Please Pardon the Dust

I'm making a change from blogger to squarespace. This is a very exciting change, but it will take some time to learn how it all works and this site will appear under construction for some time to come. Thanks for your patience. I'm working very hard to make this site as resourceful and beautiful as it can be.

-Francis

Friday Food Photos - The Most Important Meal of the Day

It drives me crazy that a good hearty breakfast eludes most of us during our busy work week, even more so for us night shift workers such as myself. When the time comes for treating ourselves to a good breakfast, my favorites are Eggs Benedict or a good french toast. A potent bloody mary doesn't hurt either.

Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict from Tolouse Petit

Brioche French Toast with mixed berry citrus syrup at Skillet Diner

Salmon Eggs Benedict from 14 Carrot Cafe in Eastlake

Quite possibly my favorite bloody mary in the city at 14 Carrot Cafe. This one is made with Sake.

Creme Caramel French Toast from Tolouse Petit

The Shop Agora Brings The Northern Mediterranean to Capitol Hill

I was in a grumpy mood on Sunday afternoon while walking on 15^th Ave. I then caught the glimpse of a large wine display that I’ve never seen before. “What’s this?” I asked my wife, Abbie as we both ventured into The Shop Agora.

I must have stood there with my jaw wide open as my eyes soaked in what was before me: a center table with samples of bread, oils, olives, vinegar, and truffle popcorn, a large wine display to my right, and specialty food items such as pastas, anchovies, and breads to my left.

Suddenly, I wasn’t so grumpy.

The Shop Agora recently opened its doors at its new Capitol Hill location this past Friday, August 5^th  and is a family run specialty food store featuring high quality food and wine products from the Northern Mediterranean. Owners Nikos and Alexis merged their passion for food and wine to establish a dream: to provide a beautiful space with equally beautiful, and delicious products.

“We love hosting. We love to pour wine and serve food for people sitting down, whether it's at our home or here at our shop” Alexis preached as she sat down with me over a glass of wine. “We can’t do that at our other store. It’s just way too small with only one stool to sit on” Alexis laughed. “We want people to feel welcome.”

Nikos and Alexis’ first store have been providing Northern Mediterranean products to the good people of Phinney Ridge for the past 4 years. Both Nikos and Alexis shared their excitement about opening their 2^nd store here on 15^th. “We’re excited to have more space and be part of the Capitol Hill Neighborhood. Our opening night was so much fun; we had live music and a lot of people in the shop. Everyone seemed excited for us to be here.”

A large selection of premium olive oil, nuts, pastas, truffle products, vinegars and more decorate the northern wall of the store. Olive oil by the same name of the store was also on the shelves. “I grew up making olive oil and wine,” Nikos proudly said. Towards the back of the store is a deli display that showed off a wide variety of cheeses, sandwiches, olives, cured meats and salads.

A small bar invites customers to sit down and try small Mediterranean bites with wines and beers by the glass. I ordered some kalamata crown figs that were wrapped in pancetta, stuffed with penacorato blue cheese and marcona almonds. I also had to have the burrata ali panna, Italian fresh cheese served with homemade crostini brushed with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.

Alexis, who is working on her Masters degree in nutrition at Bastyr University, spoke about their menu at the tasting bar. “It’s important to me that there are some vegan and gluten free options on our menu.”

Curious about Alexis’ influence on the menu, I asked her which dishes can she take credit for. Proudly, Alexis smiled and said “The Kalamata crown figs and the Maida Italian Artichoke hearts!”

One bite of their figs immediately prompted a huge thank you for placing them on the menu.

Nikos then came and guided me through wines of his home country, a wine country of which I know very little about. The Sigalas Santorini, which featured the white grapes Assyrrtiko and Athiri was a white crisp wine with balanced minerality, acidity, and fruit. Nikos explained how they grow on an island in the middle of the Aegean Sea where the vines are trained to shape into low spiraling baskets. The grapes hang inside to protect from the sun and the wind.  The Mercouri Foloi Roditis was another white that is from Niko’s hometown and was much dryer with a bit more minerality than fruit. Finally he poured me a red from Halkidiki Limnio Merlot that was surprisingly light and easy to drink with a subtle and elegant red fruit flavor.

A quick browse through the wine section highlighted wines mainly from, Greece and Italy, but there were many wines also from Spain, France, South Africa, and the Northwest. “We want to highlight wines from the Northern Mediterranean, but I also want to have wines that I love from all over the world” explained Nikos.

I saw a handful of customers who happened to wander in the store, and they all appeared just as wide eyed and astonished as I was. The Shop Agora offers such a rare combination of a boutique retail food store with a warm and welcoming sense of hospitality that the Capitol Hill community is sure to embrace.

As one of many Capitol Hill foodies, I'd like to be one of the first to welcome Alexis, Nikos and The Shop Agora to the neighborhood.

The Shop Agora

346 15^th Ave E

Seattle, Wa 98112

206.322.1103

Friday Food Photos - Games Night at Frabbie's

This past Tuesday was the return of Games Night at Frabbie's. Wedding gifts have retooled our kitchen to be much more conducive to hosting friends and we couldn't wait for this opportunity to do so. We're glad for everyone who made it out and we look forward for many more games nights to come. 

On a side note, the chosen game for the evening was Pop Cranium. I'm still riding very high on the fact that the boys finally dominated the girls this time around. Past games of Pop Cranium have ended in sheer embarrassment for the boys. 

Meanwhile, here are pictures to our food spread for the evening. 

Prosciutto and cheese purchased from De Laurenti's Specialty Food and Wine at the Pike Place Market.

Leite's Chocolate Chip Cookies made from Smitten Kitchen.

Chicken wings made with from Andrea Nguyen's Garlicky Oven Roasted Chicken recipe. Try them at your next football party.

Dekyi Thonden's Dumplings at Ting Momo

 

As part of Tom Douglas’ recently opened trio of restaurants in the blossoming South Lake Union neighborhood, Ting Momo is a Tibetan dumpling house run by chef, Dekyi Thonden. While the adjacent Bravehorse Tavern is serving up pretzels, burgers, and beer and the downstairs neighbor Cuoco is whipping up Italian pasta dishes, Ting Momo is offering hungry Seattle restaurant goers something uniquely different.

Dekyi’s dumplings are a Tibetan delicacy in the style that has become a very popular street food. Dekyi’s unique combination of seasonings, tamarind, orange zest, soy and cumin will tantalize your taste buds and leave you wanting more. These dumplings are hearty and aim to stay true to their Tibetan and Indian influences. The heart of Dekyi’s menu consists of momo, samo, and tingmo plates.

Momo are hearty steamed Tibetan dumplings with golden Colorado yak, star anise, bay leaf and cranberry.

Samo are flaky fried Tibetan dumplings with pork, cumin, coriander and apricot. A vegetarian samo with potato, English peas, oyster mushroom and orange zest is also available. 

Tingmo are slightly larger Tibetan soft steamed bread dumplings that come in two vegetarian options.

Other menu items available are daily steamed buns with a rotating meat filling, hand-pulled noodles, soups, salads, and desserts. You order your food at the counter and wait for your name to be called. After placing my order, my name was called before I can even finish a lap around the small café.

My personal favorite was the samo. The flaky crunchiness of the fried dough surrendered itself to the savory and curry like flavor of the juicy pork. Just when I thought that this was one of the best bites of anything I’ve ever sunk my teeth into, the sweet tartness of the apricot shined through further escalating my state of bliss.

What’s even more unique than her food is Dekyi’s remarkable story as a Tibetan refugee and her journey that brought her to the United States. Since escaping Tibet, she has never been able to return to her home country.  Every momo and dumpling that is made is a tribute to her homeland, journey, and father.

It would probably be the pinnacle of anyone’s career to cook for someone like the President of the United States, but Dekyi attained what many would consider a much higher honor: meeting and cooking for the Dali Lama. I had the privilege to chat with Dekyi Thonden and she shared with me what it was like meeting the religious leader.

A photo Adorning the walls at Ting Momo captures Dekyi Thonden in a rare phtograph with the Dali Lama

I’ve sought out restaurants featured on shows such as The Best Thing I Ever Ate or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I’ve also tracked down chefs who were contestants on shows such as Top Chef and Iron Chef. But I’ve never felt as astonished as I did while walking away from Ting Momo and Dekyi Thondon’s story, life, and food.