Crab Mac n Cheese
The Dunbar Room's very pretty crab mac 'n' cheese. Dunbar Room

He'll Have the Meatloaf

This food news isn't out of Seattle, but I still think it deserves top billing. Why? Because if we don't occasionally laugh at Trump's bizarre antics, we will go crazy. I don't think it's appropriate to laugh at his recent press conference, because that feels more like a concerted effort to disconcert the press than everyday buffoonery. But when Trump acts like the buffoon we all know he is? And it involves Chris Christie looking like the toad we all know he is? Schadenfreude at its finest, my friends.

From the Boston Globe:

The Republican governor said while guest hosting a New York sports talk radio show Thursday that Trump pointed out the menu and told people to get whatever they want. Then he said he and Christie were going to have the meatloaf.

‘‘This is what it’s like to be with Trump,’’ Christie said. ‘‘He says, ‘There’s the menu, you guys order whatever you want.’ And then he says, ‘Chris, you and I are going to have the meatloaf.’’’

The sheer pathos of such a situation—two tasteless, hateful blobs of flesh dining on a distinctly middle American meat dish—is almost overwhelming, but the fact that Christie was forced to swallow not just the meatloaf but also his pride? The fact that Christie is now playing the Anastasia to Trump's Christian Grey? Poetic justice doesn't get much more poetic than this, folks.

Dunbar Room Adds Brunch With Live Jazz

Unlike every other writer that reports on this brunch, I refuse to make the obligatory jazz puns. The brunch has live jazz, yes, but if you can't resist calling it "jazzy" or saying they've "jazzed up" brunch, do us all a favor and throw your laptop off a bridge.

Jazz is cool and all, but let's focus on what's really important: alcohol. Dunbar's brunch will feature a Bloody Mary bar, which is a thing I enjoy perhaps too much and encounter in Seattle far too little. The bar will feature "the Dunbar Room’s house-made mix and an assortment of pickled treats and vodkas." No mention is made of shrimp or crispy bacon sticks, but let me take this opportunity to strongly suggest both.

Beyond the booze, they're serving up such delicacies as a pretty gorgeous crab mac 'n' cheese, harissa deviled eggs, and rosemary short rib with eggs. And all the small plates come on their adorable towers. I'm so there.

Confirmed: Le Caviste is the Best

I didn't need Food and Wine magazine to tell me that Le Caviste was one of the best wine bars in the nation, but, according to Food and Wine, Le Caviste is one of the best wine bars in the nation. If you've been, you know why. If you haven't, get your ass down there. Big congratulations to David Butler and crew!

Seattle Chefs Up for a Ton of James Beard Awards This Year

Leilani has the whole list here, but let me add that I'm not the least bit surprised. The city's food scene is growing by leaps and bounds, and it's a real treat to watch (and occasionally partake of!). Also, though every single candidate for Best Chef Northwest deserves to win, I'm rooting for Mike Easton. Il Corvo is a national treasure.

Pho Bac's New Bar

Pho Bac, whose flagship Little Saigon location is, quite literally, a ship, has plans to expand. They'll soon open Pho Bac SĂșp Shop, says Seattle Met, a full service, all purpose Vietnamese eatery. There'll be a separate cafe section offering up cafe sua da, variously filled cream puffs, pastry, and other delights, as well as a full restaurant and bar. Offerings from the restaurant will include your standard phos, of course, but also other contemporary and classic Vietnamese dishes. Brisket sliders, spicy fish sauce wings, clams in tamarind sauce, etc. So, a lot like Ba Bar, really. But perhaps better and less soulless? One can always hope.

Alchemy Bubbles Up in West Seattle

Alchemy, one part of a duo of West Seattle offerings from F2T Hospitality, will open in March, says Eater. Alchemy will be, as F2T marketing director Matt Mead candidly stated to Eater, an "ornate but comfortable venue where people can gather for any occasion and enjoy one of these creations from the bar or the kitchen that our team has lost sleep perfecting.” He also used the phrase "Merlin meets the Manhattan," so I officially have no idea what to expect from it.

Food-wise though, the future is a little more clear. F2T Hospitality consists of local chefs Christopher Jensen, Bryan Ogden, and Larkin Young. Young has done stints in some of Seattle's top kitchens—RN74, Canlis, and Willows Inn, to name a few—and I got the chance to taste his handiwork at the last Tumble Swede pop-up. Though he was working with someone else's recipes (the pop-up is masterminded by Old Ballard Liquor Company's mononymous Lexi), he executed them beautifully. Expect big things here.