FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!
I’ve been busy like a motherfucker today — thus the sparse posting.
Our GM, bar consultant, and director of security were busy interviewing candidates for the club’s staff for the fourth straight workday today at he club. And while they were interviewing about 60 people today I was meeting with our publicist, our creative director, and a candidate for the Friday night DJ residency — HIRED — while also stopping by to listen in on some of the interviews as they took place.
Then, late this afternoon we did a food tasting of some of the possible happy hour small plates we’re going to be offering at the club.
Short ribs, potato puree, veal gravy, pea pods and pearl onion — $7
Kimchi rice topped with fried quail egg, pork belly and caviar — $6.
In the center is melon and chorizo salad with feta, cilantro, carrot and a smokey vinaigrette — $6. While on the right is chilled asparagus soup with Parmesan custard, florals, and Parmesan tuile — $7.
We also had Pork Lumpia with Nuoc Mam — $3. But I didn’t get a picture of that.
Anyway, the food was amazing. The presentation stunning. And the prices totes reasonable.
And that’s what I did today that caused me to be derelict in my duties to the blog.
Please forgive me.
August 15th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Sorry this is off topic but you shouldn”t miss this: http://biggeekdad.com/2011/10/kellers-riverside-store/
August 15th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
For having to suffer through such arduous food tasting… All is forgiven.
August 15th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
It all looks delicious, but in a bar in Seattle? Hmm.
August 15th, 2012 at 8:48 pm
What, no Bugles?
August 15th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Will there be any vegetarian offerings besides the asparagus soup?
August 15th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Mr Smith – Did I tell you I have a “Seattle” savings account not just to meet you but to say I have visited what is going to be an AMAZING club – and partied my Botticellian ARSE off
August 15th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
All look great…I want to try that soup and kimchee rice dish!
August 15th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
You forgot to invite me for the sampling — oh, well, I would have scarfed up all of it, it looks so good.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:23 am
The hour would be very un-happy if I had these plates under my eyes and nose. Nouvelle cuisine kitsch is passé.
August 16th, 2012 at 4:00 am
Well, being a 27 year veteran of the kitchen myself, i can forgive you. And the food looks scrumptious!!
August 16th, 2012 at 6:00 am
Andre, we’re not serving full courses — we’re serving small plate bar food that people can eat with cocktails BEFORE going out to dinner that we can price in the $3 to $7 range.
Oh, and in case you’ve not been paying attention {which you clearly have not} we’re not a fucking restaurant. We’re a club/lounge.
So here’s an idea for you Andre — you can keep your insufferable, unjustifiably smug, French surrender-monkey attitude with you in France where you can ostentatiously sniff at us poor benighted Americans and our passé gastronomy {while the Turks and the Albanians take your fucked up country away from you} and we’ll just go on ruling the world as we’ve been doing for the last century or so.
Sound like a plan to ya?
August 16th, 2012 at 6:02 am
@ AP — yes there will. And gluten free dishes as well.
August 16th, 2012 at 6:03 am
@ Tonks — I know, right?
It’ll either work spectacularly or fail miserably. Ya just never know with the people around here.
There’s so much money here but there are also so many people who are totally fucking clueless and can’t tell the difference between an amazing dive bar and a shithole.
That having been said — the food and bar scene in the Pike/Pine Corridor is EN FUEGO with incredible places opening every day so we felt a food component that gave our people a nice after work bite along with their cocktails at incredibly reasonable prices and that paired well with our overall user experience was important to driving some business to us in the early hours of the evening.
August 16th, 2012 at 6:31 am
Scott- Seattle is so different, like Portland you just never know. Well, I for one am excited about this. Hopefully, I can get the bf to get off his ass, so we can spend a few more weekends up there and check out the club when it opens. Of course, as it never fails, we stay at our friends in West Seattle and find that we rarely venture out to downtown for anything. (unless your UBiL drags us somewhere).
Snobby? Pretentious? Maybe……..Yes!
August 16th, 2012 at 9:04 am
I love it when you show your teeth, O ruler of the world! This is the other persona of the Scott I admire for his political wisdom. By the way, I’m not French. Find other insults. I especially love Italian and Spanish bar food.
August 16th, 2012 at 9:14 am
I think this looks spot on — not only does it look/sound amazing, but it jives with your brand and the visuals you’ve shared so far. Given the attention to details, like the bourbon bar and the alcohol selections, as well as the overall level of design, it seems like a win. I’d sure as hell keep my ass parked at the bar with this on the menu instead of leaving to get dinner somewhere else.
That kimchi rice dish is especially a winner. That’ll hold down three martinis like nobody’s business.
August 16th, 2012 at 9:25 am
These seem awfully pretentious for bar food. I’m sure you know your customer base better than I, but if confronted with those choices I would laugh. I think you have the right price point, but the wrong food. Who would want their breath to smell like kimchi, asparagus, or parmesan cheese in a gay bar?
August 16th, 2012 at 9:26 am
You had me at short ribs…
August 16th, 2012 at 10:21 am
Wait a second.. There’s a KITCHEN too?!?! So in addition to moving and shaking this club will also slice dice chop frappe and puree.
Having had a particularly close voyeuristic interest in this project since the days of “juicy bathrooms” I’ve heard no discussion of a kitchen. I think you’ve been holding out on us dear Scott and owe us your faithful unpaying readers some pictures. Particularly for those of us in the biz that love a good Cleveland Steamer and Autofryer.
August 16th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Roy, if you had been paying the least bit of attention you’d know its not a “gay bar” its a Capitol Hill nightclub/lounge.
And since we’re catering to a different class of customer than the usual Seattle {or any town} gay bar shithole it would, therefore, seem to me that serving them fucking pepperoni slices and cheddar cheese cubes with toothpicks in them or Chex Mix in bowls would be less than appropriate. But hey, that’s just me. hat the hell do I know. I mean, this is only the second club I’ve owned before, ya know?
If you’ve got some suggestions you’d like to make that are based upon your apparently wide ranging expertise in all things upscale club/lounge/food related then please . . . I’m all ears.
Maybe some Lays potato chips paired w/ a lovely Lipton onion soup mix dip?
Or peanuts! Peanuts are always good. We can serve them in the shell and that way our customers can throw the shells on the floor and the accumulated shell debris can become a rustic part of our ambiance and charm. Because simply no one has ever done THAT before.
Or maybe we can put out a big jar of pickled eggs.
Or bags of pork rinds!!! Bet no one has ever thought of that.
Yeah, you’re right Roy. We should definitely not try to provide our customers with a cool, unusual, upmarket and limited happy hour menu at unbelievably low prices because people will just laugh at us. I mean, its totally ridiculous to expect anyone to pay THREE WHOLE DOLLARS!!!! for six amazing pork lumpia with house made Nuoc Mam. Especially in a region where Asians make up a measly twenty five percent of the population.
What was I thinking?!?!??!
August 16th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
I’m with Greg. I’d love to come to a place like this for happy hour, throw back a few martinis, have a plate of kimchi rice along with an order of pork lumpia, have another couple of martinis, order the melon and chorizo, have another couple of martinis, stagger home, and then do it all again the next day. Frankly Roy I think the only person who’ll be doing any laughing here is going to be Scott; as he laughs all the way to the bank.
August 16th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Looks great. Alcohol on an empty stomach kills my stomach and it seems I’m always running late from work when I go out to meet friends. A small plate or two with a ginger ale would be the perfect start before cocktails.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Reasonable? You’re practically giving it away! It all looks and sounds so amazing!
August 16th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Neither Andre nor Roy will be happy until you include a Chick-Fil-A sandwich so they can get their Cranky Gay, I Bitch About My Own Kind Too snarls in, a la Andrew Sullivan.
August 16th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
I have absolutely no delusions about being a ‘cranky gay’. I’m old enough and have been around long enough to deserve respect for it.
Geez, you’re awfully defensive, aren’t you? When a potential customer gives you feedback, this is how you respond?
I’m sure you’ll have some kind of bitchy response for me, but rest assured that I will never see it, as this is the last time your page will ever darken my computer. I couldn’t stomach all the militaristic porn you seem to think is somehow patriotic, anyway. Good luck to you, and good day, sir.
Oh, and go fuck yourself.
August 16th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Yeah, because all our lives hang in the balance on whether you decide to continue freeloading off this blog and my herculean efforts at publishing it Roy.
Give Joe.My.God. A try. I suspect he’s more your speed.
Buh-bye!
August 16th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Are you guys still looking for security? I would really appreciate the opportunity to interview
August 17th, 2012 at 4:17 am
After a long, hard day, I may want solace in some well-made comfort food, and kimchi probably won’t cut it—at least not for me. Most of these are rather exotic choices. They’re great when you feel like exploring but not when you’re in a mood to retreat to the tried and true. How about additional choices along the lines of the short-ribs?
I realize you may want to distinguish your club by your food (and alcohol) choices, but I’m willing to bet you’d sell a lot more dishes by having at least a few that appeal to the middle-American palate.
Realistically, you need both types of items on your menu. Of course, after you open, you can just let food sales guide future menu selections.
(I have to say that as someone who shares some of your sexual proclivities, I feel somewhat… betrayed by your choice to put asparagus on the menu. Perhaps, you like a strong taste?)
August 17th, 2012 at 4:32 am
Looks amazing Scott. Back in the day we did a very good business at DV8 in San Francisco for corporate parties, etc. Having an upscale bar menu like this is going to bring in a lot of inquiries. Minor note, being a fancy man I prefer the Italian frico over tuile. Best of luck to you and thanks for taking the time to blog during a very busy time.
August 17th, 2012 at 5:38 am
Chitown Marc, we’re never going to have more than 6-8 items on the limited bar menu and rotate them in and out on a weekly or monthly basis depending upon the season and locally sourced ingredients availability.
Our people are incredibly talented so its no big thing to them to do an Asian inspired menu one week followed by adding some items that are French the next with some American comfort added in the next.
We’re not a restaurant and we view our bar food as a loss leader if need be to get folks in and keep them in so they drink.
The fact that we can actually turn a profit with these dishes even at these low price points is a big win for us.
August 17th, 2012 at 5:40 am
Larry, send your resume to ryan@qcapitolhill.com with a brief cover letter. And copy it to me at scott@billinexile.com so I know who you are and to flag it for Ryan.
I don’t know if they’ve fully staffed our security team yet, but if not we’ll get you in for an interview if you appear qualified.
August 17th, 2012 at 9:19 am
Absolutely beautiful presentation!
August 17th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
I’m just wondering what sort of food “Middle America” appreciates. Perhaps some well-done tri tip? Ranch dressing? Iceberg lettuce? No spice beyond mild? Chef Boyardi from the can? McDonald’s anything? I grew up with these foods. I have long since left most of them behind. I don’t miss them one bit. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the familiar – a grilled Angus burger, of quality, medium rare, with onion, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and 1000 island dressing is my idea of perfect comfort food, and a properly prepared, simple baked potato is a thing of beauty – but in my experience, Middle America means middle of the road, average, bland, and boring. I’m not interested in going out for Hamburger Helper.
I love strong taste. I love food that stimulates on all levels. I would have each and every one of the items pictured. I appreciate your vision, Scott. I don’t go to bars/nightclubs. These happy hour treats would lure me in in a New York minute.
August 18th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
The food looks great and is similar to the bar food being served in the new fashionable “small bars” here in Sydney Australia. Except the prices here would be double. I think the food will go down really well. so to speak. Sydney-siders aren’t as sophisticated as they think they are. Wheras Seattle seems to be one of the more civilised places in the US.