FLOG: island soul

wednesday we were gonna hit up la medusa for their prix fixe menu--$25 for an appetizer, a main couscous dish, and dessert--but they were closed. booty.

instead we ultimately ended up going down the street to island soul, a caribbean place that apparently gets mad props from the seattle PI, seattle weekly, the stranger, seattle magazine, et al. we walked in and were impressed by the relaxed atmosphere, good music, and the extremely appealing smell of cooking food--unlike the place we had walked into and promptly out of 5 minutes prior, which had terrible music, wierd decor, and smelled like no one had eaten there all day. as over half of our standard FLOG crew was absent (i'm looking at you, teebah, lynsey, kevin) we didn't order a lot of dishes, but we were pretty satisfied with what we did order.

we started off with the yam fries, which were excellent--i've had sweet potato fries before at various restaurants, and they were definitely enjoyable, but i'd have to say the yam fries at island soul trumped most of the offerings i've had elsewhere. i usually prefer the outside of my fries to be crispy, and while these were not prepared that way, it did not negatively affect my opinion of the fries at all; indeed, the insides were perfectly cooked. the yams were served with a jerk mayonnaise which set off the flavor of the fries quite nicely. the mayo itself had a pleasant, medium heat, with a strong flavor reminiscent of pickled ginger. i asked carla, our server, if there was in fact any ginger in the mayo, but was unable to get a straight answer out of her; her concern over the possibility of me having a ginger allergy led me to believe my analysis was probably correct.

the second appetizer we ordered were the "little islands," which were like little dumplings made from corn dough filled with black beans, topped with feta cheese and guacamole. they were very good; the beans were well seasoned and the feta was applied sparingly enough to impart flavor without being overpowering. the dumplings themselves had a good texture and were reminiscent of tamale dough. om nom nom nom.

the rest of the food came. drew ordered the soul in a bowl, which is essentially a sampler trio of some of the meat dishes they have on offer at island soul: oxtail, curried goat, and jerk chicken; the dish also comes with 'rice and peas' which is really just basmati rice with some red beans thrown in. i'd recommend this for a first foray into either caribbean food as a whole or at this particular establishment; the dish happened to have a taste of almost everything else that we ordered with the exception of the oxtail.

emily ordered the jerk chicken, which (as the name implies) is rubbed in jerk seasoning and then slow cooked in a smoker. I tried a few bites; it was deliciously cooked--well seasoned, very smoky, and tender. the smoke flavor did not overpower the jerk seasoning. i'd probably order this if i were to go back. the dish was also served with rice and peas and collard greens.

i ordered the curried goat, as i'd had goat before and really enjoyed it. i'm also a big curry fan, so i figured this would be doubly good. this ultimately was not to be, although the flavor of the curry was decent, if a bit anise-y. the goat dish itself largely consisted of bones and if i had to guess i would say that most of those bones probably originated in the backbone, as i can't really think of any other type of bone that has interlocking pieces. the meat tasted fine but having to break apart and pick meat off of small bones really didn't do a whole lot to enhance my enjoyment of the meal. on the other hand, the collard greens were some of the best i've ever had, and the rice and peas (which seems to be a consistent presence in any dish served at island soul) made a tasty pairing with whatever curry did not consist of goat spine.

some other highlights of the meal were the cornbread muffins and a habanero aioli. the muffins had grated coconut in them and were almost cakelike in consistency; the coconut added some sweetness and crunch (we took it upon ourselves to give a little character to the muffins with a yam fry and a couple of red beans). andrew noted that the cornbread was complimented very well by the sauce that came with the oxtail, which i unfortunately did not actually try myself. the aioli, we were warned, was "very hot" and it was recommended to us that we only dip a single tine of our fork in it to make sure we could handle the heat. it more or less lived up to the hype, as the recommended dose provided eyebrow-raising heat, and a more liberal application caused my eyes to sweat a little.

i'd recommend island soul, as the food is pretty good. i'll probably go back again sometime in the near future myself. the average price per plate is maybe a little bit more than i would have expected to pay, but the service is good, the atmosphere is quite enjoyable, and the food is good overall. i had a less than stellar experience with the goat but i'd say that was more of a luck-of-the-draw thing than anything else; i highly doubt the restaurant uses ONLY goat spine in that dish, and the veggies were all excellent. check it out on your birthday, as carla gives a rousing rendition of happy birthday that will shake you to your very core.

island soul is located in columbia city at 4869 ranier ave s; seattle WA, 98118.

FLOG: how to cook a wolf

i guess this is it. i guess this shit is official. this is A Thing now.

i guess this is for real because once upon a time (last week) there was something that was kind of a quasi-joke that we did for the first time: FLOG. food blog. thing is, we did it again tonight. it's like ramona quimby's dad said: "first time is funny. second time is silly. third time's a spanking." shit got silly tonight when we hollered at How To Cook A Wolf (Queen Anne; Seattle).

for the sake of this entry i'm going to go ahead and assume you haven't heard of Wolf. first thing you should know is that they don't take reservations. period. you go there and you put your fucking name on the list and you wait your turn. second thing you should know is that their schedule is unusual. oh, you think you know something about the restaurant biz? think you can dodge the rush by going on an off peak night? wrong. they're closed tuesday and wednesday. enjoy your wait.

we knew the joint was red-hot but we said fuck it and hit it up for flog night anyway.

trust: seating capacity is limited. the bigger your party, the bigger your wait. there were 6 of us tonight so this translated into a two hour and forty-five minute wait. luckily we were down with kicking it in a neighborhood park knocking back some 40s to kill the time.

Wolf is italian tapas, so if you're starving you're probably going to end up ordering a few things. They change the menu somewhat frequently so i'd recommend checking up on their menu online before you go, just to get an idea of what you might want to get. they trickle your food out to you as it's prepared so go ahead and holler at 5 things--they bring it to you when it's ready; no need to sweat about dish sprawl hogging up precious table real estate.

by now you should be fully briefed on what to expect if and when you go so l-lets get'ta goin.

the chilled pea soup they brought us as round one is flavored with mint and hazelnut oil, which pools on the surface of the soup. tasting it, it's thinner than i anticipated. the puree is perfectly smooth, where i had expected more texture. this is a surprise, not a disappointment. the lightness of the soup works nicely with the freshness imparted by the mint--a flavor that comes through as a finish after the initial savoriness. the flavor of the hazelnut oil is undetectable, at least to me.

the first really strong feeling i experienced after tasting the soup was concern. i was geniunely worried that i would not be able to remember the varying nuances of the dishes i was eating. the flavors are so complex and we ordered so many different items from the menu that i was sure i'd be unable to describe them with any sort of detail. i literally had to take notes. and yes, this made me feel like a pretentious titty, but goddammit, i'm for real about eating food and then writing about it in here so allow me to expound on the scribbles i done scribbled on the back of a menu i copped for the purpose.

- an approximation of latholemono is formed by the lemon juice and olive oil that coats the geoduck ceviche. chili flakes sprinkled throughout season the dish and there is also a moderate amount of what appears to be cilantro in the ceviche itself. a broad swath of creamed avocado adorns one side of the bowl. the geoduck is shaved thin. The avocado is very creamy and is a nice foil to the chewy-crunchy texture of the geoduck. the lemon juice works well with the avocado and, to a lesser degree, the cilantro. i think there is a little too much cilantro in the dish but overall it's good. my eyes can see the tiny, tiny chili flakes but my mouth cannot taste it. i wonder if something is wrong with me. i continue to eat some of the oil with bread after the ceviche and the avocado are gone; it has a great lemon flavor without actually being sour.

- tiny black flecks of vanilla bean pepper the vanilla oil that accompanies the ahi crudo. a cucumber salad that sits on top of the ahi fillets is seasoned with sea salt. crunchiness is lent to a bite of the ahi by the cucumber. the ahi, having been dredged in lime juice, disintegrates in the mouth. the dish is well seasoned and citrus-savory gives way to a fresh sweetness provided by the cucumber which is followed by the distinct essence of the vanilla oil. i can't leave the oil alone. emily and lynsey exclaim that "it tastes like dessert!" andrew and i agree.

- i love eggs, so, having ordered the soft-boiled eggs with anchovy mayonnaise, i'm excited for them to arrive, and am more so when they do. unfortunately, this turns out to be a low point of the meal for me. as the whole focus of the meal so far (in my estimation) has been on the interplay of flavors in a given dish while keeping the dish itself relatively uncomplicated, i am not expecting to be blown out of my chair by the eggs themselves. rather, i'm hoping to experience some sort of interesting relationship between the egg yolk and (in particular) the anchovy in the mayo. I'm a bit let down to find that the mayo is not as fully emulsified as i had expected and has mixed with the yolk of the egg. the anchovy flavor is, in my opinion, completely overtaken by the flavor of the yolk. the eggs themselves are wonderfully cooked and presented--the shelled, halved whites are hard-boiled solid, while retaining a pool of runny yolk inside. i am also a bit surprised to find that they are cold; i had expected them to be at least warm. i'm not sure if i'm disappointed because of my expectation of a highly emulsified, peaky mayo isn't fulfilled by this particular dish or if it's because i wanted to taste a balance between egg and anchovy and did not.

- surpassing everything we've been served at this point, the beef carpaccio arrives, presented elegantly with white anchovy and celery leaf and topped with shaved reggiano. the main thing about this dish to me is that it exemplifies Wolf's MO to a T. there isn't really a whole lot to the dish itself but the manner in which it is prepared and the way the flavors are perfectly balanced makes it seem more than it really is. i'm incredibly impressed at the way the beef, which is sliced so thin as to be translucent, is practically digested the moment it hits your tongue. the celery leaf has a very strong flavor and finshes out the interplay between the saltiness of the anchovy and the sweetness of the reggiano. this particular relationship was my favorite part of the dish.

- the bruschetta comes and everyone is intrigued by the cranberry beans. the beans turn out to be similar to pinto beans and, through no fault of the bean itself, are not as cool as everyone (myself included) imagined and are given flavor by the balsamic. fiore sardo, (romano's geekier, milder, less-popular cousin) is sprinkled atop the bruschetta and has a mildly smoky-sweet flavor which is complimented by the balsamic. the beans have an subtle crunchy-creamy texture beneath the crusty bread. as a whole i could take or leave this dish. almost all of the flavor comes from the young garlic that is part of the dish and the balsalmic, as well as the cheese. in my opinion those three would taste great together regardless of where they are prepared. i am not wowed.

- while working on a longliner fishing cod and halibut years ago i had a captain who insisted i eat scallops, just-caught from the sea and immediately cut from their shells, from his knife. they were delicious--cool, ocean-salty and creamy. the seared scallops we order take that basic formula and elaborates on it with a creamy white bean puree, sea bean, and radish. the sea beans provide a flavor of saltwater and the bean puree is smooth and nutty; it's texture plays nicely off of the creamy flesh of the scallops.

- also on the seafood tip we try the marinated gulf shrimp. they are very fresh and firm and are accompanied with sweet onions, taggiasca olives, and capers. the olives are small and soft and lend a delicate flavor that is enhanced with the pickly flavor of the capers. there's cilantro in this dish as well and i kind of wish there wasn't, but i really enjoy this dish.

- the one pasta dish we order is the spaghetti. it comes topped with a 2-inch pile of cheese (major bonus points). having not closely examined the menu prior to recieving the dish at our table i was surprised to see that it does not include marinara but in fact is flavored with with garlic, chilies, and anchovy. quite a few of our party are nonplussed by this dish--indeed, kevin seems to be outright disappointed, saying it is too garlicky--but i am really into this dish, due partially to the abundance of garlic it contains. there's a hint of anchovy that permeates each bite of the pasta and i welcome every piece. the dish has more heat than i expected. i give this one high marks; it's not a typical spaghetti dish.

- our meal is finished off with the baked polenta. 2 crispy-edged cakes of cornmeal sit atop each other in a small ladleful of fontina fonduta. i hear the comment that the polenta "tastes like cream-of-wheat," which, without the fonduta, it does, as they are similar. i also hear that the fonduta is kind of salty, which is something with which i would agree. however, i find that the trick to this dish, is to make sure to get some of the crispy fried outer crust, the slightly-gritty yet creamy inside of the polenta, and some of the fonduta all in one bite. the relatively neutral polenta and the creamy, salty fonduta cheese sauce balance each other out while the crispy outside provides texture. it's delicious. i'm reminded somewhat of some kind of baked macaroni and cheese.

the big question with Wolf is: are you prepared to wait? if you know that you are, the question quickly becomes "is the food worth the wait?". i can't say that i would regularly patronize on a regular basis any establishment with an average wait time of three hours, but i can say that i don't regret waiting to eat there. provided you are okay at keeping yourself entertained or go there with people you are okay doing whatever with to kill an hour or few, the wait becomes a minor inconvenience (depending on how hungry you are). i'd recommend that one tough Wolf's prodigious wait out if they have never been. the food is worth it. i'd also recommend just concentrating on enjoying the food--trust, it'll come natural--and not taking notes, because it makes you look like a dick.

see you next week, floggers.

- mant

FLOG: willie's taste of soul bar-b-que

"...whatever comes second, i'll be there with my weapon."

tonight i just happened to be armed with a terrible hunger for some barbecue.

so like i said earlier, we had plans to go to "willie's taste of soul bar-b-que" tonight. here's how it jumped off:

i'm running a little behind so i just head straight there from work. i roll up on my bike and there are 3 squad cars parked on the sidewalk in front of the place. cops are milling around some perp telling him he's gonna go to jail.

i think, "this is going to be awesome."

i lock up and walk in. i'm a little disappointed because the place is very clean and well lit and smells faintly of floor cleaner. i had fully expected grimy wooden tables and metal-framed chairs with torn vinyl upholstery in a dimly lit, woodsmoke-filled dining area but sadly(?) this isn't the case.

emily shows up with the rest of the crew. we sit down.

our server seems skeptical about our group because while we order more than half of us (myself not included) are inquiring as to exactly how hot "hot" is at their establishment. server gives us a look that i take to mean that she thinks we are clearly a bunch of punk-ass bitches.

food comes.

i am wrecking the shit out of my helping of potato salad. i similarly decimate the remainder of lynsey's and emily's potato salad. i normally do not like potato salad so this comes as a pleasant surprise to me. the potatoes are well cooked. there are small chunks of orange bell pepper throughout and i believe they use a generous amount of yellow mustard in the recipe but i could be wrong. again, i am hardly ever (read: almost never) impressed with potato salad but this place definitely knows how to do it up right.

i move on to the mac and cheese. i am hearing universal praise around the table for the mac as i dig in but i am ambivalent about it. i have had more than my fair share of macaroni and cheese around this city and i can think of at least 6 places that do it better. not to say that that willie's has bad mac and cheese but i wouldn't go in there before a picnic or whatever and order an extra large portion to go (like i would with the potato salad). whatever, the mac is average. i move on.

i snag a bite of chicken. the sauce takes me by surprise. it is the dry kind of spicy, not the kind that drowns your mouth in heat and makes you sweat but it is definitely very peppery. there is a sweet note at the end and is not as thick as i thought it would be. the chicken itself is very tender and moist. there is a visible smoke ring in the meat. my biggest complaint is that there is not enough of the chicken--it is a full order of chicken and i expected there to be more for the price.

the hot links that came with the order are something i've been anticipating since i first looked at the menu. they are not quite what i expected. it seems to be an andouille-type sausage that has been cut into small pieces. it does not appear to be very fatty; the meat is a bit drier than i thought it would be. it is heavily spiced with something i am unable to identify but the flavor is enjoyable. emily finds them to be too heavily spiced and loses interest. good. more for me.

the cornbread muffins are moist and crumbly. willie's incorporates red bell pepper into the batter which i am unable to detect with just my tastebuds. they are crusty on the outside. they don't hold up too well to my attempts to sop up some barbecue sauce so i decide to finally holler at the brisket and stack some on top of a corn muffin. it is the fucking bomb so i decide it's time to go one-on-one with the brisket.

first brisket-only bite and am fucking blown away. it is by far the best thing on the table. it comes apart with next to no effort and is not stringy at all. it's tender and very juicy. the sauce is a wonderful compliment to the meat. it's perfect. it's the best brisket i can recall eating to date and seals my decision to go to willie's again in the future. if a person or place can barbecue some meat better than my brother can then a) maybe there's a problem and b) i am automatically sold.

overall willie's is good. there are a lot of things on the menu that i didn't try (collard greens, baby back ribs, coconut cake, peach cobbler) and i will have to cop that shit next time i go. they lose a few points for not having beer on tap--beer is only sold by the bottle there--but at least they have red stripe and sierra nevada. i also should say here that if you ever go there you better bring an appetite because the amount of food you get is kind of ridic. everyone was stuffed to the point of food coma, which sounds kinda whatever but the combo we picked "feeds 4" and there were 5 of us. i straight up embarassed so much food tonight too and if you know me then you know i can put food away like it's my job.

and yeah I KNOW this isn't a proper flog post without actual food porn so don't sweat me. for some reason NO ONE remembered to bring a camera so you're just gonna have to let my way with words play nice with your imagination for now.

see you next time.