Tag Archives: events

Olympia’s Award-Winning Ranch House BBQ

Olympia’s Award-Winning Ranch House BBQ

My brother Jeff’s birthday was this past weekend, and he had one request: Good barbeque. To be honest, I haven’t had any local BBQ I’ve been wowed over, until now.

I come from a family of food lovers, and we all have our own opinions when it comes to choosing a restaurant for a family dinner. Doing as brothers do, Jeff reminded me I don’t know everything about everything, even restaurants, and he did a little research on his own, finding Ranch House BBQ and Steakhouse in Olympia. I took to Twitter and asked folks what they thought. From the unanimously positive responses I received, it seemed like a good idea to check out what people were calling the best BBQ in the South Puget Sound.

The drive to Ranch House is scenic, and while it is a bit out of town, it’s worth the drive down the tree-lined highway. Just when we thought we were lost or must have passed the restaurant, we spotted it on the side of the road, right alongside Kennedy Creek. The giant smokers outside were a good sign.

When we stepped through the doors, the first thing I noticed were the walls lined with awards. There are trophies on the window, banners and plaques everywhere you look.

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October Food Events

October Food Events
  • Tacoma’s 52nd Annual Greek Festival
    October 4-6. Authentic Greek Cuisine, dance, music and more. Free admission. S. Yakima and 15th Street, Tacoma. Fore more information, visit them online.
  • Harmon Brewery & Restaurant 16th Annual Brewmaster’s Dinner
    October 3, 6 p.m. 5 course meal paired with 5 Harmon ales for only $35. Please call 253-383-2739 for reservations.
  • Harvest Fest
    October 5, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Fall fun and good food for all at Tahoma Farms, 21108 Orville Rd E, Orting. Chow down on locally sourced, Southern-inspired fare with a modern twist from the food truck Seattle Biscuit Company. Savor fall ice cream flavors from Ice Cream Social and snack on organic kettle corn and corn dogs from the Organic Kettle Corn Company. See where your food is grown and meet the farmers who harvest it in person! Peruse our farm stand and buy fresh produce from the very farm where it was grown. Plus, browse our market area and purchase items from artisan vendors like OlyKraut . $15 per carload (includes a pumpkin!). Pay at the gate or online.
  • Puyallup Art and Wine Walk
    October 5, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Enjoy wine & food pairings, along with live music and an art show. Tickets are $25/advance or $30 the day of the event. Purchase tickets online.
  • Tacoma Chocolate Festival
    October 4-5. Cupcake Clash Bake-Off, chocolate cocktail hour, chocolatier demonstrations and more in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Tickets are $5. For ticket locations, see the Proctor Neighborhood Facebook.
  • Toscanos Fall Wine Dinner
    October 9, 6:30 p.m.     Toscanos first Wine Maker’s Dinner of the fall will be hosted by Charles Cline, Owner of Cline Cellars & Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. Mr. Cline will be showcasing some unique wines from both wineries. A four-course dinner will be prepared by Toscanos Chef, Tom Pantley. Each course is designed to highlight these wonderful wines. The cost of the Wine Maker’s dinner is $70 per person, tax & gratuity included. No-host cocktails are at 6:30pm, followed by the dinner at 7pm. For reservations, call (253) 864-8600.
  • Tacoma Farmers Market 2013 Banquet of Bounty, A Farm to Fork Fundraising Celebration
    October 11, 6:30. The Tacoma Farmers Market Board presents “Banquet of Bounty”, an annual fundraising dinner that connects our community to our farms. Dinner will be prepared by Chef Matt Stickle at the Hotel Murano, and will feature the bounty from local farmers and producers. The special guest speaker Molly Wizenberg, award-winning food blogger (‘Orangette’) and author of New York Times bestseller ‘A Homemade Life’. $75/person. Tickets are available online.
  • Primo Grill Cooking Classes
    October 12th, The Cuisine of Tuscany. $65 inclusive of recipes, instruction, lunch, a glass of wine, tax and gratuity. Call 253-383-7000 to reserve.
    October 19th, The Cuisine of Spain. $65 inclusive of recipes, instruction, lunch, a glass of wine, tax and gratuity. Call 253-383-7000 to reserve.
  • Bayview School of Cooking Classes
    Various days and times. See their class schedule for more information.
  • Tacoma Food Co-Op Party
    October 16, 6-9 p.m. At Bluebeard Coffee and Cork! A Wine Bar, located next to each other on 6th & State. All are welcome to attend! There will be live music by Billy Pratt, fabulous food, and drinks, and member-owners will have their last chance to vote for the new TFC board members. Free to attend.
  • Dishcrawl
    October 16. 6th Avenue Tacoma Dishcrawl. Eat your way through various restaurants on 6th Ave. Restaurants are kept a secret until two days before the event, at which time the meeting location is revealed to ticket holders. Reservations are $45 a person and can be purchased at dishcrawl.com/theave.
  • Nordic Lutefisk Dinner
    October 20, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Includes, all you can eat Lutefisk, Meatballs,
    Lefse and all the trimmings. Adults $ 20.00, ages 7-12 $ 10.00 , 6 and under are free. For more information, see their Facebook page.

Maxwells’ Chef Hudson Slater Wins Ethan Stowell Charity Cook-Off

Maxwells’ Chef Hudson Slater Wins Ethan Stowell Charity Cook-Off

Tacoma’s own Chef Hudson Slater of Maxwell’s Speakeasy and Lounge won first place in last weekend’s Ethan Stowell Fried Chicken Cook-Off for charity. Ethan Stowell Restaurants, which include Staple & Fancy, Tavolata and How to Cook a Wolf, just to name a few, held the charity cook-offs to benefit Fetal Hope Foundation.

Ten chefs competed, including Josh Henderson from the Huxley Wallace Collective; Ryan Donaldson, chef at The Stone House; Tricia Marino from Stoneburner; Tobie Robinson from Parsnips Catering; Dan Braun from Oliver’s Twist, Paul Rosquita from Taste at SAM, as well as Ethan Stowell himself. Four home cooks also competed, including Joe Jeannot, Rocky Yeh, Luuvu Hoang and Cameo McRoberts.

Attendees of the event voted for their favorite fried chicken entries.

Chef Slater won with chicken that he brined in a smokey brine for a day, then in buttermilk, maple syrup and hot sauce, which were then dredged in seasoned flour and fried.

“It was a great day with a lot of cool chefs,” said Chef Slater.  “We were drinking beer and bourbon, eating chicken and talking smack. It was a lot of fun.”

To see what sets Chef Slater’s fried chicken apart, get to Maxwell’s early each Monday. You can order his winning fried chicken first come, first serve. It will be offered for as long as there’s demand.

Chef Slater is hoping to get involved in the next cook-off, which is slated to be macaroni and cheese, though so far there is no firm date yet set for this event.

“There was talk of mac and cheese so I would be pretty stoked for that, considering we have the best mac and cheese in town,” said Slater.

Tickets will be available to the public, so check the Ethan Stowell blog for more details.

If you can’t attend the Ethan Stowell Cook-Offs, make sure to check out all the amazing food Chef Slater and Maxwell’s is putting out right here in Tacoma on a daily basis.

Update: Maxwell’s has started serving the fried chicken on Mondays, and it’s a hit! Check out the photo below. Looks amazing.

Chef Hudson's winning fried chicken at Maxwell's

Photos courtesy Chef Hudson Slater

Broadway Sizzle

Broadway Sizzle

I see a lot of food-related events run across my desk each month, and I try to make it to as many as I can. One upcoming event that has stood out to me is Broadway Center for the Performing Arts’ Broadway Sizzle, August 31 from 5 to 7 p.m. Following the event, you can choose to combine the dinner with a show and attend the premier night of the national-touring musical, Chicago.

Call me crazy, but it sounded like a great excuse to get dressed up for a memorable night on the town. The dinner will be at a communal table set up under a tent in the middle of Broadway. Chef Dustin Joseph has created a menu utilizing all local ingredients (menu below), and if you love food, it’s a delight to read (and equally good to taste).

I’m very much looking forward to attending the event, and hope to see you there! Tickets for dinner only are $75, or $150 for both dinner and tickets to Chicago, and can be purchased online. Ticket sales benefit Tacoma Free For All, Broadway Center’s 100 percent free programming each month.

Menu for Broadway Sizzle

Wine and Beer Garden
Braised pork macaroons, pickled sweet onions (Walla Walla, WA), apple jelly (Yakima, WA), caramel sea salt biscuits

Compressed watermelon (Hermiston, OR), thyme-chevre, aged balsamic, honey (Lakewood, WA / Spring Valley)

Dinner
(Family style)
Grilled corn (Puyallup, WA / Sterino Farms), cilantro aioli, cotija cheese, chile dust Heirloom tomato salad (Yakima, WA),  fresh burrata, basil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette

Cucumber-kale-farro salad (Puyallup, WA / Duris Farms), goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, lemon-cilantro vinaigrette Heirloom melon cornbread

(Plated)
Rosemary grilled (Columbia River, WA) salmon, crisp wild mushrooms (Olympia, WA / Ostrom Farms), sweet potatoes, rose hip jus

Pesto grilled hangar steak (Niman Ranch), chipotle potato salad, caramelized onions, grilled peppers (Wapato, WA / Inaba Farms), aioli

(Dessert station)
Honeyed biscuits, cinnamon creme, macerated strawberries Roasted peaches (Wapato, WA / Pence Orchards), lavender (Sequim, WA / Purple Haze Farms), pistachio Chantilly cream

August Food Events

August Food Events
  • Savor South Sound
    August 1-August 3, a three-day event. The Savor South Sound beverage tasting event will feature five cideries on Thursday, August 1, eight breweries on Friday, August 2 and five wineries on Saturday, August 3. Tastings will run from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day in the Heritage Hall Annex at the Thurston County Fair. Patrons must be 21 or over to enter the Savor South Sound event.
  • Table For Olympia
    August 3, 4 p.m.-8p.m. Community picnic in the heart of the Olympia, on Fifth Avenue in front of the Capital Theater, presented by the Thurston Food Systems Council. Join them at Olympia’s largest table and bring a picnic, plus plates and silverware to share with your friends and neighbors.
  • Primo Grill Cooking Classes
    August 3, 2 p.m.-4 p.m. The savory cuisine of Morocco. $65/person, includes recipes and instruction, lunch with a glass of wine, tax and gratuity. Call Jacqueline at 383.7000 to purchase tickets.
    August 24, 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Summertime grilling: fish; meats and vegetables, $65/person, includes recipes and instruction, lunch with a glass of wine, tax and gratuity. Call Jacqueline at 383.7000 to purchase tickets.
  • Pierce County Gleaning Project Film
    August 4, 8 p.m. Showing of food justice themed film, The Real Dirt on Farmer John. It’s a bike-in movie, so bring your finest human-powered vehicle and enjoy the movie and discussion surrounded by the garden in full bloom. Hilltop Pop Shop will be there with their awesome bike-powered popsicle shop, selling locally made popsicles. Free.
  • C.I. Shenanigan’s Bulliet Bourbon Dinner
    August 6, 6 p.m. Four course dinner paired with Bulleit Bourbon cocktails and prizes. $45/person, includes tax. Call 253-752-8899 to reserve.
  • Bayview School of Cooking Classes
    For each class, call 360-754-1448 to reserve.
    August 6, 6-8:30 p.m. Dinner on the Grill. $50/person.
    August 8, 6-8:30 p.m. All Fed Up Food Truck, $45/person.
    August 15, 6-8:30 p.m. Grilling with Barry Martin, $45/person.
    August 20, 6-8:30 p.m. A Posh Picnic, $45/person.
    August 24, 6-8:30 p.m. Hands on Grilled Italian Skewers, $50/person
    August 27, 6-8:30 p.m. Kabobs, $45/person.
  • Fermented Vegetable Class
    August 11, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Taught by Summer Bock of OlyKraut. Learn how to make raw sauerkraut and sample sauerkraut. Leave with recipes and instructional handouts. Register online.
  • A World of White Wine Benefit Dinner
    August 24, 5 p.m. A four-course dinner, plus passed appetizers, paired with white wines. Proceeds benefit Clover Park Technical College’s Culinary Arts Programs. Tickets are $95/person and must be purchased ahead of time. Purchase tickets online.
  • Harvest Potluck Event
    August 24, noon to 4 p.m. Food, music, games for kids at the Gallucci Learning Garden Plaza. Free.
  • Tacoma Food Coop 2nd Anniversary Party
    August 25, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Greet local farmers and connect with local businesses. Sample beer, wine and other fantastic treats. Take a self-guided tour of the store, learn what’s new in the co-op. Free.
  • Broadway Sizzle
    August 31, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Picture 150 people dining at a jovial communal table under an elegantly appointed tent on Broadway. Chef Dustin Joseph will create a “Scratch American” upscale picnic to showcase local ingredients picked at the peak of the season. Broadway Sizzle will “Razzle Dazzle” you with lively entertainment, farm-fresh produce, craft brews, artisan cheeses, award-winning wines, and gourmet products of all kinds. Then, move into the gorgeous Pantages Theater for “All That Jazz”—the glorious national touring musical Chicago. Tickets for the dinner only are $75, or tickets to dinner and a B-tier seat to Chicago are $150. Get tickets online.