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| Open and Inviting |
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| Eating in the Kitchen |
I have been to Seattle 2 dozen times and each time I go there the weather is perfect. The views are spectacular to one side you have
Mount Ranier the other side you have the sound and all the islands and in the middle you have Lake Washington. Seattle tends to lure people that love the outdoors and the fresh fish and produce it brings to us. Near
SoDo there is a great little mall with lots of open urban space, an area that has been revived by the ball parks . One of the restaurants is
Bar Sajor, built in an old Bank Building. It even has an eating area in the safe. This restaurant has 20 foot high ceilings, lots of windows to bring in the long day light, painted almost entirely white with accents of Wedgewood blue. As you walk in, there is a bar island and towards the back right there is a wood burning oven and stove in a very open cooking and prep area. It is a well lit spacious chef's kitchen that is integrated with the eating area. Another feature of the high ceilings is that it results in a very quiet restaurant that you do not have to yell over others to talk.
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| Radish |
When you sit you are presented a glass of green mint tea to cleanse your palate. One thing I found in Seattle is that they cater to folks like me that do not drink alcohol with their own creative not necessarily sugar laden drinks. I chose a refreshing Cucumber Jalapeno Soda but there were others like Strawberry or Rhubarb Vinegar.
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| Savory Scallops |
The menu is very simple and it represents fresh in season ingredients and tonight the two of us went with vegetable starters and seafood for the main. I started for the Fire Roasted Radishes and English peas a combination that I had never had. They were accompanied with a anchovy dressing sprinkled with Goat Cheese and
Marjoram. The resulting taste was different combinations of crunch and consistency. the fire roasting took a little of the heat out of the radishes and the peas just popped in your mouth with that fresh cut grass aroma. Mr. T had a spring salad with ash roasted Shallots and his favorite Rhubarb.
For the main I kept it simple with the Pan Roasted Alaskan Halibut with watercress flavoring and Sugar Snap Peas. The Peas were made into a mash as the stage for the Halibut which was light and perfectly cooked and on top of the halibut were purple and pink edible flowers. The Scallops were more of a savory dish served with grilled Zucchini Squash and roasted Marbled New Potatoes set on a Verde
Chimichurri. Both dishes were perfectly presented and were cooked to perfection.
What is interesting about this restaurant they are cooking the bulk of this meal on wood burning fires and stoves that are no more than 15 feet from you. The
Executive Chef Matt Dillon is the creator of Bar Sajor and is an alumni of Herb Farm in Woodinville. In 2013 Bar Sajor and Matt won the James Beard Northwest Chef of the year. I would recommend that loves cuisine to visit Bar Sajor.