Smoke + Cedar - Tacoma Restaurant Week 2015

Although we had all eaten at Smoke + Cedar before (some of us many times), we decided to go there after seeing their menu for Tacoma Restaurant Week. So many choices, especially compared to what other places were offering! Little did we know it would be our last opportunity to dine at this fine establishment. Three days after our dinner, they abruptly announced they would be closing. I won't go into the speculations as to why this is happening, but needless to say we were shocked and saddened to hear the news. I decided to go ahead with this blog post to show everyone what Tacoma will be losing... at least until the Naccaratos open something bigger and badder on the local food scene.

Tacoma Restaurant Week is an annual event where local restaurants offer a three course meal for $28.00. We normally use it as an opportunity to try a new place without breaking the bank, but this year we all agreed that Smoke + Cedar had the best menu choices. Our food and service were outstanding, as always.

Le Menu

Washington Apple Salad

Burricotta. Pretty sure this was my favorite dish of the evening. Hand-stretched mozzarella stuffed with house-made ricotta, topped with sliced raw beets and micro-greens, served with cranberry mostarda, olive oil, and grilled sourdough. Cheese wrapped in cheese... how could you go wrong?

Prime rib, horseradish and rosemary mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables. This was my main course, and it was EXCELLENT!!

American Kobe Bistro steak with roasted fingerling potatoes and vegetables.

Cauliflower "steak" with smoked olive tapenade, farrow verde, and (you guessed it) roasted vegetables.

Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. It was TO... DIE... FOR!

We will truly miss this place, but look forward to seeing what the Naccarato family comes up with next! Thanks for the great memories, Smoke + Cedar!

September 2015 - The Table

I apologize for not keeping this blog more up-to-date, but we have had a crazy, busy past few months. My family and I decided we couldn't live in an apartment for one more second (much less another year), so we searched for and bought a house here in Tacoma. We are now in the "moved in but everything's still in boxes" phase, but I had to take a break and get this done!

The foodie group continued to meet for our monthly dinners during this time. Decent meals were eaten... photos were taken... notes were collected... but we didn't experience anything that was truly spectacular... until this month.

Located at 2715 6th Ave. in Tacoma, The Table is the brainchild of chef Derek Bray (most recently of Grassi's Ristorante in University Place, where we also ate in April). His concept of unique preparations of fresh, local ingredients is joined with seating at a large communal table accommodating about 20 people. There are other small tables and a bar area, but the big table is where you want to be... specifically, at the back end where you can watch all the action! We were a group of seven that night, but being seated with other random diners is the main purpose behind this design. Chef Bray's inspired preparations and presentations are most certainly conversation starters for anyone you may be seated by!

Although they do not have a full bar, they do have a fine selection of beers and wine.

Jill and Claire prepare to get their food on

As we often do, we all just started ordering everything that sounded good and took bites of anything that was laid before us. Four of us got there while happy hour was still in effect, so we kind of went a little wild on the apps...

Steamed clams 

Ricotta gnocchi "mac and cheese"

Halfshell oysters

Fontina biscuits with currant jam and rabbit gravy (none of us had ever eaten rabbit before... this dish was incredible!)

Corn fritters with honey butter. HEAVENLY!

Smoked oysters

You would think that we would already be full at this point, but we were pacing ourselves for the long haul. Next we started in on some salads...

Roasted beets with pickled apple and carrot slices, blue cheese/chevre blend, and candied hazelnuts

Shredded brussels sprout Caesar

Shaved apple, fennel and kale with nuts

Moving right along, we hit the entrees...

House-made sausage and clams over (again house made) spaghetti

House made lamb sausage over white grits with a cherry compote. This was my entree and it was insanely good.

The Dork burger (60% pork, 40% duck) with apple slaw and house mayo.

Hangar steak. This would have normally been an elk steak (as listed on the menu), but they ran out the night before. It was tender, juicy, and extremely flavorful (Geoff was sitting next to me so I stole a bite... lol!)

A few of us ordered the same things, so that's why there are only four entree photos. However, since we were sitting right at the end near Chef Bray, I leaned over and took more photos of things he was getting ready to send out...

Roasted chicken for two

Chef Bray garnishing an order of Octopus Carpaccio 

Even after all of that, we still decided to order dessert. One dessert. With seven spoons.

Bread pudding

Chef Bray is very approachable and happy to answer any questions you may have about what's going on with your food. 

(What was the name of that beer again?? Hahaha!! You had to have been there...)

All in all, we had a most excellent time. The food, service, and ambiance could not have been better and none of us can wait to go back!

~Vicki~

The Table

2715 6th Ave.

Tacoma, WA 98406

253-327-1862

http://thetabletacoma.com/

Reservations preferred through Open Table

March 2015 - The Scotch and Vine

Located in Des Moines, WA, The Scotch and Vine is a place I, personally, have been to many times  for happy hour with friends. It was during one of these after-work soirees that my sister-in-law, Rachel, and I came up with the idea of having one of our foodie group dinners there. We brought it up to Chef Adam Spears, who suggested we might like to do something a little different from our regular dinners and have a wine pairing. Most of us in the group like wine, but a lot of places do that. I said "What about a beer pairing?" and off we ran with that idea. The Scotch and Vine has a close relationship with Big Al Brewing of White Center, WA (which happens to be one of my favorite local breweries), so they were the natural choice to bring in on the project. Adam contacted Micah Sims (co-owner of Big Al) and they worked their magic. What we ended up with was so much more than any of us expected.

We even had our very own menus!

Chris working the bar.

 

Micah, the beer god (center)

The Scotch and Vine is not a large place by any means, but they do have a private room upstairs, complete with it's own bar and bathroom (yes, BATHroom... there's a tub in it!). It is warm and intimate and seated the 15 of us perfectly. After a bit of pre-dinner drinks and getting settled in, the fun began. 

Micah started by giving us a little history of Big Al Brewery and beer making in general, then the salads and first round of beers were served.

Fresh blood orange wedge salad with Beecher's cheese and blood orange vinaigrette.

Big Al Blonde

At this point, I would like to be able to describe all the nuances of how the citrus-y notes of the beer were brought out by the wedges of fresh blood orange and heavenly salad dressing, but I was too occupied with the flavor explosions going on in my face. 

The next course was shrimp scampi, but this was unlike any scampi that I have ever had before. Served in a super garlicy creamy sauce with crostini, our only complaint was there should have been one or two more pieces of crostini to get every last drop of that sauce with. It... was... amazing. The beer with this course was my favorite beer they make, Big Hoppa IPA. For some inexplicable reason, I didn't get a photos of that one (read - I was too busy drinking it).

Shrimp Scampi with Crostini

The main course was a brined, grilled, double-cut Duroc pork chop with Andouille sausage barbecue sauce, served with roasted cauliflower and the best mashed potatoes I've ever had in my life. The pork was tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked. We all had a moment of silence while we stuffed our faces.

Pork chop of the heavens.

Big Al Irish Red.

I'm not usually a huge fan of reds, but this one certainly changed my feelings about them. I would drink this beer any day (well, any day Big Hoppa wasn't available... )

Micah gets enthusiastic about his product!

Last but far from least was dessert. House made chocolate truffles with three different treatments, served with Big Al's smoked porter. Most people don't think about having a beer with dessert, but these all went together like magic.

Little bites of chocolate insanity.

Big Al Smoked Porter

Again, I'm not a big porter fan, but this beer was the perfect match for the rich, decadent chocolates.

By this point we were getting a little goofy...

Chef Adam came upstairs with each course to announce what we were about to eat and answer any questions we may have had.

Chef Adam. Master of everything food.

Adam is one of the most skilled chefs I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. His execution of everything I have ever eaten at The Scotch and Vine is impeccable. I simply cannot say enough good things about his talent.

When it was all said and done, we all left with the knowledge that we had just experienced something truly special and utterly spectacular. Hopefully, someday we will be able to have another outing to The Scotch and Vine that comes close to this one.

~Vicki~

The Scotch and Vine

Big Al Brewing