Bothell Evening

We ate at Preservation Kitchen last night. I saw a write-up about this restaurant in the Seattle PI so I put the newspaper in the car as we started a day of fun in Seattle. After perusing several gourmet shops and warehouses, we decided it was time to think about dinner. I showed the article to my husband. In fact, I hadn’t read the article at all. The picture accompanying the story was what had intrigued me – a perfectly seared chicken quarter regally standing on a bed of mashed potatoes and green beans, with a glass of red wine in the background. That photo was enough to entice my husband into reading the entire piece. He was sold too. We called the restaurant and made reservations for four, then called some friends to meet us there.

Preservation Kitchen is located in Bothell, and as I looked on the GPS I realized it was near the river trail where I had run a 50K race the week before. We haven’t been to Bothell in many years, and now twice in one week – hmmmm.

The restaurant is located in a converted, Craftsman-style house. A sign in the drive said there was free valet parking so we drove right up to the door. It was raining and it was nice not having to deal with umbrellas. There is a small vestibule right inside the door and a fire was burning. Nice touch. We met our friends in the bar and then were guided to our table. The place had a cozy feel to it. Our server for the evening is also the manager/wine director. We asked her for some information of some of the wines and she told us that the owner of Guardian Cellars was eating there that night and he would happily come to our table to discuss his wines. He did. He spent quite a bit of time with us and we enjoyed every minute. We purchased a bottle of his syrah. It was a nice, deep but fruity, full-bodied red. Perfect.

For starters we ordered the pulled pork sliders with lime cold slaw. They were wonderfully cooked and served on a nice firm bun. Our friends had ordered the olives in the bar and we all agreed they were quite salty so when we first tried the sliders, they seemed to lack salt. It was hard to decide if one influenced the other. The sliders were very flavorful.

Next, my husband and I had the house salad with duck confit. We had wanted the green bean and duck confit salad, but they were out of it for the evening and our server suggested this as an alternative. It was a good choice. The duck was succulent and tasty, and paired well with the vinaigrette. Our friends had the crispy coppa and arugula salad and they felt it was delicious too.

For our entrees we ordered the seared chicken, since it was the picture of this dish that got us here in the first place. Our friend quickly stated that it was the best chicken he had ever had. After tasting it ourselves we all agreed it was superb. My husband ordered the wild, coffee-crusted boar with potato hash, broccoli rabe, and braised chippolini onions. Another superb dish. Our other friend ordered the rib eye steak with potato puree, sautéed red chard, cabernet butter, and crispy sweet onions. Once again, we all tasted this dish and loved it. Finally, I had the grilled wild salmon with parsnip puree, arugula and lemon vinaigrette. I was a bit leary about ordering this dish – that’s a lot of different flavors. Our server “warned” me that the chef likes to cook the salmon “rare” and that is what encouraged me to order it. It was a good move. This dish was very original and it totally worked. The flavors perfectly complimented each other without any one flavor being overbearing. Perfect!

We finished the meal with bread pudding with lavender ice cream for my husband and me. And, goat cheese and walnut fritters in a honey sauce with lavender ice cream. I enjoyed the bread pudding and the lavender ice cream reminded me of the Herbfarm Restaurant. I did not taste the fritters but our friends felt it needed to be sweeter.

The Preservation Kitchen was a nice surprise! We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food and especially the wine! Highly recommended!