Last night I took a class at the Northwest Film Forum (www.nwfilmforum.org). I'm a big film dork. In my fantasy life I am a big time film producer that smokes weed with Seth Rogen, I'm married to Edward Norton and my BFF is Mindy Kaling. In real life, I'm single, live at home and take random film classes in the hopes that one day I might actually make my own film.
I was re-inspired last night to take one of those big, strange chances in films that make people great. Like Bradley Beesley (http://www.bradleybeesley.com). His website describes him as a filmmaker that, "made a cinematic career documenting oddball Americana, strange sub-cultures and homegrown rock stars". Bradley talked about how he coincidentally became friends with Michelle Coyne, then girlfriend to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. They were in art school together and her boyfriend needed someone with a camera and Bradley happened to have a camera. Their friendship blossomed and 15 years later and Bradley released the now infamous documentary, The Fearless Freaks featuring The Flaming Lips (www.fearlessfreaks.com). You should visit Bradley's website and check out the other movies he's done like the one about the prison inmate rodeo in Oklahoma. Yeah, that's a real thing.
After all of this amazing learning and inspiration I met up with my buddy Aeden to grab something to eat. Now this guy...he's a genuine food snob. Usually when we hang out he ends up deciding where we are going to eat. This happens for two reason, 1) he has eaten almost all of Seattle and 2) he will bitch and complain about the food if he doesn't like where we eat. So, ultimately I usually end up eating some good food and I don't have to listen to him bitch.
We ventured down into Ballard and hit up The Blue Glass. I've never been here before so this was a new experience for me. The outside is deceiving because for some reason they thought putting up tacking blue Christmas lights around the frame of the building was a good idea. Honestly, it makes it look like a cheap Asian restaurant. But when you go inside it's a whole different, lovely experience. When you enter you have to walk through a heavy black curtain. I think they did this for dramatics. I just felt like I was going to trip over something. Once past the curtain you are teleported (you like that?) into a small, warm ambiance. The place is finished in wood with heavy curtains and candles. The music is on par for any Seattle hipster (The Knife, MGMT, The Head and the Heart, etc) and the service is lovely.
I was pretty hungry and Aeden insisted that we share dishes. Their menu is split into small places, salads and large plates. The menu doesn't exceed a 4"x11" (maybe smaller) card. We ended up with a whole table table full of food that included fried brussel sprouts in siracha and honey, caramelized bacon with maple bourbon goat cheese and sliced apples, grilled cauliflower topped with gremolata and parmesan reggiano and a cheese plate. We also ordered one large plate, grilled prawns with warm roasted garlic and balsamic quinoa salad.
I will talk about each plate:
Fried brussel sprouts in siracha and honey: Excellent. I would like to make this one at home. It's seems super simple and has loads of flavor. It's a good play on sweet and hot. The only thing I can complain about is that the middle of the sprouts were a little too hard. I would have parboiled them a bit longer before frying
them.
Caramelized bacon with maple bourbon goat cheese and sliced apples: I was disappointed in this dish. I was really looking forward to this one but the bacon was obviously burned and not caramelized. This really ruined the eating experience. The cheese was lovely and smooth. I dipped the thin slices of green apple into the cheese with a bit of bacon. But it didn't redeem the burnt bacon at all.
Grilled cauliflower topped with gremolata and parmesan reggiano: THIS WAS FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC! It was like a party in my mouth. You get a half head of cauliflower drizzled in gremolata (chopped up lemon zest, garlic and parsley) and topped with tons of parmesan reggiano. I could eat this thing all to myself. It was perfectly tender and intact (you know how cauliflower likes to fall apart) and the lemon was so refreshing. Lovely, lovely, lovely. (I apologize for this unflattering picture. The dim lighting and iphone aren't buddies.)
The cheese plate: I'm not really sure what two cheeses we received. One was similar to a hard parmesan but mild and topped with some kind of salt. The second was a moldier cheese similar to gorgonzola but much milder. They came with thin crackers that went perfectly with the cheeses. Sorry, I didn't ask. I was tired and hungry!
Grilled prawns with warm roasted garlic and balsamic quinoa salad: I only consumed the prawns that came with this dish. I really like quinoa but I wasn't feeling it last night. Aeden inhaled it and seemed to enjoy it. I don't have a ton to say about this dish. It was well presented with two skewers crossed on top of a good helping of quinoa salad. The shrimp were very well done and lightly seasoned.
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Overall, I would come here again. It is a little pricey when you order so many dishes. With the food and the two cocktails Aeden had, our bill was $81.00. A bit more than I like to pay for dinner but it was worth every penny so I ain't bitchin!
~ Ashika
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