Monday, May 25, 2009

Birthday in Bothell

Saturday night was a birthday celebration for my bff. Our sweet husbands let us go out by ourselves! Her choice was newish seasonal/local spot in Bothell (yes, Bothell!) by the name of Preservation Kitchen.



A stylish classic brick house turned fine-dining establishment (the Kaysner Estate), PK offers the main restaurant, a bar, and two private rooms upstairs to accommodate all kinds of diners.



We were seated in the pretty dining room detailed in dark woods and warm earth tone paints. A fire was blazing for ambience, I presume, but having been a warm day outside, I was quickly feeling the heat!

Perusing through the appetizers, we opted for salads. The birthday girl ordered the house salad, simple greens and some cherry tomatoes topped with a goat cheese-smeared crostini. I opted for the arugula (but they were out, so it was spinach) salad with pears and shaved Manchego cheese. And since I mentioned longingly the crostini, the waiter kindly brought me out my own goat cheese goodness!



My friend was eyeing the Ling Cod entree, but they were out of that, too. However, the chef was substituting Halibut for the Ling Cod, so everything worked out there. A beautiful piece of fish, seasoned oh-so-well, on top of homemade gnocchi and asparagus diagonals all topped in a magnificent beurre blanc sauce. Va bene!



Oh, that I had ordered that as well. I really wanted a bit of meat. But I was trying to channel my inner-husband, coming to the conclusion that he would get the Wild Mushroom Risotto. It was alright, but soooooo peppery. Even some big chunks of black peppercorns. And after I was about halfway through the bowl, I was out of mushrooms, a little sick of rice, and really wishing I had a little protein to accompany my dinner.



But never fear, dessert was on the way. The birthday girl was very enthusiastic to see the dessert menu. Her favorite sweet obsession came from Preservation Kitchen. Coffee-flavored donuts with donut-flavored cappuccino. To her utter disappointment (and it was a lot of disappointment!) the item had been removed from the menu several months earlier.



We wrestled with the decision...Strawberry tart or S'more made with homemade graham cracker and marshmallow? The S'more won out. The presentation was pretty...almost reminding me of an ice cream sandwich between two cookies drizzled in warm dark chocolate sauce.

What did the homemade graham crackers taste like, you ask? Well, something like a mushy spice cookie. Not a bad flavor, but definitely not very "crackery". And, in my opinion, homemade marshmallows are best enjoyed in their cooled phase...once they are melted, they could easily pass for "jet puffed".

All in all, Preservation Kitchen would be a great place to check out if you want to stay local and seasonal on the Eastside. Just make sure you try a protein.

Happy Birthday, K!

2 comments:

Manju said...

that looks like a very nice place and looks like you girls had a lot of fun. Had to believe that such a cool place is there in Bothell :D

Just a suggestion, maybe you can sign up on UrbanSpoon and add your review there. You just need to put a simple code at the end of your post and your blog post will show as one of the reviews for the restaurant.

Miranda said...

WOW....This looks absolutely amazing. I want a Birthday dinner like this.

Take Care.

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