BOKA, which stands for Bold Original Kitchen Artistry, happily lives up to it’s name. Perfectly situated in downtown’s sleek new Hotel 1000, it is also perfectly staffed with Marc Papineau, who doubles as general manager and BOKA’s extremely talented wine director and Executive Chef Angie Roberts, a highly respected Seattle chef who has cooked at the James Beard House and was selected as a Gayot rising-chef for 2007. The two are in perfect sync, sharing a dedication for sourcing and working with Pacific Northwest producers to feature the best local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients.
Recently, I attended one of the monthly wine dinners which featured some incredible wines (to the tune of $200/bottle) from Andrew Will Winery. Winemaker, Chris Camarda, touted by Wine & Spirits, as one of the world’s 50 most influential winemakers, was on hand to explain how he blends his wines to express the terroir of a particular vineyard. Chef Angie stopped out to say hello (a refreshingly down-to-earth young woman) and discuss what inspired her food pairings. Rather than wax euphoric about her food (each course was more exciting than the last) I’ll simply print the menu and let you salivate on your own.
BOKA & Andrew Will Wine Dinner
salt roasted peach salad
bacon vinaigrette and ricotta cheese
cuvée lucia pinot gris
2007, celilo vineyard, columbia gorge
2nd
Melon gazpacho
House-made yogurt and mint oil
cuvée lucia semillon
2007, horse heaven hills
3rd
Polenta and oven-dried tomato terrine
cuvée lucia sangiovese
2006, cièl du cheval vineyard, red mt.
main
roasted rabbit loin
confit rabbit leg, rabbit liver mousse,
huckleberry gastrique
cièl du cheval vineyard red wine
2005, 2004, 2003, red mt.
dessert
blue cheese
bing cherries, aged balsamic and toasted almonds
surprise wine from the library
at andrew will
***I gotta tell you- a dinner of such high caliber is a steal at $75. Check out their website for upcoming wine dinners. Word of warning: they sell out quickly, so don’t dally.
Boka Kitchen & Bar
www.bokaseattle.com
1010 First Ave.
Seattle, WA (see map)
Phone: 206.357.9000
My husband and I had dinner there more than a year ago and were underwhelmed to say the least (BTW, it’s BOKA, not BOCA as the headline reads, right?). We had a glass of wine in the so-called bar and it was probably the worst service we’ve ever had in Seattle. The waitress gabbed on the phone for ten minutes with a friend and finally acknowledged our existence. We had a nice waiter at dinner, but he was the highlight, not the food. It was a little too hip/trendy for my tastes. Maybe I’ll try it again, but minus the $200/bottle wine :-). Seattle is our town, but BOKA isn’t on my top ten or even top twenty list of places to dine or recommend. I prefer nearby Union, Le Pichet or Zoe in nearby Belltown.
Oops…bad typo. Yup, it is BOKA, and I believe that there is a new team on board since you ate there. Again, I only had the special wine dinner and it was superb!