The Melting Teapot

If you read my previous post, you know I spent last weekend on Orcas Island.  It was a fun-filled trip, and we wanted to dine somewhere special Sunday night.  After searching various online listings, Doe Bay Café caught my attention.  The chef is Abigael Birrell, previously executive chef at the popular vegetarian restaurant Candle Café in New York.  Doe Bay Café does offer beautiful vegetarian entrees, but it also has some wonderful seafood dishes.  Each menu item is listed with two wine pairing suggestions, and I could tell from the selections that these were thoughtful choices.   Vegetarian, seafood, wine pairings . . . this could be just about the most perfectly-fitting restaurant for me. . . ever!

The winding road between Eastsound and Doe Bay passes through Moran State Park, then turns and meanders through forest and field before arriving at Doe Bay.

A single lane bridge in Moran State Park

True to the name of the place, there are plenty of deer to be to be seen.  During our 20-minute drive there, we passed at least 30 deer standing in meadows or off to the side of the road. The café is tucked away in the Doe Bay Resort on the east side of the island, situated in a beautiful spot over the top of the bay. It has a spacious, charming interior, where you can appreciate the surrounding vista through large windows on three sides.

We arrived, and things got even better – the lone server on this quiet evening asked if we were would be staying for the movie.  What movie?  Evidently, Sunday nights are movie night.  This particular Sunday’s film was one of my favorites, O Brother Where Art Thou.  The movie would begin in an hour, so we had plenty of time to eat and enjoy a glass or two of wine.

But wait – there was more good news!  Sunday nights are also half-price bottle night, and since the wine was already reasonably priced by restaurant standards that made for a very good deal (about the same as what it would cost at a wine shop).  Hooray!

The menu is short at this time of year, the off-season, when only a few out-of-towners and locals are dining out.  However, it was still a struggle to make my choices because it all looked great.

Instead of the standard bread and butter on the table, we were served flat bread crackers with a red pepper dip.  It was a nice touch, one of several nice touches throughout the evening. For the starting course, Jeff ordered the soup of the day (black bean) and  I decided on the Sea Scallops with Sunchoke Soup.

Alaskan Weathervane Sea Scallops, served with sunchoke soup, crème fraiche, truffle oil, crispy sunchoke chips

Our main courses were beautiful and masterfully executed. Each dish had multiple layers of flavor and texture, with a finesse that allowed the wonderful local veggies to shine through. Jeff had an olive oil poached halibut, and I had my first ever dish featuring spring nettles.

Spring Nettle Gnocchi, house made nettle gnocchi, baby artichokes, green garlic, miner’s lettuce and meyer lemon cream

A Drouhin St.Veran Chardonnay was the suggested wine with the gnocchi, and it seemed like a good choice for the rest of our meal. It is not a wildly expensive wine, but it really was a great selection for a dinner pairing.

Eventually several small groups of people showed up, some dining beforehand with others getting food or small plates as the movie began.  Everyone was given a bowl of popcorn to munch on as the lights dimmed. The movie was shown on a fairly large, pull-down screen set up high so it wasn’t interrupted by the heads of diners. We had a relaxing evening of incredible food, great wine, popcorn, and a movie.

If you ever get to Orcas Island, take my suggestion and visit the Doe Bay Café, where the food is as spectacular as the view.  The ambiance of the place is relaxed and comfortable.  This is a meticulously clean and graceful spot to dine, but you won’t feel underdressed or out of place if you're in jeans and a nice shirt after a hike or a kayaking adventure.  Plus, if you’re there on a Sunday, you get free popcorn and a movie!

You can view hours and current menu on the Café website: http://doebay.com/cafe/cafe.html

Jeff and I celebrated our anniversary this past weekend with a getaway trip to Orcas Island.  We love the glorious views and relaxing atmosphere of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington state, and we made sure to get a room with a view.

Our evenings were spent enjoying sunsets with a glass of wine. But in the morning, especially in the chilly off-season, it was all about a warm cup of tea!

I Want Tea, Not Coffee!

If you’re a tea drinker in the U.S., traveling can be a bit frustrating.  Most hotels offer in-room coffemakers, and sometimes there are even tea bags next to the coffee grounds.  However, coffeemakers are just about the worst thing there is for making tea.  The water does not come to a full boil, so it is not hot enough for black tea or oolongs.  Also, it should not surprise anyone that the hot water from coffeemakers tastes of stale coffee – yuck!  What a way to ruin a cup of tea.

You can try to get decent tea where you eat breakfast, but you’ll often run into the same problem – tepid water from coffeemakers, usually with only poor quality bagged teas.    More importantly, though, I’d like a cup of tea right away in the morning, while I'm still in my room.

Before going on, I should note that it is possible to get a decent pot of tea on Orcas Island -- actual loose leaf tea, served in a pot at the table.  My favorite stop for breakfast was Rose’s Bakery & Café in Eastsound.  They have a wood-burning oven, a bakery, and a small but tasty menu for breakfast and lunch.  They offered a selection of teas from Portland's Tao of Tea.

If you go to Rose's, make sure to step into the bakery and gourmet foods store, which is a great place to get cheeses, breads, olives, and more.  They also have a really fine selection of wines at the same prices as those on the mainland (including some hard-to-find collector wines).

Most of the time, though, it is tough to find a good cuppa.  Plus, I still want tea before heading out for the day.  Setting up a tea travel kit is an easy way to get past these obstacles.

My Tea Travel Kit

Brewing Method: There are a number of tea-brewing thermoses and cups, and I’ve used several of them.  My favorite is this one, which packs up into a cup for brewing and a cup to hold the high-quality Swiss Gold filter (so you don't leave tea drippings all over).  Tucked inside are little containers for tea, sugar, or powdered milk.

Unfortunately, I don’t think these are made any more.  However, you can certainly find plenty of the single-cup Swiss Gold filters both online and off.  I've been thinking about getting something like this  Portable Gongfu Brewing Mug, but I'm content for now.

My other brewing method is a really fun way to share tea with others, and that is a gaiwan travel kit.  More and more tea shops are importing these from Taiwan or China.  Mine came from Yunnan-Sourcing, a friendly tea business out of China. These really are a wonderful way to travel with tea as long as you can pack them where they won’t get broken.  They are protected a bit in the bag, but you might want to reinforce with bubble wrap or something cushiony.

Cups: If you’re using a gaiwan set or a portable mug, you’ve already got a cup.  You can always hope that there is a decent cup in your hotel room, but that hasn’t always been my experience.  I bring along a heavy-duty handle-free pottery cup.  It is sturdy enough to stand up to suitcase or backpack abuse, and there is no easy-to-break handle.  I purchased mine for under $5 from a local Asian grocery.

Tea leaves: Make sure to bring a few different teas, pack them in small bags or containers that will tuck away inside of other things (baggies of tea fit nicely inside of the bodum kettle).  Teas brew differently away from home, partly because of the type of water, and partly because of altitude/atmosphere changes.  Some seem to travel better than others.  For instance, black blends and hearty assams are great.  I have a tough time with puerh, but greens and oolongs keep me happy.

Tea Timer: A timer is very necessary when you’re groggy, or when you’re distracted by a pretty view.  You can always carry a small tea timer along in your suitcase.  For me, a person who almost always has a laptop and an iPhone, using a tea timer application works quite well.  Here are three FREE tea timers that I have happily used:

• PC users – Adagio Tea Timer
• Mac users – Cuppa (they also make iCuppa for iPhone/iPod, but it is not free)
• iPhone – Teavana (timer plus more features)
  

Questions For Other Tea Drinkers

What’s in your tea travel kit?  Do you have a thermos or brewing method you couldn’t do without?  Is there a technique you’ve found that works for you?  Please let us know by posting a comment!

Here on the east side of Lake Washington, we have a mall that isn’t like most mega shopping centers:  Crossroads Bellevue.  While there are a  few standard department store chains in evidence, primarily this is a shopping center for local businesses and restaurants.  There is a big focus on community activities, with the P-Patch (a community  garden space), a weekly farmer’s market during the summer, and a small indoor stage that features local performers and open mic nights.

Local artists have provided wall art and sculptures around  the exterior, which you can see as you explore the interesting stores and restaurants on the outside of the mall.  Tea lovers -- take note of the nice Chinese tea shop nestled among Italian and Indian restaurants:

Perhaps the most popular and active part of the mall is the International Food Court. This is not a normal food court in a shopping mall.  You won’t see chains selling their preservative-filled cookies or heavily salted fried chicken sandwiches here.   Instead, there is a collection of small, mostly privately-owned eateries, representing a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.  Among others, you'll find Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Greek, Italian, Russian, Indian, Mexican, southern BBQ, an American diner, a coffee shop, and a place to get Bubble Tea.  I see that a local artisan chocolate maker is about to open a storefront here, and a new cafe with indoor and outdoor seating is coming in April.

My favorite spot to eat is Papaya, a Vietnamese cafe.

A great alternative to fast food dining, these cafes offer generously portioned meals at a cost of about $5-10 per person.  Recently, Jeff and I had a nice lunch for two, from Papaya, for about $15.  Sure, you have to carry your own tray to a table, but that’s part of the charm of the place.

Throughout the spacious eating area are a variety of tables and plastic chairs, all of which can be moved around and pulled together.  This is a happy thing for large families or various clubs that meet here.  I’ve watched book groups gather at the large round tables near the used book store, each person getting food or beverage from a different shop before seating themselves and beginning an animated discussion.

During weekday lunch hours, you’ll notice Microsoft badges attached to many diner’s belts and pockets, while earlier morning hours are characterized by the socializing senior citizens from nearby senior housing.

In one area of the vast indoor space, the tables tend to fill up with people playing chess, Magic, board games, or cards.  The anchor of the gaming area is a giant chessboard, which is always in use.

This neighborhood area of Bellevue has a large immigrant population, and Crossroads tends to have a multi-ethnic crowd.  At any given time you can hear at least 2 or 3 languages being spoken.  Throughout the year, there are International cultural events, exhibits, dancers, and singers.   The market stage provides a showcase for these and other performances, as well as open mic nights for anyone who’d like to take a turn on stage.

A branch of the King County libraries provides a free wireless connection throughout the mall.  This leads to many individuals seated at tables, sipping coffee or eating a lunch while they work on their laptop.  I’ve enjoyed doing this myself, sometimes needing that buzz of activity around me while I peck away at the keyboard.

Bring your own laptop and absorb the culture of Crossroads -- enjoy music, food, and people-watching.  Or, you might want to visit during what is sure to be a bustling weekend, March 26-28th.  That is when the 7th Annual Bite of Crossroads takes place.  There will be live music on stage all weekend, with samples from foods around the world.

At some point this year, I fell head over heels in love with kale. Yes, that’s right, kale – the mysterious ruffled leaf that sits next to swiss chard and other greens in the produce department.

Until moving to Washington state, I was most familiar with the ornamental kales that provide bright purple colors in flower beds. Here in Washington, however, many types of kale are readily available at farmer's markets and in most grocery stores. This year, I’ve finally begun to experiment with kale.  I chop it to use in soups, sauté the greens as a side dish, and slice chiffonades to add to rice or potatoes.  Most of all, though, I make this wonderful salad:

Massaged Kale & Apple Salad with Gorgonzola

The recipe is very simple, just kale with chopped apples, raisins, and nuts, tossed in a basic vinagrette.  What is unusual about it is the technique for preparing the kale, which involves sprinkling it with sea salt and then massaging it to break down the heavy leaves.  Check out the recipe, and watch the accompanying video to see the technique (as well as other tips).

Cookus Interuptus is a fun blog and video series by Cynthia Lair, cookbook author and faculty member at Bastyr University.   When I first watched the video, it intrigued me, so I grabbed some kale and gave it a try.  I am so happy to have finally found this wonderful vegetable.  Kale is earthy, hearty, stands up to extended cooking times, stays fresh in the frig much longer than other greens, and it is as beautiful to look at as it is to eat.  Best of all, it’s actually one of the healthiest foods out there!

What's for Dinner?

Jeff was out with a buddy tonight, so I made a big bowl of salad just for me.  I rarely use the gorgonzola because it doesn’t seem necessary, and I used pecans instead of sunflower seeds, but otherwise the recipe is the same as the original.

I decided to experiment a bit to see what sort of wine was the best match against the kale and other ingredients.  I pulled a white and a red, then gave it all a taste.

The white wine, an Argentinian torrontes, made the salad taste even saltier than usual, plus the salad seemed to overwhelm and mute the wine a bit.  I think if the gorgonzola had been in this salad, the creaminess of the cheese would have altered the pairing and made the torrontes the wine of choice.  However, without the blue cheese, this just wasn't the right pairing.

On the other hand, the Washington state merlot became more complex and vegetal against the salad. The acidity of the wine paired up nicely with the acidity of the vinegar.  The salad became darker against this wine, with the flavors of the kale taking front seat to the apples and cider vinegar.  It did pop out a note of vanilla in the merlot that wasn’t really what I wanted, but overall the red wine performed much better than the white.

That makes yet another vegetarian food that works well with red wine!

My Tasting Notes:

• 2009 La Yunta Torrontés - Argentina, La Rioja, Famatina Valley (3/2/2010)
  The color is very light in the glass, like water with just a hint of yellow-green. On the nose is a heady mix of orange blossoms, canteloupe, and something that reminds me of a warm sandy beach. When sipped, this La Yunta is drier than I remember from previous vintages, with a zesty play of acid on the sides of my mouth. Lemon is in there, as well as an interesting note of cucumber, but a nice minerality broadens the flavor out. The finish goes on for quite a while, with floral elements mixing into the minerality.
  

Posted from CellarTracker on GrapeStories.com

• 2001 Reininger Merlot - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (3/2/2010)
  Really beautiful, and not over-the-hill at all. The use of oak is judicious, with just a subtle hint of vanilla hovering around the background. The dark fruit is still at the forefront of the wine, but it is tempered by an herby complexity that is quite nice. The wine is fragrant, with an interesting wildflower and sage bouquet. There is an extended finish, with salt, red pepper, and blackberries.
  

Posted from CellarTracker on GrapeStories.com

Today’s afternoon pot of tea has been one of my favorites this winter -- Red Fujian, a black China tea from In Pursuit of Tea.  It has a wonderfully complex flavor, with a distinguishing dark chocolate charasteristic that is quite appealing to me.

Their description reads:

“This tea was made exclusively for us on a small, family-run farm in Fujian Province, near the coast of the East China Sea.  The leaves are twisted and elegant, hand-rolled with golden leaf buds.  We had this popular black tea made with an oolong varietal which heightens its flavor and fragrance.”

If I remember correctly from when I purchased this last August, the IPOT web site indicated that there was only a small amount of the Red Fujian tea available.  Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have any more. I’ll be sure to brew each batch several times, to get the most of the leaves that are left in my bag!

The leaves are thin, slightly twisted, and rather long for a black tea.

Method

The tea was brewed gongfu style* in an yixing** pot, using fully-boiling water.  I’ve found that this particular tea takes about twice as long as most blacks. The aroma pops up right away, but the flavor needs just a bit more steeping to coax out the full profile.   So, it was brewed for a little over two minutes on the first infusion, with the time increasing for each successive brewing.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Dark chocolate fills the room.  The incredible fragrance is a big part of why I love this tea.

Flavor: This is characterized by cocoa nibs, cinnamon, and a nuttiness that I haven’t quite identified (perhaps black walnut?)  Behind it all is an interesting ripe stone-fruit flavor, which shifts over to a greener more herbaceous note behind the spicy finish.

Infusions: The Red Fujian stands up quite well to multiple brewings. The spicy notes die off after the first infusion, but the cocoa nibs and nuttiness become more pronounced.  On the third and fourth infusion, the tea is lighter yet still quite flavorful.

More Information

* Wondering what gongfu style means? Here is a nicely done video that gives you a quick demonstration of gongfu brewing. This is a very basic gongfu technique (they can become longer and more ceremonial), but you'll still notice that the cup and pot are warmed with water before the tea is added. 

** Interested in learning more about yixing teapots? The video below provides some basic information about the pots and why they are used.  Fair Warning: yixings can become a tea geek’s obsession!  I have several, with each one dedicated to a specific type of tea (and a few waiting on the sidelines for their tea assignment).