The Mexican Fast Casual Sweepstakes

Most of us who are not at-home graphic designers in Wallingford, or Rainier Valley schoolteachers, do not have easy access to taco trucks during the workday. We're stuck in neighborhoods with nothing but faux burritos. And for us, there is a standard face-off in what the industry calls the Mexican Fast Casual category: Taco Del Mar vs. Blue Water Taco Grill. Both of these are locally-grown chains—TDL now much bigger, with franchises all over the country; Blue Water run by longtime local restaurateur Dave deVarona, whose previous stab at this business ended up selling out to the wretched World Wrapps).
I'm a diehard Blue Water man myself. TDL makes me wretch. But what about you, the discriminating Voracious readers?

Topics: The Food Section

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Veraci Pizza Moving to Non-Mobile Spot in Ballard

This jalopy gives good pie. Image: veracipizza.com

If you're a regular Ballard farmers market shopper, no doubt you've tasted the wares emerging from Veraci Pizza's mobile, wood-fired, thousand degree oven. Whether you select a simple (yet enormous) slice of pepperoni, or a piece topped with roasted veggies, pesto and olives, this thin-crust, Neapolitan-style pizza is good eating.

Well, their traveling, dome-shaped clay oven is certainly a sight to be seen, parked on the patch of grass adjacent to Ballard Ave. But sometimes you just want to sit with your slice before it spills its contents. And a beer would be nice, too.

This family-run, mobile catering company is ready to settle down, and offer — in addition to great pizza — chairs, a roof, and eventually, some local beer to go with. But they've got a lot of work to do, as they've just got the lease signed (not even two weeks ago) and they have to build the oven.

Veraci is moving into a space that used to be a Domino's, and was more recently occupied by another pizza joint, Paradise Pizza, which closed not too long ago. It seems this location (at 500 N.W. Market Street in Ballard) is going through a pizza upgrade.

Veraci Pizza plans to open in July.

But until then, check out their calendar, for where to find these purveyors of a great slice. They'll even come to you.

Topics: Openings

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Wondering what to do with that refund check?

I just got my ridiculous stimulus check today. Woo — uh — whoo-hoo! Some of that money will be going to Visa (I wouldn't be surprised to hear that credit-card industry lobbyists came up with the idea, anyway), but I'm giving a big chunk of it to nonprofits who may lose government funding because of this election-year stunt.

Journalistic ethics guidelines suggest I avoid contributing to a cause I might write about, ergo no food-related nonprofits. But most of you don't have the same restrictions. If you're searching for a few worthy food-related causes to sign your stimulus funds over to, here's the Washington Food System Directory, a great online guide to organizations whose mission involves sustainable agriculture, food security, nutrition, and environmental preservation.

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First Call: Shea's Lounge

First Call: French Caribbean

Name: Jason Tibbetts

Establishment: Shea’s Lounge

Location: Top Floor, Corner Market Building, 94 Pike Street, Suite 34.

Ok, Jason Tibbetts, what’s this slightly sunny, slightly swanky concoction we have here? It’s a French Caribbean — lemon juice, orange bitters, aged rum and Cointreau, shaken up and poured into a martini glass.

This isn’t bad. It’s kinda sweet, but mostly not — like some girls I know. I like it. There’s just a little bitterness to balance out the sweetness and the rum.

Duality seems to be a theme here at the Shea’s Lounge: It looks like it’s going for the Spanish villa feel — lots of earthy tones and sharp contrasts. Or maybe it’s French. Chez Shea, the restaurant that accompanies Shea’s Lounge, is contemporary French Cuisine so I guess there’s not much Spanish about it. Either way, Jason, a former grad student in philosophy, earned his degree in London. He’s going back in two weeks for a friend’s wedding and is way excited. That last part isn’t very French, I know. But it’s European: close enough.

In contrast, the wall-art is more of the splattered-paint, modernist variety and jazz plays softly in the background. Overall, the place is a little convoluted but it works. Just like this tasty French Caribbean.

I hear London’s nice this time of year. Yeah, but I’d probably rather go to the Caribbean somewhere and sit on a beach.

Well, this thing is close enough. Is this your own concoction? Yeah, personally rum is my normal drink, so anyway I can fit it into a cocktail is good.

Ah, rum, the Caribbean. I bet you dig Jimmy Buffett, huh. No. Actually, Jimmy Buffet’s painful. I make fun of my friends for listening to him.

Uh, yeah, er, me too. Jimmy Buffett sucks. Gimme some more rum.

Topics: First Call

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New Spot: Mallow, on Madison

At Madison Street and Boren Avenue, in First Hill

Peeking in the windows, this retail spot looks as if it's got quite ways to go before they'll be ready to open their doors, but the name, for one, makes me curious.

Mallow puts me in mind of the most delicious marshmallow I've tasted, though I'm not usually such a mallow fan. Like most people, I was raised on what Kraft still calls "Jet-Puffed" marshmallows, with ingredients like Blue 1 and tetrasodium pyrophosphate, with narry a smidge of marsh mallow root in sight...

But getting back to the tastiest one: an oversize puff of rosemary mallow topped a soup (I forget what kind it was, the sweet flourish was that good) at Veil a while back. In the white lab-coat styled room, this tiny square of herbed sweetness nearly made the meal.

So the name conjures good things for me, but I have no idea what's coming to this new retail space, just two doors up Madison from Sugar. They didn't know either, though they were selling a peppermint mallow last time I stopped in.

Anyone care to fill me (us) in?

Topics: News

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A taste of Molly Moon's

No one seems to have told Mother Nature, but it's the beginning of ice cream season.

I just had a chance to taste the ice creams at Molly Moon's, the new artisanal, locavore ice cream shop opening Saturday on Wallingford's main drag.

It was indeed the manna we hoped for, but I had two major complaints. One was that it was just a tasting, so I didn't feel right shoveling in cone after cone of the flavors I liked most: salted caramel, honey-lavender, and "scout" mint. (The latter cooled the place in my heart that's been burning since Girl Scout cookie season ended.) The second was that all the seats (giant, non-tippy wooden blocks) at the slate-covered tables were taken by children under six, so I couldn't grab some chalk and start drawing.

I'd expected the ice cream to be great, but the sauces took me off guard. Owner Molly Neitzel has teamed up with Veil pastry chef Dana Cree, so instead of run-of-the-mill scoop wetters, you get toppings worth eating alone, like bu-bu-buttery vanilla bean butterscotch and a sweet (seasonal!) orange-rhubarb compote that screams to slide down a mountain of the strawberry-balsamic ice cream. (Put that stuff in a jar!)

Molly Moon's is hosting a Grand Opening on Saturday at 3 p.m., with Eric Johnson (The Shins, Fruit Bats) deejaying.

Molly Moon's Ice Cream, 1622 � N, 45th St., 618-4934, WALLINGFORD.

Sweet On You, an ice cream shop in Greenwood whose owner calls it a "modern soda fountain," also opens Friday. There will be gelato for the first week or so, followed by the full menu, including traditional American ice cream, Pinkberry-style frozen yogurt, juices, and supplements.

Sweet On You, 8416 Greenwood Ave., GREENWOOD. Open 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily (for now).

Topics: Openings

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Battling Muffulettas: Virginia Inn v. Marcela's

While I was on vacation, Mike Seely started slinging some nonsense about the newly reopened Virginia Inn making the city's best muffuletta. He repeated the claim to me this week, when I countered that new Pioneer Square restaurant Marcela's Cookery, which advertises authentic New Orleans cuisine, makes a durn good one.

There was some trash talking, I admit, and chests puffed out so far they almost came flush with bellies. An honest, old-fashioned muff off was in order.

Ground rules: Muffaletta is a sandwich of cold cuts, cheese, and olive relish that an Italian grocern invented at New Orleans' Central Grocery about 100 years ago. (Not that this makes me more qualified than Seely to judge, but I have eaten Central Grocery's ur-muffuletta — oh, wait, I am saying that I'm more qualified than him. But, this is Seattle, where the prevailing dismissal is "to each his own.")

In looks alone, Marcela's definitely wins, since it's served on a plate-sized, foccacia-like bread sold in quarters, halves (this one cost $17.50), and wholes:

Heretically, some would argue, Virginia Inn serves its muffuletta on a crisp, fresh chunk of baguette, but it has all the appropriate elements:

Virginia's muffuletta scores big on lots of meat, lots of cheese, and a black-olive-and-onion relish that I would professionally describe as "kicky" (the bar also does a veggie version with cheese, olive relish, and marinated artichoke pesto, which is satisfying as long as you don't eat pork).

Marcela's is thin on the ham and salami layers, I was forced to admit, which means the meat comes close to being overwhelmed by the bread. And while I'd prefer a little more garlic and spice in the green olive relish, Mike was forced to admit that it was fresher and more nuanced than the vinegary Virginia Inn stuff.

Mike says he's too much of a carnivore to give up his ground. I'm too much of a purist. Who wins if neither side concedes?

Whoever got stuck writing up the debate.

Marcela's Cookery, 106 James Street, 206-223-0042.
Virginia Inn, 1937 First Ave., www.virginiainnseattle.com .

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The Romans are leaving, which means more time to TASTE.

This weekend, May 10th and 11th, TASTE restaurant and the Seattle Art Museum will be open for 35 hours straight, when SAM gives folks one last chance to see the Roman Art exhibit before they ship her back to the Louvre. The restaurant will cook around the clock, adding an extended happy hour menu after the usual lunch and dinner service on Saturday, followed by a late-night menu from midnight to 4 a.m., then an early morning menu until lunch rolls around again on Sunday. We’ll head over around 3:30 a.m., when those killer frites with rosemary and remoulade are still available, then hit the museum’s “marathon weekend”� mid-stride. If all that marble makes us hungry again, we’ll go back downstairs just before dawn for TASTE pastry chef Elise Fineberg’s spring frittata with sweet peas and Quillisascut chevre.

TASTE ‘Marathon’ Hours & Menus:

SATURDAY
10 am to 11 am: Pastries
11 am to 3 pm: Lunch menu
3 pm to 12 am: Happy Hour / Bar menu
5 pm to 10 pm: Dinner Menu

SUNDAY
12 am to 4 am: Late night menu
4 am to 11 am: Early morning / Pastry menu
11 am to 3 pm: Lunch menu
3 pm to 9 pm: Happy Hour / Bar menu / Dinner menu

TASTE “Marathon”�, 10 a.m. May 10th to 9 p.m. May 11th. 1300 First Ave., 903-5291, DOWNTOWN.

Topics: Events

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Burmese Food Fundraiser This Saturday

According to this article in yesterday's Seattle P-I, the Washington State Buddhist Association will be holding a Burmese food fair this Saturday in Shoreline, and some of the funds raised will go to disaster relief. Not only may this be a rare chance to try ginger salad or mohinga, but you can provide some much-needed money to help out with what appears to have been Katrina to the 10th degree.

Shoreline Senior Activity Center
18560 First Ave. N.E., Shoreline
Saturday, May 10
4 p.m.-9 p.m.

Topics: Events

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Edible Seattle Arrives on Newsstands

Image: http://edibleseattle.blogspot.com/

This new foodie mag is full of thoughtful, well-researched, and substantial articles, including one on the foodie equivalent of scanning a new friend's book shelf: a peek into to the refrigerators (the pair of them) belonging to Boat Street Cafe's Renee Erickson.

Our own Jess Thomson offers seasonal recipes, written with a narrative you'll want to follow into the kitchen. Her wilted arugula salad with scallops and hot bacon vinaigrette sounds both spring-like and meatily indulgent.

And you can read the low-down on that most famous of porcine immigrants, the pricey and delicious Mangalitsa.

Printed on heavy paper with some lovely photos, this quarterly can be found at Metropolitan Market (among other venues) for $4.99.

Topics: News

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