I’m sitting at an all-day meeting at Microsoft (it’s weird to be back), and quite hungry, so I started thinking about food and my experience with food recently.
Part of the reason I am so hungry is that today is the last day of Pesach (Passover in english), which as you all most likely know, restricts our ability to eat bread for 8 days. Along with bread, there are a ton of additional food items that are disqualified, especially in the Ashkenazic, or Eastern European, Jewish mindset. Examples of other forbidden food items are corn, rice, most grains, beans, legumes, and peanuts. I tend to go a bit heavy-handed in my following of the rules, both from being technically interested in the various rules and regulations surrounding the holiday, and from enjoying the tradition and differentiation it provides. But, as the 8 days ends, I definately get sick of it 
The Seattle Va’ad has a pretty detailed guide up at http://zekainim.tripod.com/passoverguide5766.pdf, but that is primarily for the Orthodox world. For Conservative changes, I have been following http://www.herzl-ner-tamid.org/pdf/pesach5766.pdf, and augmenting it with the orthodox guide when I have questions. Microsoft has brought in Kosher-for-Passover meals for people who ordered it (2), but I forgot to email them and get one ordered 
Luckily – just to be safe, I brought food with me that I can eat – it’s a little boring though – matzah and smoked turkey sandwich with some sort of weird corn-syrup-less ketchup, and matzah meal encrusted eggplant cutlets, along with a piece of fruit. And oh yeah, a corn-syrup-less Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda, which is my Passover staple drink. Thankfully it’s over tonight!
The Seattle Va’ad has a pretty detailed guide up at http://zekainim.tripod.com/passoverguide5766.pdf, but that is primarily for the Orthodox world. For Conservative changes, I have been following http://www.herzl-ner-tamid.org/pdf/pesach5766.pdf, and augmenting it with the orthodox guide when I have questions. Microsoft has brought in Kosher-for-Passover meals for people who ordered it (2), but I forgot to email them and get one ordered Luckily – just to be safe, I brought food with me that I can eat – it’s a little boring though – matzah and smoked turkey sandwich with some sort of weird corn-syrup-less ketchup, and matzah meal encrusted eggplant cutlets, along with a piece of fruit. And oh yeah, a corn-syrup-less Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda, which is my Passover staple drink. Thankfully it’s over tonight!Before Pesach, I also had some interesting food experiences. Joelle and I went out to dinner with friends a couple of nights in a row. Once to Pomodoro (http://www.pomodoro.net/), perhaps my favorite local Spanish/Italian restaraunt. Just down the street from us, it’s in a building that doesn’t exude class, but does have an excellent wine selection and menu. I am a huge fan of their gnocchi dish (just asking them to skip the sausage). I’ve been there 5-6 times since I have lived in Seattle, and have never had a bad experience. It’s definately one of the hidden finds, especially compared to it’s more famous neighbour – http://www.serafinaseattle.com/, which in my mind, is not as good food at twice the cost.
Eastlake (our neighborhood) also recently had a brand new resteraunt open – Sitka and Spruce, which recieved some good writeups (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2002850624_taste08.html, for example), even before it opened. We’ve stopped in 3 times, but only eaten there once. The first time was just to check it out, since it had just opened. The next day, we tried to go with friends, but it was over-packed. The following day, we made reservations with some of our "more foodie" friends, and had a great dinner while discussing various aspects of food — hence, the term "foodie", which is an apt description for this place. It’s a good mixture of small plate meals, communal eating, and good food. Each entree can be ordered in various sizes, small, medium, large, and the medium was large enough to share. Food was reasonably priced, and a nice selection – someone got duck, someone got brisket, a 3rd halibut, and I got a Roman Gnocchi (which is more like a kugel than a pasta dish in my mind). Most importantly – they had excellent wine at the $22 price, which is an amazing value for a resteraunt. The whole theme, now that I think about it, reminds me of the "American Workshop" the contestants on Bravo’s Top Chef (which has quickly become one of our favorite shows – think of it as Iron Chef meets Survivor) put together last night. I really enjoy that style of eating – good communal American food.
Until next time
