Hello!
With Halloween coming up, we’re about to hit the stretch run of the holiday season. We feel a bit discombobulated over other years since we’ve been hustling so many events through the late summer. That with the farms still producing like it’s May has our seasonal rhythm a bit off. Not complaining though, pea shoots, arugula and other greens in November are always welcome in the kitchen. Still, we’re hoarding the last of the harvest and squirreling sauces, condiments and pickles away for dishes over the winter. Fingers crossed but I think this will be our most organized and prepared preserving plan we’ve had yet.
We’ve been getting some requests for parties and get-togethers as we move toward the end of the year but we still have plenty of space. Let us know if there is any interest in us hosting a work related party, friendsgiving or anything really. We have all sorts of options between Art Haus, the Tasting Room and Ampersand. Plus, if we get enough notice we can always go offsite and come to you.
And….we’ve been joking about this for a while and just sort of wanted to put it out there into the world to see if there is any response. We’re looking for an Art Haus jingle. Think those classic late 80s commercials like Mentos, Big Red, even the Chili’s Baby Back Ribs banger. We are hoping to tap into the local creatives to help us out. Maybe if we get any responses we can send it out for people to vote on. We’d give parameters but don’t want to stifle any creative juices. Full transparency, this is pretty low stakes and mostly just for fun. We’re probably talking compensation being in the realm of free burgers, maybe a special being named after them a la New York delis. If you or anyone you know would find this fun, record it and email us. Maybe we get Remi to sing them all.
Art Haus & Ampersand
It’s officially noodle season. It took a while but it gave us a little time to tweak a couple things on a dish that’s been an Art Haus bar staple. We’ve been collaborating with Kyle, who operates Noodle Monster, and with his help we have finally been able to change up our noodle recipe a bit. It’s all the same goodness, using the flavorful heritage wheat from Hillside Grain up in Bellevue. However, he’s got a fancy noodle maker that we’re housing in our kitchen. It allows us to get a lower hydration noodle. In short, we’ve had a hydration of about 36% (that’s water percentage to flour). While tasty, it’s a little higher than what we have ideally preferred but all the equipment we had in house couldn’t handle a drier dough. We tried and broke many apparati. Now we can get down to 33%. While it might seem nominal it gives just a little more chew, stores a little longer and is just a little more satisfying. It’s the little things in cooking that make it a lifelong pursuit. We hope you geek out on it as much as we do.
Just a little heads up that we have a few happy hour buyouts this week in the bar, with a birthday on Friday until 6:30p and a little get together for Jesse Tree on Wednesday, but that is in our Tasting Room so ART HAUS is open.
Days Open: Wednesday-Saturday
Hours of Operation: 4-11p
Happy Hours: 4-5p & 10-11p
KIN
We’re on our 90th menu! We brought back a seasonal favorite theme that we’ve rebranded a bit. We’re celebrating No Thanks, Giving. It’s a made up holiday around here where we poll the staff on food items or techniques that they are “not” thankful for, would politely pass on other, in other words, despise and detest.
But we’re not just serving you things that we don’t like. The real idea behind No Thanks, Giving is that the thing one person can’t stand is often the exact thing someone else may love. Taste is personal and sometimes our opinions about food become so firmly planted that we stop questioning why we have them in the first place.
The hope is that maybe, just maybe, through spending weeks, prepping, serving and talking about these ingredients we might see them from a different perspective, with a different lens. Potentially we gain a new understanding of those ingredients and can grow to tolerate, dare we say, respect them. It may not work for them all but maybe it’s just one thing seen in a different light. If we can do that with an ingredient within these walls, maybe we can apply it to things in our lives outside of it. In a world that can feel increasingly opinionated and polarized, being willing to approach something we dislike with a little curiosity and openness feels like a useful exercise.
KIN seatings for November
Thursday, Friday (and some Wednesdays) : 7p
Saturday: 6p & 9p (Supper Club $99 including beverage pairing)
Staff Shoutout
Here’s Nate! He’s been with us for over 4 years. At the beginning he was in the kitchen, bouncing between the tasting room and the bar line but over the course of a few years he was looking for some new experiences. So, he stepped into the FOH world and started barbacking. Now, he’s one of our lead bartenders. It’s a really cool example of cross training and people branching out into our related crafts. It’s fun to see him come up with cocktails because his creativity is a blend of knowing the spirits and builds but having a cook’s mentality as well. Because of that, he leads the prep for the bar team and helps bridge the kitchen and bar. Nate’s one of the OGs of the place and we’re fortunate to still have him with us. It’s been great to watch him grow over the years. He loves getting out there in nature but we’ll always associate him with the annual trip he goes on with his dad, Jam Cruise. Just a boat in the Caribbean with dozens of jam bands. He’s just one of those solid guys, dependable and consistent but with a refreshing easy going and optimistic attitude on things.
Favorite Fruit: Strawberry or a really juicy peach
Primal Zodiac: Chipmunk
Death Row Meal: His grandma’s chicken noodle soup with handmade fat egg noodles
Culinary Weapon of Choice in a Zombie Apocalypse (has to be in our kitchen): hmmm, maybe one of the rollers from the (aforementioned) noodle machine, seems durable.
As always, we really appreciate all of your support and we hope to see you down here soon!