Restaurant

App Release: Unique Eats of the Northwest

May 15, 2013
Unique Eats of the Northwest

“I’m having a girl!” the text came in yesterday from my best friend. I couldn’t be happier for her. THERE IS A TINY HUMAN INSIDE MY BEST FRIEND. What could be more exciting than that? Nothing. But this is my blog, not hers, so that’s not my story. Instead, here’s the second most interesting thing going on in my world. I’ve been gestating a little something myself for the last nine months: a tiny, electronic baby. If I were texting my friends about it, the message would say: “I’m having an app!” I’m not texting, though. Even just...

Read more »

Love at First Sight: Yummy Mammy

February 10, 2013
Spinach Noodles

Yummy Mammy is the Zooey Deschanel of Chinese restaurants. It’s got her quirky looks and takes hints from the way she hides behind big glasses to fool people into thinking she’s not so  hot. Digging in deeper, ignoring the garbage bag full of dried red peppers sitting on the hostess stand, I found my manic pixie dream girl restaurant. Yummy Mammy’s name alone gives it points in the “most adorkable” competition: awkward to get off the tongue and giving no hint of the stellar Chinese food hidden within. Emulating Zooey’s Jess, from New Girl, it’s just different enough, without crossing...

Read more »

The French Laundry on Yelp: A Zero Star Review

January 8, 2013
CheeseCourse

1/8/13   Okay, people, listen up. I went to the French Laundry, and obviously I’m the most qualified person to offer this review, even though there are fifty one-star reviews already on the site, because this is going to be the first person to give a ZERO star review! FIRST ONE HERE! Also, I actually went to the restaurant, so that puts me a leg up on more than half of those silly one-star people. I thought this place, was, like, super exclusive, or something? I was extremely angry that I got the exact day and time I...

Read more »

High-End Mexican Food: Izote, Azul, and Others

November 10, 2012
DuckMoleBunuelos

Part 3 of my food blogger’s guide to Mexico: Fine Dining in Mexico City Did you miss part 1 or 2 of my food blogger’s guide to Mexico: Eating well in Mexico City (aka D. F.) and Mexico City: A dive into street food? In a year when I was fortunate enough to enjoy meals at the likes of the French Laundry and Alinea, my favorite high-end meal was in Mexico City, at a place called Izote. The cost, for two of us, was less than a quarter of what I paid for one person at French Laundry, and the service,...

Read more »

Where to Eat in White Center

October 6, 2012
PuffPastry

I’ve repeatedly explained to people that some of the best eating in Seattle is in White Center. Which technically, isn’t Seattle, so perhaps that’s why people are so scared to venture down there? Formerly a piece of unincorporated King County, recently annexed by the city of Burien, White Center picks up where West Seattle leaves off, at the south end of the city. Culinarily, White Center holds much of what Seattle lacks: authentic, cheap foods from all parts of the world. Having worked in West Seattle for over two years, I’ve spent a lot of lunches dining on the...

Read more »

Eating America: The Best Food in Chicago, Part 1: Budget Restaurants

May 21, 2012
Eating America: The Best Food in Chicago, Part 1: Budget Restaurants

Consider this the food blogger’s guide to Chicago. As I say on my About Page, being a GastroGnome is not about sitting idly on the front lawn of culinary cottages. Each year I tell my stories of trips to Beijing, Hanoi, and Mexico, but sometimes I leave out my favorite places right here in the U.S. No more! This is the latest installment of my ‘Eating America’ series, featuring the best eating around our fine nation. In my few trips to Chicago, I’ve mostly had the chance to eat at only a few places while passing through the city on the way to...

Read more »

Eating America: The Best Food in New Orleans

April 9, 2012
WillieMaes

Consider this the food bloggers guide to New Orleans. As I say on my About Page, being a GastroGnome is not about sitting idly on the front lawn of culinary cottages. Each year I tell my stories of trips to Beijing, Hanoi, and Mexico, but sometimes I leave out my favorite places right here in the U.S. No more! Here is the beginnings of my ‘Eating America’ series, featuring the best eating around our fine nation. I make no secret of my love for the city of New Orleans. I first visited it while on Spring Break from college,...

Read more »

Altura Takes Itself Just Seriously Enough

February 27, 2012
Papardelle

It was a coincidence that Altura received a semi-finalist nomination for a James Beard Foundation award the day we had reservations. It made it all the more surprising that tables around us sat empty for hours as we ate, despite my needing to book two weeks out to get a reasonable time slot. After the level of service and cuisine we witnessed, I can’t help but wonder (hope!) if it was purposeful–to relax the kitchen and the waitstaff workload–so that the diner’s experience is impeccable. If not, perhaps we were just fortunate that nobody read the nominations and...

Read more »

My Year in Food, 2011

December 26, 2011
Swimming Fire Fish

Normal is not what I do best. Thus my end-of-year top-ten list will be anything but. For starters, it’s not ten items. Instead, this is a peek inside my brain, where cooking and reading and small creatures in the night all crawl about, mingling and mixing into a delightful stew of tasty tidbits. It’s December, and while I’m more likely to look forward to the next year than backwards on the last, here’s a few things that stuck in my maw, reminding me why the life of good eating is so wonderful. Best non-cookbook: Grant Achatz’s Life, on the...

Read more »

Little Nibbles: Chef Nordo, Mushroom Hunting and Pie. Plus Pie.

November 9, 2011
Pie

A quick round up of all things delicious, in my kitchen, in my city and around the world… Cafe Nordo Returns Savor Tomorrow is the latest dinner theater production by the folks behind Chef Nordo. They’ve abandoned the current time zone and boarded a plane in 1962, heading for Seattle for the World’s Fair. In keeping with the Mad Men/Pan-Am trend in cocktails today, we were served a variety of delightful cocktails and 1962′s ‘futuristic’ food. The show is interesting and as the plot unfolds the subtle digs at the food industry get better. There’s nothing about theater that...

Read more »

Never miss a post!

Subscribe to The GastroGnome RSS

Download my App!

Unique Eats of the Northwest

Advertisement

Advertisement

Recommended by The GastroGnome

Advertisement

Posts by Category

Advertisement

508156_Bon Appetit Primary Banner - 250x250

Advertisement