Dinner at Canlis

Few restaurants have a monopoly on their city's top echelon dining like Seattle's Canlis. That's not to say Seattle is devoid of really good restaurants; far from it. Seattle dining is fabulous, with an abundance of fresh seafood that restaurants in many other cities would kill for. Nevertheless, when people think of haute cuisine in Seattle, they think of Canlis. And as I would soon come to find out, for very good reasons.

'Almost perfect cocktail' - Canlis' take on a Manhattan
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Opened in 1950 by Peter Canlis - the patriarch of the family - the restaurant has been family run ever since. In that time, additional restaurants were opened in Honolulu, Portland and Seattle, but none survive to this day. Meanwhile, the original and flagship restaurant in Seattle has continued to inspire ever since, with Twenty one consecutive Wine Spectator Grand Awards, along with a Michelin star, as its bona fides.

Being my first visit to Seattle, I felt compelled to make Canlis the centerpiece of my trip, in which all other meals were scheduled around. I made the reservation at midnight precisely 60 days from the target Saturday. And now, on Saturday evening of September 3rd, 2017; I find myself sitting in an Lyft heading north along Aurora Avenue to begin my culinary journey.

(L) Crispy potato with uni; (R) buckwheat tuile
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Canlis offers a four course meal (three for dinner, one for dessert) for $110, putting it at the lower end of tier two restaurants. Along with the four courses are three amuse-bouches from the Chef, the first of which tonight was a buckwheat tuile with bean purée and crème fraîche. This was served with a crispy potato topped with padrón pepper and uni.

The tuile had nice earthy flavors from the bean purée, which was balanced by the crème fraîche. The real champ, though, was the crispy potato. It's crisp texture balanced that of the uni, while the flavors were balanced between the fresh saline of the uni, savory hint of the peppers, and sweat starchy flavor of the potato. Bravo!

Baby corn in coals, miso butter with herbs and chili
(half eaten before realizing I forgot to snap a pic!)
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Tonight's second amuse-bouche is baby corn, with miso butter and chili. The corn was cooked by placing the entire cob, husks and all, in the coals of the charcoal broiler. The final cob was pealed partially for presentation, and placed on a wood board for serving.

A unique take on a classic corn on the cob dish. I loved the fresh corn flavors, with a touch of smokey/char notes from the preparation. The corn flesh had a nice buttery flavor, with subtle saline aspects from the miso that are reminiscent to sprinkling a little salt over corn on the cob over the 4th of July. Finally, the chili added really nice depth of flavor to the overall dish.

Caviar over buckwheat mousse & cooked egg yoke in egg shell
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Tonight's third and final amuse-bouche is caviar over buckwheat mousse and cooked egg yoke. This came served in an egg shell, with the top third/fourth removed, and placed in a small bowl of buckwheat.

In general, this dish was a delightful demonstration of flavor combinations in small packages. Here we have a sweat, doughy flavor of the buckwheat foam contrasted with the saline notes of the caviar. Furthermore, the egg yoke base adds a delightful richness to round out the dish. Again: a small package, but lots of flavors that simply work well together. Excellent!

Canlis salad
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Moving along, the first main entrée is the signature Canlis salad, featuring chopped romaine lettuce, croutons, cherry tomatoes, bacon, mint and a dressing of lemon juice. I picked the Canlis salad because I seldom see fine restaurants offering a traditional salad course, and it would balance out the steak course nicely. Boy was I not disappointed.

The salad was incredibly fresh, with nice acid of the lemon juice enhancing the salty richness of the bacon, as well as the herbaceous seasoning of the crouton. With that said, the key ingredient is the mint, which offered a unique type of freshness that was just excellent.

Veal poached in buttermilk with Jimmy Nardello peppers
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Moving to our next course; here we have veal, poached in buttermilk, served with Jimmy Nardello peppers and a hazelnut romanesco (a vegetable similar to broccoli). The dish was plated beautifully, with a fan of veal off-center, and the oblong dome of romaesco pointing perpendicularly to it.

Just excellent. The veal was perfectly poached, then roasted to seal in flavors and juices. Speaking of juices, an au jus was also made from the roast, which lent more concentrated veal notes. Peppers add a nice bit of heat, while the romanesco compliments the dish by lending both earthy and sweet aspects. What a great dish!

A5 Miyazaki sirloin with charred lettuce, miso & black garlic
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

I knew it was going to be tough for Canlis to top the veal and peppers. Thankfully, they had the option of upgrading the fillet mignon to an A5 Miyazaki wagyu sirloin. What arrived was two sizable pieces of wagyu beef, along with charred lettuce, miso jus, and some black garlic purée.

First of all, this dish was beyond incredible, and may be the best steak I have ever had. As you can see from the picture, the sirloin was served at a perfect medium rare. What shocked me was the fact that it was not done using a sous vide, but prepared on a charcoal broiler.  It was just refreshing to see a steak perfectly prepared using "old school" methods.

The greatness certainly did not end with the beef. The black garlic purée adds a nice balance to the beef with contrasting herbaceous notes. Charred lettuce further diversified the flavor palette with some smokey notes, accented by the earthy miso. Overall, a balanced dish prepared at an extremely high level that deserves one's attention when its time to order.

Chocolate, with licorice, black walnut and tobacco
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

Capping off tonight's meal, I decided to go with a unique desert to end the evening with variety. Here we have a chocolate black walnut brownie with accompanying chocolate mousse featuring hints of black licorice. This was then covered by a tobacco infused chocolate shell.

What I really like about this desert, given how grandiose the meal was, is that it is not overly rich or decadent. Instead, my palette was treated to a delightful chocolate flavor accentuated by hints of licorice, sweet nuttiness of walnut, and a savory element from the tobacco essence. All in all, a very nice way to cap off an incredible dinner.


Before bringing this post to a close, I would be remiss if I didn't at least speak a moment about the service. From the get-go, the level of service was absolutely impeccable. I conferred with one of the many sommeliers regarding the evening's wine, and was led to a delightful 2007 Reynvaan In the Rocks Syrah. Then, towards the end stages of the meal, the somm' brought me a taste of a 2013 Domaine Monier Perréol Saint-Joseph "Laliefine" because he was excited about it, and thought I may like it (which of course I did!). Combine that with the fact that they iron the table linens between seatings, and it's obvious that Canlis' service is top notch.

Assorted macarons
2017 Canlis. Seattle, WA

With a view overlooking lake Union offering the twinkling of a city embraced by night, and a softly lit ambiance evoking that of a cozy cabin; Canlis boasts a truly magical atmosphere. Combine that with stellar service, and incredibly eats, and it's clear why it is viewed so fondly in the Emerald city. The A5 wagyu beef was the evening's crescendo, just as Canlis is the crowning dining experience during my stay in this great city. Bravo!

Dining date: September 3rd, 2017.