Kristen’s eggs benedict at chef Seth Caswell’s new restaurant, Emmer and Rye

About a week ago, I got a sneak peek at Queen Anne’s newest restaurant, Emmer and Rye. Here’s an excerpt from a blog post I wrote for SeattleMag.com:

“Exactly a month after announcing that a restaurant lease has been signed for a spot on Queen Anne, chef Seth Caswell’s long-awaited Emmer & Rye restaurant is open for business.

Last night, this 70-seat restaurant opened its doors for a soft opening. If you are familiar with Caswell’s food from his days at Stumbling Goat Bistro, you’ll find much the same philosophy on the Emmer & Rye menu—the meats and produce are sourced from local farms, and vegetables are not an afterthought here. Items like crisped farro fries with a savory dipping sauce ($5), appear on the menu, along with roasted sunchokes with fingerling potatoes and black truffle aioli ($4), and—my favorite dish of the evening—pleasantly gamey goat crepinette with black trumpet mushrooms and wedge of butternut squash gratin ($17). Other items of note were the housemade sausage, split down the middle and arranged on crostini with sliced apple, brussels sprout leaves, and salsa verde, and a rosy slice of cider-roasted pork shoulder, a soft striation of fat encircling the tender portion of meat. Slight misses? Cold butternut squash soup, and a plate of pork belly that would’ve been perfectly delicious if there had been a bit of acid to brighten the dish. (Still, these are minor criticisms, and I’m quite confident these dishes will have been tweaked by opening.) The reasonably priced menu, ranging from $4-$17 and made up almost entirely of local ingredients, feels exactly right for this economy….” (for the full post, please click here.)

Jenifer’s emmer biscuits and sausage gravy

And today, Emmer and Rye opened for brunch for the first time. I usually wait a month before visiting a restaurant on my own accord–things can definitely be a little bumpy so early in the game. Unless I get sent for a work-related assignment, I don’t feel like I need to be the first one through the gates. And yet, some of these friends hadn’t been to Emmer and Rye and were eager to try it, so we went.

Marc and Larry got the burger with a fried egg

Scott’s french toast with rhubarb

my stinging nettle and camembert omelette

I find it odd writing about restaurants on my personal blog, since I don’t want people to mistake what I say on this blog for a formal restaurant review of any kind. It was their first brunch service, and the hiccups you kinda expect were definitely there. At the same time, restaurants charge full price the day they open, so I don’t feel that anyone should feel obligated to return to a restaurant to give it a second chance if they’re not a paid restaurant reviewer. I imagine the brunch at E&R can only get better in the coming weeks, and look forward to returning when things are running more smoothly in the kitchen, and the brunch dishes a little more polished.

(And if you are headed to E&R for brunch soon, I think the burger was the best thing I sampled this morning.)

Emmer & Rye is open for dinner seven days a week, and weekend brunch.
For reservations, please call 206.282.0680