Ronald Holden has been writing an award-winning wine and dining blog, Cornichon.org, since 2004. A Northwest native, Belltown resident and unreconstructed Francophile, has worked at KING TV, Seattle Weekly and Chateau Ste. Michelle. He has published five guidebooks to the wine country of Washington and Oregon and is the wine columnist for The NW Magazine. He is also the director of wine tours for The International Vineyard, restaurant reviewer for Belltown Messenger and editorial director of DeliciousCity.com.
Just received an email from salmon guru Jon Rowley: "There won't be any Yukon kings. Somber time in the Yukon Delta villages."
Says Jack Schultheiss of the native cooperative, Kwikpak Fisheries, "Life is not good here. The fish are not running. And things are going from bad to worse." Only half as many fish as expected, not enough to replenish the run.
What happened? Blame the demand for fish sticks and "krab," both made from pollock, a billion-dollar fishery that indiscriminately traps migrating salmon as about 100 pollock trawlers troll the shallow mouth of the Yukon River. Tens of thousands of Yukons have been lost, half the run, and a run that was unusually low to begin with.
So there's some left over. Now what? Brown a coarsely chopped onion in olive oil. Add up to 4 cups of leftover turkey, cut into 1-inch pieces. Dust with several tablespoons of flour until golden brown. Deglaze with 1/2 cup of white wine, then add... Read More Topics:
recipe ,
turkey ,
curry ,
leftovers ,
thanksgiving ,
tetrazzini
Paul Mackay still had a day job as a flight instructor while working nights as an assistant manager for the original El Gaucho. Then his wife became pregnant with their third child. Mackay had to decide: wait for a commercial pilot's spot to open up... Read More Topics:
El Gaucho ,
steak ,
Mackay Restaurants ,
Bellevue
Pity the parsnip, we wrote six months ago. Forgive the fennel. Bewail the Brussel Sprout. What sin, pray tell, did these poor crucifers originate to deserve such a tortured fate? Out of respect, the kitchen where these misdeeds took place will not be... Read More Topics:
Vegetables ,
brussel sprouts ,
fennel
Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, the owners of Pike Pub & Brewery, have just released their most ambitious brew yet, a barrel-aged stout called "Entire." It's a dark, fragrant beer with an aroma of espresso, velvety malt flavors, and a finish... Read More Topics:
beer ,
barrel-aging ,
stout ,
Pike Pub & Brewery
Get this, from a journalist who should know better:I go into restaurants these days, look around at the tables often still crowded with young people, and I have this urge to go from table to table and say: “You don’t know me, but I have to... Read More Topics:
pizza ,
Thomas Friedman ,
NYTimes ,
steak ,
tuna ,
restaurant industry
First Avenue, third Thursday of November. Two guys, late twenties, turn into the doorway at Le Pichet. One's in a suit, the other's got his ponytail tucked into a droopy, loose-knit scrub cap. "Okay, time to speak French," he says. And he does.... Read More Topics:
Beaujolais Nouveau ,
Le Pichet
Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez does not take his responsibilities lightly. He is not only Seattle's pre-eminent Spanish chef, he is one of the city's great chefs, period. There's incessant pressure, however, to innovate, to renew, to surprise. Potato... Read More Topics:
Harvest Vine ,
lamprey ,
Spanish ,
Joseba Jimenez
In the beginning, they were address books for local garages, designed for chauffeurs who needed a lube job or a tire change. In fact, the books were given away free by the Michelin tire company. The hotel and restaurant listings came later, but soon... Read More Topics:
Michelin guides ,
French restaurants
Is this something new? A chef who cooks, a spouse who writes. ("He tastes, I type.") Couple of times this pre-holiday season we've seen this (welcome) phenomenon.First, there's chef Andrew Dornenburg and his wife and longtime collaborator,... Read More Topics:
chefs ,
cookbooks ,
flavor bible ,
karen page