Nestled amongst the wineries in Woodinville, Washington is The Herbfarm, a charming restaurant that dishes up local food and wine in an exceptional nine-course themed meal. I’d always wanted to dine at The Herbfarm, a place known for its exquisite seasonal cuisine, and I was like a kid at Christmas when we arrived at the quaint cottage-like restaurant. We entered the foyer and gazed around the elegant and eclectic surroundings.

Oh, the evening was sure to delight!

Since we arrived early we snuck upstairs to the impressively stocked Chef’s Library that overlooks the dining room, and watched as owners Ron Zimmerman and Carrie Van Dyck, along with their amazing staff, prepared for their guests. It was like watching a culinary ballet: plates delicately laid out neatly in rows awaiting the edible art that would soon be placed upon them, glassware lined up to perfection, candles lit, tables checked and double checked.

More guests arrived and we gathered near the fireplace, a stunning hundred-year old tiled marvel, grabbed a glass of wine and followed Carrie out to the garden. The garden was clearly in its winter hibernation, but it was obvious that in productive months it’s certainly something to behold. Carrie held a small basket in her arm and told us about the various herbs they grow much of the year and use in the kitchen, she then passed around small clippings, such as winter savory and scented geranium, for us to smell. We moved on to the “recycling center” – a tidy little pigpen (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?) that’s home to Basil and Borage, two adorable Vietnamese potbellied pigs that are part of the kitchen cleanup crew.

We returned to the restaurant for our eagerly anticipated meal. We had chosen European-style seating, a communal table of four couples, as opposed to a single table. Our thoughts being that a spectacular lengthy meal should be shared with others who are equally as passionate about food. We chose wisely. At our table were three delightful couples, two of which had flown in from other parts of the country for The Herbfarm culinary experience.

The attention to detail is, in a word, extraordinary: tiny individual picture frames containing the names of the guests, crystal and silver goblets (six in all for each!), flatware meticulously placed, beautifully printed menus to whet the appetite.

Once we were seated, Ron welcomed his guests and introduced the staff, which was wonderful as it created a connection between diners and hosts, something you rarely experience in a restaurant. But then The Herbfarm is no ordinary restaurant. Our hunger grew as Chef Keith Luce and Sommelier Lisa Longren walked us through the menu and wine pairings.

I can barely contain myself. Does life get any better?

Our themed meal, “A Menu for Two Hearts” (it was Valentine’s weekend), started with an aphrodisiacal herbal champagne cocktail – in case we weren’t already in the mood. The gentleman got a “Greek” verbena hastata, the ladies a “Mayan” turmera aphrodisiaca – both of which were house-brewed herbal extracts poured from a tiny glass vial into Brut champagne. Divine! It was paired with our first course: “A Nibble for a Valentine,” a beautiful trio that consisted of that morning’s egg and sunchoke custard with smoked steelhead caviar and chives, a Kumamoto oyster with white sturgeon caviar and salsify cream, and a salt herring and potato terrine with radish and English thyme. Simply beautiful and delicious.

Next, we were given a scrumptious dish “White King and Black Truffles,” a marriage of line-caught Alaskan Ivory King salmon with truffled leeks and brown butter froth, paired with a 2007 WillaKenzie Estate Pinot Blanc (Oregon).

For our third course we delighted in “A Sausage Sans Suggestion.” The “sausage”, similar to a country-style pâté, was made of Mangalitsa ham, fois gras and Stokesberry Farm chicken accompanied by Puy lentils, beets and red cabbage with cracked mustard, and served with a 2006 Pierre Noir Gerwurztraminer from Washington’s Columbia Gorge.

Giddy with food-induced pleasure we moved on to course four, “The Wild Roll,” a roll of pasta and wild Yellowfoot and Hedgehog mushrooms with root vegetables and King Boletus broth, pleasingly washed down with a 1999 King Estate Pinot Noir from Croft Vineyard in the Willamette Valley (Oregon). We were so blissfully content we dug in before photographing, but this should give you a taste..

Course five brought us “For the Love of Lamb,” or as this dish made me exclaim, For the love of all things Holy! A gorgeously prepared potato-and-savory-crusted lamb rib-eye with Zataar-spiced carrot purée and a lamb bacon. And to further tantalize our tongues, a 2006 Betz Family Winery Meritage “Clos de Betz” from Washington’s Columbia Valley.

Next came the cheese course, or as the clever chefs named it, “Oh, You Cheese.” River’s Edge Full Moon goat from Oregon’s Coast Range with a house-made pancetta-garlic flatbread and dried fruit compote.

To round out the evening’s fare, and to prep our bellies for sweet things to come, we were served Cupid’s Ice Cream Cone. A wonderful yogurt ice cream scented with rose geranium (we rubbed this between our fingers in the garden. Something you must grow in your garden – spectacular!) scooped into a little cone. The perfect palate cleanser.

Last but not least came “Of Things to Love.” Oh, yes, indeed. A bittersweet chocolate separation cake with rosemary ice cream, a caramel crêpe with salted butter and winter fruit marmalade, and a Sekel pear-walnut tart with candied wild cranberries and créme fraîche. Lord have mercy.

After a lovely coffee and tea service, “A Selection of Small Treats” arrived just in case our bellies weren’t completely full (there’s always room for a chocolate truffle or two!). All paired with a 2006 Sineann late harvest Syrah called “Old Ball and Chain” – a clever selection indeed for a lovers evening!

It was a magical night. The Herbfarm presents cuisine beyond food, it’s art and poetry that inspires all of one’s senses. Truly an event to experience.

For more on The Herbfarm, and to discover the week’s current menu click here.

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Categories:	Chefs • Cookbooks • Environmental • Restaurants	1 Comment
Tags:	carrie van dyck • local • Organic • restaurant • ron zimmerman • sustainable • The Herbfarm • washington • Woodinville

A few weeks ago I dined at the famous The Slanted Door in San Francisco, an upscale yet relaxed, modern Vietnamese restaurant that’s housed in the city’s historic Ferry Building. With floor to ceiling windows and stunning views of the Bay, the environment is vibrant and lively.

The Phan family, owners of the restaurant, successfully blend their Vietnamese culture with local ingredients, resulting in straightforward delicious cuisine. Zagat proclaimed it, “Vietnamese street food made upscale.”

The bar boasts an extensive and creatively comprised list of wines, a majority of which hail from Germany and Austria. I tried a Riesling and a crisp dry rose, both of which complimented the food beautifully. They also have a wonderful selection of teas, but one would expect that at an Asian restaurant.

One of my favorite dishes (pictured) was squid stuffed with minced pork, glass noodles and shiitake mushrooms, served on a spicy tomato sauce with pickled mustard greens.

Maybe Chef Phan will bless us with a cookbook one of these days?

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Categories:	Asian • Fish & Seafood • Meat & Poultry • Restaurants • Uncategorized	2 Comments
Tags:	ferry building • Food • foodista • restaurant • san francisco • the slanted door • Vietnamese

You only get one chance to make a first impression. It sounds trite, we’ve all heard it, but it’s true. Unfortunately, it’s a truism lost on many restaurateurs. I’m amazed at how many great restaurants have maitre’d/hosts who undermine the efforts of the chef, cooks, waitstaff…basically the whole restaurant staff. The problem is so widespread, maitre’d’s are often the butt of jokes in popular comedy.

I’ve identified three major problem types:

1. The Indifferent. Recently, Sheri and I went into a restaurant, walked up to the podium where a host was looking through his booking book. It was lunch time and the restaurant was about 80% full. As we arrived, the phone rang, the host answered..ingnoring us and held an index finger up to my face. No eye contact, no “I’ll be with you in a minute.” After about 90 seconds, this guy simply waived his hand at a couple of empty tables…presumably for us to seat ourselves. Later, we practically had to tackle him just to get menus. Ironically, the meal that followed was fantastic and the waiter did a superb job. Other takes on this theme include totally absent hosts or ones who “talk among themselves” with co-hosts..sort of like Regis and Kelly.

2. The Snooty. There’s a very good Greek restaurant in Palo Alto, that is also usually quite full. It’s near a movie theatre and so a couple of times we went in after a show for dinner….without…gasp…reservations! Each time the hostess looked at us as though we had escaped from a chain gang. The second time, the hostess literally looked Sheri up and down from head to toe clearly to see if she was dressed well enough for a table. Now this is a nice place, but it’s not The French Laundry (which has an extremely gracious hosting staff in my experience)…it was so insulting that we simply walked out and never went back.

3. The Frazzled. These are the overwhelmed, outta their league, infants that some restaurants decide to hire as the face of their businesses. They share all kinds of information about how busy they are and that some dishwasher didn’t show up; all while failing to get you seated at one of several empty tables…or open an entire empty section of the restaurant.

Sorry for the rant, but having worked in restaurants, I know how much love, blood, sweat, and tears goes into creating a good dining experience. I just wish more places didn’t start off on such a sour note.

To increase your odds of getting good service, here’s a guide to tipping a maitre’d. For a whole lot more on the subject of service in restaurants, check out Waiter Rant.

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Categories:	Restaurants	Leave a Comment
Tags:	dining • Food • foodista • host • hostess • maitre'd • restaurant

The last two years my grandmother would always say to me, “Now, you better put your name on whatever you want before I go.” And I always responded with, “Oh, grandma,” not wanting to think of this world without her. Well, this last October at the tender age of 96 she passed away. She was a pistol, that woman, and sharp as a tack until the day she died. And she could crochet like the wind! As a child I would just watch her fingers whip the needle and yarn around in a whirl, somehow producing a beautifully knotted pattern. Four years ago, when I moved to the Bay Area, she succeeded in teaching her craft to me. I was amazed at her patience and am ever grateful for learning her favorite hobby from her.

Her other craft was cooking: personally and professionally. She owned a restaurant, The Nighthawk Cafe, for many years in San Mateo then later in San Francisco. When the family was packing up her house I could not find any particular item that I felt was truly “grandma.” So I went to the kitchen, where she could always be found whipping up scrapple, frying eggs and bacon or some other tasty vittle. And there, far back in a low corner cabinet, I found four plates from the Nighthawk Cafe. I cherish them. (I also found from the diner an old business card, an order pad, a box of match books and an ash tray). On weekends I’ll cook up a typical diner breakfast and serve it on those plates.

In my book, that’s the best inheritance.

More Nighthawk Cafe products.

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Categories:	Uncategorized	Leave a Comment
Tags:	diner • nighthawk cafe • restaurant • scrapple