Your Daily Dose of Food News, Events and Must-Read Miscellany

If you like art and food then you are both well cultured and a wonderfully interesting person. You’re also invited to join Push/Pull for a special group art show benefiting the VOA Greenwood Food Bank. Multiple guest artists will be featured in addition to resident artists Seth Goodkind and Maxx. A portion of the proceeds will go to the food bank and you might pick up some good local art in the process.

Chef Maria Hines has been selected by America Cooks with Chefs to participate in their healthy cooking competition vs. five other James Beard Award winning competitors. Chefs will compete in a seven-episode series featured on Ora.TV while attending ‘kitchen camps’ culminating in a live cooking challenge at the Clinton Health Matters Initiative in January. Think Top Chef without the requisite ‘cook a gourmet meal from ingredients obtained at a 7-Eleven’ episode.

In yesterday’s “Lamb Jam” event, six food writers and editors, including our own Nicole Sprinkle, blind taste-tested 16 dishes from local chefs in four categories: Asian, Latin, Mediterranen and Middle Eastern. The winning dish across all categories was “Sticky Lamb Belly with Pickled Vegetables and Scallion Pancakes” (pictured here) from Chef Brett Teegardin of Purple Cafe & Wine Bar in Woodinville. It was the first time that a dish took first place from both the judges and the attendees. Among others, Teegarden was up against chefs such as Mike Whisenhunt from Brimmer & Heeltap, Sam Crannell from LloydMartin and Ethan Stowell from Red Cow.

Dine Around Seattle kicked off last night for it’s semi-annual appearance focusing on small, neighborhood restaurants. From Sunday through Thursday for the month of November you get 3 courses for $18 at lunch and $33 at dinner. Check out some of your local favorites or even stop into that place you’ve been meaning to for awhile and haven’t gotten around to. Eat local – it’s where it’s at.

Chef John Howie announced that Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar in Seattle will close on January 3, 2015. According to a press release, Howie believes that the seafood restaurant’s concept is better suited in another location, despite the growth in South Lake Union, and is looking for another space. The Bellevue restaurant will remain open. Seastar opened in 2009 and racked up a slew of national and regional awards. Howie also will open a new restaurant/brewery and distillery, Beardslee Public House and Wildwood Spirits Co., in Bothell in January 2015.