Carmelita -- Vegetarian Slow Food

For my first foray into Slow Food, my partner Sarah and I went to Carmelita on Greenwood Ave. in North Seattle. (http://www.carmelita.net/) I had been there before, but this time, I went in with a new purpose. I was curious how the Slow Food ideals played into their menu. I also wanted to speak with their chef, Carlos Caula, to get his perspective on Slow Food and how that affected meal creation and on the restaurant.

Unlike many vegetarian restaurants that try to imitate meat with soy, seiatn, etc., Carmelita's objective is to move away from this, and to enjoy the grains, vegetables, etc. for their own flavor. Meat features prominently in my diet as a main source of protein; however, I have been happily surprised that Carmelita has found other ways to provide protein to an all-vegetarian menu, including fresh eggs in their dishes.

We started with the antipasti, consisting of Manchego cheese from Spain (The only imported food I am aware of in our meal that night), a selection of olives, house-pickled veggies, two large heads of roasted garlic, grilled flat bread and two spreads: one with feta, olive oil, and herbs, and the other consisting of roasted red peppers, cumin, and molasses. The spreads were the most interesting, but the combination of Manchego, spread, and roasted garlic on the flat bread was the most satisfying.

We each had a main dish. I had a hash of butternut squash gnocchi, dried cranberries, roasted butternut squash and apples, with fried crispies and micro greens on top, all in a light brown-butter glaze. It was definitely comfort food for a cold Seattle winter night (45 deg and raining). The gnocchi was cooked perfectly, soft but chewy and having absorbed the flavors of the brown butter, the cranberries and squash. The rest of the ingredients were similarly cooked well, soft yet toothsome with enough "color" to enhance the flavor.

Sarah's dish stole the show. The menu reads, Raviolo of truffled parsnip & Alice Farm egg, warm truffle vinaigrette, frisee salad. It was delicious! It is a large ravioli with an egg inside, covered with a buttery truffle sauce and topped with a fresh frisee salad. The smoky truffle flavor paired well with the large egg. Everything worked together, flavors, textures, colors. The dish was truly greater than the sum of its parts.

For dessert, we shared homemade profiteroles, hazelnut ice cream, caramel and roasted salted hazelnuts. (Some more ideas, Jonathan! And maybe a customer!?) The sweet and salty made us happy!

In all, I believe it was the freshness of each dish which made it good.

It was at this point that chef Carlos came out to speak with us! Thanks, Carlos for sharing your food, your opinions and your time with us!

Having been trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London, a French gastronomy school, with a long history and tradition, I was curious if he missed French Style cooking? But that answer is in the menu: everything is made from scratch, in-house, and farm-to-table ideals couldn't be more traditional and old-world.

Do you miss cooking meat? "I cook meat at home," he said. "For the restaurant, I don't like vegetarian things (tofu, soy products) that try to taste like meat. Vegetables are vegetables. They are not meant to be prepared like meat."

How does Seattle fare in comparison with other cities in the Slow Food Movement? "Seattle is close. Close to D.C. There are some really good farms here, a good range. For instance, Foraged and Found is really good." Washington, D.C. is known for Slow Food, access to local farms, and the restaurants who use them, including Restaurant Nora (where Carlos worked for a time).

What is your experience of winter here, as far as what food is available? Is it hard? "Yes, it is a challenge. We use a lot more root vegetables in the winter."

Then, out of the blue, he asked me why I was drawn to the Slow Food Movement. I remember being surprised by the question. I answered that I had some experience as a professional cook, seeing a side that was not local and didn't always use things in season or organically, and that I wanted to re-focus my my view on food through the lens of the Slow Food ideals. Visiting restaurants that apply those ideals was intriguing to me.

I know how hard cooking for the public can be, to keep things fresh. Slow Food ups the ante: it's nearly unacceptable if it does not have that "picked today" quality of taste to it.

The last thing he said was the most interesting: "You know, your grandparents: think about how your grandfather ate, and you will eat right."

With that, he said goodnight, turned, and was gone. I was stunned by the obviousness of this statement; I appreciated the beauty of it. It served to connect questions and answers in my head. It is not just about the food we eat, how that affects not only our health, but our community: what we put in is what we get out. There was no Fast Food back then, only local food. It's what we should have been continuing to do all along.