préparation pour le grand désastre

On August 23, 2015August 23, 2015 By Emily KeithIn celebrations, cheaper than the beer, EK, fancypants, missing peopleLeave a comment

I’m the type of person who spends a lot of time thinking about disaster, it is a woeful personality trait that really only serves me well professionally. I patrol an imaginary lighthouse on the lookout for heartache and greater doom. Do I have enough money to survive the next financial downturn? Am I emotionally prepared for unspeakable horrors to happen to my loved ones? Is something awful happening to them right now? This is the mental residue of my own traumatic experiences. I am well aware of the ways trauma teaches its prey to be ever vigilant.

So when the NY Times released an exhaustive report on the plate-shift that will cause an earthquake, which will release a tsunami, which will take out a great swath of the Pacific Northwest – I was unmoved. I started researching such an occurrence in the late ’90s when I first heard Blatz sing their seminal classic, “California.” (“It’s stifling taking things for granted.”)

Who are the people who are unaware of these promised ghastly, yet earthly, phenomenons? Will they know how to treat their own water or cap a gas line? If stranded or trapped can they handle solitude? Do they live on the 5th floor of a brick building? The report seemed completely new to some people; what are the merits of being blissfully unaware?

Multiple. Turns out there are multiple merits, virtues, to choosing the present and the present only. As evidenced by my recent experience at a restaurant named C’est Si Bon. It’s so good to be blissfully…well, anything.

Located on the outskirts of Port Angeles, a length of land presumed to bear the most impact from The Big One, sits an idyllic outpost serving French food and no cares, not a care in the world.

A solarium filled with roses and carousel horses, plum trees in the back yard, C’est Si Bon is the only starred French restaurant in Washington that’s not located in Seattle. The owners are Norbert and Michéle, she’s the chef and he’s the maitre d’. They’ve operated this place for over 30 years, each year taking place in the promising present.

Let’s start with some snails. Escargots Curnosky.

Anything is better with garlic, butter, wine and parsley; even heartache. Even better on a hot baguette.

Sweet butter lettuce salads to enjoy before the entrée. Dressed in a light tarragon vinaigrette and pimentons.

I ordered the Sole Meunière, he ordered the Medaillon Beurre de Cassis on the assumption this wouldn’t be one of the last kind meals we shared. Me? See the first paragraph. I am always, always prepared for the inevitable. Though I will admit the air and ambience in C’est Si Bon quieted the doubts in me, for a moment, just for a little while.

The entrées are accompanied by small plates piled with steamed broccoli, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms, and the most ethereal scalloped potatoes (Gratin Dauphinoise) I have ever had, creamy and crispy. Simply divine. I’ll never forget the way he kept ordering more and more scalloped potatoes; like an overjoyed child with a booming adult voice, always a true Catholic but now beyond the bounds of sinful gluttony, laughter emanating from the Confessional. Future be damned.

The interior of C’est Si Bon is difficult for me to describe. What does the belly of positivity look like? How many colors exist in a world without shame? If Dolly Parton ran a French Brothel would you hang out there?

In C’est Si Bon it feels as if every holiday, anniversary, holy day, election win, and birthday is being celebrated all at once. Easter eggs and Christmas lights. Wicker wedding bells and skylights filled with rain. A continuous joyful present, located on the outskirts of the great Olympic Peninsula – a place Mother Nature is willing to deal a mighty blow to keep for herself, and I can’t say that I blame her.

C’est Si Bon

23 Cedar Park Road

Port Angeles, Wasington

Dinner Served from 5-11

Tuesday-Sunday

feast day

On June 13, 2015June 17, 2015 By Emily KeithIn 5-cylinder sense experiences, celebrations, fancypants, libationsLeave a comment

To celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Joan of Arc I dined and drank the tasting menu at Canlis in Seattle. A place where old things are made new.

There is a pianist in the lounge who plays lovely and contemporary standards like Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” and Sia’s “Chandelier”.

I started with a pre-dinner cocktail called Lusca – Plantation 3 Star rum, Yellow Chartreuse, lemon, orange, maple syrup. It’s like a Spanish Monk on ‘roids.

An amuse trio featuring potato, parsnip, foie, radish, and pea shoots in no particular order. The pairing was a 10-degree tin-brewed sake.

Tartare on some kind of crisp, the flavors of melon and wild flowers.

Canlis uses trucker seating, a party of two is seated side-by-side instead of across from one another. It is the best seating, and I gladly contorted myself to snap a pic of my date’s iced tea service.

This is the infamous Canlis salad, which is romaine and mint and tomatoes covered by a Parmesan crisp.

You crack the crisp and mix it all up in the salad. It’s super fun for a salad.

The salads were paired with a Provence rosé. I meant to keep track of all these vintages but my notes are mostly filled with thoughts on the meaning of “varnish” and what songs the pianist was playing. I think this is the 2013 German Riesling they paired with the Sockeye, we may never know.

Sockeye salmon with yogurt and sea beans.

A monster serving of foie.

And this strange nugget is the Canlis Shrimp, heated with dry vermouth and garlic.

Squab with puffed rice, charred cornichons, and squashes. The squash was pureed with umeboshi which gave the dish a wonderful fermented flavor.

I sadly fell behind on my wine but the squab was paired with a HUGE Australian Cabernet, my favorite pairing of the night. Below is the wagyu entree, with parsnips, basil and asparagus.

The sweet silence of an emptying establishment.

Pineapple sorbet, white chocolate handkerchief, sugared corn, Douglas Fir foam, malted macadamia crunch. This was my dessert appetizer, paired with an exclusive Austrian bernalseace blend which tasted beautifully of dried stone fruits. My notes include an odd mention of “Lily Pulitzer??” I think I was trying to make a joke about exclusivity and corn.