Tilth Restaurant--Anyone been yet? [SEA]
Has anyone been to this new restaurant yet? We liked the chef when she was at Earth & Ocean, but even though Tilth is only 4 blocks from us we haven't had a chance to try it yet. (And we're still mourning Cafe Mandalay, which was formerly in this spot.) Any suggestions/comments? Thanks!
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We went a couple of nights ago. Although we weren't completely bowled over by the food, it was quite tasty and the overall meal was very pleasant. Nice touches include an amuse to start (shot of house-made orange soda w/vanilla) and a complimentary sweet to end. (And moderately priced: $114 (bf tax/tip) for 4 courses for 2, including bottle of wine). I particularly appreciate Tilth's keeping the price down given they use almost exclusively organic products (except for wild things, which aren't certified, and a couple of other items, all of which are identified as non-organic). The converted home provides nice nooks for tables. Contrary to other comments, I thought the portions were fine (and I -- unfortunately -- like large portions :-) ). Special kudos to the all-American cheese plate, which comes with accompaniments of mostarda, nuts and flatbread/cracker. They list (6) cheeses on the blackboard listing the type (sheep/cow/goat and hardness), producer and producer's local and are available 1 for $5, 3 for $12, and 5 for $15. I'd go back.
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babette feasts
Sep 25, 2006 04:57 AM
Yes! Went on Thursday. First off, I will admit that it was a celebratory occasion, so my friends and I were not in highly critical mode. Also there was some wine, so details are fuzzy. Four of us shared several things, which meant a bite or two of the small plates and a few more of the large. The menu had not changed from what was posted on the website.
Amuse bouche was a little heirloom tomato salad with kalamata olives in an asian spoon. Melon salad with feta and mint was delightful, might have been nice to have larger pieces of melon that the 1/4" dice so you could taste the varieties separately, but overall flavor was great. Duck mini burgers with fingerling chips were the favorite, followed by the pork belly and the short ribs with mac n cheese. Nicoise-style tuna was very good, halibut was good but probably the least exciting dish. We tried the steak tartare as a novelty; I liked my bite and a half.
Desserts were simple but good. My favorite was the corn creme brulee with bacon bits - really good, true corn flavor. The theo chocolate pot de creme was small but very intense so it didn't really need to be bigger. Huckleberry tart was good but simple - just berries in pastry, and the black pepper ice cream seemed to have a whole lot more nutmeg than one might expect. The flavor worked fine, it was just that the initial 'oooh, nutmeg!' threw us off. To end, a little shot of watermelon juice.
Service was fine, but the evening did stretch a little long. Flavors and presentation were all good. Some people might find the portions a little small - if places like Lark piss you off, you might not be entirely happy at Tilth (but then I haven't been to Lark in two years, maybe their portions have gotten bigger, and I don't think Tilth's were quite that extremely small - five bites for the small plates was an accurate description). Everyone in our party would be willing to go back.
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