Every time I mentioned to one of my Seattle-based friends that I was going to Tilth for dinner, the immediate response was, “you’re going to love it.” Located in a charming green house in Wallingford, Tilth is a certified-organic restaurant that serves new American cuisine. Executive chef/owner Maria Hines is up for a James Beard Foundation Award this year (side note, I’ll be volunteering at the awards next weekend).
When you walk inside, you feel as though you are entering someone’s living room. The warm yellow-colored walls and green chairs invite you in, as do the friendly and knowledgeable servers.
Our meal started with an amuse from the kitchen: wheatberries in a tangy citrus sauce.
Tilth’s menu is structured so that every dish can be ordered as a half or full portion, allowing you to construct your meal as you wish. For those who crave the more traditional appetizer and entree progression, you can order one half and one full dish. Or, if you are in the mood to taste many offerings, you can share several little plates. I ordered the creamy celery root soup to start.
The soup, which is poured into your bowl tableside, comes garnished with celery root chips, Theo cocoa nibs (yes, that Theo), and orange oil. While it could have been a bit hotter, the taste and texture were spot on. Irene and I decided to share two half-portion dishes as entrees: farro risotto with nettle, soubise, and preserved lemon; and sous vide Alaskan sablefish with fingerling potatoes, fennel, and picholine olives.
The riotto was flawless, my favorite dish of the evening. As for the sablefish, I was a little disappointed, but it was my own fault as I prefer my fish to have a nice sear on it and therefore should have shied away from the sous vide. For dessert we both had the almond brown butter cake with black mission fig, Meyer lemon preserve, and almond milk.
The cake was moist and dense with a pleasantly nutty flavor and the figs were delicious. The only thing that would have made this dessert better would have been if the chantilly cream on top had been ice cream instead, but I have no complaints. With the check came a final treat of rhubarb with raspberry gelee.
Garnished with a mint leaf, it was the perfect mouthful with which to end.
Post script: Irene has since been back to Tilth and sent me an email raving about the heirloom bean cassoulet with wild mushroom, truffle, and oven-dried tomato. We had been deciding between that and the sablefish on Wednesday night.
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