Let us start off with Pomogrante, the recently opened Lisa Dupar restaurant, located in Redmond. Off the beaten path and a little hard to find…it’s next to a Xerox shop, this is a fun and interesting place that allows you to see what is happening in the kitchen(always like that). I ate just from the appetizer menu. I started off with a salad of pears, goat cheese and hazelnuts. It was lovely. I then had the fried calamari and fried marinated artichokes served with a citrus aioli. The batter was light and the citrus in the aioli was quite refreshing from the standard. Very good. A few of the girls I went with ordered the Vegetarian Pot Pie and both said that they would not order that again. Everyone else seem to enjoy their meal immensely. All but one of us had dessert and everyone of us loved what we ordered. I had the warmed bread pudding with spiced rum whipped cream, delightful! I love bread pudding and order it often. This is one of the best I have had. Very old school with nuts and raisins sprinkled with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. Highly recommend this restaurant.
The Diamond Knot Brewery and Pub has quite the atmosphere. Not your suit and tie type of place, in fact, if you walk in with a suit on you might get beat up. There are peanuts on the floor and tv trivia games to play while you drink beer and eat your meal. I started with the artichoke dip, which was ok, but not wonderful. Then I moved on to the main attraction and the reason we went to this establishment.
How you eat your meal is where the fun begins. I had their Garlic BBQ Beef sandwich which sounds simple enough but when they bring it to you it is on a hot rock and you cook it yourself.
The Stonegrill method is suppose to cook your food faster and therefore lock in the juices. I don’t know about that but it was pretty good pub food and we will go back.

I had read about it for many years in my culinary magazines and yesterday, Thanksgiving 2005, I ate there. There was much hype surrounding the Herb Farm and many times when there is hype there is let down, luckily that was not the case here. What a wonderful journey of the senses the Herb Farm was.
When we entered the building we were greeted with hot apple cider to chase away the chill, which it did quite nicely. That was followed by a quick history of the Herb Farm and how it came to be as well as an introduction to the herbs that we would be eating that night. My husband and I chose to sit European style and were fortunate to sit at a table with interesting souls( I mean that in a good way, they were delightful people). We could not fathum sitting with just the two of us for 5 hours, so the European style seating was a refreshing option.
Our first course started with a sparkling white wine(200 Argyle Oregon Brut) infused with the herb of your choice, I chose pineapple sage. That was followed by what was called Sea Nibbles: Smoked Sturgen and Quail Egg Benedict with Sorrel, Sea Urchin Flan with Crisp Shallots and Rosemary Mussel Skewer with Oregano Aioli. Out of those my favorite was the mussels which is a compliment to the chef because I am not usually a mussel fan. But they were smoked and had a lovely flavor.
Second course was Dungeness Crab, Poached Oyster and Spot Prawn in a Lemon Geranium, Chive and Chervil Froth. I enjoyed the crab and spot prawn very much, but both my husband and I did not like the oyster. In the oysters defense…I hate oysters, so I wasn’t going to like it anyway you looked at it. It was served with a 2004 WillaKenzie Estaste Pinot Gris.
Third course was a Chestnut and Celery Root Ravioli with Chanterelles, Apple and Bacon. Fantastic. Those flavors married together so nicely. It was served with 2004 ChateauSte. Michelle/Dr. Loosen Riesling “Eroica” which I was already familiar with and enjoyed. It complimented the ravioli beautifully. Of all the courses, amazingly this was my husbands favorite. Not that it wasn’t wonderful….it just isn’t something he would normally eat.

Course four, Herb-Crusted Oregan Fallow Venison with Savoy Cabbage, Root Vegtables and WIld Hucleberry Sauce. Though my husband teased that he missed the buck shot flavor he usually gets with his venison, he liked it a lot. It was extremely mild and tender. Served with 2003 Barrister Cabernet Franc. I was not a fan of this wine. But the red wine drinkers at the table really seemed to enjoy it. So if you are a Cab drinker, this might be one you want to look into.
Course five, the palate cleanser, to be honest frightened me. It was Douglas Fir Ice. When I read that all I could imagine was eating what would most likely taste like a ball of Pinesol cleaner. Luckily, it was like Christmas in you mouth. The happy lillt spices danced in your mouth and there was a hint of the fir but it did not taste how I expected it to.
Course six was our “Thanksgiving Dinner” for the night. It consisted of Herb-Poached Breast with Wild Boletus Bread Pudding, Confit of Leg with Oregon Black Truffle Sauce on Mashed Delicata Squash with Glazed Shallots. It was by far the most moist turkey ever. It was poached in olive oil so the low fat part of eating the turkey breast went away. Served with 2000 Cameron Pinot Noir, Clos Electrique. I prefered this red wine to the Cab that we had. Much more drinkable for the only occasional red wine drinker.
Course seven was Rouge River Blue Cheese with Tart Cherry Turnover and Cress. This was a creamy, pugnent blue cheese with lots of flavor…a really stinky cheese and I love a stinky cheese. Fortunately for me my husband is not and I ate his slice of cheese too. Bonus for me. No wine was served with this course.
Course eight was dessert! Yummy. We had a Pumpkin-Bay Tart, Spice-Bread Ice Cream and Caramelized Pear Sundae, and Cranberry Gelee with Lemon Geranium SHerbert and Amagaki Persimmon. I ate the sundae first since it was melting. It was all sorts of yummy. It was also sprinkled with tiny little homeade marshmallows that were lots of fun. The cranberry gelee they called “adult Jello” but it was hardly that. It was tart but not too tart and the sweetness of the persimmon offset the tartness nicely. Lastly was the tart which had a nice addition of carmel and toasted pumpkin seeds on top. The sundae and the tart were a tie for my favorite. No wine was served with this course.

We then were presented with the option of brewed coffees, Teas and Infusions. I chose coffee. My husband doesn’t enjoy either tea or coffee so they were super accomidating and made him hot chocolate…. and not the kind from a packet.
Final course was a Selection of Small Treats. They brought out a plate of chocolates and goodies to snack on. There was White Chocolate Truffle with Lemon Geranium, Orange Thyme Mandoline, Nougat, Dark Chocolate Lavender Truffle, and a Cranberry Jelly Fruit. They were served with a 1864 Blandy’s Gran Cama De Lobos Madeira. I got to eat my husbands because he was too full……amatuer.
I must also mention that through out the night we had the most amazing potato rolls. They were so moist, almost like a popover or yorkshire pudding in a way, and full of fresh chives. My husband and I ate so many of them I’m sure the wait staff said something about it behind ours backs….I kid.
The service is also to be noted. Very attentive, but not annoying. The Herb Farm has to pigs that you can request to go see and feed. I jumped at the offer and dragged my husband to go and see them. They were quite happy to get thier snack. They also enjoyed snacking on my husbands hand.

They were accomidating from the start. My husband is not a big wine drinker so instead of the wine pairing they did a beer pairing for him. We had someone at our table that didn’t want red meat and they offered them something else.
As we left the Herb Farm we were handed our “to go” back which held leftovers of the Thanksgiving Dinner and the pumpkin tart to enjoy the next day. I love this concept since the thing that people miss when they go out to eat for holiday dinners is the left overs.
All in all, one of the best culinary experiences I have ever had. We are saving up to go back as we speak!

Having just moved to the Seattle area in recent times we(mostly me) are out exploring the culinary world around us. Let me just start by saying the my favorite so far of places to go is the Purple Cafe in Kirkland. I love going on Wine Down Wednesdays when appetizers and certain wines by the glass are $5. If you go I suggest the coconut prawns served with a sweet ginger sauce, bucheron goat cheese warmed & topped with honey, fresh herbs & dried cherries, or the bacon wrapped scallops served in a blackberry demi glace. Unfortunately, the scallops are not part of Wine Down Wednesday but there are plenty of great choices to choose from. Special kuddos to them for carrying one of my faovrite wines by the glass…. Ato Z Pinot Gris from Oregon. The have a tantalizing menu but we always just end up getting appetizers and a lot of wine. One time I will try the lobster mac and cheese.
I am lucky to have a McMenamins(yes, I know they are a chain) about a mile down the street from me. This smoke free pub is a great place to go and relax on a Saturday afternoon. They make the best tater tots I have ever had. Yes, that is right, tater tots. When I taught elementary school they were called “potato gems” but they are tater tots to me. We often partake in the chicken and tot basket with their BBQ sauce which is punched up nicely with beer. Throw in some hand crafted beer(my favorite this month is the Ruby, with just a hint of raspberry) and you have yourself one heck of an afternoon.
The Olson Mansion. A place so obscure that even locals don’t seem to even know where it is….but they should. Way out in Maple Valley lies the Olson Mansion. A Bed and Breakfast place known mostly for it’s golf course. However, they do offer prefixed 6 course meals. It is absolutely wonderful. My husband and I both loved the Brie en Croute with Orange Marmalade, Kiwi Coulis and Wine Spiced Pears and the Chateaubriand Olson with Black Truffle Butter, Mashed Potatoes and Sauce Bordelaise. It all comes at an amazing price too. I can’t wait until the fall comes and I can try an new menu. They only seat 30 people a night and only do it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. They also serve a brunch on Sunday that I will take my parents to the next time they are in town. Update(11/05) Sadly, the Olson Mansion no longer has a restaurant. They are strictly a Bed and Breakfast only. It is too bad because we had an excellent meal there and looked forward to many more.
I have been to many more places but for now that is all that will be reviewed.