From the Rooftop: Colin's View: Bees!

Colin McCrate and Seattle Urban Farm Co. make Bastille’s rooftop garden possible. Colin has agreed to write a garden update for our blog, giving readers monthly status on what's growing upstairs.

I am sure that you have been impatiently awaiting an update on the rooftop garden. I apologize if anyone had difficulty sleeping, tossing and turning while thinking “For crying out loud, I need to know what is going on in the Bastille rooftop garden...NOW!” Fear no longer, locavores.

Particularly of note, even in the colder weather that we have had the past few weeks, the bees have been very active and have started storing quite a bit of honey.

Corky Luster, of Ballard Bee Company, says we are ready to start harvesting honey from the hives. The photo below shows us examining the hive frames to assess how healthy the bees are (very healthy).



Below is a frame that the bees are packing full of honey as we speak:


Elsewhere on the roof, the salad greens are growing well and have been enjoying the past few sunny days tremendously, we can see them here catching some rays late last week…


More to come in the next few weeks!

Colin

No Mercy from Gramercy Cellars!

No Mercy from Gramercy!

Behind an iron gated front label, within walls of glass and under cork is a wine like few others from Washington State, resting undisturbed in patience. “GARSON!!” That is until a savvy or rather lucky--and equally fortunate wine patron orders a bottle from our “Damn Good Wine List”, here at Bastille Café & Bar. The wine, Gramercy Cellars “Inigo Montoya” Tempranillo 2007, is without a doubt Walla Walla at its very best. It’s made by Greg Harrington, the youngest American to ever pass the Master Sommelier Exam, and he has a merciless approach to his winemaking. Greg’s work with this grape (Tempranillo), has quite simply dumbfounded the Washington wine community with its only recently realized potential.

Gramercy Cellars was founded in 2005 by Greg and his wife Pam, who handles the marketing and retail sales. Their philosophy to making wine is the following: in order to make truly great wines it takes minimal intervention, great vineyards, time and patience. They look to select only the very best grapes, harvest ripe (not overripe) and avoid smothering the wine in new oak, like so many in the business do. Regardless, the point is, IT’S FRICKIN’ WORKING!!!

The levels of complexity that this wine achieves are staggering, here are my tasting notes: Dried fruits of raisins and dates; fall leaves; earth; and a medley of fresh wild red, black and blue fruit--it’s a wine for thinking. I sensed moderate levels of alcohol and noted a lacing of firm acidity. A focus wine for me, is one that has no apparent end or beginning, and it slithers down the center of you palate. This wine does just that for me. Add to that a bite of braised beef or a morsel of wild mushroom…have another sip, and time becomes easily lost, also seemingly endless. I could go on…

For all things holy, take the time to taste this wine. It may not be on the Bastille wine list for long. Other wines listed from Greg Harrington include: Gramercy Cellars Syrah “Lagniappe” and Wines of Substance, Cabernet Sauvignon (his second label), by the glass for $10. Show no mercy!

Dave Bender is a sommelier and

Terrace Opening Day!

The time is 4:30 pm. It is Monday. Our character is walking down Ballard Avenue, hoping for a glimpse of sunshine, just a ray, a flash of hope that perhaps, just perhaps today we'll hit T-shirt temperatures.

Wait! There it is. A shred of light - it's coming! The luminescence transforms the street into The Land of No Worries! Gaining momentum, our patio habitué begins scouring the block. Where might he enjoy a beer and a lamb burger, all the while soaking up his vitamin D? There must be somewhere!!!

There! Just over the herb retainer, a woman sits with a glass of rosé and a beet salad! She is intoxicating. Her euphoria entrances him. He has found his slice of heaven.

It is May 3rd, the official opening day of Bastille's patio. See you there.

Jason's ode to Piggy Parts

Jason Stonburner, Bastille’s Chef de Cuisine, has been busy in the kitchen with the pigs. Bastille’s daily pâté maison is just one example of the delicious morsels the folks in the back have been pulling together. In addition to the pâté, other house made charcuterie includes our sausage, terrines, galantines and confit.
Here, Jason shares one of his favorite terrines, Tête de Cochon. Get yourself a pig and give it a try!

Tête de Cochon
1ea piglet head
2ea whole carrots
2ea whole onion
1ea whole leek
1ea head garlic
4 bay leaves
1 sachet filled with the following
2 Tbl fennel seed
2 Tbl mustard seed
2 Tbl peppercorns
1 Tbl fenugreek
1 large tied bunch of thyme
6 cups of dry white wine
1 gallon water
Sea salt

Starting from the back, carefully separate the face from the skull by cutting and peeling it back. Leave the cheeks on the skull to be removed after the face has been cut away. Reserve the skull for soup stock. Remove the tongue. Clean any excess spongy fat and glands from the face. You only want to be left with dense fat and face meat. Place the head, tongue, cheeks, snout, and, yes, the ears in a pot with all ingredients and simmer on low heat for 4-5 hours. The piggy parts should be fork tender. Pull the head out of the braising liquid, season with sea salt and let cool for about an hour. Line a terrine mold with plastic wrap, leaving the excess plastic at the top. Arrange the braised piggy parts in a way that you will get a little of everything in one slice. Once the terrine mold is full use the excess plastic to fold over the top and press the terrine by placing weight on top (wine bottles and cans work well). Let the terrine cool for one day. Slice and serve with mustard, your favorite greens and cornichons.

Bastille Wine Culture

Wine Culture at Bastille

One of the challenges of running the Bastille wine program lies in finding great value wine that performs above it’s price tag. I feel strongly that we couldn’t offer so much good wine at such reasonable prices if we didn’t have France as our main subject. That is partly due to “winonomics” and partly to the French wine tradition.

Wine is indivisible from French Culture. Its consumption within France is largely regional; you are as likely to find Burgundians drinking Bordeaux as you are to find the Bordelais drinking Burgundy, which is to say, rarely, if ever. You are equally likely to find a Frenchman drinking wine without food, which is one reason why most of what is consumed in France is simple wine – typical of the region in which it is grown, accessible, delicious. Most of us can’t afford to drink Montrachet with every meal, and even if we could, we wouldn’t want to (and even if we wanted to, there ain’t enough of it). It would be inappropriate – too grand – for a croque monsieur. Save the Montrachet for the milestones, drink Mâcon along the way.

This basic logic informs the culture that we wish to promote at Bastille. Most of our list is at the village level, with a drop or two of the more elevated stuff. Nonetheless, we treat it all as worthy of our attention and study. Sauternes and foie gras can be marvelous, but so can Pic St.-Loup and charcuterie. We hope to serve wines that speak of the soil in which they were grown, not because we’re snobby Francophiles but because those wines tend to be full of character and typically pair well with food.

It’s not all about French wine, of course – we do have some damn good wine from our own back yard to pick from. But the premise holds; if we can’t serve it with food, if it isn’t full of character, we don’t serve it. Washington and Oregon have a ways to go in order to catch up with the French at the value level, but they are well on their way. We are thrilled to support the winemakers and growers who are pushing Northwest wine in the right direction.

Within these blogs we hope you’ll get a glimpse of some of the characters we put to use night in and night out. We’ll feature short, informative, engaging pieces by one of our star sommeliers, Dave Bender, with additions from the rest of the staff and myself.

À votre santé!

James Lechner
Wine Director

Shannon's Food Philosophy

Chef Shannon Galusha’s Food Philosophy

At the core of Bastille's kitchen is Chef Shannon's thoughtful approach to cookery. Here he explains his take on sourcing, preparation, and presentation:

I strive to source impeccable ingredients as close to home as possible, to cook them in such a way as to delineate and intensify their natural flavors and texture, and to garnish the plate with interesting and seasonal ingredients (herbs, spices and condiments) that draw on a range of intrinsic and extrinsic influences.

My vision is to create a plate that fully engages the diner while not disguising the natural flavor of whatever I’m working with. I like to “complicate” the dish by presenting only its essential elements. This is simple food at its most complex. By the end of the meal, I want people to feel happy: well-fed and nourished, certainly, but also delighted. Eating should be pleasurable.

The quintessential Café experience should be one of pleasure. One shouldn’t have to struggle or stretch to understand what’s going on. I like to give people food that is at once, familiar and, at the same time, that may surprise with an unexpected ingredient or flavor.

Bastille Participates in . . .

3 COURSES, $25!

Please join us for dinner Sunday through Thursday nights, April 18th - 29th, during which time we'll be offering the following 3 course menu for $25 in addition to our regular menu:

STARTERS
Salade d’Asperges Vertes
Grilled asparagus, sardine vinaigrette, baguette en croûte

Grilled Beef Tongue
Marinated kale rabe

Foie de Veau
Sautéed calf’s liver, leek soubise & butter-poached potato


ENTREES
Braised Spring Lamb & Vegetable Navarin
New crop onions, carrots & potatoes with braising jus

Paquet de Chèvre
Roasted Cyprus Grove and chèvre potato crepe with olive oil poached mushrooms & wild onions

Wilson Fish Long-Line Halibut
Capers, anchovy & tomato confit, sel gris

DESSERTS
Papillon Roquefort with Date & Hazelnut Terrine

Goat’s Milk Sherbet with Chèvre “Pot” & Rhubarb

Butter Caramel Feuilltine & Butterscotch Ice Cream

Menus are subject to change. Please call restaurant for menu details. Not valid Friday or Saturday.

Please call for reservations: 206.453.504

or book online: www.bastilleseattle.com/reservations/

From the Rooftop: Colin's View

Colin McCrate and Seattle Urban Farm Co. make Bastille’s rooftop garden possible. Colin has agreed to write a garden update for our blog, giving readers monthly status on what's growing upstairs.

As you have probably noticed, spring has arrived a few months ahead of schedule (or maybe winter never actually happened). In any event, the rooftop garden is ready to celebrate.

Last week we harvested the last of the winter Savoy cabbage (see photo below). This week we started to clear out some of the winter salad greens (spinach, claytonia, etc.) and are now planting our first spring crops.


So far, we have seeded both arugula (photo below) and curly cress. Over the next few weeks, we will be planting a few new varieties of baby head lettuce (look for these on your plate in April). If the ridiculously warm winter is any indication of coming attractions, look for plenty of early spring salad greens coming from the rooftop.


Until next time!

Colin

What's in a Name? That Which We Call a Prison . . .

Emilia Arnold is a valued member of our service team. Below she talks about the joys of life in "prison" (the food's better than she might have imagined!) and how we came to be named after one.

Bienvenue à la Bastille!

We Bastillians often refer to the restaurant, fondly, as "The Prison." We are hopelessly devoted - and at times, imprisoned - by our dedication to the task of serving délicieux French food in Ballard.

But there's a legacy to the name that dates back to 12th-century France. Bastille Café & Bar is named for la prise de la Bastille, a fortress and prison that once stood in the heart of Paris. It's not there anymore, because the people of France stormed and destroyed the massive prison in 1789, starting the French Revolution.

The first time I met Bastille owners Deming Maclise and James Weimann, I couldn't help but ask, "why Bastille?" They said the name appealed to them because Bastille was, and is, the symbol of the beginning of the Revolution ... the start of something big.

We may not be rebelling against an oppressive monarchy here, but we are très sérieux about everything from baguettes and butter to superior service. For a prison, our Bastille is actually quite a great place to eat, drink and experience the joie de vivre.

--Emilia Arnold