The Steelhead Diner - Worth the wait, minus the Huskers

Steelhead Diner

95 Pine Street

Seattle, WA. 98101

206-625-0129

http://www.steelheaddiner.com/

I am always on the hunt for a good place to take someone for a birthday or to take family from out of town - and so a week before my husbands 36th birthday, I started to ask around -wanting to find somewhere special to take him that was worth the extra cash it may cost per plate. His only preference - he wanted a good crab cake and some GOOD fried chicken, like he would get at his Granny's house.

SO the overwhelming consensus? Go to Steelhead diner. Its a bit pricey but worth every penny. So i visited their site, and after salivating with my co-workers over the online menu - I conveniently found the place to make online reservations.

Friday night came a long and our close friends double dated with us. Turns out it was a downpour - but providentially we found parking literally right out front - so it wasn't too bad of a walk in the rain. For a Friday night at Pike Place - we were lucky indeed.

We arrived about 5 minutes before our reservation time of 7:30. The hostess staff was kind and accommodating, explaining that our table was being cleaned and set and it would be just a moment. When I made the reservations - I made sure to note it was my husbands birthday, so when coming back to check on us - the hostess was even sweeter and said they had a better window table that was about to leave that they would rather put us at and that it would be just 5 more minutes. They were very kind and lovely about the extra wait that it seemed like nothing at all.

When we did get seated - we were brought a lovely basket of mixed breads and a seasoned butter. It was pleasant and the presentation was very pretty, the photo doesn't do it justice.

If you are a drinker - their bar is very extensive and I highly doubt there is anything they could NOT make. For us - the Pomegranate Martini's were lovely.

For appetizers - we had to order the Crab cakes - it was on the birthday boys wish list. We also decided to order the fried cheese curds - we had had them before and were interested to see how they fared here. The appetizers were pricey, the same cost as a meal - so we were a bit skeptical. When they arrived - we keep looking for more when it came to the Crab cakes. Correction, it was ONE Crab cake. For $15?? I was shocked. HOWEVER - it was GIGANTIC and it was the best crab cake any of us had ever had. Huge chunks of fresh crab - wonderful blend of spicy and lightly friend perfectly, not too much oil. It was lovely. Perfect way to start off the meal.


The Cheese curds were also good - not as phenomenal as the crab cake, but a great companion. They came with a light mustard sauce and tartar which both were yummy with the lightly fried cheese bits. They were very rich and you really couldn't eat more than a few.


Our dinner took a bit longer to get to us than seemed normal. It was a Friday night, and they were packed - however it seemed a bit long. We had our appetizers to munch on, and good company so it was forgivable. The only downside was that somehow - some random Nebraska Cornhusker fans found the place and were quite a distraction in my opinion. The Nebraska/Husky game was to be the next day and the fans were all in their teams gear and half way tipsy. With Husky fans across the restaurant - they would throw playful but LOUD banters and BARKS across the establishment. At first it was cute, the third time, chuckleable, and at the end of their meal (the middle of ours) it was downright annoying. I felt like telling them to go find a Red Robin...but then they left, and all was well in the world (until they beat the huskies the next day and I'm sure they raised hell somewhere else as well).

Our dinners came and were WELL worth the wait for every one of us. I had the American Wagyu Kobe Beef Burger. I love burgers and was so intrigued with this special Kobe meat. The waitress explained how special this meat was, with its captivity, its feeding and its location and how its marbled specially. I had to pick up my chin from the floor and wipe the drool to order it. I ordered it medium rare and I must say - I rarely get a restaurant to actually produce that. But they did. The meat was juicy, amazing texture and cooked to perfection. It was topped with sauteed and caramelized mushrooms and onions. The only surprise was the pickle, which I am not fond of - but it was easily removed.


The birthday boy ordered the Buttermilk Fried Chicken sandwich with a tangy coleslaw dressing. He said it was amazing, the coleslaw dressing was sweet and it complimented the salty fried chicken perfectly. With above average fresh french fries served on the side - the meal was perfect to fulfill his birthday wish.


Our friends ordered the Southern Fried Draper Valley Farms half chicken with creamed Spinach, and the Kasu Marinated Oregon Black Cod, served with Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms,and a baby buck choy and carrot ginger salad.

I watched my friend with the Cod - she ate it with her eyes closed half the time, saying she was enjoying tasting the distinct flavors and that the fish melted in her mouth. It was one of those kinds of dishes that you savor. When the fish was gone, there was a lovely dark broth left and she stole my spoon to enjoy more of it - fearing that putting the bowl to her face wouldn't go over well in this type of restaurant ha!


Her husband had the fried chicken - and said it was amazing. We had gone to Highlife in Ballard for their Sunday friend chicken weeks before and he said this was 10 times better. Not as heavy or greasy. It was served over a rich dark gravy with creamed spinach on the side. The only issue he had was that he would have enjoyed some mashed potatoes with this meal - he said it needed it. So he ordered french fries - which he said helped to make it feel complete. Overall - he said the dish was top notch.


With our bellies full we tried to decide whether or not to have dessert. At one point, while enjoying the full silence one of our friends said "This food is MEDICINAL!!" It was true, we were relaxed and happy. Watching various choices being served to tables around us - we were convinced. Their selection is really vast, considering. There were so many things I wanted to TRY. With such imaginative and amazing choices - my only suggestion to them would be to do small bites or tapas type servings and have a plate where you can order a small taste of them all. But alas - that is the suggestion from a sweet tooth with a never ending appreciation for wonderful and new dessert inventions.

So my friend and I had the Red Haven peach and blueberry crumble, with Cinnamon Ice Cream and caramel sauce. His wife had the Earl Grey tea Creme Brulee and the birthday boy had the Theo Chocolate peacan pie w/cocoa nibs and bourbon chantilly cream. The crumble was scrumptious. Lovely homemade crust - almost like an individual pie. Not too much fruit as sometimes happen.



The creme brulee got mixed reviews. She just kept saying "it is interesting", but no other words - she didn't finish it, so I'm sure it wasn't amazing but rather, interesting.


Finally - the birthday boys dessert. Theo chocolate pecan pie. In Kentucky they make a pie similar to this but its called Derby Pie -and its made during the Kentucky Derby traditionally. He said the pie was wonderful, with big chunks of locally owned Theo Chocolates. He said it was the perfect finishing touch to an amazing dinner. They topped it with a candle - sparred him the goofy singing and clapping most places do - and at the end of the night didnt charge him for his dessert.


The end of the night had arrived and we all were in the first stages of our food comas. A few days before when searching for a good place to have Friend Chicken - a few people also mentioned the King Fish Cafe. We have been there twice and both times, while the food has been great, the service is below average - even teetering on apathy which in my opinion should never be the attitude of people trying to sell a restaurants food and experience.

The Steelhead Diner was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest on the topic of service. Every employee smiled, greeted, the waitress was pleasant, sweet, attentive but also stayed away the perfect amount of time as not to meddle. Many restaurants could learn from this one as far as customer service skills go.

The food - phenomenal - the service - lovely. Total rating ***** You must eat here!

No One Dies in Lily Dale - not easily convinced

No One Dies In Lily Dale
Directed by: Steven Cantor
Documentary - HBO

Do I believe in Ghosts and or Spirits? Yes. Do I believe energies and spirits surround us? Of course. Do I think that there are certain gifted people that can see, feel and communicate with people that have passed and are now ghosts aka spirits? No.

I must say - when I read the title of this film and read its plot I was quite intrigued. I consider myself an open minded person when it comes to issues of spirituality and the super natural - HOWEVER I am quite the cynic when it comes to "certain people" being the only gifted ones able to "see" in these situations.

Lily Dale is a small town in upstate New York - that has the largest number of "registered" mediums recorded. They consider themselves a Spiritual Community. People travel there for readings, tourists go to feed their deepest curiosities and the inhabitants are there to "Answer questions" and of course, profit.

The documentary follows a select group of mediums - follows their daily life and does a bit of background on how they found their "gifts". They have these big open events - kind of like they did on John Edwards shows - you pay a fee, they spurt out a situation that has to get close to someone out of the 100 people there...you know the rest.

This movie had the POTENTIAL to be awesomely intriguing and interesting. Instead it was predictable and almost cheesy. At one point they showed a group of mediums - who said they get together and have a round table reading together so that they can read for each other! They all had their eyes closed and were talking in their soft whispery NPR voices and kept saying things like "Joe, you know your brother has been hanging around..." and then Joe says "Yes I have felt that, thank you Katherine for confirming that for me...". There are even 3 sisters who talk openly about seeing their dead parents in every day life. "You know Joan, mother is waving some hot brownies at you and giggling!" I am not trivializing this - this is the kind of things they were saying to each other. It was too cheesy to be real.

Am I am cynic? In some ways yes! Do i "believe"? Yes I do. I don't think ANYONE should have to pay for such spiritual and sensitive information and that if we all try and hone our skills - we all would be able to have these types of abilities at some level. As babies and children I feel we have these raw abilities and they are slowly suppressed as we grow and mature - to help fit what is "normal".

Almost every Medium in this movie told a customer at some point that their crossed over loved one, "Is at peace and doesn't want you to worry, know that they are fine...". Is that really what all ghosts and spirits think? I know there are angry spirits, and worrisome spirits, and sad and happy spirits. Show me a mad one! I want to see that! Don't just show me the happy stuff - how fake is that!

My rating for this movie is a 3 out of 5 stars. For such an amazing topic - it needed more depth and imagination. I would have liked to hear more into the background of the mediums and heard what death turned on or off their abilities.

My opinion - skip the flick and work on your own skills.

The Stoning of Soraya M. - Simply Stunning

The Stoning of Soraya M.
Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh
2008

Staring: Shohreh Aghdashloo, James Caviezel

My first thoughts after seeing this movie. Amazing, moving and utterly horrible. From the producer of the Passion of the Christ - this movie transports you to this tragic moment.

In Southwestern Iran, roughly thirty-five miles outside of the city of Kerman, lies the small village of Kupayeh. In 1986, French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam (played by James Caviezel) found himself stranded in this small mountain town. After walking a ways he finds an old man and basically forces him to fix his car. Everyone seems to be doing everything they can do get him, this foreigner that looks unlike them, to leave as quickly as he came.

Zahra, (Played flawlessly by Shohreh Aghdashloo) who feverishly relates a terrifying village conspiracy involving blackmail, misogyny, and murder. Zahra tells the journalist that she, as a woman in Iran, no longer has a voice and she pleads with him to "take her voice" and tell the world her story.

Zahra is the aunt of Soraya - a young beautiful iranian wife and mother of 4. We find Soraya struggling with a cheating and abusive husband - however because of the religious laws and culture, she was in trouble with the local mullas for not 'LAYING" with her husband.

Mozhan Marno plays Soraya. She portrays such an amazing balance of strength, silence and forced obedience. Mozhan was Soraya and made her so believable. Her horribly evil and decietful husband, Ali was played by Navid Negahban. His performance was chilling. I was scared of him. Honestly I was almost afraid of every man in this film.

The fact that this movie was a TRUE STORY and a COMMON PRACTICE made it that much more heartbreaking. I found myself weeping but not being able to tear my eyes away from the screen.


However, the women in this movie truly were its strength. The powerhouses that were the women during this era in Iran - but at the same time how submissive they had to be. It was a strange dichotomy to watch unfold but also such an admiring thing to witness. These women had their local faith leaders, their husbands, the laws of the land and every other man in their village, against them. "Here a woman must prove her innocence and a man must prove his guilt". That pretty much outlined the entire movie plot. The strength in their eyes, in their tears and in their jaws was mesmerizing. Shohreh was paralyzing in some scenes where she was reprimanding local men for their action, knowing full well her actions were punishable.

So the end of the movie isnt a secret -- its in the title. You know its coming and that it will happen. So I am not ruining anything. What was shocking was HOW it happened and how they played out the moments before and after - that will not ruin. It is done in a way that takes your breath away and may be too visceral for some. You spend half the movie learning Soraya's story and know the moment is coming - however knowing the injustice makes the moment that much more horrible to experience.

For me the REASON she was stoned was so hard to swallow. The injustices against women in that part of the world - even to this day - are hard to believe when you live in America.

I am one of those liberal women who still think women have far to go to be equal in America - but when I see a movie like this, it really gives me some perspective and even if just for a few moments, makes me appreciative of our government, our laws and our freedom.

I have many Persian friends, and the one part of the movie I enjoyed was the Farsi and subtitled and then the small amounts of English that were thrown in. The translation from Farsi to English is humorous at times - words and phrases that are horrible in Farsi arent so horrible in English ("poison of snake") etc.

This movie is a must see for all adults - no children under 15 should see this, in my opinion - the stoning scene is very graphic and emotionally difficult.

Rating: *****

Available on Netflixs instant play now

Ghetto Ballet - a touching story that still shows the brutal side of the dance world

GHETTO BALLET
Directed by: Jeremy Simmons
HBO Documentary

The movie takes place in a small township outside of Capetown, South Africa. Labeled as one of the poorest townships in the area - the movie focuses on a handful of youth, trying to break out of township.

A program called DANCE FOR ALL - was started in Cape Town (a bus ride away) and these teens saw it as their ticket out. Dance for All was created in 1991 by white ballet dancer and teacher, Philip Boyd. Boyd wanted to bring change to the segregated ballet culture and to this day teaches 1000 youth from the townships that would not otherwise be able to have the opportunity to take a dance class.
Now you can imagine this program would be overrun with kids if it was just open classes. Once a year they have auditions, to find youth that have rare and raw talent that they can work with. After one year of training, they will have exams and have a chance to be invited to the Youth Company connected to the school and is the stepping stone to a professional company.



This story spotlights on Simbalke, Vuyelwa, Tusili, and Fiona. The film touchingly follows their daily life, where ballet, dancing and a dream of being a ballerina, is the farthest from reality, but that somehow this dream helps them get through their days. We watch their training process and their diet control, which was an interesting part of the story-line. Many of the families don't have a healthy diet because of money - watching the kids try to become healthy eaters with the little they have, it difficult but inspiring.

Without ruining the story - I can tell you the anticipation of the exams and results is almost maddening! A few kids almost become sick - just lamenting, explaining that if they doesn't happen for them, they don't know what they will do. Then I realized that the "cut throat" ballet world was still existent in this movie, and it made me sad. The odds for the average youth in dance to "make it big" is slim to none. The odds for these kids are even less.

At this point the movie started to make me feel a bit sick. I just didn't think it was fair giving the kids a false hope that had little to no benefit for their future.

Then there was the exam scene. I watched Vuyelwa dance and heard her explain how she felt when she danced and realized - anything is possible. Surprisingly during the movie, one of the youth gets pulled out and offered a job with the Cape Town ballet, then BAM, professional career. On the other hand, another one of the youths parents don't like how much time she is spending dancing, they need her help at home, so she quits. One is accepted into the youth ballet, and one is rejected. The rejection was so hard to watch.

The dancing scenes and interviews were done beautifully. Overall the story is touching and inspiring. A great movie for anyone in the dance world or with appreciation for it.

Rating: ****

The Sailfish Bar and Grill - Good when its open...

Sailfish Grill
104 N Lewis St
Monroe, WA 98272

(360) 794-4056

This small, exclusive, upscale eatery has been a fixture in Monroe for atleast the 9 years we have been here. Its a bit pricey but the quality of the food is worth it.

Its a hit or miss finding them open. They have hours posted, but I swear we have been there a few times at a "normal" restaurant hour, and they have been shut up for the night.

We arrived late and there were a few people in the bar. The kitchen is lovely and open so you can see the chef's creating. The staff was sitting at a booth relaxing when we came in. A sweet boy in no noticeable uniform sat us with a smile. For a restaurant that has the kind of food and prices they have, I was surprised to see him in street clothes. I mean literally like pants and a flannel. I guess we ARE in Monroe still, ha.


The menu is small but there are choices - because their specialty is seafood - we opted for the Crab Cakes. They were light and very savory - lots of herbs and the sauce was a great complement.

We both chose pasta dishes for our main dishes. Now for someone who is VERY picky about pasta - their pasta was on the chewy side. It was almost like they tried alittle too hard to make it Aldente.

Flavor-wise both dishes were great. One was penne pasta with salmon in a light parmesean sauce, with grilled vegetables, all topped with freshly grated Parmesean. The other was Linguini with grilled shrimp in a creamy pesto sauce, with grilled vegetables on the side. Both were full of flavor and generous portions.



I have to say - dessert was almost better than dinner. I decided to have their version of Flan and my husband had chocolate chip bread pudding. Both were divine - made with rich creams and served warm.

Most definately in the top 5 best restaurants in Monroe - Sailfish is a must try when you are in the area and feeling like a nicer upscale place for dinner.

RATING" ****