Seattle is a superior food town, a collection of neighborhoods speckled with little restaurant gems highly focused on the sea. There are, to be sure, “big” restaurants in Seattle, the stylized booming halls of wood and stone and glass that you can find in Paris or New York. It is the smaller, more intimate Seattle restaurants that Suzen and I love. Little places on streets pitched on hillsides sloping down to the sea.
Places like the Boat Street Café, the first restaurant opened by chef/author Renee Erickson. She was content with Boat Street and successful and then courted. Those courtships have spawned three more lovely Seattle dining spots: The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, and Barnacle Bar. Each of her restaurants forges its own path, but they are synchronized and do share the branding and tastes that have made Renee such a grand success.
With all those restaurants and years of menus and experiences, Renee sat down one night and began to assemble seasonal meals using the recipes from all four of her restaurants. At first, it was a fun exercise but she quickly realized she had the basis for a wonderful book. This book.
Renee takes us through all four seasons offering three meals for each season. Big meals with lots of courses based on the sea and the surrounding farms. I said “meals” but I should have said “feasts” for feasts these are.
Here’s an example, a summer feast from Renee, her Lamb and Rose Dinner:
Two Tartines: One with Chili-Marinated Anchovies and Butter and One with Ricotta Tartine with Pickled Scapes and Fennel
Pacific Octopus Salad with Grilled Beets, Chermoula, Shaved Fennel and Parsley Salad
Grilled Bread
Grilled King Salmon with Walnut Tarator and Cherry Tomato Salad
Harissa-Rubbed Roasted Lamb
Grilled Treviso Radicchio with Anchovy Vinaigrette and Bread Crumbs
Meringues with Apricots, Berries and Cream
This is a dinner you don’t prepare that afternoon before. This is a meal that can take a week of shopping, prepping, arranging, and finally assembling into a long evening of perfected flavors. This menu is typical in offering protein from the sea and land, that salmon and the lamb. The individual dishes do show Renee’s penchant for little things that make for a big meal. That first tartine comes, not with just anchovies, but chili-marinated anchovies. The salmon is served with walnut tarator, a mix of nuts, bread, garlic, and olive oil.
You’ll find other “extras” as you meander the pages. There is the Vanilla Bean Salt to be used on tomatoes. Or on top of ice cream.
Inventive, creative and perfected, this quality cookbook can be your companion throughout the year. Do you need to fashion a feast? Then you need A Boat, A Whale & A Walrus.