At long last...Poppy!
Posted 10-03-2008 3:08 pm
by Admin Admin
I've lived in Seattle for 21 years now and I can't remember another restaurant that had *quite* this level of anticipation and buzz in advance of its opening.
Ever since it was announced last year that chef Jerry Traunfeld would be leaving The Herbfarm to open his own restaurant, speculation and anticipation have been building. His new place, Poppy, opened a couple weeks ago in the Capitol Hill neighborhood just to the east of downtown Seattle and word of mouth has been great. Normally I like to give a new place at least a few months before trying it, to give it time to settle in, but the anticipation for this place was too great--I couldn't wait so a friend and I went last night. The concept is very different from The Herbfarm, with the exception of an emphasis on Northwest ingredients and particularly herbs. But whereas dinner at the The Herbfarm is an extravagent, lengthy, multi-course affair, Poppy is casually elegant and doesn't require as much of a commitment in terms of either time or dollars. The menu is built around the Indian concept of "thali", numerous small dishes surrounding a bowl of rice. There's a set "thali" on offer each night that changes from time to time (I'd been looking forward to the pork belly I'd heard about but that's not in the current thali), with vegetarian options available to substitute if you prefer. It's basically two main dishes with six or seven sides, as well as rice and naan. It sounds overwhelming but the portions are sized so that it's not. We started with a couple of appetizers that have been getting buzz--pan-fried mussels and eggplant fries with honey and sea salt. The mussels were delicious but it was the fries that made us both go, oh wow and fight over the last few morsels. Our appetizers were delivered by Chef Traunfeld himself--he initially tried to give them to the table next to ours but realized his mistake and apologized, saying he wasn't used to being in the front of the house. We were both thinking, uh, yes, we know who you are! I like the fact that he's out there interacting with guests. The thalis arrived and we both dug into our black cod which was delicious--not quite as good as the black cod at Ray's, we agreed, but pretty darn close. Duck leg with lavender and huckleberries, the other main, was good but a little dry. The sides were all delicious--a sunchoke soup with hazelnuts, a beet salad, a chickory salad, roasted potatoes, among others. We didn't have a lot of room for dessert so decided to split a peach anise-hyssop shortcake which was perfect--not too sweet or too overwhelming, just right. Service was warm and professional. We both enjoyed ourselves tremendously and agreed we'd be back soon, especially since the prices are reasonable for the quality. Appetizers run $5-7, the thalis are $32 each (with a "smalli" option of fewer dishes for $22) and desserts are about $5. We felt we'd eaten well for about $50 per person including a drink apiece.
 Permalink
 Comments
(0)  Send
to a Friend
|
