cafe juanita

hmmm.... i've never been to a restaurant for a birthday dinner in an upscale place that doesn't have alot of what's on the menu- server said they're changing their menu so they ran out of a lot of food. (manager didn't have a clue what the server was talking about) it was sooo bad we asked them to cork our wine before we even had an order placed. manager comped out wine- nice gesture but really i just wanted a happy birthday ediblediningexperience.

wonderful, quietdiningroom. impeccable service, including the wine service. fresh nw ingredients, fresh pasta as well. servings were generous and pricing was reasonable. although this restaurant has been around for decades, it felt fresh. definitely going again.

a nicediningdestination, but expected more. went out expecting a special dinner experience, and in many ways cafe juanita delivered - cozy yet sophisticated ambience and decor, friendly yet professional staff. the food, however, was hit or miss, from tough and totally unspired overpriced kale salad to fine but unmemorable fish to one of the best fois gras i had ever had. i may be more forgiving of the culinary experience had it not for the expectations i had for this twice-james beard award-nominated-chef. i would expect every dish to at least impress, if not blow me away! would not mind returning for another try, but probably will not be in a hurry to return.

f**king delicious!. "pardon my french" i said to our waitress as i used the title of this review to explain my feelings about the caponet of goose confit with cabbage and sherried goose brodo that began what can only be described as one of the culinary highlights of my life!

in my opinion far too many food writers dissect what they've eaten when, oftentimes, an emotional response would be far better ... and our server seemed to appreciate the earthy language as being appropriate for this finediningrendition of rustic northern italian fare.

the prologue to our meal had been a negroni with marcona almonds for my wife and a gin with blackberry & huckleberry jam stirred into it, and a fried rabbit's liver for me! would i think of putting gin and jam together , let alone accompanying it with fried rabbit offal? heck no ... but holly smith and her team must have a palate just like mine and i thank them all the more for that!

alongside my caponet of goose confit my wife had the spot prawns with lardo bruschetta. she loved it but was kind enough to share the paper thin lardo with me ... a deliciously sweet 'condiment' when melted atop the caponet.

the appetizers were followed by a salad that we shared, and which was thoughtfully served on two plates. the roasted beets on marcona almond butter with gorgonzola bombolino were sumptuous, every element working perfectly together. two plates were returned to the kitchen scraped clean of every last trace of food ... i think we both considered licking our plates but thought better of it as the entrees were still to come.

we had asked the wine steward ( so much less snobby a title than 'sommelier') to recommend an italian wine that would not taste too "pinot-y" to us,having drunk a lot of oregon's finest recently. after a taste of one wine established our benchmark for the flavors we were looking for, she suggested a wonderful 2004 brunello di montalcino that just improved as the evening wore on and was nicely within the budget we gave her.

then came the entrees. my wife had the goats cheese gnocchi, beautiful pillows of potato with sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes ... she liked it but had a hard time keeping her bread out of the jus that accompanied my braised rabbit!

ah, the braised rabbit ... chef smith's signature dish and oh what a graceful but strong signature it is! as one blogger review put it "i've eaten a fair few rabbit dishes ... we brits do that" ... yes indeed, but never have i eaten such deliciously good rabbit.

the loin the belly and the thighs each received their own treatment, the latter being stuffed with porcini and wrapped in proscuitto. what made the dish was the perfect jus that accompanied it ... thick enough to cling to the food and flavorful without being overpowering. our server's description of the kitchen staff dipping bread into the leftover jus at each night's end was all too believable ... and who could blame them!

desserts were a panna cotta with cardoon honey and vanilla sea salt and a chocolate truffle tortino with mint gelato and sour cherry balsamic reduction. both were beautifully prepared, with the panna cotta edging the tortino in the voting for "best dessert".

a complimentary glass of moscato d'asti was another thoughtful gesture in an evening made even more enjoyable by the friendly attention of really good staff.

it had been three years since our last visit to cafe juanita ... i don't think we'll wait anything like as long before our next!

amazing. i have been to cafe juanita three times and each time has been a wonderful experience. this is one of the top restaurants in the seattle area. the cooking, presentation, and ambiance are amazing. most recently i came for their valentine's day set menu, which blew me away. the chef even prepared a special course for me to accommodate my dietary restrictions.

if you are looking for finediningand something to remember, you can't go wrong here.

not too salty. notwithstanding holly smith's resume, i had reservations aboutdininghere because it seemed a bit too pretentious and potentially too stuffy for my liking. plus, what greatdiningestablishment these days exists outside the 206? café juanita is not even in downtown kirkland!

nevertheless, it's a restaurant i've been wanting to go to for a long time, so my wife and i ventured across the bridge on a recent saturday evening to see whether the long-standing hype was real. short answer - the press is well-deserved.

thediningroom is shockingly intimate, and the open kitchen where the one-time iron chef candidate was cooking furiously can be viewed from pretty much every seat, save for the downstairs area which i'm told is usually reserved for larger parties. and the food is outstanding, and extremely inventive. a truly unique bite not to be missed is the king crab w/ green apple sorbetto along with crab butter powder. the savory and sweet and chilled flavors combined to make what was unquestionably one of the greatest dishes i've had in recent memory. the incredibly simple pear salad was also very elegant - thinly sliced pairs paired w/ pin nuts, freshly shaved parmigiano reggiano, and an incredibly fragrant white truffle vinaigrette. and of course the freshly made homemade pastas and entrees were also outstanding. we opted for the maltagliati with lamb and ricotta and the braised rabbit. the former was such a delicate dish despite its normally heavy ingredients, and the latter was coupled w/ a chickpea crepe that came w/ thinly cut strips of pancetta and porcinis that really blew me away.

add housemade bread and crackers, an incredibly attentive wait-staff, and an extensive wine list (about 95% italian), and i guess there's no surprise that this restaurant racks up the awards on an annual basis. if there's ever an excuse to go over the eastside, this is it.

all i can say .... one of the bestdiningexperiences i've ever had. delicious beginning to end.

a must!. my firstdiningexperience in the seattle area leaves me hungry for more. every dish served to our table was excellent. i recommend the lamb. thank you holly : )