roll with jen

Yep, you read that right.  The lovable Ina Garten, otherwise known as the Barefoot Contessa, will be making her first Seattle stage appearance on September 16th at Benaroya Hall.  Garten is the author of several best-selling cookbooks and the beloved host of the Food Network show Barefoot Contessa. In an interview format, Garten will be answering [...]

I have had numerous people ask when I am going to write about the closing of two restaurants I frequent on a weekly basis:  Elemental and Elemental Next Door (END).  For those of you who aren’t familiar with these two joints and the polarizing masterminds behind them, Elemental is a petite restaurant located across from Gas Works Park, specializing in a blind tasting menu [...]

When I see a business professing to be the real deal in its name, I am instantly suspicious.  It is like calling a restaurant The French Bistro which likely means you will see french fries, cookies molded in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and other faux-Parisian cuisine on the menu. But after falling in love with Switzerland after [...]

When I tell people I am heading to Austin for a long weekend, they often ask:  Do you have relatives in Austin?  Are you going for work? Nope.  In fact, I venture on an annual fall pilgrimage to this gem in the Lone Star state because it is essentially a larger, warmer version of Seattle’s [...]

As I excitedly tell my neighbors I am heading to meet a friend who works at Amazon for lunch, they immediately start guessing where I am going, naturally assuming I am going to hit up one of the newly constructed restaurants popping up like whack-a-moles in the bustling South Lake Union area:  Cactus, Re:Public, and Serious [...]

Instead of starting off Sunday with the usual routine of hopping on my bike and heading to the Ballard Farmers market, I walk up Fremont Avenue to attend my first pig butchering class at  Dot’s Delicatessen with Dot’s owner Miles James and Il Corvo’s Mike Easton. Here are the 9 key learnings from the 11am-4pm [...]

I recently sat down with these engaging and down-to-earth siblings to get a first look at Trufl and the inside scoop on these guys. What is Trufl and why is there a need for it? Dudley:  Wes and I developed Trufl (pronounced like truffle) as a means to provide people with a convenient and informative [...]

If I ask you to join me on a two-hour bus trip from Seattle to Shelton, WA on the South Puget Sound to go on an night time walk on the beach in late December, I suspect you will come up with a polite excuse for having to wash your hair that night or needing to tend to your sick [...]

When you see people sporting the latest winter gear on the mountains or enjoying dinner at Fremont’s Revel and Ballard’s Walrus and Carpenter in once abandoned spaces, you have evo founder Bryce Phillips to thank. I first met the mastermind behind evo and partner of evo Properties six years ago.  Phillips was riding his bike [...]

The opening of Michael Mina’s Seattle outpost of RN74 is one of the most talked about restaurants of the year.  Here is an interview with one of  Seattle’s finest sommeliers – Luke Wohlers.  And yes ladies, Mr. Wohlers is easy on the eyes. 1) What is your favorite restaurant? I love Phnom Penh Noodle House in the [...]