Friday June 8, 2007 SGN.org |
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Volume 35 Issue 23 |
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Tuesday, Jul 08, 2008
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Bits & Bytes |
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| McCormick & Schmicks hosts salmon dinner; ACT continues thoroughly charming Souvenir; GLBT short films highlight first week of SIFF | |
| by Milton W. Hamlin -
SGN A&E Writer June arrived in the Emerald City todayand what a month it promises to be. A 50th anniversary production of West Side Story opened last night at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Intiman readies Uncle Vanya for a mid-June opening, ACT continues it audience-pleasing production of the charming Souvenir with final performances next Sunday, June 10. The 33rd Seattle International Film Festival moves into its second weekend. Archival screenings and an evening of GLBT shorts highlighted the first week for this writerplus a charming new French anthology that opens today for a commercial run at the Seven Gables Theatre in the ¨U. district. As loyal readers of Bits&Bytes will recall, this column periodically evolves into Bits&Bites with comments on new restaurants or special food news. This past week, McCormick & Schmicks welcomed the usual suspects for a delightfuland educationalsalmon dinner. Read on: SOCKEYE SAM WELCOMES PRESS TO SALMON DINNER AT McCORMICK & SCHMICKS One of the cleverest marketing events in recent memory found Seattles usual corps of food and wine writers gathered at McCormick & Schmicks last week for an educational dinner on salmon and Northwest wines. SGN was delighted to be invitedand Bits&Bites happily filled in for a vacationing staffer. Proving once again that there is no such thing as a free meal (a debatable topic in press circles), the delightful evening proved to be highly instructionaland delicious. The invitationfrom Sockeye Sam n The Finspromised a musical and culinary tour of the rivers of the great Northwest, home to the freshest wild salmon runs. The non-existent musical group even produced its own CD with wild songs, river music, and run after run. So, lucky music fans carried home a 17-song compilation CD with Steppenwolfs Born To Be Wild, Annie Lenox Take Me To The River and McCartney and Wings Band On The Run. The liner notes on the CD includes a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer To the dismay of some people, this music is not performed by actual salmon. The popular restaurant on First Avenue, one of several in the local chain, seats 182 at full capacity and serves an average of 600 customers a day. The 36-year old chef (who looked about 14) guided the press corps through the incredibleand incredibly deliciousspecial menu. Handouts included maps, interesting facts about wild salmon, health benefits, numerous recipes and wild salmon runs and their rivers from Alaska (think of the world famous Copper River) to British Columbia to the waters of Washington and into Oregon. The informal lectures really more chat orientedwere interspersed with various dinner courses and charmingly low-key wine discussions from a rep from Willamette Valley Vineyards. The winery poured only two wines for the dinnera red, pinot noir, and a white, pinot gris. Challenged to discover our own personal favorites, the winery rep made certain suggestions but allowed each diner to discover his/her own favorite. (Bits&Bites was astonished to discover that the pinot noir seemed a much better pairing with most of the salmon varietiesthis scribe is a long-time white wine fan and rarely strays from preconceived conclusions. It just goes to prove that you can learn something new every day.) The menu was obviously designed to showcase Northwest salmon.. And that it did. The Appetizer found two salmons from Alaskan rivers chopped and mixed with vine-ripened tomatoes, capers and basil and tossed in a champagne vinaigrette with lemon aioli. (Yes, dear reader, I know this sounds like a hard job--to eat and take notesbut its easier than you think.) The salad course found a chilled slab of grilled Oregon King salmon perched on a bed of watercress, cold fingerling potatoes, roasted red and yellow bell peppers in a white balsamic vinaigrette. Soup followeda creamy mushroom with a Coho won ton-styled dumpling. (The accommodating staff happily substituted a delicious seafood chowder off the regular menu for this writer who seems to have a mushroom allergy.) At this point, 90 per cent of the press guests proclaimed themselves stuffed real people just dont eat this way, one was heard to mutter. Proving the invincibility of journalists and all food writers, the entrée arriveda stunning salmon trio. There was a mild Washington Coho, an Alaskan Sockeye (the red salmonthis from the fabled Copper River) served with its crisp skin on and an Alaskan Ivory King, a.k.a. Chinook. A creamy risotto, shredded cucumber spaghetti and asparagus tips were the perfect accompaniments. (The skin on style is quickly catching on for the reds some restaurants report requests for a luncheon salmon skin salad served atop mixed greens.) Dessertthe only course without a salmon connectionwas a coffee scented bread pudding topped with a sliver of poached pear and garnished with Crème Anglaise. Coffeelots and lots of black coffeecompleted a night to remember. Bits&Bites left stuffed, but with a happy full feeling. Factoids about geography, salmon varieties and Northwest wines lingered for days. The media eventbeautifully organized by Wilson Public Relationslaunched the 2007 wild salmon season for McCormick & Schmicks. SGN was honored to be included with other Emerald City papersanother sign of the importance of the GLBT community in the citys commercial, culinary and artistic landscapeand Bits&Bytes was delighted to turn into Bits&Bites, if only for one evening. SIFF, ACT, SCC NOTES, REMINDERS A quick run down on important arts events for the week and weekend: - The Seattle Choral Company celebrates its 25th anniversary with a Gala Salute Sunday at 3 p.m. at Benaroya Hall. SCC has always welcomed the GLBT community and the Silver Anniversary Gala Salute should be another winning concert program from the diverse choral company. Tickets and program information is available at 363-1100. - ACT Theatres delightful production of Stephen Temperleys charming Souvenir continues performances this weekend and next. The real life story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York socialite who couldnt sing but did, Souvenir does not hit a false notealthough Madame Jenkins sure does. Although audiences are delighted with the sparkling production, discount tickets seem to be readily available. Check Ticket/Ticket, the KING-FM club or events calendar and various student/senior/ rush discounts at the box office. (Jenkins pianist, Cosme McMoon, was played as an openly Gay character in the New York production. At ACT he is merely colorful. ) - The 2007 Seattle International Film Festival unspools through June 17. The GLBT highlight of the first week found an unexpectedly large turnout for the late Sunday evening screening of La Vida Homo, a collection of GLBT shorts of a widely varyingly quality. Unfortunately, projection problems found one of the shorts screened on the ceiling of the Egyptianand the projectionist didnt notice the problem for a long, long time. (The short was re-screened later but many in the late evening crowd exited during the 10-minute set up time.) Projection problems seem to be a major concern this yearBits&Bytes encountered major projection problems in three out of five screenings over the Memorial Day Weekend. - As reported in this column last week, the GLBT highlight of the coming week is Thursdays Gay-la Extravaganza, the June 7, 7:15 p.m. screening of PolterGay, a Gay disco/haunted mansion ghost story. The gala screening, $10 to $25, should be great fun. The film repeats at regular prices on June 9 at 2 p.m. |
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