Guest Chef on The Waterfront

Tonight was our 3rd anniversary, and we celebrated at Farestart’s wonderful Guest Chef On The Waterfront fundraiser. Incidentally, did you know that the 3rd anniversary gift is traditionally leather? Neither did I.  So I guess for the vegetarians it is our vinyl anniversary. Oh the possibilities.

Anyhow, for those of you who don’t live in Seattle or aren’t familiar with Farestart, they do an amazing job of training homeless men and women to work in the food service industry, and providing them with the life skills and services they need to succeed. They operate on a social enterpreneurship model, supporting the programs through running a great restaurant at 7th and Virginia in Seattle as well as providing low-cost meals to shelters (over 400,000 last year!). I can’t possibly say enough about them except that you should join them for lunch, for guest chef night most Thursdays, or to volunteer or donate.

Guest Chef On The Waterfront itself was a rousing success, with over 1000  attendees, dozens of restaurants, and over 40 wineries on hand.  My favorite vegetarian items were Osteria La Spiga’s Piadina with Stracchino Cheese and Argula, and the Watermelon Gazpacho from the chefs at Bell Harbor Conference Center. (Incidentally, Osteria’s Piadina, which is a flatbread, used to be made in the traditional way, with lard, but since they moved to the new location they switched to olive oil).

I could barely begin to sample all of the wine, but my favorite of the night was the 2003 Rockblock Syrah. Special props to the nice folks at Rhone Rangers who slipped your loyal correspodent an extra bottle of the 2003 Snoqualmie Syrah. Tactical plan for next year: take a taxi, drink more wine. Which incidentally would have added to the experience of riding the mechanical bull out on the pier!