.... the man behind the scenes ......

Here is a picture of our bookkeeper, consultant, administrative assistant, HR guy, file clerk, organizer, food and beverage quality controller, napkin folder, morale booster, number cruncher, occasional dishwasher, hand model, etc. He is a good… lady!

Thurday April 24th - Don't miss Dining Out for Life

Tidbit will take part in the 15th annual Dining Out for Life, one of Seattle’s favorite ways to fight AIDS. The last Thursday of April, over 150 restaurants from across the region, including tidbit, come together in support of the fight against HIV and AIDS.

What do you have to do? Just dine out with us on Thursday, April 24, and we will donate 30% of our daily sales, including food, beverage, and alcohol, to Lifelong AIDS Alliance. Proceeds from Dining Out for Life help to feed those living with chronic illness in the Puget Sound region. Services include pickup and delivery of nutritious meals and groceries, housing assistance, medical insurance coverage, and counseling services.

So, come see us April 24th. Dine out and make it count!

Have you ever heard of "scarpetta"?

Many and varied are the uses of Italian bread. Italians use bread to accompany most of their food. There is one food item with which Italians do not eat bread, while Americans often do. That is pasta. The reason is because you should not double up on your wheat product. However after eating your pasta and if you are in an informal dinner, as a way to compliment the cook, you can “make a scarpetta” (in Italian “fare la scarpetta”). Scarpetta (meaning “little shoe”) is when eating pasta sauce, it is so delicious that every little bit should be wiped out of the dinner plate with a piece of fresh bread. This is an old informal Italian custom that simply shows one’s full enjoyment of a meal.

...from grapes to grappa...

In December 2008, (Sound) magazine published an article on tidbit bistro. We were excited about this piece because it was published on a magazine that we personally love. (Sound) magazine is a fun and hip publication covering Seattle’s music scene and also featuring columns about restaurants, bars, books, arts and more.
In “the life” section, there are also reviews of restaurants. These reviews focus on the positive aspects of restaurants and they are not just mean like many other more popular reviews. The author - Allison Holm - wrote a great piece highlighting what tidbit bistro really is: “a casual but nonetheless charming bistro”. In her article, Allison reviewed three new Seattle restaurants in “the search for the perfect New Year’s meal”. Her article was professionally written in a way that even the restaurants that she did not choose do not appear as ‘losers’. Other newspapers and magazines should take the example from the (Sound) magazine and learn how to write useful reviews. Allyson even made a mistake about our chef’s name that should have been Kurt Stolte; this mistake was forgiven as it was corrected in the following issue. A big thank you from tidbit bistro goes to Allyson Holm, Noelle Richards and all the staff of this wonderful magazine!

Here is the link to the (Sound) magazine:
http://www.seattlesoundmag.com/

From Grapes to Grappa – Story and Photos by Allison Holm
The search for the perfect New Year’s meal ends in a warm Southern European embrace.

New Year’s Eve is around the corner and the countdown to finding the perfect spot to celebrate has already begun. There are dozens of prime locations to ring in the New Year, but my focus is on the feast. I’m looking for a meal light, so as to not burst a belt buckle (or little black dress), but substantial enough to sustain a night of champagne toasts. And, of course, it’s got to have celebration written all over it. Three top Seattle chefs have agreed to partake in the challenge. 3, 2, 1 …

Tidbit Bistro WINNER
2359 10th Ave. E 206.323.0840

A casual but nonetheless charming bistro. Tidbit unveils a marriage between the delightful flavors and preparations of southern Italy and Spain. Owners John van Deinse and Nic Longo with Chef Kurte Stolte bring as much passion, preparation and excitement to the dinner table as any true Italian or Spaniard would. We begin with Italian Piedmont Prosecco and 12 grapes, one for every chime of the clock at midnight. Halfway through the Prosecco comes the Cazuncielli – warm, bite-sized calsoni stuffed with ricotta, goat cheese, mushrooms and salami with an Italian sciué sciué dipping sauce. The second course of Linguine ai frutti di mare al cartoccio is beautifully presented. House-made linguine with prawns, clams and mussels are prepared “al cartoccio” – cooked in baking paper to keep the pasta and seafood moist. Paired with a nice Alto Adige Pinot Grigio, it was a tasteful and surprisingly light dish. Lemon sorbetto with mint to cleanse palate, and then marinated and grilled leg of lamb. Lemon aioli, black olive tapenade and a well-structured Ribera del Duero Temranillo give the dish a Mediteranean twist. Sopa de lentejas y chorizo follows. This lentil soup with Spanish pork sausage is popular in Italian New Year’s dinners, symbolizing money and good fortune fro the coming year. Dessert comes and goes in the form of panettone farcito, the classic Italian holiday bread with pastry cream and candied walnuts. Paired with a sweet Asti Spumante from white Muscat grapes, it is a delicious end to a celebration taste. Of course, no Italian meal would be complete without grappa. What better way to clear the slate for New Year’s cocktail than with a toast of firewater?

Which one came first?

Here is a very interesting tidbit regarding the French and Italian cuisines underlying the historical contribution of Italy to the development of French cooking. In 1533, the Florentine princess Catherine De Medicis married Henry duc d'Orleans (who became King Henry II or France). At this point, France was not known for its food or food culture. Catherine brought an entourage of Italian chefs with her to France, who introduced to France a variety of dishes, food preparation and dining practices. Although France and Italy obviously have evolved very different food cultures, much of France's current food culture can be traced back to this time.

Ecco una informazione interessante a proposito delle cucine francesi ed italiane che mette in risalto il contributo storico dell’Italia sullo sviluppo della cucina francese. Nel 1533, la principessa fiorentina Caterina dei Medici sposò Enrico duca d’Orleans (che poi diventò il re Enrico II di Francia). A questo punto, la Francia non era conosciuta per il suo cibo o per la sua cultura gastronomica. Caterina portò in Francia un seguito di cuochi italiani che introdussero in Francia una varietà di piatti, preparazioi e pratiche. Sebbene la Francia e l’Italia hanno successivamente elaborato culture gastronomiche molto diverse, buona parte della cultura gastronomica francese può essere fatta risalire a quel tempo.

…when the dishwasher does not show up…

Restaurant work is hard work. There is not much to argue about that. Owning and managing a restaurant is a lot of work. Since John and I have opened tidbit bistro we have covered all the possible positions: we have worked as dishwashers, pantry cooks, accountants, janitors, servers, hosts, planners, bartenders, psychologists, plumbers, electricians, baby-sitters, officers, painters and much more. We need to be ‘problem solvers’, ready to solve, with calm and patience, any type of issues.

The majority of diners do not really know what goes on and how hard of a job it is. Why? The reason is because they have never worked in a restaurant. When the pantry cook does not show up, who covers the shift? Ultimately it is the owner. When the dishwasher does not show up? It is again the owner. Enjoy this picture taken last December after the kitchen was closed. It was 11:30 PM on a Friday night and John and I had to do dishes until 3:30 AM while brunch had to start the next morning at 9:00 AM.

... what Seattle Times readers did not know...

On November 30, 2007, the Seattle Times published a review about tidbit bistro on the NWTicket insert. We felt honored to be reviewed on a newspaper after two months we opened the doors. The article was published two weeks before our grand opening to which the Seattle Times had also been cordially invited. That was a slow time of the year for most restaurants and it was even slower for the newly opened tidbit because many guests were waiting for the grand opening.
The review started with a traffic bulletin: “I-5 was in the grip of Friday night gridlock” the author writes. We all know how bad traffic can be on I-5 and how that can impact our moods. Unfortunately, the traffic set the author’s mood for the entire review. The author defines the Spezzato Marengo as: ‘a mellifluos name for a prosaic stew” (!?!). I wish Ada Boni, author of the bible of Italian cuisine Il talismano della felicità, could read this Seattle Time definition about this recipe that she glorifies in her masterpiece. The reviewer also tries to give us a lecture of Italian trying to explain the meaning of the word ‘arancino’ but she shows to know very little about my culture. 
The reviewer was really good at offending John, me and our staff. Even now, after six months I found myself depressed and disheartened while I was re-reading the article.  You may be right Cicero: "a restaurant has to do better"; however, you also have to do better: please have the decency to learn the basics of Italian cuisine and culture, if you want to visit one of the few restaurants in Seattle that is run by Italians.  You can offend the food and the service, but you should never offend the servers and imply that they are bad because they cannot pronounce correctly Italian words.  I wish I could hear you pronouncing the word Raschera!  While we try to improve, we thank you for such a good example of bad journalism and we feel that your readers should be correctly informed.  

If you are interested in reading the Seattle Time’s review, here is the link:
http://www.nwsource.com/ae/scr/nws_rev.cfm?c=&rtype=v&id=27769
The same day the review was published we received several e-mails from guests and readers expressing their appreciation for our restaurant. Some guests sent also messages to the Seattle Times and cc-ed us. Many other guests wrote reviews on the Internet and others expressed their disappointment about the Seattle Times in person to us. We sent a letter to the Seattle Times, asking to correct the multitude of mistakes that the ignorant author wrote about the food. They ignored us. Below is the letter. Thank you for reading it.


Dear Seattle Times,

Thank you for taking the time to come visit tidbit and for writing an article on our independent restaurant. We really appreciate any feedback. Most of the issues you had with the restaurant have already been addressed for our grand opening. It would have been nice if you had checked our menu online so that you would not be misleading current diners.

The following information in the article was not correct:
- tidbit is generally not empty on Fridays or Tuesdays. We are not the busiest restaurant on the hill, nor do we claim to be. With every small restaurant it takes months, maybe even years to be constantly “full”.
- The Spezzato Marengo is not a prosaic beef stew but it comes from a very old and historic recipe that we try to follow closely.
- We don't promise wild mushrooms but mixed mushrooms (although oyster mushrooms were also in the mix).
- The Crocche' di Patate have nothing to do with Tater Tots (the texture is different).
- Arancino mean small orange tree (it ends in 'o' and it is masculine, the fruit would be feminine and end in 'a').
- Color and taste of our Arancini come from tomato and not from saffron following my family recipe from Naples. There is a hint of saffron, so as not to overpower the flavor profile.
- Banderillas are not canapé. There is no bread in them.
- It was parsley and not spinach in the Chicken Braciola that came in the Risotto del Giorno.
- In the same Risotto del Giorno there were three or four slices of one single braciola and not a "bundle of chicken braciole".
- Fontina is not a creamy cheese but a soft cheese.
- Bresaola cannot and is not supposed to be garlicky. There is actually no garlic at all in our Colorata salad.

We really appreciate your feedback and we are striving to improve all aspects. However we will not pretend that our servers speak fluent Italian or Spanish so to make fun of them is malicious and unnecessary. At least at tidbit the owner is Italian.

We would love for you to try our food again and enjoy one of our entrées that was not described in the article. Thanks again.

Sincerely,

-Nic Longo and John van Deinse
tidbit bistro
2359 10th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98112