mary eats

There are many reasons to dine at Poppy, the newest restaurant to open on Captial Hill’s bloodline, Broadway.
A. It is the latest venture from former Herbfarm and Celebrated Northwest Chef Jerry Traunfeld.
B.  Northwest meets thali, it’s a new style of cuisine for Seattle.
and C. It’s the most talked about restaurant of the year, with feature length articles in all the dailies and local magazines.

But this is really why you should go. Poppy engages the senses and the taste buds, introducing diners to new ingredients, preparations, flavor combinations, all without being pretentious. It doesn’t hurt either that you can gobble up Jerry’s creative genius for $32, a mere 228 clams less that what it costs to eat at the Herbfarm.

Thali is an Indian style meal stemming from the Hindi word “plate”. Each thail contains some starch, usually rice or naan, and three to four curries, or vegetable dishes and one pickle in separate vessels delivered to the diner on one plate. The idea being that you get a complete meal, balanced nutritionally and in flavor for one price, instead of a la carte. Pardon me for the crude association, but imagine a TV dinner if you will. Every course of the meal compartmentalized, every need hit, spanning the range of taste and textures.

Only one thali du jour is offered, featuring Northwest ingredients and seasonings that highlight Jerry’s love for combining herbs and spices in creative and captivating ways. Once the thali was set before us, it was hard to contain our excitement. Kevin preferred to race around the plate taking just one bite of each before exclaiming his affirmation, me, I  went slowly from plate to plate, consuming one before moving on to the next, blocking out all distractions in an attempt to burn the experience into my memory.

Highlights from my meal included a lavender rubbed duck leg with huckleberries resting on a cloud of whipped parsnips. A plate of seared scallops with soy braised burdock root in a zingy carrot sauce was flawless. And I could have gulped down a pint glass of an addictive watermelon rind and lime pickle. Each plate provided just two to three bites, enough to entice and leave you wanting more, and unlike most small plate joints around the city, I didn’t have to share.