1 week until West Seattle’s next new restaurant; 3 other food notes

Four West Seattle restaurant notes:

CASSIS OPENS NEXT WEEK: The new French restaurant on Alki will open at 2820 Alki Avenue SW one week from today, on February 19th, according to proprietor Jef Fike. Here’s the opening menu Fike shared for our most recent update two months ago. In case you’ve missed previous coverage, this is a reincarnation of the well-regarded restaurant he ran on Capitol Hill a decade ago. See behind-the-scenes photos on the Cassis Facebook page.

ON THE OTHER END OF ALKI: Marination ma kai (WSB sponsor) at Seacrest plans to launch a series of summer events including luaus and barbecues, according to this All You Can Eat report at SeattleTimes.com (WSB partner), which says that’s part of what well-known regional chef Angie Roberts will help develop, now that she’s joined the “Marination empire.” (Added: Here’s the news release.)

TERRA COLE BUTCHERY & FINE FOODS’ MENU CHANGE: One of The Junction’s newest food venues recently launched its winter menu of sandwiches and sausages – see it here. Trace Wilson from TCBFF says, “We’re gonna keep changing menus every quarter or thereabouts just so we can stay fresh and seasonal with what’s good! Popular favorites (i.e. the pastrami, the pulled pork, the slaw & the smoked potato salad) will continue to hang around forever, but we’ll mix it up enough to keep it interesting.”

SAIGON BOAT CAFE OPEN: Just a note if you haven’t been to Alki lately – the King County Health Department did clear Saigon Boat Café to reopen on January 31st, three and a half weeks after closing it for violations.

Jeanie February 12, 2014 (4:46 pm)

I’ll bet Cassis’s food will be good – albeit pricey – but I’ll pass on the foie gras, thank you. Also, never understood the difference between “smashed potatoes” and “mashed potatoes.” “Smashed” seems more violent! Do they slam the potatoes onto the floor?! Also, as with many French restaurants, almost no options for vegetarians. But that’s fine, as we have many other great dining choices.

WSB February 12, 2014 (5:58 pm)

Jeanie, there is a difference, it seems:
.
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-smashed-potatoes.htm
.
All this time I had no idea that my way of making “mashed” potatoes – generally only on holidays – was really “smashed,” since I leave the skins on AND just use a hand masher, with no fancy blender pureeing etc. at the end. I could also have imagined that the term had something to do with my mom’s generation’s use of the term “smashed” … throw in a splash of something boozy … hmm, maybe “double-smashed potatoes flambé”… TR

trickycoolj February 12, 2014 (6:16 pm)

Funny electric mixers are totally verboten on both sides of my family for mashed taters, go figure that’s really “smashed!” I love making them by hand skins or not. :)

NicMarie February 12, 2014 (7:38 pm)

Does anyone have any useful information on Saigon’s clean up? They were my favorite for years, enough so that 3 people emailed me the komo piece with their worst scores in the city…

Marie M February 12, 2014 (7:44 pm)

TR, I believe the term “smashed” had to do with the condition of the cook, not the cook’s technique.

Dennis Wulkan February 12, 2014 (7:50 pm)

Smashed potatoes rock. But, on another venue, do we really want to go to a restaurant that’s been closed 3 weeks for violations? if it got to that point given our bureaucratic process here, it must be really bad!

kelly February 12, 2014 (8:46 pm)

I would think that if ever you’re going to eat at Saigon Café, now would be the safest.

Nate February 12, 2014 (8:48 pm)

I’m excited for whatever it is that Marination has up their sleeve…
From what I’ve seen, they can do no wrong.

bearschick February 12, 2014 (9:01 pm)

For saigon…they knew what was required before they were shut down. They were shut down briefly shortly after they originally opened. So now they have all the stuff they need….just like at the beginning. Are u really going to trust them to use it when required. Are u really going to trust them to maintain their facilities? Buyer beware.

kelly February 13, 2014 (5:01 am)

What are your prices, Cassis? You don’t list them on your menu. Believe it or not, price is still a consideration for many of us.

kelly February 13, 2014 (5:05 am)

Just an fyi, bearschick – that original closing of Saigon Boat Café was because of licensing issues, not sanitation.

bearschick February 13, 2014 (7:47 am)

I’ll give you that Kelly, but I stand by what I said. They are repeat violators. http://info.kingcounty.gov/health/ehs/foodsafety/inspections/Results.aspx?Output=W&Business_Name=saigon%20boat%20cafe&Business_Address=&Longitude=&Latitude=&City=&Zip_Code=&Inspection_Type=All&Inspection_Start=&Inspection_End=&Inspection_Closed_Business=A&Violation_Points=&Violation_Red_Points=&Violation_Descr=&Fuzzy_Search=N&Sort=B

JW February 13, 2014 (9:27 am)

kelly – the menu was shared with WSB two months ago. I don’t think any restaurant on earth figures out prices two months before opening, but they do start thinking of what’s on the menu.

Guy February 13, 2014 (11:41 am)

The owners of Saigon Boat whom are not disabled, park in the disabled parking spot directly across the street from the restaurant. Just the mere fact that they treat the public and neighborhood like that is the reason I will never go there again. Also, it takes 25 minutes to get a sandwich there.

kelly February 13, 2014 (12:03 pm)

Thanks, JW. Obviously, I had no way of knowing that the menu is two months old.

Susan February 13, 2014 (12:50 pm)

Sandwiches at Terra Cole – so, so, so good!

miws February 13, 2014 (1:21 pm)

Sandwiches at Terra Cole – so, so, so good!

Yes!

Mike

Chris February 14, 2014 (8:08 am)

We are “locals” to the Alki area. We have eaten at the Saigon Cafe a number of times. Always good food and prompt service. I am a bit disturbed by the DOH shutdown (and history) but we will still likely go back. Having traveled to Asia I can say that food service standards are different in thar part of the world. Not saying that makes their transgressions OK, but I guess I am willing to give them a chance.

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