusel. It’s almost paste like.
• It’s quite sweet, and even a bit salty. They definitely added that pinch of salt to bring out the flavours, but I could actually taste it a bit more than I wanted to.

  

Snowball Cake 5/6

• I don’t have the exact description but it had a custard bottom, cake layer, milk chocolate caramel Rum like layer, another custard layer, another cake layer and it was all covered with freshly dried coconut shavings. Probably around $5.50USD. It's quite expensive here.
• I love the coconut shavings! This cake was very custardy with a Rum taste. I think they use a very potent Vanilla Rum extract so it almost taste like there’s actually Rum in it.
• It’s creamy and very sweet, but good!
• It’s like a coconut vanilla custard trifle in taste and in texture it was like a tiramisu (without the cheese taste). It had egg nog like flavours, especially in the cust ard and there are real vanilla bean seeds in it.

  

• You can hear the moistness when you cut through it with your fork…sounds gross, but it’s really good. The cake layer is quite wet and soaked/
• The whole cake is spread with vanilla custard or a cream that’s a bit thinner than pastry cream before it’s covered with coconut.
• The chocolate layer is a bit too sweet. I think it’s a very low % of cocoa powder and it tastes like melted milk chocolate spread.
• It’s a bit too sweet and I wouldn’t want a whole piece. I needed to eat it with a glass of milk. It was still excellent though.

Twice Baked Almond Croissant 6/6

• My friend meant to order the Twice Baked Chocolate Croissant but by mistake called out Twice Baked Almond Croissant – which I tried last time.
• I actually started writing about it and how disappointed I was that there was no chocolate…until I realized…lol
• No changes, still delicious. Except I didn't like how oddly shaped it was, the one I had last time was better looking.

Salumi Artisan Cured Meats

Restaurant: Salumi Artisan Cured Meats

Cuisine: Italian/Sandwiches
Last visited: January 15, 2010
Area: Seattle, Washington (Pioneer Square)
309 3rd Ave South
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5.5
Service: n/a (I wasn’t actually there)

Ambiance: n/a

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Opened by Mario Batali’s dad
• Specializes and famous for cured meats
• Gourmet home made high quality cured meats
• Famous for cured meats
• Popular for sandwiches
• Large selection of cured meats
• Small selection of specialty sandwiches
• Home made
• Gift baskets available
• Platters available
• 5 course lunch parties available Wed/Thurs ($40/each)
• Eat in/Take out
• Lunch only
• Beer and wine available
• Open Tues-Fri 11am-4pm

**Recommendation: Porchetta

Drool!!!! This sandwich was delicious. Well the Porchetta was…

Now let’s start again. I wasn’t physically there to try the famous Salumi sandwiches, but I’m lucky enough to know Kim. Kim was in Seattle for business and had intentions on visiting Salumi, so on his way back he actually brought 2 sandwiches for me to try. I had heard about Salumi doing my own research, from Sherman, as well as through other foodie friends. I haven’t actually tried them since I’m from Vancouver, but I was very eager to do so the next time I was in Seattle. I have to see for myself what the rave is all about.

I tried the Porchetta and the Salumi Muffo – it’s interesting to note that Salumi is famous for their cured meats, yet the Porchetta sandwich (with no cured meats) was the clear winner for me. Next time I visit I would order the cured meats on their own to try separately. Probably better alone on a platter with some cheese than in the sandwich.

I just found out that Salumi is opened by Mario Batali’s dad. Mario Batali is one of my favourite chefs, so this is a big deal for me. However I’m not letting it affect this review because I wrote the review before I discovered this fact…so I’m literally just adding this paragraph in last minute.

On the table:

**Porchetta 6/6

• Salumi’s tribute to the pig. Pork butter-flied and stuffed with our own sausage meat and spices $9
• The description of the sandwich doesn’t really make sense to me, that’s not how I would describe it because it’s not what it looks like.
• This was an amazing sandwich though! It’s served hot so I had to bake it in the over before trying it again since it had traveled for 2 hours before hitting my mouth.
• The porchetta didn’t taste really salty, even though it usually is. Instead it was just so flavourful, it’s amazing.
• This sandwich is loaded with nice big chunks of porchetta (boneless pork roast). It’s as tender as pulled pork, but it’s actually chunks of it in the sandwich. It’s 90% lean with little bits of fat, but it doesn’t taste fatty at all. It was tender, juicy and had absorbed the wonderful flavours of the whole fennel seeds.
• There were lots of fennel seeds and it brought a beautiful licorice and black pepper flavour to the meat. There was also some garlic although you can’t see it. It’ s very subtle and the garlic flavour is more infused.

  

• The sausage meat was almost like meat loaf, but there wasn’t much of it. The mixture of the two meats just made for an extra tender sandwich.
• There was also a subtle and natural sweetness to the meat and this was thanks to the carrots and celery. The porchetta is supposed to be butterflied and stuffed with veggies, tied and then roasted, but that’s not what it looked like. I did see very small and minimal pieces of carrot, but the pork pieces were chunks.
• This sandwich hardly had any other ingredients or sauces and it didn’t need any. (I love sauce too!) It was simple and just great tasting slowly roasted pork.
• The bread was a baguette and it wasn’t too chewy. I could have eaten the meat alone that was definitely the star.
• FYI – I know a secret! At least I think I know part of it! I’ve never been there so I haven’t witnessed how they make it so may be no secret at all. But beside the porchetta, the secret is in the butter they use for the bread. It’s not butter! They actually use the pork lard (fat) as the butter. I can see and taste it! It has so much flavour and is SO bad for you, but it makes the difference and adds flavour!

Salumi Muffo 4.5/6

• With vegetables, olives, pimiento, provolone, cooked salami, and spicy Sopressata $9
• This is a slightly spicier sandwich but still savoury from the olive, sweet from the veggies (carrots, onions and maybe some celery) and tangy from the pimiento. It tastes like a cross between a green olive tapenade and an antipasto. It was very Mediterranean/Spanish and they brighten it up with some freshly chopped Italian flat leaf parsley.
• Sopressata is Italian dry-cured salami. The one here is made with whole black peppercorns and the slices are perfect. They’re nice and thin to enhance the best flavour, yet they taste thick…also because the quality of meat is so high. It had a combination of lean and fatty meat but the ratio was right, and when you bit into a black peppercorn it was just delicious and gave it that spicy kick. I actually could have used 1 more slice of each salami because the bread is thick.
• The salami is savoury with a slight tang at the end and it really matched the tapenade. They make all the cured meats in house with old Italian family traditions. I really felt like I was eating meat and not crappy deli stuff.
• The ratio of ingredients was right on as well however I could taste the olive tapenade the most. The provolone was a hard provolone so it stood up to the cured meats without competing with them.
• The bread was Ciabatta bread and it was a littler too chewy and too hard for my liking. However it absorbed the oils of the olive tapenade really well.
• The sandwich was pre-made and out of the fridge, which is a bit unexpected. It was a really good sandwich, but not excellent. I felt like the olive tapenade could have used a few different kinds of olives and the bread didn’t work for me.

Gregory's Bar & Grill

Apple & Onion Soup

Restaurant: Gregory's Bar & Grill
Cuisine: American
Last visited: October 8, 09

Area: Seatac/Seattle, WA
18220 International Blvd (at The Red Lion Hotel Seattle Airport)
Price Range: $10-20 USD

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Homestyle hearty American food with simple twists
  
• It was like introducing a manly man to a little "gourmet"
• Bar/Pub atmosphere
• Casual
• Fresh ingredients
• Quite typical bar food, but made FRESH
• Love for cheese...some type of cheese in almost every dish
  
• Quiet during non-peak hours

**Recommendation: California Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Apple & Onion Soup

I had a flight to catch so Gregory's was the first non-chain thing we came across with decent signage. From the outside this place looks more like a grill but upon walking in you definitely feel like you've entered a bar...which was not what I was looking for. There was hardly anyone in there except for a few people drinking at the bar, so I was quite nervous about the food and my expectations were set low.

To my surprise the food was definitely better than your typical pub/bar food because everything was fresh. I don't know, maybe my expectations were so low that I got impressed? For what it was, the food was a bit better than good. As I was eating it I could tell that they had a cook who was really passionate about food. I mean what kind of "bar" offers homemade apple & onion soup? Also, the fact that they had more than mozzarella/cheddar cheese on their menu tells me that there's an inspired cook/chef working in the kitchen. Sure the usuals were on the menu, but the way the chef/cook approached the usuals - with fresh ingredients and simple twists is what impressed me. It was a nice surprise.

On the table:

• **Apple & Onion Soup 4/6
• This was really good and homecooked! It was a solid attempt at fine dining - it's how you would make a gourmet soup at home. It was actually quite hearty and rich for a clear based soup...definitely thanks to the shredded cheese! Yes it was oily and greasy from the cheese, but it was still really good!

• It was basically a French onion soup with added apples for a sweeter taste. It even had a slice of baguette loaded with cheese and then baked until melted, bubbly and golden brown.
• The onions were so cooked they literally melted in your mouth. For a bar - it was great. If it was fine dining I would suggest that they slice the onions thinner so that they're nice and stringy rather than chunky. You get mixed up between the onions and apples because they look the same and they're both caramelized and sweet so you can't tell which is which. The soup base was a savoury onion base and it was balanced with the sweet apples. There was also salty melted mozzarella cheese throughout. I found myself eating curds of melted cheese, but that's expected because cheese (fat) doesn't melt into water. The only complain I have was that the baguette was stale! It was the only thing that wasn't fresh out of everything we ordered. The soup was so good though, so I'll let that one thing slip.
  
• 
• Clubhouse Sandwich 3.5/6
  
• Turkey, tomato, Swiss cheese, avocado, romaine & bacon on a toasted kaiser bun.

• This was almost like a clubhouse burger rather than a sandwich. The kaiser bun made it more burger-like, the Swiss cheese made it more "gourmet", and the avocado was a great Californian inspired twist.
• I would have liked it better if the Swiss cheese was melted, but it was served cold. I was quite surprised with how much turkey we got and that the Swiss cheese was a full slice. It did need more romaine though, it was missing that crunchy texture especially since our kaiser wasn't toasted enough.
• The fresh avocado slices were a great touch. It added this creamy texture and the tang of the tomatoes just cut right though it.
  
• The kaiser was nice and soft too, not the crusty chewy kind of bread. It actually really suited the sandwich.
• Fries 4/6
• I have to mention the fries. They came as the side, and they were really good. I'm almost sure they were the McCain frozen fries, but it didn't matter. They were good and I don't expect a place like this to hand cut their own fries. These fries tasted extra good because they were deep fried in a new batch of oil. They also fry them a bit longer so that they're extra crispy! The fries were never soggy and stayed crispy until the very end of the meal.
• California Grilled Chicken Sandwich 5/6
  
• Grilled chicken, Pepperjack cheese, Mayo, avocado, tomato & lettuce on toasted kaiser.
• This was not a frozen chicken breast - this was a fresh chicken that was grilled upon order! It was a nice big and thick piece and I wouldn't be surprised if the chef grilled it first and let it finish cooking in the oven. It was really juicy and seasoned well.
• The second best part was that the menu said "mayo" in the sandwich, but what they really used was garlic aoili! What a nice surprise! It was spread over the kaiser and made it taste like garlic bread especially since they toasted it too. I think they even put some butter on it to enhance the flavour. Again it could have used more lettuce, but at this point I was drawing up a picture of the chef and was able to put his cooking style together: don't skimp on the good stuff...good stuff being meat, cheese and avocado. With that being said he was really generous with the avocado. It came with 5 wedges of fresh avocado!
• The flavours came together so well and it had a little spice from the Pepperjack cheese, which was all melted and gooey! It was eating a chicken sandwich with fresh avocado on toasted garlic bread - how amazing does that sound? It tastes better than it sounds and much better than it looks. Don't underestimate this sandwich.