Je suis revenu à notre belle Cité émeraude! It feels so good to be back. I was wrong about the bears. It was the wood ticks that were the real menace. Eep.
And what better way to celebrate our return home than dinner with friends and family at the house Tom Douglas built. Is there a more iconic, quintessential restaurant in Seattle than the Dahlia Lounge? Well, maybe Ivar’s – but Dahlia Lounge is certainly one of the most important defining sources for upscale Northwest cuisine that I can think of. It was totally the place to go for special occasions when we were young and poor and wanted to feel sophisticated. It was the place we’d take Mom & Dad when they were visiting (and paying). It was where we first discovered salmon, where I ate my first rabbit.
Dahlia Lounge is the foundation of Tom Douglas’ empire, and has been instrumental in helping to establish and mainstream our regional food identity. Douglas won the James Beard award for Best Northwest Chef in 1994, wrote some pretty celebrated cookbooks, and most importantly, inspired a number of chefs from his kitchens to go out and create amazing places of their own (see Mark Fuller at Spring Hill, for example). Also he defeated Morimoto on Iron Chef America. That’s mad skills.
I find the atmosphere at Dahlia Lounge to be unabashedly sexy. It’s all deep red paint and dark wood and lights turned down low. Colorful paper lanterns light up the ceiling and papier-mâché fish line the shelves, casting a soft glow from within. The space is fairly cavernous, but doesn’t get too noisy (at least not compared to the epic din at Palace Kitchen). It’s very sensuous and romantic and I would highly recommend it for a date night.
The service at Dahlia Lounge is generally extraordinary, which is why I was pretty shocked that our server for this particular evening was not only slightly rude, but even a touch snide. I decided to let it slide because I’ve had such genuinely notable service in the past, plus I think we’re all probably suffering from tourist fatigue. Still, for the prices they charge at Dahlia Lounge, servers should be giving out handjobs with the crab cakes, so I hope this is an isolated incident.
We decided to start by sharing a sampler from the Sea Bar, a selection of little tastes served in individual dishes over ice. In keeping with the tradition of “firsts” at the Dahlia Lounge, I am happy to report that I have now finally partaken of the famous Puget Sound geoduck, served raw and diced with spicy melon. It was, as I suspected, not particularly my cup of tea (too chewy, too mild). But everything else was fresh and fantastic – Kona kampachi with gingered carrot, ice cold lump dungeness crab over kimchee, a mild rockfish ceviche. Best of all was the Dahlia smoked salmon, which I don’t think I’ve ever tried before. Served with a hot dipping mustard, the salmon had a wonderful texture and deep, rich flavor that inclines me to get a full order on my next visit.
Next up, I was nearly beside myself with joy to see a Kalua pig appetizer on the menu. Kalua pig ranks as one of the greatest things I’ve discovered since I gave up the pescetarianism, but it is stupid hard to find a quality version hereabouts (which makes sense – to be prepared properly, the pig needs to cook in a pit underground for 24 hours; guessing it’s hard to get a permit for that in City limits). But I’ll be damned if this wasn’t the best Kalua pig I’ve eaten since Hawaii. Moist and smoky with a hint of coconut, served with a hoisin dipping sauce and chili ketchup and topped with a big old beautiful poached egg. It was immensely satisfying.
As our main courses began to arrive, I realized that the portion sizes of these dishes were positively mammoth. Dahlia Lounge may be expensive, but you’ll be eating leftovers for the rest of the week. And that is exactly what wound up happening when the server placed an entire Peking duck in front of me. You know, I was thinking it would be some duck breast, maybe a leg. Wrong. Entire duck. Rotisserie roasted “five spice” with stir fried pea vines and sweet n’ sour apricots. The thick, charred duck skin was crispy and peppery and the meat itself was so juicy and substantial that I could hardly eat more than a couple of bites. Seriously. Duck for days. It was awesome, but I was a little overwhelmed. Another first, I suppose.
I was too stuffed to partake of Tom Douglas’ famous triple coconut cream pie for dessert (sacrilege, I know), but you can read all about it over here. Additionally, you can also grab a slice to go or even a full pie from the Dahlia Bakery right next door to the Lounge. It was a glorious summer evening as we rolled out onto 4th Avenue, bathed in the neon light from the iconic chef & fish sign. I’m a sucker for neon, I’m a sucker for Seattle. Good to be home.
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