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

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

Since A Stir does not open till 5 PM, we swung by Askatu Bakery for lunch. Whereas they had 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 also be accessible for vegans) served with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. Bacon and house-made vegan cheese come at a further worth. The burger, which was completely cooked, was served up on a millet teff bun alongside candy potato fries that had been served with varied spices, together with paprika and oregano.

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

You would journey to A Stir and luxuriate 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 similar to 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 often provided on their full menu.  Naturally, we determined to go together 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 totally 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 really ended up dipping the shrimp within the barbunya, which was mainly a unfastened salsa combined with carrots, bell peppers, and sure… pinto beans. We had been instructed by govt chef and proprietor Ton that the dish did not appear well-liked amongst company, who may 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 effectively 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 stunned by how a lot I favored the shallot jam.

Cauliflower au gratin was lined with bell peppers, crispy rice panko, and pickled pink onion. I used to be a bit of dissatisfied 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 lined in sizzling 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 turn into so well-liked that it is really been added to the menu as a primary dish.

The third course featured a combined grill kebab that contained marinated rooster 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 stage, and the rooster skewers had 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 mentioned it contained radicchio, a vegan bechamel, and vegan cheeses, and we had been okay with that. However when the waiter took our order, we had been requested how acquainted we had been with vegan cheeses and warned that loads of prospects 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 high, however this wasn’t lasagna. It additionally did not look something like the image on the menu, main us to marvel what we did get.

However that was the dish, and general, it did not style too dangerous. It definitely wasn’t as dangerous as I had been anticipating, given the warning. I particularly favored the sauce and located myself dipping the rooster in that as a substitute of the tzatziki.