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.

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Children of the Revolution: Let Them Eat Duck

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July 14, 11:16 PM

by Ronald Holden, Seattle Global Gourmet Examiner

Nikki Schiebel, duck breast at Campagne, Chef Daisley Gordon

A moonlit evening of liberté, égalité and, I guess, fraternité at Seattle's Pike Place Market. Campagne continues its traditional bi-level celebration of Bastille Day with high-priced dinner upstairs for Royalists, street fare in Post Alley for Revolutionaries.

Time warp since last post over on Cornichon, three years ago (gulp!): Nikki Schiebel still cooking like a demon, Daisely Gordon still watching like a hawk. Scallops with risotto and duck breast with cherries anchor a five-course, $80 menu. In the dining room, wine director Cyril Fréchier offers two flights of five wines ($40 and $75).

The alley, for its part, is jammed, Le Pichet is jammed. Maximilien is jammed. Place Pigalle is jammed. Down by the Dumpsters on Pike Place, a couple of plump, tatooed gals on a smoke break wonder what's going on. "Bastyr Day, I think," one says to the other. "The French Revolution."

"Oh, yeah? So tell me, what'd the French Revolution ever do for lesbians?"

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Comments

Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini

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November 30, 4:47 PM

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 & Chad Mackay Open El Gaucho Bellevue

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November 28, 10:31 AM

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

Cruelty to Vegetables, Updated

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November 26, 11:25 AM

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

Finkels Release Wood-Aged Stout

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November 24, 5:51 PM

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

Thomas Friedman, Scold, Wet Blanket and WRONG

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November 23, 4:44 PM

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

Beaujolais Nouveau: Pitcher of Happiness

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November 21, 8:28 AM

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

Harvest Vine: Something Wickedly Delicious This Way Swims

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November 20, 10:55 AM

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

But If They Don't Have Stars, How Will We Know If They're Any Good?

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November 19, 3:38 PM

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

Bookshelf: The Flavor Bible

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November 19, 11:11 AM

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