the UK based Restaurant and Hotel Review
the UK based Restaurant and Hotel Review
The Hunt Club has its own entrance under an awning leading off the sidewalk, but I don't think there would be any danger of this dining room suffering from "hotel restaurant syndrome". Three of us visited on a busy Friday night in October and noticed that, even with the leisurely pace of the meal, some tables were twice occupied.
The dining room is divided into smaller areas giving quite an intimate feel - lighting is low, the atmosphere clubby and a little old fashioned in the nicest way. It's a million miles away from the hard-edged, minimalist, noisy, packed metropolitan mega-brasseries we've become used to in NY and London. I expect there are a good few of those in Seattle too, but I haven't found one yet.
Executive Head Chef Brian Scheeser is quite a traditionalist who aims to let the ingredients speak for themselves with the minimum of fuss.
I was warned that portions here are generous, so we began with two soups and a salad. The tomato soup was superb, with excellent colour, smooth texture and concentrated flavour. It's made from slow roasted Italian plum tomatoes blednded in a chicken stock with plenty of fresh rosemary. The saffron mussel bisque also had tons of flavour, (the mussels here are first rate) but it had that slightly gloopy texture that was reminiscent more of chowder than of bisque. I tried one of the chef's signature dishes - a salad made from asparagus and roasted beetroot with various green leaves. The asparagus was perfectly crunchy without being at all chewy and the beetroot tasted sweet and fresh. As signature dishes go it lacked presentation, but I guess that's Brian's style, as I said, he's not into fancy fussing and messing with food.
Starters range in price from $7-$14, and others I'd like to try next time (for this is a place where I'd enjoy many happy returns) would have to include Crispy Dungeness Crabcake, or Salmon Bruschetta because the salmon is home-cured. The entrée list is well balanced, with four fish dishes (salmon, trout, halibut and tiger prawns) partnering four meats (chicken, duck, lamb and beefsteak). There's also a vegetable dish for $20, most mains are priced in the mid twenties, except for the Prime New York steak at $36. I was surprised that "Free range lamb chops" cost as much as the steak, so I supposed that prime quality lamb is still considered a bit of a rarity here in the North West.
I enjoyed one of the entrées of the day which was a veal chop, a cut that's rare on this side of the pond. It came beautifully cooked, pink and juicy in the middle without actually being rare, a condition I don't much like where veal is concerned. The sauce was truly luxurious: dark, slick and shiny. When I commented on this to the head waiter he told me that the kitchen boasted a dedicated chef saucier. We put his skills to the test again with the breast of Sonoma duckling. The manner of cooking and presentation were both faultless, with interesting and tasty garnishes of braised endive (chicory) and roasted pear and fig and another lovely sauce. The only problem was the duck itself which although juicy, tender and pink, tasted hardly at all of duck, rating a quack factor of 4 out of 10.
This set me wondering. Had it been hung for long enough? I have a feeling that some Americans are a little afraid of food and its origins - "dead thangs" and all that! So, for instance, the fresh Idaho trout came beheaded rather than whole. Oddly enough, the tail was left on, giving a strange lack of symmetry to the presentation. It would have looked better if the kitchen had gone the whole hog and had skinned and filleted it. Anyway, it was nicely cooked and as farmed trout goes, it did have plenty of flavour - the gnocchi piled rather liberally over the dish were light in texture and nicely infused with sage and fresh lemon butter.
Our head waiter was clearly a wine enthusiast and he talked us into a bottle of 1997 Iron Horse Pinot Noir from Sonoma. This was definitely one of the most concentrated and complex Pinots I've enjoyed for quite a while. I dread to think how much you'd have to pay in France for a Burgundian Pinot Noir of this richness of fruit and complexity.
The waiter clearly had sharp ears and noticed my guests toasting my birthday. When my dessert came out the plate was suitably decorated - pictured right - a touch that was warmly appreciated. The dish in question was a beautiful construction with a light lemon flan sitting up like a top hat, with lemon sage tuille and candied lemon peel in a sage sauce. It was a dessert of considerable charm and sophistication. By contrast, the rhubarb bread pudding was homely but delicious, with rather a lot of out of season strawberry as a garnish. The "soft centered chocolate torte" turned to be a classic chocolate sponge pudding with a great deal of melted valrhona-style chocolate oozing out of it.
Recent surveys of restaurants in both London and Paris confirmed the sad fact that the principal gripe amongst diners in Europe is the poor quality of service. I've always found the service in the USA to be far better, and this view was amply borne out by our time spent at the Hunt Club. The service was friendly, cheerful but respectful, as well as most accomplished - the timing was perfect.
The Hunt Club - Dine Online Editor's recommendation, October 1999
Sorrento Hotel
900 Madison Street, Seattle, Washington 98104
Tel: 206 622 6400 Fax: 206 343 6155
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