We Make Fondu

[This is a guest post by Elisa Mader, a Fondu Ambassador in Seattle!]

To dine at Seattle’s Sutra is to take part in a ceremony.

Quite literally, it begins with the beating of a gong, followed by a sort of prayer, a shout-out to the community farmers and foragers who contributed the fresh and unusual ingredients that make up the four-course meal you are about to receive.  Then begins the explanation of the menu, an exhilarating litany of spices and preparations peppered with unfamiliar foods—Urfa biber? Sunchokes?—that marks the start of a culinary pilgrimage.

Sutra – Vegetarian Cuisine in the Wallingford neighborhood epitomizes this city’s foodie obsessions:  Veneration for the organic, local and sustainable, as well as a passion for creative and beautiful food. Sutra’s staff members love the dishes they create, and their enthusiasm is infectious. And they are such masters of their craft, so adept at whipping up a variety of textures and tastes, that omnivores and carniphiles may not even notice that the meal is predominantly vegan. 

My initiation into the mysteries and wonders of Sutra begins with the ritual ordering of the wine pairings. (There are non-alcoholic pairings too, with a variety of teas and sparkling elixirs flavored with housemade syrups.)

A flute of fruity organic Pizzolato Fields Prosecco from the Veneto region of Italy, and I am primed for the first course: A savory little butternut squash soup flavored with black cardamom and a swirl of thyme oil, accompanied by a roasted Chioggia beet and fennel salad, with cara cara oranges for a sweet contrast and kiaware sprouts (from daikon radish seeds) for a bit of a kick.

The enigma of that Turkish pepper, urfa biber, is resolved with the second course: A risotto cake pan-fried and imbued with the spice’s sweet, smoky zing, garnished with rainbow carrots and crispy sunchoke chips and served with an unctuous hempseed sauce. It goes down a treat with a velvety 2009 Lirac Rhône Reserve.

The third course, porcini-dusted celery root folded up like a crepe with creamy stuffing, is served with a smoked lentil, pear and kale ragout that makes me ask aloud why all vegetables are not prepared in a smoker. Our table figures out that a “gastrique” is a reduction, and that the port-based gastrique drizzled around this particular dish is particularly tasty. The wine pairing: A hefty 2009 Syrah from Woodinville-based boutique winery, Robert Ramsay Cellars. 

To round out our palates, the dessert course arrives, glistening and seductive. It’s a fresh cherry torte with a dense little fig and mixed seed base, lightened with a saffron-coconut ice cream that I can’t believe is, again, vegan.

For $36 dollars, this extravaganza of flavors can’t be beat, and Sutra changes its offerings every two weeks. The restaurant operates like a dinner club, with one or two scheduled seatings per evening for the set menu. The mood is convivial and intimate, as appealing for romantic night out as for a gathering with foodie friends. I’m definitely going back. Check out Sutra – Vegetarian Cuisine here: http://www.sutraseattle.com/ 

—Elisa Mader

On Fondu: @lagourmande

On Twitter: @ElisaMader