Savor Seattle
 A
must-have cookbook for foodies everywhere
Even a cursory glance around Seattle will tell you—this is
a food and wine-loving town. It seems every other storefront is an intimate
bistro or retail wine shop. Waterfront buildings are filled with a wonderful
assortment of fine-dining restaurants and take out fish and chips. Winemaker
dinners abound. Cooking stores sell everything a home chef could want (and
more!).
None of this is surprising considering the natural bounty
in the Pacific Northwest. Seafood abounds at our very doorstep, the state is
filled with farmland and orchards and our wine industry has grown by leaps and
bounds.
And we don’t just love to eat and drink what someone else
creates. We like to make it ourselves sometimes. Wine tasting parties with
friends are popular and cooking schools offer basic knife skills to advanced
training. It’s no surprise, then, that Savor Seattle has appeared on the scene,
offering recipes from 25 of Seattle’s and the Eastside’s top restaurants.
Yes, other cookbooks with restaurant recipes are
available. Several things set this book apart, however. The first is that each
recipe is paired with a wine from a Northwest winery.
Second, you learn a bit about the restaurants, their
owners and chefs—décor, ambiance, menu and wine/cocktail program.
Third, photos of chefs, owners and recipes are beautiful
and give you a sense of what each place is like and what your dish should
resemble once plated (not that it has to match—that’s not what it’s all about).
Fourth, you learn about the wineries, the types of wines
they specialize in, where they’re located and become familiar with labels and
logos.
Best of all, recipes are very clear with just the right
amount of instruction. Instead of chefs making the assumption that every home
has a professional kitchen, you’ll see explanations of how to finish a dish if
you’re working on an electric stove vs. gas. Most recipes serve four to six.
It’s also nice to know that a Seattle firm, Elton-Wolf
Publishing, located right downtown, publishes the book. You can find the book at
most major and independent book stores, COSTCO, libraries, airport and museum
stores, or you can
purchase your copy now at Amazon. Retail price $30.
Spring 2005
|
