Restaurant Review: Poppy

We took a break from our 5 for 50.00 week to go on a date.  As we are a month away from having another little munchkin we thought we better get our carpe diem on and try out Poppy, a Seattle restaurant that food critics stumble over each other to rave about.  Chef Jerry Traunfeld (of The Herbfarm and Top Chef Masters fame) has created a truly unique dinning experience on Capitol Hill.  He has taken the Indian concept of "thali", in which guests are offered a platter of small dishes and fused it with his passion for herbs, spices and seasonal ingredients.  Back in the day, "when we were single" (that is what we call our pre-kid stage) we loved to try new restaurants but now are our time and finances seem more precious.  My point is that I thought I had tried it all and I was beginning to get a little snobby.  Poppy is a refreshing reminder that there are chefs out there that are not only creating new flavor profiles but presenting them in ways that enhance the dinning experience.

I would be remiss to not mention how fabulous the bartender is at Poppy.  They have an amazing list of non-alcoholic drinks like a passion fruit and lavender soda and according to Steve the "Papi Delicious", tequila, curacao, red bell pepper, jalapenos, lime and mint packs the perfect amount of punch.  There are a ton of frutier fare, if I just scared you with that one.

...and finally for those of you who scanned this post to get to the part about desserts.

 I had fully intended on getting the dessert thali, especially after my midwife had gushed about it earlier in the day but I forgot that my stomach was jammed up somewhere in my chest and by the time it was time...tragically there was little room left.  Any pain and discomfort was worth it to experience pastry chef Dana Cree's hot date cake with banana ice cream and butterscotch.  My spoon may or may not have karate chopped Steve's to get a better bite.  Next time I will safe room for the thali so I can get a little taste of everything.

Other things you must try, eggplant fries with sea salt and honey, potato pakoras with cilantro lime sauce, grilled artichoke with white anchovy and herbed aioli, obviously I could go on.

Here I sit, salivating at my keyboard.