Neither Elvis Presley nor Bill Gates chose to eat at the SkyCity Restaurant located on top of the Seattle Space Needle. Elvis was here filming the movie “It Happened at the World’s Fair” in 1963 and Mr. Gates had won a prize for a free dinner from his pastor. With such famous people dining here my wife and I decided it was now our turn. We took the opportunity to ride the elevator up to try out a special menu, created by SkyCity’s new chef. We loved it and I’m sure Mr. Presley and Mr. Gates would have enjoyed this special menu as well.
There was certainly a lot of excitement on our visit with Executive Chef Jeff Maxfield rolling out the “James Beard Tasting Menu”. We sampled much of the same food that was served in at the James Beard event in New York City this past October. Seafood from the Puget Sound region was featured and Chef Jeff brought his insider information, creating a dinner fit for heaven. Jeff spent his youth combing the beaches for fresh seafood and is still committed to the search. Jeff currently spends time trapping spot prawns in the Hood Canal. Much of his success is attributed to his secret bait: cat food with some raw chicken. Fortunately these two items were not on the menu tonight.
First item served was Skelly’s Butter Clams, sourced from the Hood Canal and served with red onion bacon jam - which offered a perfect light accent. This course was paired beautifully with Cristom Pinot Gris from the Oregon Willamette. The light, crisp flavors of the Pinot Gris created an impeccable combination. The clams were so good that when the server accidently brought us a second serving I had a very hard time not taking them. However, my conscience got the better of me and I did not want to deprive someone else of this specialty.
Dungeness crab with heirloom tomatoes came next. The firm, sweet tomatoes have always been a favorite of mine. The crab was garnished with lean lamb bacon – a perfect touch. Locals know that the crab is named after the nearby town of Dungeness Washington (now listed on some maps as “Old Town”), located along the picturesque Strait of Juan de Fuca. The town of Dungeness was the location of the first West Coast commercial fishery in 1848. Dungeness Crab is found mainly on the West Coast from Alaska to Santa Cruz, California, however some have recently been discovered in the Atlantic.
The Yakima Valley Corn Soup that was served with the crab was perfect on this cool fall day. And I would be derelict if I did not mention the Sparkman Chardonnay that was paired with this course. This Eastern Washington Chardonnay is always the choice with crab.
The seafood finale for the evening was Wild Chinook Salmon prepared with an absinthe and herb sauce. Absinthe was banned in the United States until recent years. This dish alone is enough to justify the decision to change this situation. The salmon was served with the award winning pinot noir from Archery Summit Winery located in the home of some of the best pinot, Willamette Valley Oregon.
We continued with the Willamette Valley theme but switched from seafood to Anderson Ranch Lamb Loin. Anderson Ranch sheep graze on lush grasses while roaming free range pastures. The combination of happy sheep and the Chanterelle mushrooms and black garlic was absolutely delicious. The lamb course was paired perfectly with the light smoky flavors of a Columbia Valley AVA Syrah.
The conclusion of the food parade was the dessert that the Space Needle has been famous for since its introduction in 1962: The Lunar Orbiter. When served, a layer of fog (created with the magic of hot water and dry ice) covers the table. When the fog lifts a treasure of locally made Snoqualmie Ice Cream served with hot fudge and raspberry sauce is revealed. The presentation is almost as good as the dessert.
During the two and a half revolutions around Seattle we watched the sunset over the Olympics to the west and reflected off the Cascade Mountains to the east. As the sky darkened, the city lights brightened. It takes 47 minutes for the Space Needle restaurant to make an entire revolution – making it easy to determine the exact revolutionary aspect of your dining experience.
We have lived in the Seattle area quite a few decades, so the scenery was familiar - but the dining experience put us into orbit.
About our guest contributors:
Michael Fagin is a freelance travel writer who has traveled across Canada and visited all the major Canadian wine regions. Mr. Fagin is currently touring the Pacific Northwest enjoying the wine country, dining, and hiking the region. While he is not writing Mr. Fagin is a weather forecaster for West Coast Weather, LLC forecasting weather for the West Coast of the US as well as on an international basis. Mr. Fagin has a weekly hiking and weather segment every Tuesday morning on KUOW FM Seattle.
His wife Elizabeth Fagin, also a travel writer, is co-author of this article.
