tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post6222335195144281672..comments2024-01-19T23:25:38.879-08:00Comments on surly gourmand: Perche' noSurly Gourmandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879641797332480079noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-37162788755971063922009-11-06T22:26:35.164-08:002009-11-06T22:26:35.164-08:00Dear Surly Gourmand,
I really enjoyed reading...Dear Surly Gourmand,<br /><br /> I really enjoyed reading your review of this restaurant. Passing by such an odd looking place so often as I do, I have commented to my partner on many occasions how much I would like to try that restaurant. Well we finally did so this past Tuesday. We tried our best to keep the bill cheap and forewent any wine for water. We shared the rattle snake risotto appetizer, Fiore con Funghi Porcini e Olio di Tartufi, and a panna cotta for dessert. We sat on the second floor right above the kitchen and conversed with the chef as he prepared our food. The snake-rice (rattler risotto) was very flavorful and I enjoyed all of its complex flavors but my partner said she felt that the flavors just drowned out the snake and defeated the purpose. $15 seems steep for an appetizer but then again, you're paying for the novelty of a meat that tastes like chicken yet has fishbones to pick out of it.<br /> The pasta entree with the fantastically long name was underwhelming. Like so many pastas, it was almost bland and left me deconstructing it to wonder 'how would I make this at home?' or better yet 'how would I have made this better had I made it myself?'.<br /> Our dessert, the panna cotta, was a piece of art presented on a large plate with I believe a mango sauce painted around its perimeter and a shallow sea of the most brilliant and delicious raspberry puree I have ever enjoyed. That dessert for only $5 made me forget all about paying $15 for the appetizer.<br /> I'll say this: Italian restaurants basically suck. Well actually, Chinese restaurants basically suck, Italian restaurants merely suck most of the time. So 2nd place. I have lived in The Bronx and in New Jersey as well as here and the snootiness that East Coaster's possess for their own Italian food is worth about as much as a warm bucket of hamster vomit. The Eastern seaboard needs to get over itself. "Italian-Americans" are about as Italian as the fortune cookies served at any Happy Lucky Golden Dragon. I cook real Italian food at home and none of the dishes are offered on the menu at so called Italian restaurants, so I (and you) should go into said restaurants knowing that you're gonna get some cliches. <br /> However good or bad you may feel the decor or menu or cuisine, I will say that the service we received at Perche No, was hands down the best service I have ever had at any restaurant in Seattle. Let me qualify that by saying that restaurant service in Seattle, by and large sucks harder than Divine Brown on Oscar night. We got out of there for $37 ($43 with tip), had a very good time and ate mostly good food. I would rather go to Bizzaro than Perche No for location, decor, menu, but if I had a group of six people and wanted to entertain with a restaurant spectacle, Perche No would be just the thing.<br /><br /> -SeattleJusty-SeattleJustynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-83268344540016025092009-08-05T10:34:46.525-07:002009-08-05T10:34:46.525-07:00Glenn,
you fucking nailed it re: "pan- Itali...Glenn,<br /><br />you fucking nailed it re: "pan- Italian." The problem is in fact that the real regional cuisine often features rare local ingredients that would be too expensive to import here, and the "pan- Italian" stuff is just lame shorthand. So it's tough for a restaurant to find the right balance.<br /><br />Part of the problem here in Seattle is that (from what I've heard, at least) the permitting process for restaurants is prohibitively byzantine and expensive. Someone should run for mayor on a platform of cutting through some of this red tape. <br /><br />As for your lament about the difficulties in dining with the fasmily in tow, Spinasse seems very accomodating to children, so why not check them out sometime?<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Your Friend the Surly Motherfucking GourmandSurly Gourmandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15879641797332480079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-73671540402388568912009-08-05T10:25:53.563-07:002009-08-05T10:25:53.563-07:00Big Dirty,
Maybe it wasn't the real owner.
...Big Dirty,<br /><br />Maybe it wasn't the real owner. <br /><br />Maybe it was just some guy off the street who wanders into different restaurants, pretending to be the owner, then promises free desserts to people, then leaves, cackling to himself in ruthless glee because he gets his kicks by tricking people into spending money.<br /><br />However, I feel your pain. The vibe I got from Perche' no was that they were a bunch of grandstanding fucks. If I ever open a restaurant, if you come in I'll comp you a free ice cream sundae. With nuts.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Your Friend the Surly Motherfucking Gourmand<br /><br />PS your Italian quote, when entered into Google Translate, means "Why, no? Because your food and cockatoos." Did you find a parrot in your pasta? The service must REALLY suck.Surly Gourmandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15879641797332480079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-50032113012471985722009-08-05T10:21:50.997-07:002009-08-05T10:21:50.997-07:00Very useful advice.
I'm often dubious about t...Very useful advice.<br /><br />I'm often dubious about the super-regional restaurants, unless they're actually run by people who were born and raised (or spent years in) a place.<br /><br />When I lived in Maine, there was this remarkable restaurant in Owl's Head, I'm blanking out on the name, that specialized in Swiss cuisine. Run by a Swiss chef from, I think, the canton in which Basel is found. I had spent several days in Basel, and it was all perfect what he offered. (I don't think he served brötli, the half-slice-of-bread with topping for a crazily expensive price that's a Basel specialty.)<br /><br />So what I often find at an "Italian" restaurant is not very interested because it's trying to be pan-Italian, I suppose. I like Cafe Lago because it's got its own identity that has some vague relationship with Italy, but it's really just Cafe Lago food.<br /><br />I haven't been to either restaurant you recommend, so that'll be fun to do (two small children at home have restricted dining out and budget). <br /><br />I'm fortunately not an East Coaster, and thus don't think everything here sucks, restaurants or otherwise. It's true that I could get a great, cheap, authentic meal in New Haven or New York that you simply can't find here. But that's the big city thing -- even New Haven being a small city has a lot of big city properties to it.Glenn Fleishmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18089053163077964247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-25573788180295764732009-08-05T10:16:02.093-07:002009-08-05T10:16:02.093-07:00Glenn,
What people call "Italian" food ...Glenn,<br /><br />What people call "Italian" food is such a slippery slope; there are so many italian regions and city- states and all that bullshit, and they've each got a distinctive cuisine. <br /><br />When the Italian nation became unified in 1861, they were effectively binding together a whole bunch of fucks who generally hated each other for centuries. Which is exactly what would happen if your mom and I got married.<br /><br />So I don't know how you'd define "Italian." <br /><br />Plus, east coasters are notorious for complaining about how bad the food in Seattle sucks. Of course, that's coming from me, the Grand Wizard of Complainers.<br /><br />But you asked me what my favorite Italian restaurants in Seattle are, and I'm going to tell you: Spinasse and Cantinetta are clearly the best. If you haven't been to either place, I command you to go immediately. <br /><br />If you HAVE been to Spinasse and Cantinetta but what you're looking for is some New Jersey style "spaghetti with red gravy," then your local middle school cafeteria can probably fit the bill.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Your Friend the Surly Motherfucking GourmandSurly Gourmandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15879641797332480079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-67460971401200299582009-08-04T18:50:35.100-07:002009-08-04T18:50:35.100-07:00LOLLOLnostamwerdnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08476712325899589122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-76965343642051766432009-08-04T13:22:17.783-07:002009-08-04T13:22:17.783-07:00I could not agree more. This place underwhelmed a...I could not agree more. This place underwhelmed and overcharged me. I went about a year ago with my mother and friends and the owner came to our table after we dropped a few hundred on average food and expensive wine and he told us that although none of us wanted dessert he was going to bring us some. THEN HE CHARGED US FOR IT! Get it together asshat. I spend a few hundred you bring me something complimentary and maybe I don't talk poorly of your service on top of your crappy food, but now all I got to say about this place now is "Perche, no? Perche il vostro alimento e cacato"BigDirtyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17062986218491815317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13253180.post-387560044877347872009-08-03T21:54:58.108-07:002009-08-03T21:54:58.108-07:00I've generally been disappointed in what's...I've generally been disappointed in what's called Italian food in Seattle, after having lived for 7 years on the east coast, 5 of them in New Haven. <br /><br />I like Cafe Lago, which is just a couple leaps away from my house, but I don't quite think of it as Italian food, because almost no food in Italy is made that way. Still, I have favorite dishes there.<br /><br />But what do you like for <i>echt</i> Italian food in Seattle?Glenn Fleishmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18089053163077964247noreply@blogger.com