For my birthday this year I really wanted to get a big group of friends to dine at FareStart together. I’ve actually been wanting to do it for a while now but my birthday seemed like as good a time as any to make it happen. FareStart has one large solid piece of wood that is known as the community table. It seats 20 and there are times where it holds one large group and many others when several parties share the same table. It is right in the middle of the dining room, in prime view of the kitchen and in prime view of the graduating students. This Thursday it held myself and 17 of my friends. Only 3 of us had ever even been to FareStart before so I was excited to introduce it to those new to the awesomeness of FareStart.
The featured guest chef on this night was actually a collaboration of several talented chefs. We had the owner of Caffe Vita (the popular coffee shop and pizza joints throughout Seattle that even has opened successful locations in NYC), the Southern/soulful Wandering Goose, and the chef of the sister restaurants in Queen Anne (Betty and Crow, Crow being the location of Bryan and my first Valentine’s dinner). And this night was completely sold out! Our reservation was for 6:30, so we were seated and settled before the 7pm graduation of the students. The menu featured:
Amuse
Fresh Ricotta, Lemon and Italian Salsa Verde with Grissini
First Course
Bay Scallop Crudo with Grapefruit and Pickled Pepper
Entrée
Porchetta – Boneless Pork Loin wrapped in Pork Belly and Roasted Crispy with Pan Juices, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Broccolini
Vegetarian
Italian Vegetable Stew – Fingerling Potato, Kale with Roasted San Marzano Tomato, Corona Beans, Breadcrumbs and Pecorino
Dessert
Brioche Bread Pudding with Chocolate, Caramel Sauce and Smoked Grey Salt
I loved the meal, my friends loved the meal, we purchased many bottles of wine to share amongst the table, we had a great presentation from four graduates, my FareStart friends were there to talk to and wish me happy birthday as well, and I received wine, chocolates, and a cooking class from my friends. I felt very special for the night and I was really glad that I got to introduce 15 people to my favorite place in Seattle…I just don’t want them to start volunteering there 🙂 I had many laughs, thanks to sitting across from Marika and Bryan next to me. And Polly came over afterwards and the three of us chatted until 1am. Perfect night!
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 