Seattle Restaurant Week Causes ‘A Stir’ In The Gluten-Free Community

Fortuitously, The Blast was capable of go to two devoted gluten-free eating places: Askatu Bakery and A Stir Bar and Restaurant.

Since A Stir would not open till 5 PM, we swung by Askatu Bakery for lunch. Whereas they have been sadly out of their signature monster cookies, we did get pleasure from a moist brownie and a slice of banana bread that had simply come out of their ovens. Whereas they largely served baked items, they’d a particular burger and fries providing for Seattle Restaurant Week.

The burger was an Olsen Farm beef patty (a vegan mushroom lentil patty can be accessible for vegans) served with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. Bacon and house-made vegan cheese come at an extra value. The burger, which was completely cooked, was served up on a millet teff bun alongside candy potato fries that have been served with varied spices, together with paprika and oregano.

It was scrumptious and completely value coming again for. Though it’s going to doubtless disappear from the menu after Seattle Restaurant Week, hopefully, they bought sufficient constructive suggestions to maintain it on the menu as a full-time addition.

You might journey to A Stir and revel in choices off their common menu, however the restaurant featured two tasting menus with a pre-paid reservation throughout Seattle Restaurant Week.

Whereas the tried and true menu – priced at $35 per particular person – got here with classics resembling kale Caesar salad, fish and chips, and a chocolate mousse, the adventurer’s menu – priced at $65 per particular person – gave curious eaters an opportunity to attempt some Mediterranean delicacies that’s not normally provided on their full menu.  Naturally, we determined to go along with the adventurer’s menu. There have been three choices in every of the 4 programs to select from, so we selected two from every, leading to a sampling of eight completely different dishes.

First, we began off with the Baked and Chilled Dukkah Shrimp and Shaved Fennel. Dukkah is a house-made mix of nuts, pepper flakes, mint, sesame, cumin, and fennel. The dish additionally included Meyer lemon French dressing and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. We paired this with Barbunya, which is a Turkish pinto bean dish served with carrots, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, parsley, and olive oil.

I truly ended up dipping the shrimp within the barbunya, which was mainly a unfastened salsa combined with carrots, bell peppers, and sure… pinto beans. We have been informed by govt chef and proprietor Ton that the dish did not appear common amongst visitors, who might need shied away from the identify. This was a shock, however should you add “salsa” to the identify and throw in some crunchy tortilla chips, I do not assume anybody could be complaining. Additionally they serve a scrumptious baguette slice with their lobster bisque, which might go properly right here too.

The second course featured Roasted Brussels served with a vegan garlic aioli, piquillo pepper, and shallot jam. This has been a staple on the menu and one which I at all times wished to attempt.

I did not know what to anticipate, however I used to be shocked by how a lot I appreciated the shallot jam.

Cauliflower au gratin was coated with bell peppers, crispy rice panko, and pickled pink onion. I used to be a bit disenchanted by the crispy rice panko, as there did not appear to be a lot, if any, on the dish, however who can flip down cauliflower coated in scorching cheese? The one different possibility on this menu was the fried white cheddar cheese curds served with apple butter. I might have gotten that, however as we had that twice earlier than, we determined to attempt one thing new.

On a return journey, we will certainly revisit the fried cheese, and possibly the cauliflower au gratin. It has grow to be so common that it is truly been added to the menu as a principal dish.

The third course featured a combined grill kebab that contained marinated hen skewers, a beef and lamb kofte, a chunk of bibb lettuce, tzatziki sauce, and an olive tapenade. The olive tapenade was well beyond my tolerance degree, and the hen skewers have been a bit overcooked, however that wasn’t the actual spotlight of this spherical.

I had been anticipating/dreading the second we made it to the wild mushroom lasagna since we ordered. The menu stated it contained radicchio, a vegan bechamel, and vegan cheeses, and we have been okay with that. However when the waiter took our order, we have been requested how acquainted we have been with vegan cheeses and warned that loads of clients did not just like the dish, which doesn’t seem on the common menu.

We determined to take a danger and order it anyway, and I can inform you, we did not get lasagna. As a substitute, we appeared to get lasagna-esque noodles floating in a brown gravy with some mushrooms. There was some melted cheddar cheese on prime, however this wasn’t lasagna. It additionally did not look something like the image on the menu, main us to surprise what we did get.

However that was the dish, and general, it did not style too dangerous. It actually wasn’t as dangerous as I had been anticipating, given the warning. I particularly appreciated the sauce and located myself dipping the hen in that as an alternative of the tzatziki.