Newbies and Good Ideas

Wineries Express

While not new, we didn't know about them until this past spring when we hitched a ride to Yakima to tour beverage companies. They do private car trips along with the bus trips. Owner Eric Miller knows a lot about wine and wineries, and makes a great tour guide. Since it's the holidays, we thought we'd slip in this last-minute item about their Leavenworth Lighting Trip (move fast, it's on December 17). $55 per seat (no children under 5, please). If you haven't done Leavenworth at Christmas, you need to sign up for this fun experience. Contact Wineries Express at www.wineriesexpress.com or 509-895-9733.

Wanderfish Poke

Not quite new, Wanderfish opened in October on Capitol Hill across from Seattle Central College. They offer a modern take on classic nigiri with a lot of options so guests can customize their experience. They use sustainable and wild-caught fish, locally-grown produce, and scratch-made ingredients for their gluten-free menu. Head chef Jason Velasquez (Wann Izakaya, Belltown; and Katsuya, San Diego) collaborated with advising chef Brian O'Connor (owner of Korean fried chicken spot Bok a Bok, and former executive chef at Skillet and Blueacre Seafood). If you want to build your own bowl, you start by choosing a base (shiso kelp noodles, bamboo rice, white rice, citrus kale salad), add a protein, then enhance with choices from 23 mix-ins: avocado to crispy lotus root to enoki mushrooms. The final step is the sauce, maybe traditional poke, umami shoyu, sweet chili soy or others. There are eight "Chef's Creations" that rotate seasonally as well. Wanderfish Poke is open daily from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. at 1620 Broadway. www.wanderfishpoke.com

Heathman Hotel Kirkland Holiday Afternoon Tea

A good idea for the holidays is afternoon tea at the Heathman Kirkland. It combines the sweet (Chocolate Sea Salt French Macaron Lemon Crème Éclair, Honey Apple Flower Tartlet & Almonds, Chocolate Gold Leaf Truffle, Violet Berry Roulade) with the all gluten-free savory (Harissa Deviled Eggs with Crab, Belgium Endive with Goat Cheese & Olives, Salmon Roulade on a House Potato Chip, Chicken Salad & Cucumber with Toasted Almonds). During the holidays, reservations are required, and it only takes place Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. $32 per adult, $19 ages 12 and under) plus sales tax and gratuity. Tea will not be available on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Make your reservations by calling 425-284-5900. www.heathmankirkland.com

PICK-QUICK

Old and new! If you listen to our podcasts, we talked about PICK-QUICK on our December show. Now we'll give you a little more background and correct a few things we said. While it is a drive through, you can order from a walk-up window as well. There are actually 10 parking spots reserved for PICK-QUICK customers (we said 5), along with ample street parking. Even when I was there at noon, there were at least three street spaces right in front of the drive-through. The business started in Fife in 1949 (4306 Pacific Hwy E), then opened in Auburn (1132 Auburn Way N). The new SoDo drive through is located at 2990 4^th Ave S. They use local, naturally-raised cattle and burgers are cooked to order. Ingredients are all sourced locally, and French fries are made from fresh potatoes. This makes them less crispy than frozen alternatives. Milk shakes are made with all-natural ice cream from Snoqualmie. I talked about how sweet the milk shake was (Almond Roca-no surprise there), but there are several flavor options, so you can go less sweet if you like. PICK-QUICK has had several owners over the years, but it has always been owned and operated by families. pick-quick.com

Pressed Juicery

Already in five states (48 locations), Washington has just joined the list with a store in Westlake Center downtown Seattle as of December 7. They plan on three more Seattle locations to open in early 2017 (Bellevue, Queen Anne, Excelsior). Their cold-pressed juice concept is "juice for the people" with fresh juices at an average of $6.50. The business was opened in 2010 by childhood friends Hayden Slater, Hedi Gores, and Carly de Castro. It was always a passion, but when juices kept selling out and people not only liked the taste but felt good when they drank them, the friends realized they could offer healthy, delicious products at a good price to everyone. Juices are cold-pressed using a custom hydraulic press to extract the maximum amount of nutrients and vitamins with minimal oxidation The Westlake store will offer juices, signature beverages, specialty waters, and grab-and-go snacks, along with "Freeze," a vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, frozen soft serve treat made from the ingredients found in their juices. They also offer "Heat" eight different hot beverage options containing superfoods and supplements. The Westlake store can be found at 400 Pine Street, #2080. www.pressedjuicery.com

The Deck

The Deck opened November 14 and offers weekday choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The collective space highlights three fast-casual restaurants: Jujubeet (juices), Evergreens (salads), and Li'l Woody's (burgers). When weather allows, there is covered outdoor seating and a fire pit. Jujubeet opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast and also offers lunch and prepackaged snacks. Evergreens is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. with healthy salads. Ingredients are 100% all-natural, locally sourced, and seasonally rotated. No preservatives or added flavors. Li'l Woody's is open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and offers local and natural ingredients in their seven signature burgers and their buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, veggie burger, salmon burger, breakfast sandwich. There will be weekly specials as well. Naturally, there will be hand-cut fries, onion rings, sodas, and Full Tilt's handmade shakes. Exclusively at The Deck, they will have a special SLU turkey burger with harissa yogurt sauce, cucumber, and tomato slices. The Deck is located at 1051 Thomas Street at Thomas and Boren in South Lake Union.

Good gluten-free cooking idea

Cooking with beer is not a new idea, but the Coors folks have suggested something that simply makes perfect sense. If you're gluten intolerant or a celiac, you can use gluten-free beer in your cooking. A lot of you may have already figured this out, but it isn't something we've been doing in the Seattle DINING! test kitchen. Coors makes a naturally gluten-free copper lager made with 100% all-natural ingredients (using American brown rice) that can give that beery burst of flavor. It is also free of tree nuts, peanuts, soy milk, eggs, fish, and crustaceans (are many beers made with fish or crustaceans? In any case, it's free of the "Big 8 Allergens"). If you'd like to try using Coors Peak in something, they've shared this recipe from gluten-free cook Jules Shepard: lentil soup and Coors Peak. www.coorspeak.com

Needless to say, you can use any gluten-free beer, so check into Ghostfish Brewery in Seattle as well: 2942 1^st Ave S. ghostfishbrewing.com.

December 2016