photo Kukulu 2012

What:  Exclusive Selection of the Cheeses of Ferme Kukulu
When:  Beginning May 19, 2012
Where:  At Le Pichet

In March of this year, our executive chef was lucky enough to have the chance to visit Ferme Kukulu in the French Basque Countries.  This family-run farm has been producing raw milk cheeses in the traditional style, using traditional methods for generations.

Now you can a taste the cheeses of Ferme Kukulu.
Just in time for the 2012 Seattle Cheese Festival, Le Pichet has arranged to bring the cheese of Ferme Kukulu to you.  Le Pichet is working together with Corsican Cellar to offer a very special sampling of these fantastic farmhouse cheeses.  We are offering an All Kukulu cheese plate in addition to our normal selection of house aged cheeses.  You will be able to try a selection of five Kukulu raw milk cheeses for only $12.  The selection includes:

Pur Brebis (sheep’s milk)
Pur Chevre (goat’s milk)
Brebis-Chevre (mixed sheep and goat’s milk)
Bleu de Brebis (blue made from sheep’s milk)
Pur Brebis au Piment d’Espelette (sheep’s milk with Espelette pepper)

Corsican Cellar, a Seattle-based importer that sells to restaurants and stores in the Pacific Northwest,  is the exclusive representative in the U.S. for Ferme Kukulu.   Le Pichet will be the only restaurant in America to have all five of the Ferme Kukulu cheeses imported by Corsican Cellar.

What:  Benefit for Green Plate Special at the Corner Table
When:  Tuesday May 29, 2012, 6:30pm
Where:  The back room at Cafe Presse

Cafe Presse is Happy to Welcome Green Plate Special

We at Cafe Presse and Le Pichet are big fans of  Green Plate Special (see our blog for a  post with more about GPS  from last summer).  We have a lot of respect for GPS director/ chef Laura Dewell and for the valuable project that she has undertaken.  That’s why we are so pleased to announce that the May 2012 Corner Table at Cafe Presse will be a fundraising and informational event to benefit Green Plate Special.  The event will include a menu designed by Chef Dewell, as well as vegetables grown by GPS student in their garden at the corner of Union and Martin Luther King Way in Seattle.

The cost is $55 per person, which includes wine selected by Cafe Presse wine director Marcel Boulanger, as well as tax and tip.  All proceeds will go directly to Green Place Special.

Green Plate Special (GPS) is a cooking and food-growing nonprofit program, supporting the nutritional and physical health of middle school youth, grades 5-8, primarily low income. As an after-school, field trip and holiday-camp program, we teach young people how to grow and cook healthy whole foods in a home-garden and home-kitchen setting. We are located in Seattle’s Central District, on the corner of MLK Jr. Way and East Union Street. Our programing is free and sliding-scale need based.

Laura’s Menu for the Corner Table

Pistou a la menthe et aux petits pois en amuse gueule
“Sping pea-mint pesto served with black pepper flat bread”

Salade aux asperges, aux haricots blancs et a l’endive rouge
“Marinated white beans, Yakima asparagus, treviso, lemon vinaigrette, candied lemon peel”

Cotes de porc grillées, blettes braisées aux pignons de pin et aux raisins secs
“Grilled Carlton Farms pork chops, hardy greens braised with pine nuts and sultanas, grain mustard jus, grilled sage polenta”

Crepes au ricotta et sa compote a la rhubarbe
“Sweet crepes filled with orange-thyme scented ricotta cheese with poached rhubarb”

Dinner begins promptly at 6:30pm.

Some ingredients may change with garden availability.

Seating is limited and by reservation only.  For further information or reservations please call Café Presse at 206.709.7674.

Image Kyle Wendt 2012

If you are a soccer fan, you are already well aware that the UEFA 2012 European Championship begins on June 8, 2012.  After the World Cup, this event, which only comes around every 4 years, is perhaps the most important tournament in world football.

Cafe Presse for every match every minute
Cafe Presse will be showing every match of the tournament on the big screen tv over the bar.  To find out when your favorite side will be playing, stop by Cafe Presse and pick up you Euro 2012 Match Schedule, which also lists the tournament groupings.  Because of the time difference, kick off times will generally be early to mid morning, making for a good excuse to show up late for work.  The kitchen at Cafe Presse is currently scheming breakfast specials (something to go with beer, no doubt)

Last Friday, April 13th, 2012, Le Pichet Chef de Cuisine Brent Harding rolled out our new menu for Spring.  The local Spring vegetables are just starting to arrive and we, as cooks, are always longing to begin using and eating them as soon as possible after the long winter.

The new dishes feature Yakima asparagus, spring onions, mint, peas, fava beans, rhubarb and much more.  Here are some photos to tempt your appetite.  Check out the  new menu or just come by Le Pichet to try the new dishes yourself.

Crottin wrapped in country ham and broiled, on a salad of asparagus, sweet onions, pine nuts and lemon vinaigrette

Chickpea salad with Nicoise olives, marinated baby artichokes, rosemary-red wine vinaigrette

Beef broth with diced prawns, rice, peas, mint and duck fat

Grilled NW Grassfed hanger steak, pommes frites, sauteed escarole and anchovy butter

Whole chicken roasted for 2, with English peas, mushrooms, bleu cheese and lemon cream sauce

Crispy duck confit leg served with thyme-garlic fava beans, watercress potage and crisp polenta

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.

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.