February 16, 2005
Eat your spinach!
Seattle’s restaurant-goers are a savvy bunch. There’s a short list of signature dishes around town, and the spinaci served at Assaggio Ristorante is on that list.
It’s an unexpected take on spinach salad. Unlike your standard tossed leaves with raspberry vinaigrette, this is sautéed spinach, served warm and fragrant, redolent of pine nuts, garlic, mustard and balsamic vinegar.
Once again, 25 of Seattle’s most popular restaurants are offering a month-long promotion: 3 courses at dinner for $25. Ten of the group, including Assaggio, are also offering 3 courses at lunch for $12.50.
Too bad that Assaggio’s Mauro Golmarvi has his regular spinach salad, the insalata di spinaci on the promotional menus for both lunch and dinner. Still, you can always order the sauté, or just read the recipe and look at more pictures ...
ASSAGGIO RISTORANTE'S SPINACI
SAUTEED SPINACH SALAD
Serves 2.
Prepared by Chef de Cuisine Hiram Macias.
For the salad: 2 TB finely chopped onion olive oil sea salt 2 TB finely chopped garlic ½ lemon 12 oz fresh spinach leaves, washed, blanched, drained & squeezed dry ¼ cup pine nuts
For the dressing: 2 TB Dijon-style mustard 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
In a 12-inch pan over high heat, soften the onions in 2 TB olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add the garlic and brown it slightly. Add the spinach and heat thoroughly, about 2 minutes, adding more olive oil if needed to keep from drying out. Mix in the pine nuts, squeeze the juice of ½ lemon over the spinach, add a bit more salt if needed.
In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together quickly. Turn the salad out on a warm serving plate and drizzle with the Dijon-balsamic vinaigrette. Serve warm.
February 15, 2005
mike's makes it Seattle
Dumping Denver, blowing off Chicago, mike’s hard lemonade® has said “yes” to Seattle.
mike's founder Anthony von Mandl is moving the company to find fresh resources. Specifically, new creative talent.
Mandl essentially created the “malternative” or FMB (flavored malt beverage) category six years ago with the launch of mike's hard lemonade® in New England. The first ten million cases were sold without any advertising. Now the company has outgrown its Denver headquarters and wants to move to a bigger talent pool. Want to work for mike's? Check the company's new recruiting website.
Facing a similar relocation dilemma a few years back, Boeing, you may recall, chose Chicago. But Mandl has opted for Seattle, in large measure because of what’s been called its “creative class.”
Seattle has the fifth-highest concentration of “creative” people (artists, designers, writers, software developers, etc.) in the country, according to Richard Florida's book The Rise of the Creative Class.
As it happens, Seattle's also a great market for mike's. It's 60 percent ahead of its closest competitor, Smirnoff Ice.
February 13, 2005
New wine, new bottles
Couple of interesting items at a recent tasting of wines distributed by Wilson Daniels.
First, a wine from the Australian producer Grant Burge, their 2003 Unwooded Chardonnay. A bright, fresh wine, rich in flavor without being too creamy. Is the terminology too complicated? Au contraire, it's a good idea to let buyers know what style to expect, especially if you're offering an alternative to oaky, California-style chardonnay. And it's only ten bucks!
Then there's the latest on the screwcap front. The whites from Wirra Wirra in South Australia were presented with twist-off tops ... and, for the curious, a neck tag that explained the rationale for screwcaps: no need for a corkscrew, no risk of oxidation or spoiled corks, guaranteed freshness.
Next up: bag-in-box, already on the shelves at your local Costco, no doubt on their website soon. Good wine, too. Stay tuned.