Dahlia Lounge

Last night Jennifer wanted to go downtown to check out the holiday lights and walk around. I suggested we combine that with a trip to one of Tom Douglas' restaurants. I had recently found a gift card in the house that I forgot we had. We also had one that we used once and still had money on it, so off we went.

On the bus ride into downtown, we discussed looking at the menus for both Dahlia Lounge and the Palace Kitchen before making a decision. I love both restaurants, but sometimes enjoy the more laid back atmosphere of The Palace Kitchen over the more dressy Dahlia Lounge. We arrived at the Dahlia's menu first and looked it over. Then a few blocks walk to The Palace to peruse the menu there. An item stood out on The Palace menu that appeared to be vegetarian biscuits and gravy which interested Jennifer. I told her it might not be and then we opted to walk back to Dahlia for dinner. We were lucky and were able to get a seat within five minutes of walking in. While waiting for our server, I overheard the bartender tell someone seated at the bar that Tom was opening a new place (or three) in the South Lake Union area supposedly consisting of another Serious Pie, topped by a brew pub and a fine dining establishment next door.

I don't know if Tom Douglas started it, but his restaurants represent quintessential Seattle cuisine; local foods, in season with sustainably, humanely raised meats and cheeses. I love Dahlia, but I can say this is one of those restaurants where I almost always order the same thing. It is usually between the duck and the pork, and I cannot remember ever ordering anything different. I was swayed by one of the vegetarian dishes [Cornmeal spoonbread, beechers flagship cheddar, caramelized broccoli, bruleed figs. fig molasses chili butter], but stuck with the pork again. This was a large pork chop on top of whipped potatoes covered with cranberry conserves with a side of brussel sprouts with bacon. There were also spiced cashews. Our server's face lit up when I told him that was what I was ordering. Jennifer ordered the celeriac souffle. We each had an appetizer, and Jennifer's was chestnut soup, while I had the samosa. Both were great! Jennifer wasn't super pleased with her main course, but liked it enough. I found mine to be perfect.

Afterward, Jennifer wasn't going to leave without coconut cream pie. So we ordered dessert. She, of course, got the pie and since none of the current special desserts struck me I went with the donuts as my dessert. As usual they came with mascarpone cheese and the seasonal jam was cranberry!

It turned out that we had enough on the cards to pay for dinner, so we left a tip in cash and wandered downtown in the cold, but not rainy weather.