Getting produce from Washington to Vietnam Meet the people behind America's potato chips Games and puzzles related to this issue Washington's best “Comfort-Food” Restaurants
Sometimes you just need some comfort food, but you don't feel like cooking. We're here to help you find the perfect restaurant to warm you up inside!
Comfort food comes in all shapes and sizes, and the foods that you find most comforting often trace back to your formative years – which dishes are nostalgic for you from childhood, or which smells remind you of your grandma’s kitchen, etc. It's science: we actually experience increased brain levels of serotonin when we eat foods that remind us of happy memories.
Since every person alive has a different set of happy memories, listing the Washington restaurants with the best comfort foods is a very subjective undertaking. You could ask 100 people for their lists and get 100
different answers. We tried to start with a simple question: if you were meeting a friend for dinner on a chilly November evening, where would you be most excited to eat? Whether you're on the rainy side of the Cascades or the snowy side, cold weather just makes certain foods hit different.
While all the restaurants on our list have lots of variety on their menus, our editorial team especially loved their cozy comfort-food dishes: creamy pastas, soups and stews, and hearty potato dishes. For that reason, our reviews are focused on those specific dishes. We also gave bonus points for a “cozy” interior design aesthetic– which is similarly subjective. Guess you'll have to visit these restaurants and test the cozy vibes for yourself!
Some of the best restaurants in Washington feel like a warm sweater on a chilly evening. We've compiled our five favorite “comfort-food” restaurants in the state.
GILDED UNICORN • SPOKANE
Gilded Unicorn in Spokane feels like it was dreamed up by owner Adam Hegsted on a snowy winter solstice. When you enter the restaurant’s front doors, you immediately descend a flight of stairs and step out into a cozy dining room that looks like it was once an underground speakeasy. The stone walls and vintage art make you feel like there must be a hearth fire burning just around the corner or behind the large and ornate bar. But the interior design isn’t the only thing that’s cozy: the menu at Gilded Unicorn is peppered with comfort foods. The pizza mac and cheese or the rich tater tot casserole, made with braised brisket and a sherry cream sauce, is certain to warm you up even on the coldest days.
Gilded Unicorn shared with us the recipe for their famous Mushroom Stroganoff back in Season 8 – find the recipe at wagrown.com/recipes.
Reviews - “Love this place! Comfort food done well!!! Sometimes places lose the charm of comfort food when they try to make it fancy, but these guys nail it! Some of the best food I've had downtown.” –Keith, Google reviewer
“This has to be one of my favorites! Tucked away below the streets of Spokane you will find this humble yet fancy restaurant with what appears to be comfort food on the menu!?? I love it! Mac & cheese, deviled eggs, and my personal favorite tater tot casserole.” – Google reviewer
RHEIN HAUS CAPITOL HILL & LEAVENWORTH
If anyone knows about the comfort of warm, hearty foods on a chilly night, it’s the hardy people of Bavaria. So if you’re on the hunt for comfort foods, the Munich-inspired menu of Rhein Haus would hit the spot. The Washington Grown TV crew visited Rhein Haus’ location in Capitol Hill, but they also have a prominent location in Leavenworth’s town square – which is just about the coziest location one can imagine. At either location, make sure to try a plate of the bratwurst and frites, with their special curry ketchup. Sit around one of the fire pits with a meal and stein of beer and imagine you’re in the Alps!
Rhein Haus shared with us the recipe for their famous German Potatoes back in Season 6 –find the recipe at wagrown.com/recipes.
Reviews: “Favorite stop up here in Seattle. Whenever we have an event to attend we always come by for the great food and beer! They have a great schwartzbier on tap and today I had a great Kölsch imported from Cologne.” –Rick, Google reviewer
“Honestly one of my favorite places in town. The food is spectacular, the beer choice is extensive, they allow dogs, and the service is perfect. I’ve also never had to wait for a seat. The curry ketchup is the secret weapon.” –Jackson, Google reviewer
PROVISIONS • YAKIMA
Provisions has made a name in the Yakima Valley for an innovative, ever-changing menu that uses ultra-fresh ingredients – often sourced from farm stands and markets around Yakima. But when that winter chill creeps in, customers come looking for comfort food. Regulars know to start with the warm, crispy brussels sprouts. Order the french onion chicken, served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables, for a delightful taste of home.
Provisions shared with us the recipe for their Potato and Apple Gratin back in Season 9 –find the recipe at wagrown.com/recipes.
Reviews: “Definitely my favorite place I’ve dined in Yakima (so far). Very tasty food, great service, and a comfortable atmosphere.” –Travis, Google reviewer
“Relaxed yet really satisfying comfort food in a pleasant environment. Will be back for more.” –Peter, Google reviewer
WOODBLOCK • REDMOND
Nestled in downtown Redmond, Woodblock is an elevated version of a local diner. The space is open and inviting, and the food has some familiar favorites, but it’s made with high-end ingredients. If you’re looking for comfort food, they offer a delicious, juicy meatloaf and a sophisticated grown-up mac and cheese – but one menu item is a combination of TWO comfort-food favorites. The brisket gnocchi strikes a perfect balance: the homemade gnocchi are surprisingly light and fluffy, and the rich fattiness of the brisket is balanced out by the sweet brightness of the tomato sauce.
Woodblock shared with us the recipe for their Brisket Gnocchi back in Season 8 – find the recipe at wagrown.com/recipes.
Reviews: “Swanky atmosphere, fantastic service, very delicious food. I love gnocchi, and theirs was right up there on my list of favorites.” –Aly, Google reviewer
“Food was off the charts. I had the scotch egg, and my lady had the brisket gnocchi, which was honestly the best I've ever had. Been a chef for 15 years.” –Justin, Google reviewer
ARAYA'S
PLACE BELLEVUE
& UNIVERSITY WAY
Araya’s Place was the first vegan Thai restaurant in the Northwest, opening all the way back in 1987, so they’ve had decades to perfect their soups, curries, and noodle dishes. Customers rave about the tom yum soup, loaded with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and chile flavor. On a cold day, you just can’t beat their delicious curry, which comes in 11 different preparations! Try the red or green curry, the panang curry, or their own invention, the avocado curry. No matter what you choose, you’ll feel that warmth spreading from your head to your toes.
Araya's Place shared with us the recipe for their Potato Curry back in Season 8 – find the recipe at wagrown.com/recipes.
Reviews: “The food is exquisite, we have come multiple times and each time the food is delicious … the soups are my favorite.” –Christian, Google reviewer
“One of the best meals of my life so far! The service was quick, and the food was hot and full of flavor. This place fed my heart and soul.” –Eva, Google reviewer
POTATO CHIPS ARE A WORK OF ART FIGURED OUT DOWN TO
A SCIENCE
ALLIED POTATO NORTHWEST
That bag of chips in your cupboard relies on an entire supply chain working in sync. Farmers and processors like Allied Potato Northwest have gotten the process down to a science.
The next time you tear open a brightly colored bag of Lay’s potato chips, take a bite of the chip and really pay attention. Notice the salty crunch, the delicious texture, the bright color, and the lovely size and roundness, because it’s likely you’re crunching on a Washington-grown potato — one that was harvested by local farmers, sorted to ensure it’s the best size and quality, and quickly shipped to processing plants, where it was cut and fried into one of the country’s favorite snack foods.
Allied Potato Northwest is a potato growing and packing facility in Pasco, Washington, that ships potatoes to chip companies throughout the United States, including Frito-Lay and Kettle, as well as worldwide. According to Derek Davenport, the owner and director of Northwest Operations for Allied Potato Northwest, about 90% of potato chips in the U.S. were made from potatoes grown on Washington farms like his.
“The odds are very, very high that you’re getting local potatoes in these bags of chips,” said Davenport, pointing to a shelf of potato chip bags behind him.
Washington Grown host Kristi Gorenson and the rest of the team toured Allied in Season 11, and Davenport gave a sneak peek into how a potato goes from the ground to the snack bowl. Allied grows specific potatoes — called chippers — that are special because they have lower sugar content than other potatoes, which means they remain white after they’re fried, the ideal color for a commercial chip. In addition, Davenport explained, the potatoes are rounder and grow to be the perfect chip size.
“Good-quality potatoes are easy to sell,” he said.
(above) have farm.
When the potatoes are ripe and ready for picking, a giant harvesting machine brings them from the farm to the processing facility, where they are unloaded onto a conveyor belt and washed with a series of sprayers. Employees sort through the clean chippers to pull out rocks or any damaged potatoes, and machines sift out any potatoes that are too big for chips.
“You want something within a medium-size range, where a person can eat the chip,” said Davenport. “We don’t want a massive potato chip in a bag, because I can’t fit that in my mouth.”
The rejected potatoes are sorted into bins, and the large spuds are then sold to food distribution centers or restaurants, where they will be cooked and made into mashed potatoes, french fries, or other delicious dishes.
“No potato goes to waste,” said Davenport.
After sorting, the approved chippers are sent down the line, loaded onto trucks, and delivered to the processors to be cut, fried, packaged, and sold. The process is fast, and hundreds of thousands of potatoes are sorted and shipped in Allied’s facilities every day.
“A semi load is about 25 to 30 tons,” said Davenport. “And we can run 25 to 30 semis through here in a day — so that’s a lot of potatoes.”
In a bright commercial kitchen, employees cut potatoes into tiny slivers with an industrial slicer, then fry them in bubbling oil, checking to see if the sugar content is correct based on how dark the chips come out of the fryer.
“This is our quality-control lab,” Davenport said. “We try and re-enact basically how that processing plant will fry them up. The only thing here is, we don’t get to put them in a fancy bag and have all the good flavors that they have.”
Davenport crunched on a freshly fried potato chip laid out on a paper towel.
“Still a little hot,” he said, wincing.
“You think?” Gorenson retorted, laughing.
Davenport grabbed another chip and smiled. “You know what they say — once you start, you can’t stop.”
Find more great stories at wagrown.com
“Their family came to Red Mountain on a coin flip. But their success here has nothing to do with chance.”
Read more at wagrown.com
“Her parents were farmworkers. Now she owns the farm.”
Read more at wagrown.com
Watch the show online or on your local station
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REUNION MALAYSIAN
CAFE + KITCHEN KIRKLAND
More Meal than a
Tucked away in Kirkland, Reunion is inviting guests for food and family – serving up the flavors of Malaysia, grown in Washington.
Sitting at a small table in Kirkland’s Reunion Malaysian Cafe + Kitchen, Robert Tju reflects on the meaning of his restaurant’s name.
“Reunion is essentially a gathering for everyone,” he said. “Have great food and have great conversation — you know, that’s what Reunion is all about.”
Tju and his wife, Grace Ting, co-own the cozy Malaysian restaurant, and they make sure their guests feel welcome and nourished. One patron said just that: she doesn’t feel like a customer; she feels like family.
Another customer said she eats there almost every day.
“Every time I come here, I say, ‘Boss! I’m hungry!’” she said, laughing. “He just makes my food.”
“I love the people who work here,” said another diner enjoying a steaming bowl of curry. “If you’re looking to just try Malaysian food, this is the place to come to. I haven't tried everything on the menu quite yet, but I'll get there.”
Tju said Malaysian cuisine represents a fusion of influences, including Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other indigenous groups, and that’s what makes the food so special.
“People came from many regions in the world to Malaysia,” he said. “So with the spice route, you get all the spices, and you get the blend of locals mixing their own concoction of spices, and there you go — you’ve got Malaysian cuisine.”
The restaurant relies heavily on Washington-grown produce, he said, including cherries and berries in
the summer, and apples, pears, shallots, onions, and potatoes in the fall.
“We use a lot of Washington produce and foods throughout the year,” Tju said. “It’s good for all our dishes.”
One afternoon, Tju cooked up a batch of Malaysian vegetable potato curry made with Washingtongrown russet potatoes. It’s his favorite kind of potato for this dish, he said, because “it’s creamy, it’s great, and it’s got a very good texture to it.”
The curry features a heap of spices — toasted cumin, cardamom, cloves, coriander, bay leaves, curry powder, ginger powder, salt, turmeric, and cayenne powder — alongside the restaurant’s signature curry paste, which Tju said is their secret ingredient. This is all cooked in vegetable broth with Washington-grown shallots, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers, then finished off with coconut milk. The beautiful, creamy dish is a staple in Malaysian homes, Tju said.
“It’s your everyday go-to Malaysian meal,” he said, “breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”
One customer eating at the restaurant said he refers all his clients to Reunion.
“They’re always like, ‘Hey, what’s that? What’s Malaysian?’” he said. “Everyone that has come here and tried it, they are big fans of the place.”
Tju loves sharing Malaysian food with the community because it reflects the cultural heritage and diversity of the country itself.
“Come try it,” he said. “You’ll like it!”
Complexity: Medium • Time: 1 hour • Serves: 8
This Malaysian curry is wonderful comfort food for an autumn evening! Make sure to give the curry paste some time in the pot before adding the broth; similar to blooming spices in hot oil, this process brings out the aroma of the spices and intensifies their flavor. Serve over steamed white rice, or alongside some delicious naan or roti.
Create the spice mix in a small bowl and set aside. If you have a spice mill, you can grind these spices together into a powder, or add them whole.
Make the homemade curry paste. Soak 1/4 cup of dried chiles in hot water for 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water, cut them open and scrape out and discard the seeds. Add the chiles to a blender or food processor, along with 20 cloves of garlic, lemongrass, fresh ginger, fresh galangal, and fresh red chile. Add a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup of oil to the blender. Pulse first, then scrape down the sides of the blender and blend again on a medium speed for 30 seconds. If your paste needs more liquid, add more oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. Set aside.
In a large pot, sauté red onions, shallots, garlic, and ginger until the onions start to soften.
Add spice mix to sautéed vegetables, stirring to thoroughly coat. Sauté for another two minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of the blended curry paste. (Any leftover curry paste can be kept refrigerated for up to two weeks.) Sauté for another 5 minutes.
Stir in 2 cups of vegetable broth. Add red and green bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes. Bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 15 minutes over medium-low heat.
Stir in coconut milk, serve, and enjoy!
Ingredients
Spice Mix
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 3 pieces of green cardamom (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom)
• 5 cloves
• 1 tablespoon of ginger powder
• 1 tablespoon of turmeric
• 1 tablespoon of cayenne powder
• 2 tablespoons of curry powder
Blended Curry Paste
• 1/2 cup of neutral vegetable oil 20 cloves of garlic
• 2 stalks of lemongrass (finely chopped)
• 3/4 inch of fresh ginger (finely chopped) 3/4 inch of fresh galangal (finely chopped)
• 1 oz of dried chiles (soaked & deseeded)
• 5 fresh red chiles
• 1 pinch of salt
Vegetables
• 1 red onion (diced)
• 2 shallots (diced)
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 3/4 inch of fresh ginger (finely chopped)
• 4-5 large russet potatoes (diced)
• 1 large carrot (julienned)
• 2 Roma tomatoes (diced)
• 1/2 of a red bell pepper (julienned)
• 1/2 of a green bell pepper (julienned)
Broth
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• Salt (to taste)
Vegetable Curry Potato Malaysian
FROM REUNION
Getting There
When it comes to agricultural production, Washington is set up incredibly well to succeed in international trade. Of course, everything starts at the farms, where Washington’s farmers grow highquality crops in staggering quantities. Farmers grow so many fruits and vegetables that local residents can’t eat them all. Once those high-quality crops leave the farm, they move through Washington’s transport systems, traveling by truck, train, or barge to one of our 75 international ports. From there, they can be shipped to our largest trade partners in Canada, Mexico, and Asia – destinations such as Vietnam, which is Washington’s fifth-largest export market for agricultural products.
“Vietnam is such a spectrum of everything from supermarkets to wet markets,” said Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, during Washington Grown’s trip to Vietnam in Season 11. “Getting to see our products in all those locations is pretty fascinating. These particular potatoes started out in Skagit Valley. This bag of potatoes was trucked down from Mount Vernon to the Port of Tacoma, where it was put on a ship. It went straight to Singapore, where it was offloaded, put on
a smaller ship, and brought here to Vietnam. Finally, [the local Vietnamese distributor] made the rounds and distributed to the stores here.”
Here, in this case, refers to the produce section of a Mega Market, a supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City. The store management stocks all sorts of Washington produce, because their customers love them and request them specifically.
“Besides our own locally grown Vietnamese potatoes, U.S. potatoes are the best choice for our customers,” said Paul Ngo, the head organizer for Mega Market Vietnam. “Washington apples are a big seller: we say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
The Mega Market isn’t the only place to discover that the population is hungry for Washington produce. Smaller boutique grocery stores, like Le Square in Ho Chi Minh City, also source fresh and frozen products from Washington.
“There’s a sense of pride to see Washington potatoes all the way over here in Vietnam,” said Voigt. “It makes me really proud of our farmers back home.”
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GAME CORNER
DID YOU KNOW?
The Inca of Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes, somewhere between 8000 B.C. to 5000 B.C. In 1536, Spanish conquistadores discovered just how delicious potatoes were and carried them back to Europe. Today, the average American eats about 124 pounds of potatoes per year, while the average European eats about twice as much.
did someone say
a thousand potatoes?
In Mexico City, chef Diego Sobrino creates beautiful and creative dishes using high-quality ingredients. In Season 11, Washington Grown visited him at Skybar at the Mondrian Mexico City Condesa hotel, where he worked as a chef at the time, and host Kristi Gorenson chatted with him as they made potato mille-feuille, which translates to a thousand leaves of potatoes.
A thousand? Is that going to take a while?
A thousand, yeah. We have a hundred kilos in the back. (Laughter.) So we’re going to build it up like a little tower, then we’re going to bake it in the oven, and on top of it, we’ll put some beef tartare.
This dish is made with thinly sliced Washington potatoes — tell me about that. Actually, here in Mexico, we use a lot of American potatoes, because we don’t have beautiful potatoes here. They have a lot of water in them.
Marketing Director
Brandy Tucker
Editor-in-Chief
Kara Rowe
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Jon Schuler
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Tomás Guzmán
Jon Schuler
Gilded Unicorn
Rhein Haus
Araya's Place
Woodblock Provisions
You’re also incorporating apple into the beef tartare?
Of course! We’re going to give freshness to the plate with apples, and the acidity of the Granny Smith is going to be a perfect match. Actually, in Mexico, I think all the green Granny Smiths that we get and the Galas that we get came from Washington. Since I was a child, I’ve remembered that. That’s how I knew Washington was a state in the States — because of the apples. And then I found the Seahawks in Washington.
Go Hawks!
Go Hawks!
This dish is pretty incredible.
You feel the serrano and the heat of it, but then the apple and the sugar in it helps make it a smooth dance. If you have good ingredients, then the rest is easy to do.
