Dahlia Lounge; Tom Douglas original

For 20 years Tom Douglas and Dahlia Lounge has been defining Seattle cuisine and it is still as relevant as ever.  With a strong focus on and as a pioneer of these movements in Seattle, they continually source local, sustainable, and organic products.  The menu here is hard to define as Tom let's the Executive Chef develop their own unique style in addition to the menu staples.  One theme that has remained a constant is a glossing of Asian influence that can be seen throughout many dishes on the menu, most notably the famous Rotisserie Five Spice Duck.

The GCIA Board hosted their board and sponsor dinner here so we did the Chef's 3 course dinner.  The wine list is excellent here.  The majority of the list is made up of Washington state wines and some Oregon as well.  As Tom is a huge lover of Italian reds, the other half of the menu contains great Italian selections.  We decided to stick with regional selections choosing the Januik Cabernet Sauvignon, Ken Wright Pinot Noir, and Efeste 'Lola' Chardonnay.

The first course was an option of Tom's Tasty Tomato Soup which is a menu staple at Dahlia.  The other choice was the leafy greens; a simple yet flavorful salad of local greens with fresh lemon, sea salt, parmesan, and a goat cheese crostini.  For entrees, we had the Rotisserie Five Spice Duck (I can see why this has been on the menu for years!).  This was served with gai lan (Chinese kale), steamed humbao, and a plum sauce.  The Alaskan Ling Cod was done with fingerling potatoes, braised peppers, olives, breadcrumbs, and finished with a sherry vinegar.  The third choice was the Carved Flat Iron Steak.  This was prepared on the large wood burning grill that is the centerpiece of the kitchen at Dahlia and served with Kennebec tater tots, broccoli, pimento cheese, and sweet pepper ketchup.

For the dessert course, everyone was served a small trio plate.  The Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee seemed to be the fan favorite, but the Triple Coconut Cream Pie Bite and the Chocolate Butter Pecan Cookie were excellent contenders as well.