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Takes Two

One to cook, one to eat, right?

At Tango, midway between downtown and Capitol Hill, the "cooker" is Michael Bruno. And the eaters are happy indeed. Take, for example, his smoked salmon ceviche: cured in salt, tequila and vanilla, served with onions, red peppers and wasabi beans. Normally $10, it's half-price during happy hour. Mojitos are also $5. My fave, though, is the driest of dry sherries, a Hidalgo "La Gitana" Manzanilla, served in a huge shot glass, $6.

It was supposed to be a ceviche tasting, so we sampled the crab & portobello mushroom [with basil and habanero aioli], the mixta [clams, mussels, calamari and baby octopus in a horseradish-cucumber vinaigrette], the Ecuadorian [shrimp and scallops with tomatoes, avocado, lime and chiles] and the surf-&-turf [sirloin carpaccio dressed with lobster oil].

Ceviche is a catch-all for a style of South American "cooking" with citrus and other acids rather than heat, although sometimes there's a bit of poaching involved as well. And Chef Bruno isn't a purist about his recipes; he's inspired by the ceviche tradition, not just copying recipes.

We're not done by a long shot. Gotta try the Cheap Date [madjool dates wrapped in bacon, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, plated on slices of roast eggplant] and the lush, lush duck confit with spinach, fried onions, walnuts and a pomegranate vinaigrette.

Bruno's ["everybody just calls me Bruno"] take on gazpacho was the happiest thing about our time at Tango: a tasty blend of yellow tomatoes, bright canteloupe and smoky roasted garlic, drizzled with a bit of ancho chile oil and sherried vinegar.

Tango and its sibling, Bandoleone, are owned by Danielle Philippa. She sure knows how to run a restaurant: Tango's been around for almost ten years.

Ellensberg's Mumma Named World's Best

Ellensburg's Amy Mumma, who runs the World Wine Program at Central Washington University, was named the world's top woman wine professional at the Wine Women Awards in Paris last week.

Amy has studied wine in Burgundy, earned an advanced certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust and is currently studying for her Master of Wine diploma, the wine trade's most prestigious certification.

The setting for the competition, which involved over 100 entrants, was the tony Hotel Bristol. And it's not the first time a Washingtonian has climbed the summit in Paris: back in the late 1980s, after a grueling competition at the Hotel Intercontinental, a young wine steward from Seattle named Larry Stone was named the world's best sommelier in French wine and spirits.

Thanks to Andy Perdue of Wine Press Northwest for bringing this to our attention.

94 Stewart

Today's hot tip is a bistro that resembles Le Pichet and shares its neighborhood: it's called 94 Stewart, which means you won't forget the address.

If the space looks familiar from the outside, you might be thinking of the Garlic Tree. Get over it, and hurry on in. Cindy Norton, a newcomer to Seattle, is the chef, and she’s a fireball. At lunch, the crab focaccia ($12) has what we all crave: plenty of Dungeness crab, moistened with a basil aioli and drenched in cheddar. At brunch, there’s more crab in the Crabby Morning scramble ($14). Come for dinner and start with crab cakes ($14).

Yes, there’s more than crab. A terrific Reuben ($8—and better than the $12 Reuben at Goldberg’s Deli over in Factoria). A burger made with ground lamb. Roast lamb at dinner, too.

Cindy’s daughter Lindsey is the wine steward, and she could teach most sommeliers a thing or two. Sunday is BYO night, no corkage. Tuesday is half-price wines. There’s a specific wine suggestion from the by-the-glass list for every dish on the menu, lunch and dinner. And if you need more libations, there’s a full bar as well.

I'm not crazy about the desserts, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth. And if 94 Stewart isn't yet quite as cozy and steamy as Le Pichet, who cares! In the beginning, Le Pichet didn’t know what it wanted to be, either.

All that glitters

UPDATE July 8th: read Nancy Leson's lukewarm review in today's Seattle Times.

Oh dear. Rumblings of trouble from Factoria, grumblings of discontent, rumors of layoffs at Goldberg's, home of the $12 reuben sandwich.

Pickles alone do not a deli make. Nor seedless rye imported from Detroit. Even if you have latkes, chopped liver, herring in cream and pickled tongue, it's not enough. Sure, ya gotta have attitude. But more than that, ya gotta have heart.