Café Presse has the great privilege to host French Natural Wine Star Pierre Breton, for a 3 course family-style meal showcasing his remarkable wines on Thursday, March 1, 2012.  He and his wife, Catherine, took over their vineyards in the Loire Valley in 1989 and are leaders in the organic and biodynamic wine movement in France.  This is a remarkable opportunity to meet Pierre and find out more about his internationally sought-after wines.

Seating is very limited!  Please call 206.709.7674 for reservations.

$50.00/person does not include tax or gratuity.  6:30 P.M.

Menu:

Chèvre chaud sur crouton et sa salade à la frisée
“Warm goat’s milk cheese on grilled bread with curly endives, fines herbes and a walnut-cider vinaigrette”

Poulet rôti et son gratin aux pommes de terre, choux-fleur et champignons
“Natural Washington State chicken roasted to order, served with a creamy gratin of potatoes, cauliflower and mushrooms”

Clafoutis aux prunes et a l’Armagnac
“Dense vanilla custard cake with prunes and Armagnac, served warm with whipped cream”

What: Family-style dinner at Cafe Presse
When: Tuesday March 27, 2012 6:30pm
Where: The back room at Cafe Presse

If you weren’t able to make it to the debut of the Corner Table at Cafe Presse in January 2012, your next chance is coming!  We had such great feedback from guests at that event that we have decided to make the Corner Table a permanent monthly event on the last Tuesday of every month.

Therefore, we are pleased to announce the next Corner Table dinner will be on Tuesday March 27, 2012 at 6:30pm.  Space is limited and by reservation only so call today to save your place.

The Corner Table is a fixed price dinner designed to celebrate the changing season and the conviviality of the table. The meal will include 3 courses from Cafe Presse’s seasonal menu presented in the traditional style that one might be served if invited to the home of a French family. The meal will also include French country wines selected by wine manager Marcel Boulanger. It’s not about connoisseurship or solemn swirling and sniffing. Instead, come celebrate the best that the season has to offer and the simple pleasure of gathering together with good things to eat and drink.  We hope you can join us.

Family-style meal begins at 6:30pm…no late arrivals please

March 27, 2012 Menu

Food only $24, including wine $39 (prices do not include tax and gratuity)

Fromage frais aux anchois
“House-made herbed fresh cheese, grilled country bread, vinegar-cured anchovies and orange marmalade

Axoa d’Espelette, pommes de terre et choux de Bruxelles rôtis
“Natural ground veal and beef simmered with sweet peppers, onions and Basque chili, served with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts”

Gâteau de riz « Grand-mère »
“Caramelized rice cake served with fresh cream and apple-dried cherry compote”

For further information or reservations, please call Café Presse at 206.709.7674

At Le Pichet and Cafe Presse, we have supported the Tap Project since its beginning and are are proud to take part again in 2012.  During World Water Week, March 19-25 2012, your donation of $1 will provide safe drinking water for 1 child for 40 days.

Cafe Presse has been selected to host the Seattle Tap Project Kick-off Happy Hour from 5pm to 7pm on Monday March 19. Visit www.tapprojectseattle.org to learn more.

Here is what the Tap Project is all about in UNICEF’s own words:

The Spring 2012 meeting dates for the Table de Conversation Française at Café Presse have been set:

January 2012:    25
February 2012:  8, 22
March 2012:        7, 21
April 2012:           4, 18
May 2012:           2, 16, 30

Please join us for French conversation from 4pm to 6pm, every other Wednesday  in the back room at Café Presse.  Each meeting, facilitator Yasmina Mobarek will be on hand to get the conversation rolling.  Yasmina is a native French speaker who studied at Yale University and has taught French at all levels, including at Seattle Pacific University and the University of Washington. The Conversation Table is free and open to French speakers of all levels.

We hope to see you there.

On Friday, February 10, Le Pichet chef de cuisine Brent Harding introduced several new dishes to the menu at Le Pichet.

*Grilled house-made pork-pimenton sausage served on a salad of radicchio, oranges, toasted almonds and orange glazed dates.

*Belgian endive salad with walnuts, Roquefort cheese and a mustard vinaigrette (a French bistro classic making its return to the menu at Le Pichet).

*Penn Cove mussels sauteed with fennel, spinach, apples and curry scented cream, served with pommes frites.

*Whole Idaho trout  pan roasted with Jerusalem artichokes and mustard greens, served with a lemon-caper brown butter sauce.

Although it is still definitely Winter in Seattle, we are quickly approaching the time of the year when thoughts turn to the arrival of Spring and lighter dishes.  We hope that these new dishes will fill the bill as warm, inviting fare that also speaks to the changing season.

What:  Raclette is on the return at Cafe Presse and Le Pichet.
Where:  Le Pichet and Cafe Presse
When:  Le Pichet beginning today, December 13, 2011
Cafe Presse beginning January 3, 2012

Ever since July when Le Pichet’s Raclette Savoyarde was featured on the Food Network show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”, it has been the most requested dish on our menus.  Which is really saying something, as each year, we hear from many, many people who are eagerly awaiting the return of Steak Tartare at Cafe Presse or of Gratin Lyonnais at both restaurants and would like to know the exact date when these dishes will be back on the menu  (Steak Tartare is on the menu during summer months at Cafe Presse and Gratin Lyonnais during the winter both Cafe Presse and Le Pichet).

The good news is that the season for Raclette Savoyarde is here again.  Le Pichet began serving Raclette as a dinner special this evening and will continue to do so until it becomes a part of the regular lunch and dinner menus this Friday, December 16, 2011.  Cafe Presse will begin serving Raclette as a dinner special on January 3, 2012 and it will become part of the regular menu on Tuesday January 24, 2012.  Raclette will be offered at both restaurants throughout the winter and into early spring.

As discussed in an earlier post, we stick to our policy of offering Raclette only seasonally for two reasons:  First, the best quality raclette cheese is made only during the summer months in the high mountain pastures of the Alps.  After 5-6 months of aging, cheese is ready to eat and arrives in Seattle, at which time we put it on the menu.  Second, raclette, like fondue, is a rich, warming dish best enjoyed in the cold months of winter.

Anyway, enough talk…come by and try it yourself.

If you haven’t yet noticed the new tab on our website, Le Pichet and Café Presse now have a blog. The blog features restaurant news, recipes, upcoming events, photos, talk about food, cooking and shopping and is written by Executive Chef Jim Drohman (with help from guest contributors, he hopes!). We hope you will take a look and let us know how you enjoy it. You can find it by clicking the “Blog” button on our websites at lepichetseaettle.com orcafepresseseattle.com, or directly at jimdrohman.com.