Finally. A date night. After much hinting at Danika’s parents, and shuffling of schedules we get a date night. Her parents are awesome. They have offered to watch Drake whenever we need, but for some reason it doesn’t work out all that often. So, we get to go out. Ohhh the excitement is honestly unbearable. We have been out to dinner with Drake lots of times, but there are obviously places that aren’t that suitable for a little hyperactive 8month old.
This is one thing I love. Picking a new place to go eat. We don’t eat out that much these days, which is good in all honesty. I get to cook much more at home, work on the Wrightfood cookbook more, and we eat a lot healthier. Eating out has become more of an event now too. Before Drake, we would go out around 3 times a week, and it just got boring. We often didn’t go to amazing places, just something local and quick. Thankfully the Crowused to be a short walk for us, and we would eat there often. I loved that place. We now live bloody miles from it, so we haven’t been in nearly a year now.
So we ended up picking Lark. I say we, I mean me. Danika is fantastic, she lets me choose on our date nights. So far she has been happy with the places, especially Lark.
This was our first time there. I have been wanting to check out their small plates for a while now, but we have just never had the chance. I was wondering what to expect to be honest. Most reviews have been really good, some however have said that it was pretentious. I don’t like pretentious restaurants. Crush is as much as I can manage. Thankfully the food is great there. I certainly am never going to set food in Veil.
We decide on getting there when it opens, since they don’t take reservations, and wanted to see a movie after wards. Good job too, the place fills up fast. There is something incredibly relaxing about the dining area. Rustic, down to earth, a little poncey in places (the hanging shear curtains), very well finished.
And the menu. Reads like poetry to be honest. A homage to local farms and artisans. Inventive ingredients, simple clean preparation, with great presentation. You cannot ask for much more really. The service was fantastic, a knowledgeable waiter that seemed like she really new about each dish, and wasn’t just remembering something from a print out. So what did we eat?
First off was Burrata with tomatoes, basil and olive oil and croutons. A fantastic clean start. The tomatoes were super ripe, really flavorful. The burrata was soft a creamy, good texture and flavor. Strangely my least favorite of what we had though. Not because it was bad, oh no, it was fantastic. But we make something similar at home quite a bit, so it wasn’t anything crazy new.
Next up was a special. Naked Ravioli. That is ravioli without the pasta. So I guess, not really ravioli.. but hey, who am I to argue. It too was fantastic. Brothy and rich, a second dish.
Third was the black seabass with dried cherry tomatoes and fennel broth. The tomatoes were missing, but I didn’t care. The fish was fantastic. A great crispy skin, soft incredibly white flesh. Delicate and balanced. The broth I could drink all day. Perfectly diced potato floated in the amazing broth, and was a pure delight. Nothing overpowering, gentle but yet full of flavor. I am going to have to use fennel broth more. Definitely.
On to the meats. Rotisserie pork belly with Oxbow carrots and sweet white corn. Not for people afraid of fat. The fat is cooked down perfectly, it is soft and just sings of pig. As too did the meat. God knows where they get their pork from, but it is fabulous. The balance of the smooth fat, and the meat is fantastic. The vegetables were great too, sweet and buttery, just perfect. The only negative thing I could say was that the three cuts of pork were actually quite a lot, and even with splitting the dish it honestly could have just done with two.
And finally, dessert. Raspberry custard tart, with candied pine nuts and raspberry jus. There was a black raspberry sorbet in this too. Obviously fantastic. The raspberries were bursting with flavor, and paired great with the rich custard. The tart base however was somewhat hard to cut through, but not dry at all to eat. A great end to a fantastic meal.
It is great to post such a positive review, after the rubbish that was the Space Needle dinner a month back. (see the post further down this blog).
How much do I love Lark? A ton, a complete ton. We were there for two and a half hours. We missed our movie, and didn’t care a bit. This was a perfect date night. It was intimate (we had a decent corner table), the food was fantastic. Service was top notch. Decent wine too. What could make this better? Our waitress almost insisted that the next time we come, we bring Drake with us. Apparently they love kids, especially if you get there early.
Sundstrom recently won “best chef northwest” by the James Beard foundation. He was up against strong competition, but for me, this is better than than the other Seattle restaurants.
