OMG, we are drunk at The Herbfarm
Ann says
Abe and I are woefully busy. His work seems to pile up bigger and bigger no matter how many late nights and weekends he works, and I am nursing school. As far as I am concerned, no more needs to be said. Last week we ordered take-out twice and I have been making turkey sandwiches for lunch most days if not simply buying some stupid expensive crappy sandwich from somewhere else. I got sick. Abe got busier.
It seems to be my curse every fall that it is unhealthfully busy. I am either switching schools, moving house, starting a job, or leaving one. I get sick every year without fail, and get told by numerous people to either take loads of vitamin C or Airborne or echinacea, or just to drink lots of tea. I have, in the past, tried all of these methods with no success. So I gave them all up and when a cold strikes, I put my head over a bowl of boiling hot water with lemon and ginger in it, drink tea with lemon and ginger and honey, and take brief walks for fresh air.
But that’s not what this post is about. OH NO. As you can see, this is a post about my birthday dinner at The Herbfarm. What is The Herbfarm you ask? It is a restaurant in Woodinville, city about 30 minutes out of Seattle. I had heard that they were big on local and big on organic, but I was unprepared for how intense they were. It was lovely. I was most excited by the goose liver that was in fact free range goose liver raised humanely (without force feeding) on the same grounds in Western Washington as the lemongrass from Duvall, whose flavor could be found in the aioli that dressed a tempura fried bears tooth mushroom…
Which brings me to the theme of the night. A Mycologist’s Dream. Mushrooms galore! I love mushrooms of all kinds and was so excited when Abe suggested going for my 23rd birthday. That’s right, I am a mere 23 years old, bitches! I am younger than you! Anyway, the night was one I will never forget. We got there at 4:00 for a walk through their gardens and were greeted with a warm fireplace and a cup of hot apple cider. We met their two truffling pigs in training and tasted some herbs from the garden. Escorted into the dining room, we sat down to some sparkling wine, our first course, and a talk from a mycologist, one of the sommeliers, and the head chef himself. A tad long, but totally informative and worthwhile, we were launched into a 4 hour meal with 9 courses and some taste-treats and tea at the end.
Abe says
…The eponymous thought of this post occurred to us more than at least a couple months before even setting foot in The Herbfarm. I admit a certain apprehension; although they retained their top spot in the 2008 Seattle Zagat guide, they did so under the auspices of chef Jerry Traunfeld who left not long before publication (to start a wonderful restaurant, Poppy) and was replaced by Keith Luce. I’d read a couple mixed reviews and also about one of the proprietor’s Ebay addictions.
The décor was eclectic, that was completely okay. What turned out to be even more okay was the ridiculously elaborate place settings that held court over the dining rooms; to be honest I totally love that kind of stuff, even though sitting down the stemware loomed phalanx-like between us. Between the tour and the long introduction following the first course (replete with swooshing curtains) there was a certain degree of contrivance about the whole affair, but in truth it was perfectly pleasant and like the glasses held an appropriate place in the whole of the restaurant.
I was a little surprised to find such things as miso foam, wine sorbet, and black truffle ice cream at a fiercely local, lavishly old-styled restaurant that makes its own butter, cheese, and mortadella, but everything was tasteful, tasty, and precisely executed.
The bear’s tooth tempura was exceptional (the top left of the three appetizers in the first photo). The Fresh-Made Cheese & Foraged Fungi was flat out delicious. The Honey-Glazed Lobster Mushrooms with black-pepper Syrah ice was intensely both smoky and sweet but completely enjoyable. I also loved the rose geranium bavarian cream in the dessert trio, and the caramel-filled chocolate mignardise in particular.
After being seated one of the waitstaff came around offering a choice of three herbs, which was soon met with sparkling wine. Above, lemon verbena.
Ann says
All kinds of mushrooms were used, but my favorite application of them of all the courses was probably roasted honey glazed porcinis (the poor man’s steak). It was tender and wonderfully meaty in flavor. As Abe already described in his usual ridiculous fashion, the most interesting part was either the refreshingly odd black truffle ice cream sandwich or the heavily smoked lobster mushroom paired with a red wine ice. I will never get over that boy’s vocabulary or the way he uses it with reckless abandon. As far as the event being a little contrived, I personally never even got a whiff of that. I felt like for the price of the evening, for the walk through the gardens, for the extreme degree that they adhere to being local and organic, their explanations and pomp were totally called for. I wanted to know about all the food. I want to know where everything is coming from, and I want to know who is cooking it.
Another meal I will never forget. It was a completely awesome birthday present.
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