Events

Le Pichet to feature the cheeses of Ferme Kukulu

Posted on May 16, 2012

photo Kukulu 2012

What:  Exclusive Selection of the Cheeses of Ferme Kukulu
When:  Beginning May 19, 2012
Where:  At Le Pichet

In March of this year, I was lucky enough to have the chance to visit Ferme Kukulu in the French Basque Countries.  This family-run farm has been producing raw milk cheeses in the traditional style, using traditional methods for generations.

Now you can a taste the cheeses of Ferme Kukulu.
Just in time for the 2012 Seattle Cheese Festival, Le Pichet has arranged to bring the cheese of Ferme Kukulu to you.  Le Pichet is working together with Corsican Cellar to offer a very special sampling of these fantastic farmhouse cheeses.  We are offering an All Kukulu cheese plate in addition to our normal selection of house aged cheeses.  You will be able to try a selection of five Kukulu raw milk cheeses for only $12.  The selection includes:

Pur Brebis (sheep’s milk)
Pur Chevre (goat’s milk)
Brebis-Chevre (mixed sheep and goat’s milk)
Bleu de Brebis (blue made from sheep’s milk)
Pur Brebis au Piment d’Espelette (sheep’s milk with Espelette pepper)

Corsican Cellar, a Seattle-based importer that sells to restaurants and stores in the Pacific Northwest,  is the exclusive representative in the U.S. for Ferme Kukulu.   Le Pichet will be the only restaurant in America to have all five of the Ferme Kukulu cheeses imported by Corsican Cellar.

 

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Stuff

Cafe Presse Garden Progress Report

Posted on May 16, 2012

Cafe Presse gardens are a work in progress

 

Yesterday was a landmark day for the gardens at Cafe Presse.  The plants arrived!

That is to say, most of the plants.  After arranging the plants in the two garden spaces, it was clear that the space around our tree will require more plants in order to look as full and lush as we would like.  But its a start, and the positive response from guests of Cafe Presse, our neighbors and just people passing by has been very gratifying.  And most importantly to our goal of giving unofficial support to the Pollinator Pathway Project, the bees have already begun to move in.  The salvia seems particularly popular.

Here are a few more photos: Continue reading →

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Stuff

Best French Onions Soup in Seattle? The Weekly says its at Cafe Presse

Posted on May 13, 2012


A recent web article by Seattle Weekly food critic Hanna Raskin proposes to sort out once and for all the question of who makes the best French onion soup in Seattle.  After what (one can only assume) was an exhaustive search, she and her team named their list of “Seattle’s 9 Best French Onion Soups”.  Their conclusion?

Cafe Presse is #1.

And although Le Pichet’s Gratin Lyonnais appeared on Hanna’s list at #8, she also noted that:

“The popular gratin Lyonnais is the same delicious soupe a l’oignon gratinee served at Cafe Presse, masquerading under a fancier name.”

(note: if you check the fine print regarding this ranking, you will see that she specifies that #9 through #2 are listed in no particular order, whereas  #1 is definitely the best)

Whats in a name?
Hanna is correct in pointing out that the recipe for the Gratin Lyonnais at Le Pichet and for the Soupe a l’oignon gratinée at Cafe Presse is one and the same.  She is also correct that our version is based on chicken stock, as is the case in Lyon, not on beef stock which is more often used in Paris.  However, contrary info in the article,  it should be noted that  Grand Central Bakery makes the chewy country loaf we use for our croutons.   Check out the recipe for more details.

Although I am always thrilled when people say nice things about us, the timing of this article is not the most fortunate.  Onion soup has recently left the menu at both Le Pichet and Cafe Presse.  However, you can be sure  that, when the weather starts to turn cold in the Fall, it will make its return.  Just like every year.

 

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Events

Euro 2012…its gonna be tasty!

Posted on May 8, 2012

Image Kyle Wendt 2012

If you are a soccer fan, you are already well aware that the UEFA 2012 European Championship begins on June 8, 2012.  After the World Cup, this event, which only comes around every 4 years, is perhaps the most important tournament in world football.

Cafe Presse for every match every minute
Cafe Presse will be showing every match of the tournament on the big screen tv over the bar.  To find out when your favorite side will be playing, stop by Cafe Presse and pick up you Euro 2012 Match Schedule, which also lists the tournament groupings.  Because of the time difference, kick off times will generally be early to mid morning, making for a good excuse to show up late for work.  The kitchen at Cafe Presse is currently scheming breakfast specials (something to go with beer, no doubt)

Les Bleus face England in first match
The French national team has a lot to prove at this Euro Cup.  “Les Bleus” are still trying to turn the page after a catastrophic showing at the 2010 World Cup (please don’t ask me to relive that mess by giving details).  The current side features a new generation of players, many of whom are coming off a strong club season in 2011-2012.  The opening match for France against England on Monday June 11 should be epic.

 

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Markets and Sources

University Farmers Market

Posted on May 6, 2012

The sky looked broken and unpromising on the way to the University Farmers Market this morning.  The market itself, by contrast, had a decidedly early Spring feel; not cold but not really warm.  Snatches of sunshine breaking through the clouds but a rainbow hinting at rain to come.

In the year-long life cycle of the Farmer’s Markets in Seattle, the beginning of May is still very early in the season.  Continue reading →

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Events

Benefit for Green Plate Special at Cafe Presse

Posted on April 29, 2012

What:  Benefit for Green Plate Special at the Corner Table
When:  Tuesday May 29, 2012, 6:30pm
Where:  The back room at Cafe Presse

Cafe Presse is Happy to Welcome Green Plate Special

If you follow this blog, you know that I am a big supporter of Green Plate Special (see my post from last summer).  I have a lot of respect for GPS director/ chef Laura Dewell and for the valuable project that she has undertaken.  That’s why we are so pleased to announce that the May 2012 Corner Table at Cafe Presse will be a fundraising and informational event to benefit Green Plate Special.  The event will include a menu designed by Chef Dewell, as well as vegetables grown by GPS student in their garden at the corner of Union and Martin Luther King Way in Seattle.

The cost is $55 per person, which includes wine selected by Cafe Presse wine director Marcel Boulanger, as well as tax and tip.  All proceeds will go directly to Green Place Special.

Here’s more info about GPS and Laura in their own words:

Green Plate Special (GPS) is a cooking and food-growing nonprofit program, supporting the nutritional and physical health of middle school youth, grades 5-8, primarily low income. As an after-school, field trip and holiday-camp program, we teach young people how to grow and cook healthy whole foods in a home-garden and home-kitchen setting. We are located in Seattle’s Central District, on the corner of MLK Jr. Way and East Union Street. Our programing is free and sliding-scale need based.

Mission:
Through teaching home-focused cooking, food growing and how to shop for food;  we will inspire and empower middle school youth in our community to eat and live healthier lives. We will be a part of the solution to breaking the cycle of childhood obesity and other food related health issues.

Laura Dewell, Founder and Executive Director –Green Plate Special
Laura has been cooking and working in the culinary world for over 25 years. She has owned and operated multiple restaurants, including Pirosmani in Seattle and taught cooking privately and through culinary programs around Seattle. Laura has  been a private chef and placed chefs into private homes; consulted on many different levels in the culinary world; spear-headed the residential-oven program for Wood Stone Corporation; created a cooking school program within a cooking store; and had her fingers in most things culinary for a long time. In the last 10 years, Laura has worked with elementary and middle school children, teaching hands-on cooking classes. With a BA in Child Psychology from the University of Oregon, Laura is now doing her life’s (other dream) of working with middle school youth in both the kitchen and garden in the central district of Seattle. She now digs in the dirt and stirs a pot of soup quite regularly.

Laura’s Menu for the Corner Table

Pistou a la menthe et aux petits pois en amuse gueule
“Sping pea-mint pesto served with black pepper flat bread”

Salade aux asperges, aux haricots blancs et a l’endive rouge
“Marinated white beans, Yakima asparagus, treviso, lemon vinaigrette, candied lemon peel”

Cotes de porc grillées, blettes braisées aux pignons de pin et aux raisins secs
“Grilled Carlton Farms pork chops, hardy greens braised with pine nuts and sultanas, grain mustard jus, grilled sage polenta”

Crepes au ricotta et sa compote a la rhubarbe
“Sweet crepes filled with orange-thyme scented ricotta cheese with poached rhubarb”

Dinner begins promptly at 6:30pm.

Some ingredients may change with garden availability.

Seating is limited and by reservation only.  For further information or reservations please call Café Presse at 206.709.7674.

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Stuff

Seattle University Donates Soil for Cafe Presse Gardens

Posted on April 29, 2012

George Hutton from the Seattle University staff delivers soil to our new gardens..

As discussed in a previous post, we at Cafe Presse have undertaken a project to reclaim two disused tree pits in our sidewalk and turn them into gardens .  We got the idea when we read about the Pollinator Pathway project that aims to establish a corridor for indigenous pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbird, bats, etc) along Columbia Street between the Seattle University Campus on 12th Avenue and Nora’s Woods on 29th.  Although Cafe Presse is not in the Pollinator Pathway route and therefore not part of the project, we figured that a such a good idea can use all the support we can give, and that a few extra gardens couldn’t be a bad thing.

Fortunately for us,  Janice Murphy of Seattle University noticed our work.  Janice is a coordinator for the team that maintains the lovely Landscaping and Grounds on the SU campus.  She offered to supply high quality soil for our gardens and to have it delivered right to our curbside.

Our thanks to Janice and Seattle University for this generous offer and especially to George Hooper, who actually delivered the soil and did most of the work of putting it in place in our gardens (while I stood around taking photos).

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Recipes

Brandade Nîmoise

Posted on April 25, 2012
Stuff

Philadelphia artists captures the many faces of cheese

Posted on April 24, 2012

The work of cheese portraitist Mike Geno. New York Times, 2012

Every once in a while, I see a cheese that is so ripe and well covered with multi-colored molds that it seems to resemble nothing so much as the work an  impressionist painter.  Perhaps an overstatement.

But when I first saw the cheese portraits of Philadelphia based artist Mike Geno , I felt like this point of view was in some small way vindicated.  His “Cheese Portraits”, a series of paintings depicting cheese, were  featured in a recent New York Times article.  The richly saturated colors of his compositions  seem almost to ooze off the canvas.   Check out the slideshow or visit Mike’s website.  A quick overview of his work reveals that Mike is in no way a one-dimensional artist.  Beyond the 40 odd paintings of cheese you will find portraits of other subjects.  Like bacon.  And bread.

 

 

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Events

…and Cafe Presse Spring menu is not far behind

Posted on April 18, 2012

This morning at 9am,  Chef de Cuisine Jesse Aaenson launched the new spring menu at Cafe Presse.  Here are a few photos from the Staff Tasting.

Note that if you are already lamenting the departure of Soup a l’Oignon Gratinée (better known as French onion soup), we will be serving it as a special for the next few days to help chase away the cold of this rainy Spring.

Roasted carrot soup with Zoe's chorizo, cilantro and red pepper salad

Continue reading →

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