I started off with a Painted Hills hanger steak(which is an amazing cut of beef that is incredibly flavorful, tender, and best of all cheap).  Look at this wonderful slab of raw beef:

What is sous vide cooking? My friends may ask. Muffin(being full of bullshit) might try to convince you that the french means “under armpit” which hardly sounds like a delicious way to cook. In reality it means “under vacuum”, which is a bit of a misnomer. While vacuum sealing the food is part of cooking sous vide, the most important part of cooking sous vide is the temperature controlled water bath.

Just a teaser, here’s a picture of a pork tenderloin that I cooked sous vide recently:

As Alton Brown may say, Food + Heat = Cooking. While there are inexhaustible combinations of food components, there’s a relatively limited number of ways to apply heat. A medium rare steak has an internal temperature of 55C/130F. Traditionally on a grill or a hot skillet, you’re hitting the exterior of the meat with at least double this temperature(150C/300F), so that eventually the interior can hit the desired doneness. So when your steak is done, you basically have a gradient of temperature in the steak from overcooked to perfectly done.

With sous vide cooking, you vacuum seal the food, and put it into a water bath of exactly the desired temperature. Then take it out at any point once your food has hit equilibrium temperature. Said medium rare steak is now a perfectly done 55C/130F from edge to edge. Unfortunately that wonderful tasting crust on a steak is no where to be found with sous vide cooking. This crust is due to the Maillard reaction, which starts to take place at 155C/310F. Luckily for sous vide cooking, this is easily done to meats by searing the meat quickly with either a blowtorch or a smoking cast iron skillet.

Perhaps I’ll write more later, but here’s some samples with a simple pork tenderloin(bought from my local butchery – Rain Shadow Meats) with some fresh fennel.

First off, here’s an image of the pork tenderloin that’s been salted with chopped fennel bulbs and garlic in a vacuum sealed bag:

After a 4 hour water bath at 55C, it’s not the most appetizing piece of pork out there:

After a quick sear in a cast iron skillet with smoking oil, garlic, and chopped fennel it looks much more delicious:

Notice how the pork has a slightly pink medium rare color pretty much from end to end. Too bad the gnocchi paled in comparison. The flavors of the pork were excellent, but I probably need to combine it with some kind of sauce(perhaps apple or pears). There’s a bit too much depth of field in this photo, definitely something to pay attention to for future food porn photos.

My pacing should hopefully slow down as I unpack my kitchen and actually start to cook meals rather than eating out every day.

Dahlia Bakery - Had a sandwich here. Felt like I was overpaying for airport food, but the sandwich was actually quite nice.
Dick’s Drive-In – Outside of the attention drawing name, it’s really just a slightly better McDonalds.
Shallots Asian Bistro – decent enough takeout for generic asian food. They seemed to want to set themselves up as a place to get a few drinks as well. Must be due to the proximity to Belltown.
Pike Place Bagel – Never had a proper NYC bagel, but these tasted fine to me.
Moghul Express – tasty indian food in Columbia Center. I always have a weird aversion to pay by weight food places though.
Mama’s Mexican Kitchen – one of these days I’ll learn that I really don’t like mexican food in general. And having mediocre-bad mexican certainly doesn’t help that opinion.
Beba’s Deli – Uninspired breakfast sandwich(but aren’t they all?)
Spur Gastropub – Apparently supposed to be one of the temples of molecular gastronomy in Seattle. The highlights of the tasting menu were the veal sweetbreads(with white asparagus and rhubarb sauce) and the sous vide short ribs. The prior items were well prepared, but not the mind blowing awesome that I’ve grown accustomed to for tasting menus. The cocktails were very nice, and really Spur’s designation as a gastropub is accurate – it’s a nice place to stop in for a nice appetizer or two and a couple of cocktails, but not really for a meal.
Golden Singha – tasty quickish takeout thai.
Cherry Street Coffee House – ok breakfast baked goods
Assaggio – Really awesome service. The olive oil accompanying the bread was delicious. My main entree of gnocchi was merely decent.
Bell Thai – less tasty takeout thai
Crepe de France – ok crepes. I got an apple one, but failed to get the cheese on top.
Purple – Had a very tasty lamb dish here, and they had a nice cheese selection to sample from.
Ixtapa – Generic tasting Mexican.
Tandoori Hut – tasty tandoori indian food.
Mel’s Market – generic breakfast bagel.
Tenoch – decent takeout indian food.
Bambino’s – ok calzone.
Gyro House – ok gyros
The Counter – neat burger place where you basically check off what you want on it for your customization options. I picked out a burger with to many items on it and thus it became difficult to eat. Each of the components on the burger that I ordered was prepared well, so I don’t have too many non-fixable complaints.
Petra Mediterranean Bistro – god mediterranean food.
Pies & Pints – Amazing pies, tasty pints. Finally had the mac and cheese here, which was delicious even after a day of cheese tasting.
I Love Wasabi – Their sashimi place was pretty hit or miss. Some items were good, but others were merely mediocre. The plate itself was a decent value for the money.
Hot Mama’s Pizza – decent ny style pizza by the slice.
Taco Del Mar – never been to this chain before, but it was very blah and non-tasty.
Pita Pit – not that exciting either.
Rancho Bravo Tacos – probably not a terrible place to hit while drunk.
Mistral Kitchen – lovely tasting menu. Since we had intelligently dined on a Wednesday night, the tasting menu area of the restaurant was empty. Actually the other two parties that were supposed to go apparently cancelled, so the chef gave us extra items(6 courses on a 4 course tasting menu). Not only did we get extra items, each of the tasting menu items was a bit more than a mere tasting. The chef also took it as a personal challenge when I mentioned a slight preference against cauliflower. The ingredients in all the dishes had an impressive freshness.
Anapurna Cafe – Really tasty Indian/Himalayan curry. It’s got a nice hotness that starts out mild and slowly permeates the mouth.
Zaw Pizza – take and bake pizza, which is a really odd concept to me. They use a lot of locally sourced ingredients. It was neat to order a pizza and see a “made by” tag by the creator of my particular pizza. They also do bicycle delivery.
Mediterranean Express – really tasty mediterranean food.
Teriyaki & Wok – blah for cheap asian food.
Dilettante – had a really tasty root beer float using Thomas Kemper root beer.
Poppy – Amazing thali(which is like tapas on steroids). You order one set of courses, with many different small dishes all at once for you to sample. They do a great job of placing a focus on many items that’d simply fade into the background as an accompaniment in other meals. Each element was delicious on its own, and also in pretty much every possible combination of the components on the dish. A herb garden in the back provides many of the fresh spices used, and their fresh mint chocolate chip ice cream packed a punch.
Tat’s Delicatessen – I hadn’t had a good cheesesteak in a while and Tat’s certainly hit the spot. I can’t say that I remember the fine nuances of an Amoroso roll, but the meat was deliciously unhealthy. Combined with Cheese Whiz I had artery clogging deliciousness in my hands.
Ballet – generic asian cuisine, but it was quite tasty and the staff seemed really nice.
Via Tribunali – The calzone that I had was interesting, with some of the advertised fillings put on top for a nice looking package.
Seattle Taproom – Had a mediocre sandwich and a couple of beers before a flight. Nothing too impressive.
Cosi – Nice bagel for breakfast. It’s a chain so everyone should know them.
IHOP – Terrible omelette, bad coffee. But it’s not like my expectations should be high for an IHOP.
Five Guys – Best east coast burger chain. And their friends are delicious, and arrive in O-fry portions.
Dirty Dick’s – King of a tourist trap place for craps. I had been jonesing for MD blue crap, which they were apparently out of. As a second choice I probably could’ve settled for King Crab, but they didn’t have all you can eat on those like they’d had in previous years. I settled on the snow crab, which was acceptably tasty.
A&W – Had a very forgettable root beer float.
Berghoff Cafe – Had a really tasty ruben. But I was hungry, in an airport, and they had literally just pulled out a fresh hunk of brisket, so it was probably far better to me at that moment than it typically is.
Tap House Grill – Average food, but amazing beer selection.
Quinn’s – I had really high hopes for this place, but it really wasn’t what I was expecting. They had a lot of menu items that were for sheer shock value. Not exactly a fine dining establishment, but I suppose not a terrible place to stop for drinks and a bite to eat.
Pho Cyclo Cafe – Tasty pho. Though it really kinda all tastes the same to me.
Mae Phim Thai – Good cheap thai food. I think Seattle really loves Thai since there seems to be a rather large number of them. I do need to branch out my knowledge of thai foods from just ordering curry(as tasty as that may seem).

But what people really care about is all the restaurants that I’ve hit this week:
Macrina Bakery – had some baked goods for breakfast. Their breakfast menu itself looked work trying for later.
Uli’s Famous Sausage – sausage by a very reputable man with a mustache.
Sub Sand – a somewhat interesting take on
Palace Kitchen – another Tom Douglas joint. Meal was nice, but not mindblowing as per what the praise for Tom Douglas would seem to imply.
Sub Sand – an interesting little joint that served subs with asian fillings. They were tasty, but the 1 person trying to prepare all the subs made this a much slower experience than subway.
Sweet Iron Waffles – excellent belgian waffles. They get some nice caramelization on their syrup which makes them extra tasty.
Nell’s Restaurant – Place with a decent view of green lake, if you happened to get one of the 4 tables by the window. Excellent food as well.
Le Panier – neat french bakery, had a nice croissant there.
Crush – It may not look like much, being a converted historic home, but it was by far the best place that we went to for Restaurant Week. Our waiter(Steve) had a great passion for wine, and actually gave us refills on the house when our appetizers came a bit late(and thus we had finished the wine pairing. The whole restaurant week experience was like a sped up version of some of the nicer restaurants that I’ve had the pleasure to dine at recently(Volt and The Dining Room). I had an appetizer of a well prepared Carlton Farms pork belly, which was fatty, but somehow managed to have a slightly sweet finish to go with the balanced riesling that was paired with it as an opener. For the main entree there was a perfectly prepared sous vide Pained Hills flank steak(nice warm red all the way through with just enough char for flavor on the edge). For dessert(since I’m not a huge sweets fan) we had a nice cheese assortment, kumquat sauce, and amazingly delicious homemade crackers. I don’t think I’ve ever had crackers that wowed me, and there they were. Steve(taking extra care of us) also brought us an order of their Buttermilk Beignets(basically a french donut) which was also fantastic. Granted we only got to sample 2 dishes and 2 desserts, this restaurant week experience was clearly the tip of an iceberg. I’ll definitely have to follow Steve’s advice and come back on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when they can appropriately care for favored patrons. And plus any evening when I end up by the kitchen geeking about sous vide cooking gear is a win!
NYC Deli Market – not that exciting as a breakfast place
Thai Curry Simple – Basically Srees, but in Thai form. How could you go wrong?
Trellis – to finish out restaurant week, we hit Trellis, which had potential, but either just didn’t feel the need to execute for restaurant week. The salad that I had basically was large slabs on a plate that was far too small to do any cutting on. The tri-pepper hangar steak was well seasoned, but was served on an overkillisn mound of root vegetables.
Saigon Bistro – decent quick pho in Uwajimaya
Georgio’s Subs – ok quick subs, pretty much all over the Seattle area.
Claim Jumper – It tastes chainy.
Big Bang Cafe – Cute little breakfast place in belltown. Had a nice sandwich, but their breakfast burritos seemed to be a good item.
Pike Street Fish Fry – I was kinda expecting more of this place that seemed to portray themselves as a hole in the wall fish and chips place. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, but the cod and fries seemed like a safe bet.
Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream – nice little ice cream shop by one of the apartment buildings that I looked at. They had a fair amount of interesting flavors, and make their own waffle cones.
Zeek’s Pizza – The pizza flavors reminded me of a California pizza kitchen, but they were actually all done really well(in stark contrast to CPK). The Thai one on was delicious, even if it’d kill Muffin.

18 more places for a total of 50 food serving places. Of the actual restaurant week places, most were of a decent enough quality that I’d consider going back, with one(Szerac) which I’d refuse to return to and one(Crush) which I would make a serious effort to go back(and maybe on a semi-regular basis if I could convince others to go with me).

Day 0(2010-04-10)
Week 1:
Deli Shez – little deli underneath my temporary housing. Unremarkable
Serious Pie – my first Tom Douglas(the Seattle celebrity chef) restaurant experience. The toppings and the sauce for my pizza were a bit subtle for my tastes, but the crust was an amazing thin, crisp, and light concoction. I get the feeling that the rest of the pizza was just an excuse for slightly different variety so people would have more excuses to eat the crust.
Sages – quaint Italian place in Redmond, fabulous gnocchi.
Thai Place in Uwajimaya – food court Thai food. Overly sugared and sauced, but quick. About what you’d expect.
List – came for happy hour. Well prepared food, and a good bargain at half price. Happy hour wine wasn’t good.
Piroshki, Piroshki – Ze Russian breakfast food of champions. Had a couple of their piroshkis throughout the weeks on my way to work, and each was a different breed of tasty.
King Street Bar & Oven – Good calzone, but it seems to be more of a noisy bar at night than a lunch spot.
Grand Central Bakery and Cafe – Good lunch spot, good sandwiches that come out quick.
Umi – Came for happy hour sushi. Wasn’t remarkable(or cheap for happy hour).
Thaiku – Not a great thai place. They overcooked the chicken dish that I had ordered. Only thing they had going for them is the punny name.
MiMi Gelato – tasty gelato, and cutesy cat logo
Mee Sum Pastry – Chinese bakery. Awesome baozi. It’s a never ending battle between this place and Piroshki Piroshki in the market every morning for my breakfast as I walk through.
Noodle Zen in Uwajimaya – Blech. Two strikes against Uwajimaya’s food court options.
Two Bells Bar and Grill – Dive bar that does a tasty burger on french bread. Can’t say that the bun choice worked as I tend to prefer a less crisp bum.
Piroshki on 3rd Ave – Another major Piroshki place in downtown. I think I prefer the one in the market better, but the owner always is willing to suggest what just came out of the oven and is thus at its most delicious state.
Shilla in Uwajimaya – finally a palatable place in Uwajimaya’s food court. Not that I expect fine dining in what amounts to a food court, but there’s a certain minimum level to reach.
Hana Sushi – relatively inexpensive sushi restaurant in Capital Hill. Good value for the money.
Belltown Pizza – Ok thin crust pizza. Seattle doesn’t seem to be much of a pizza town.
Tally: 18 places 7 days – hopefully this is a decent head start as I’m eating out a lot with my kitchen being in a truck. Highlights were probably Sages(great italian dishes), Serious Pie(interesting interpretation on pizza), Piroshki Piroshki and Mee Sum(for being excellent breakfast pastry places.

Week 2:
The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company – stopped by this place which is also under my temporary housing. So so quiche, but the staff was pleasant.
Seastar – awesome seafood restaurant I wussed gimped out and got a sushi main entree, but it was a nice set of rolls, and the appetizers and desserts were good
Il Bistro – lovely romantic italian bistro
Salumi – the charcuterie of Mario Batali’s parents. Tasty sandwiches, and some options for the more adventurous.
Sazerac – finally bad restaurant week choice. The flavors were really unbalanced and generally had one overpowering(in a bad way) element.
Jimmy Johns – felt like an extremely chainy sandwich shop. A step above subway, but that’s not saying much.
Madison Park Cafe – French bistro, where I had a lovely steak frittes which had a pre-sliced cut of onglet(which to me is the sign of any place that is serious about their steak).
Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery – awesome bakery with sandwiches and occupying the bottom floor of the building next door to work. Ironic how the spot closer than Uwajimaya’s food court(across the street) is tastier.
Mondello(they have a web site, but I think it tries to install a rootkit) – Nice little Italian bistro in Magnolia. Carpaccio was overly lemony, but had a tasty canneloni.
Pizza Professional – Quick slices of pizza, nothing spectacular.
Elisian Fields – Came for a work happy hour. They had good beers brewed inhouse. Tried the crab cake appetizer, which was a disappointment(which really any non Maryland crab cake is). This was actually where I ate for my lunch interview, and it was a tasty place.
Citizen Coffee – Cute little coffee shop with an upstairs area. Had a savory breakfast crepe that I had mixed feelings about.
5 Point Cafe – Their tagline is alcoholics serving alcoholics. The food was about what you’d expect for a 24 hour diner. It really reminded me of D for some reason.
Nana’s Soup House – Came here to sober up a bit after the Hop Scotch Tasting. Soup seemed ok, but in my slightly inebriated state, I’m probably not the best judge. Clearly I should’ve gone to Nana’s before the tasting, and 5 Point afterwards.
Tally: 14 places this week(Total 32 places in 13 days still need to update tomorrow when i finish out the second week’s explorations). Definite highlights were Seastar(good seafood restaurant), Il Bistro(italian food with a romantic atmosphere), Madison Park Cafe(french bistro)

With this massive set of restaurants that I shall be visiting in the next year, I think I’ll need to develop some kind of rating system for the good ones. Not quite the Michelin guide(where even one star is an amazing restaurant). I’m thinking something like the following:
0 – not worth bothering with
1 – a place to get tasty food. This is the kind of place that has tasty offerings, but it’s just about getting the food to eat either in impromptu tables or elsewhere.
2 – place to eat good food with nice ambiance
3 – dining experience where you go for celebratory occasions.
4 – fine dining experience from start to finish, but mainly memorable because it’s the kind of place that you go for those once in a lifetime occasions. Many of my experiences at Ruth’s Chris seem to fall into this category(graduations).
5 – amazing dining event that will be remembered simply for itself. Strange how memorable some meals are for me, but this level of meal is a huge experience for me where I remember each dish as well as who I was there with.

Need to put a bit more thought into it. Some clever cube icons would work out well for the 6 possible states(to go along with the sides), and the max rating of 5 (FIVE!). Combining the best number(5) and the best shape(5) is obviously the recipe for success!