Credit: Kelly O

Every vegetarian experience at Sutra—and every review of the
vegetarian experience at Sutra—begins with a gong. This gong is
struck just prior to the first course of a preset, prix fixe menu
($28–$35) that changes daily according to the “intuition and
inspirations” of the chef, who’s also a professional yoga instructor.
The one constant, per Sutra’s highly explanatory website: Sutra’s
dedication to elevated vegetarian cuisine “with a menu that respects
the changes of season, availability of local organic ingredients, and
the experience of connecting to our communities in a holistic urban
environment.”

The night I visited the new Wallingford establishment—the
night after the presidential election of Barack Obama, an evening for
celebrating the holistic urban environment if ever there was
one—the banging of the gong was preceded by the speaking of the
chef, a friendly thirtysomething man of macrobiotic thinness who
encouraged us to take a moment to appreciate this communal gaining of
sustenance and acknowledge the work of the farmers who grew the
components of the food we were about to enjoy. How you feel about this
kind of predining monologue-with-gong is a good gauge of how you’ll
feel about Sutra as a whole. If the cycle of life sounds like the
perfect aperitif, you’re golden; if you like your dinner unaccompanied
by earnest, well-meaning discourse, Sutra is not for you.

Meals at Sutra are programmed affairs, with diners seated around
spare, elegant communal tables for dinner served twice nightly
Wednesday through Saturday, with a maximum of 35 diners at each
seating. With its organic vegetarian (and 90 percent vegan) menu,
centering visualizations, and scheduled feedings, Sutra is an
unapologetic specialty restaurant: The narrow focus is the point.

The night I visited, the gong was followed by a light four-course
meal ($33) commencing with a broccoli-pesto-mung-bean quiche, a
tantalizing construct in which the mung beans played the eggs, the
broccoli and pesto played themselves, and all the savory bits collided
nicely with the quiche’s lightly sweet almond-poppy-seed crust. Even my
typically carnivorous dining companion put it away with pleasure.

Things took a bumpier turn with the second course, a pumpkin soup
garnished with a kalamata olive/Honeycrisp apple/pickled pepper
caponata. Like the quiche, the soup was served at room temperature;
unlike the quiche, the soup cried out for one of a thousand organic
herbs and spices, or at least salt and pepper, which were conspicuously
not on offer—a bold statement for a vegetarian restaurant, and a
borderline cruel one. I made do with the bright and spicy caponata,
which added a kaleidoscopic kick to the otherwise unremarkable soup,
but my dining companion quit after just a couple spoonfuls, devoting
himself instead to our bottle of wine (which, though just an
uncomplicated rosé, drove home the soup’s want for flavor).

By the third course—a lasagna composed of chanterelle
mushrooms, baby carrots, and creamed spinach, with a smoked tomato-sage
marinara and a pomegranate-balsamic reduction—I wondered if
lukewarm blandness, perhaps in pursuit of some yoga-derived
flavor-stasis ideal, was Sutra’s goal. Like the soup, the mushy lasagna
cried out for help, but the lack was even more glaring: The sweetish
reduction went in the wrong direction, and even the marinara was
without any kind of savory punch. Organic chanterelles are wonderful,
but homey old garlic and onion would’ve worked wonders.

The fourth-course dessert—a chunk of
honey-hibiscus-macadamia-nut fudge, served just a touch colder than
everything else—brought things back to the success of the first
course, thanks primarily to accompanying coffee, a rich, strong roast
from Pangaea Organica that gave the sweetness of the dessert some real
dimension (and that was the first thing since the quiche to dwell in
the same flavor-realm as the wine). As we finished our meals, I
overheard the chef discussing this coffee with a diner, praising its
“cleanness” and lack of impact on his gastrointestinal system.

The chef’s dining-room dissertation on his bowels suggested a theory
about the food’s lack of heat and spark and flavor. As is perhaps
befitting for a restaurant that’s an offshoot of a yoga studio, Sutra’s
outlook includes not only gratitude to the producers but an eye on the
final, postdigestion product. While what happens in between can seem
secondary, the namasté vibe will be as important to
Sutra’s fans as the food. And while criticizing the place feels a bit
like punching a hippie for giving you a daisy, it’s worth noting that
daisies don’t come with a $33 price tag. recommended

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...

20 replies on “The Gong Show”

  1. I went to Sutra a few months ago with a group of friends and recognized the chef – although I wasn’t sure how I knew him. Then came the gong, and all of a sudden I had a Usual Suspects-esque moment of realization.

    About a year ago a friend of mine dragged me to yoga, and this guy (Sutra man) was subbing for the teacher who usually taught the class. At the end of class, while in our corpse poses of rest, Sutra man assaulted the ears of his captive audience with a discordant, spontaneous thumb-piano jam. WTF!

  4. You really have to appreciate the subtleties in foods. Unfortunately, most people have assaulted their palates so much that they are unable to recognize these qualities. Sutra offers its patrons an experience that is often missed in our fast food nation.

  6. Perhaps places that cater the mindless overindulgent palate that Mr. Schmader seems to have would’ve been more appropriate for him to review. Maybe the Ram or Outback would suit your unenlightened palate. I am a friend to both the owner and his wife, their intentions are genuine and well founded. To disparage their connection to Yoga is ignorance, something Mr. Schmader seems to have plenty of. Boring food abounds even in the most exclusive of restaurants. A new restaurant willing to offer a fresh vision to the people of Seattle should be welcomed, not dismissed due to ones ignorance. Maybe Schmader should consider moving to the midwest where he can be in ‘Hog Heaven’, the sausages and potatoes flow freely there pal, enjoy.

  7. The line “criticizing the place feels a bit like punching a hippie for giving you a daisy” makes this one of my all-time favorite restaurant reviews I’ve ever read.

    I still can’t decide if I would enjoy a meal at this place or not..

    The only thing that has tarnished my experience so far have been the humorless comments of “Um…” and to a lesser extent Vishal (so close to self-parody…)

    Where David gave an honest critical review, you should admit that what you wanted in a review of Sutra was a string of hackneyed New Age phrases with words like “natural” and “spiritual” and “holistic” in every sentence without their actual meanings ever being considered..

  8. Dear Um: I’m a vegetarian, so your sausage offer is for naught. But thanks for reading and writing (and did any of Sutra’s friends notice that I was complimentary of two or the four courses? If I’m a total idiot who got everything wrong, that still means half of the meal was ugh.)

  9. This restaurant review was well-written. Almost like an O. Henry short story, with a less gruesome twist at the end. But frankly, no kind of cuisine, however well-mannered and well-intentioned, is worth the trouble if its food lacks basic flavor. Salt and pepper? Even vegans need such loving.

  11. In a city of fabulous restaurants it is hard to choose a favorite; nonetheless, Sutra is one of mine. The food is local and organic and the proprietors are clearly earnest in their intentions. It is a gem among gems.

  13. What I find pathetic about Schmader’s review is his juxtaposition of celebrating Obama’s victory with a cynical review of a well intentioned and genuinely creative new restaurant.

    I’ve eaten at Sutra twice and thouroughly enjoyed my experience both times. There is love and hope in what they’re doing and that comes through in more than just the food.

  14. What I find pathetic about Schmader’s review is his juxtaposition of celebrating Obama’s victory with a cynical review of a well intentioned and genuinely creative new restaurant.

    I’ve eaten at Sutra twice and thouroughly enjoyed my experience both times. There is love and hope in what they’re doing and that comes through in more than just the food.

  16. I am always a little surprised at the courage people feel to be unkind when cloaked in anonymity. It is disheartening. I loved Sutra, but not every course. I liked the idea, the effort, the consistency of philosophy, the atmosphere, and most of the food. I am poor, so I will only get to go there are rare and flush occasions, but I look forward to returning. And, for what it is worth i am not a hippie, just an ally.

  17. I’ve also practiced yoga with the chef. I think I’ve heard that same instrument. It’s an Mbira-if it’s the same one he’s played a couple of times in our classes. Takes a sophisticated ear to appreciate a global sound. It’s beautiful. But, this isn’t about musical taste, it’s about food. I’ve been there twice now-once on their opening night and once about a month ago (I’m going back next weekend). Both of my experiences have been my favorite dining experiences in this city. I moved here from San Francisco 4 years ago and have found much of the cuisine in this city lacking vision. I’m not even a vegetarian, but the overuse of meat in finer restaurants is a cop-out–face it, it’s easy. The food I’ve had at Sutra has been full of amazing flavor, the presentation is awesome, the service is genuinely attentive, and again, the food is incredible. It would seem that if you were going to review a menu that changes every couple of days, you should try at least a couple of different menus–not knocking your experience or review, but to write a full page review on one experience feels like that same lack of vision in the art of educating the public. Really, the only problem I could come up with is that it does get a little loud when it’s packed. P.S. I’m not a hippie.

  18. I’ve also practiced yoga with the chef. I think I’ve heard that same instrument. It’s an Mbira-if it’s the same one he’s played a couple of times in our classes. Takes a sophisticated ear to appreciate a global sound. It’s beautiful. But, this isn’t about musical taste, it’s about food. I’ve been there twice now-once on their opening night and once about a month ago (I’m going back next weekend). Both of my experiences have been my favorite dining experiences in this city. I moved here from San Francisco 4 years ago and have found much of the cuisine in this city lacking vision. I’m not even a vegetarian, but the overuse of meat in finer restaurants is a cop-out–face it, it’s easy. The food I’ve had at Sutra has been full of amazing flavor, the presentation is awesome, the service is genuinely attentive, and again, the food is incredible. It would seem that if you were going to review a menu that changes every couple of days, you should try at least a couple of different menus–not knocking your experience or review, but to write a full page review on one experience feels like that same lack of vision in the art of educating the public. Really, the only problem I could come up with is that it does get a little loud when it’s packed. P.S. I’m not a hippie.

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