By Iron Chef Leftovers
Seattle Met Magazine has an interview with Le Gourmand Chef/Owner Bruce Naftaly in which he announced that Le Gourmand will be closing its door in June of this year. Le Gourmand is expensive. Dinner for 2 will run you close to $200 with drinks. Mrs. Iron Chef and I have been there twice and let me tell you, it is worth every penny that you pay.
It is not a fast meal; you are probably looking at 2 to 3 hours for dinner. Le Gourmand is French using Northwest seasonal ingredients. Chef Naftaly has been doing the local/seasonal/well-sourced thing since before anyone ever thought it to be trendy.
The menus change based on what is available on any given week, the ingredients are impeccably sourced (Chef Naftaly can tell you where any specific thing he uses comes from if you really want to know) and they are masterfully prepared, flavor bombs that come out of the kitchen looking like works of art. It is not a Tuesday night quick dinner place, but a place to go for a special occasion romantic dinner and a meal that you will remember for years to come. Heck, I still can taste the rabbit saddle in the mushroom sauce that I had 2 years ago at Le Gourmand. I can also probably tell you exactly what was in it from memory.
All of this artistry comes out of a kitchen that really isn’t significantly bigger than most people’s home kitchen.
Le Gourmand has been around 27 years with Chef Naftaly cooking practically every meal. In addition to that, one Sunday a month is dedicated to a cooking class (well two of them actually) which Chef Naftaly somehow manages to cram 12 people into an already crowded space and then shows them the secrets of the Le Gourmand kitchen, preparing a 3 or 4 course meal over 3 hours. The cost for this privilege, $75 per person, including wine, or to put it in perspective, the same price as other places like Dish It Up, charge for their cooking classes.
I have attended a number of these classes and I have found Chef Naftaly funny and personable, willing to explain everything he is doing and why he is doing it and more than happy to give you the secrets of his restaurant to create at home, albeit probably less successfully than he can.
While I hate to see a Seattle icon close after so long, Chef Naftaly has decided it is time to move on. He wants to write a cookbook, which I will be the first in line to buy when it comes out, and he has decided to continue to teach cooking classes, which I would be more than happy to continue to attend.
If you have had the pleasure in dining at Le Gourmand, go back for one last hurrah. If you have not, I can’t recommend enough that you should go before the doors close. You won’t regret it.
In other sad Seattle restaurant news, there was a fire at DaPino’s in Ravenna, causing 20,000 dollars in damage. You may not know Chef Pino Rogano or his work by name, but chances are you have had either his sausages or cured meats at any number of the fine Italian eateries in Seattle. Heck, he probably makes the best sausages in Seattle done by someone not named Batali and has been doing it for over 25 years (and I personally think Pino’s salami is better).
On the bright side, I believe Canlis is still standing and serving dinner and Paseo reopened after their 6 week vacation, so all is right again with the world.
FlatbreadGarden 