Food on the move

Earlier this month, journalist Luke Baumgarten had a great article in The Inlander about the new ways chefs are presenting food in Spokane. And when I say “presenting,” I don’t mean that they’re stacking their proteins on top of their starches.

Luke wrote about Latah Bistro Chef David Blaine’s new Pop-Up Restaurant , where diners are notified less than 24 hours ahead of time where the “restaurant” will be located. The menu is limited to one meal. The location is nontraditional. Pop-Up #1, for example, was held on Fish Lake Trail and attendees had to walk or bike 1/2 mile to reach it.

Luke also wrote about a 15-course meal hosted recently by Chef Jeremy Hansen, of Sante , and the branding firm Purple Turtle. That’s not a typo. Fifteen courses. The dinner took almost eight hours to consume.

The event is simply called 15 and the 60 people who attended the first event paid $300 each.

“The 11th course consisted of chocolate-braised Berkshire belly, fleur de sel and sauce Champoux. The seventh was Millefeulle of foie gras and black cherry chaud-froid with a ‘petit verdot sphere of effervescence.’ A culinary naif like myself would have benefited from a copy of The Chef’s Companion and a minor in French,” Luke wrote.

Both Hansen and Blaine are proponents of the local food movement. According to the article, Blaine’s aim is to make good-quality, ethically grown food affordable for more people. He wasn’t allowed to charge for the meals (it’s a health code thing—read Luke’s article for more about that), but the suggested donation of $5 got folks a hamburger made from locally-raised beef, a homemade bun and an arugula salad.

Hansen’s goal with the 15-course meal, according to the story, is to help people see food as art. He plans to hold the dinners a few times a year.

The article also described a “traveling supper club” Chef Adam Hegsted (formerly of Brix and Le Piastre; currently executive chef at the Coeur d’Alene Casino) began in March called The Wandering Table , and Ghetto Gourmand, an underground dining experience with a speakeasy theme that debuted in Spokane last week. Ghetto Gourmand ‘s second act will be held July 24 and involves an hour of yoga and meditation before dinner is served. The Wandering Table is sold out through September.

Although I personally am quite content eating a potluck dinner in my backyard with delicious dishes made by my friends, I love that this food revolution has arrived in Spokane.

And I applaud Blaine for working so hard to made local, organic food more affordable. I do wish  Americans were willing to dedicate more of their budgets to food than to other expenses (like, say, cable TV and dollar-store junk), but I’m as guilty as anyone else. If it’s the end of the month and we need milk at my house, I pass over the $5/gallon organic variety and head straight for the store-brand $2.59 jug.

Luke’s article got me thinking about a dining experience I had last time I was in my hometown of Bellingham.

Jessica and Mataio Gillis run a highly praised catering business there called Ciao Thyme , which they launched shortly after their honeymoon almost a decade ago.

The Gillises’ honeymoon was a bit unconventional. Instead of lounging on a sandy beach in the tropics, they spent three months working on an organic farm in France through the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program.

While overseas, they vowed to live a creative, inspired life back in Bellingham. Ciao Thyme was born.

Jessica and Mataio wanted to eventually open a restaurant, but with two young children at home, the couple didn’t want to log typical restaurant hours. So they—rather brilliantly, if you ask me—opened a (gorgeous, modern) restaurant space in downtown Bellingham that they use to host what they call “Incognito Dinners” twice a month.

Guests call ahead to reserve a spot at one of their long, communal dining tables. The menu isn’t revealed until everyone arrives, but a few things are guaranteed: the ingredients will be organic, locally sourced and in season.

The six-course dinner costs $45 per person, which to me seems like a steal considering the quality and quantity of food. The Gillises are able to keep costs down because A) they know how many people are coming and B) everyone will be eating the same thing at the same time. In other words, there’s no waste.

As ingenious as all of that is, the best thing about the Incognito Dinners is the charming and intelligent way Jessica and Mataio serve the food. They address the crowd between each course, explaining the culinary reasons behind the food choices and adding fun anecdotes from their own lives as they go.

After eating there once, I don’t think I’d visit Bellingham without reserving a spot at an Incognito Dinner, although they also offer cooking classes throughout the month, so I could still get my fix if my travel plans didn’t mesh well with the Incognito schedule.

Have you been to any of the new dining experiences in Spokane or elsewhere? What are your thoughts on the future of restaurants? What are other ways to make eating local, organic food more affordable?