The 5 Spot to Secede From Seattle. And some lucky sucker wins a trip to Florida

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Seattle—April 23—The 5 Spot, soon to be known as “The Coffee Pot Republic” will declare its independence from Seattle at 9:00pm on Wednesday, April 23^rd. Upset over the current carpetbagger ownership of the Sonics and the team’s pending move from the city, Co-owner, Peter Levy and General Manager Dave Kearns decided that the restaurant will, on April 23^rd, secede from Seattle.  The two drew inspiration for this move when researching the upcoming Key West menu at the 5 Spot.

This April 23^rd marks the 26^th anniversary of the secession of the Florida Keys from the United States.  In 1982, angered over a roadblock set up by the Border Patrol on Highway 1, Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow unsuccessfully sought an injunction in federal court.  Rejected, the next day he declared the secession of “The Conch Republic” by breaking a stale loaf of Cuban bread over a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform.  After one minute of rebellion, the now Prime Minister Wardlow turned to the Admiral in charge of the Navy Base at Key West, surrendered and demanded $1 billion in foreign aid and war relief to rebuild his nation after the long Federal siege.

True to the spirit of independence, the 5 Spot plans to demand that the city of Seattle and the NBA require the “Oklahoma Dust Bowl Buddies” sell the beloved Sonics back to a local ownership group and that the group fund an appropriate play palace for the team.  In keeping with the Key West tradition, on Wednesday night at the 5 Spot, there will be a ceremonial bopping on the head of likenesses of the miscreants that have all but sent our team packing.

The eve of Wednesday April 23^rd will be a big night at the 5 Spot, as they roll out the new Key West menu with such treats as Brown Bag Bollos and Mojo de Asada Skirt Steak.  The bar will be pouring $1 mojito “independence shooters” while celebrating the 26^th anniversary of the independence of the Conch Republic, and, of course, declaring the

5 Spot’s Coffee Pot Republic own secession from the City of Seattle. 

 

All diners in the restaurant between 5-9pm on Wednesday the 23^rd will also be able to participate in a “Florida Trivia Contest”.  Those contestants that get all of the right answers on the quiz will be entered into a drawing for one round trip ticket to Key West (or Oklahoma City if they wish) with some pre-conditions set by the 5 Spot.  All this will be capped off at 9pm when the “ceremonial bopping” will occur, the winner of the contest will be announced and the 5 Spot’s independence will be declared. 

The 5 Spot serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily with food and drinks available until midnight. The 5 Spot is located at 1502 Queen Anne Ave. N.   206.285.7768 or 206.285.SPOT. The 5 Spot is one of 6 CHOW Foods restaurants, the others include Coastal Kitchen, the Hi-Life, Endolyne Joe’s, Atlas Foods and Mioposto. CHOW Foods are Seattle’s Neighborhood restaurants. See www.chowfoods.com for more information.

 

 

 

 

The 5 Spot goes Summertime in the Florida Keys

The 5 Spot is heading for the sun this summer with a menu featuring food inspired by the Florida Keys. Entirely by coincidence (I swear!) our menu will be starting on April 23rd, which just happens to be Conch Republic Independence day. More on that later, though.

For now, let me tell you about the food. This summer salad was a huge hit, fresh baby arugula dressed in a tangerine cream vinaigrette and loaded with fresh mango, bell peppers and goat cheese.

Given the location of the Keys, seafood was obviously on the menu. A staff (and personal) favorite was the scallops. Grilled and laid over mango sauce, these had just a perfect bite of sweetness. Served with yellow rice and green onions, the vegetables were great–sauteed asparagus and peppedew peppers.

The summery feel continues through out the menu, with another big hit being the Mojo de Asada. Grilled skirt steak is sliced over a lemon dressed arugula salad tossed with fried cuban sweat potatoes and roasted red peppers topped with a mojo sauce made from lime, garlic and herbs.

Come taste summer at the 5 Spot starting April 23rd.

Cruisin’ Route 66 to the 5 Spot

That’s right…We’re cruising from Chicago to LA and stopping at Americana all along the way. Start the trip with a an Old Fashioned Tomato Soup and then make a pit stop in Texas for some Mega Onion rings. Both were staff favorites at the tasting yesterday. Updated american classics abound on the menu, and it was like going back to childhood and eating everything–only better, fresher version with locally sourced ingredients! Chicken and Dumplings was the best example of this. Made from the 5 Spot’s legendary biscuit batter, these blew the top off of those little doughy things you’ve had before.

The favorite that won our tastebuds, though was the New Mexico vegetarian entree. A chile relleno stuffed with ranchero cheese is paired with a chimichanga stuffed with chipotle rice. It was heavenly. Came with red bean chili and charred corn salsa. If you’re feeling a little meatier, check out the 14 ounce ribeye (yeah, that is Texas again) with delicious garlic red potatos.

Overall though, the staff was most impressed by dessert. And as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

New Orleans Art Auction Benefit at the 5 Spot

In conjunction with the 5 Spot’s current New Orleans menu, the restaurant is featuring the paintings of local artists depicting New Orleans. All of these one of a kind pieces are available for purchase in our benefit auction. Each artwork was donated by a local artist and all of the proceeds from the silent auction will go to buy art supplies and musical instruments for the Fannie C. Williams School in New Orleans. The auction runs until Christmas Eve.

The Fannie C. Williams School is one of the few schools to have reopened as a part of the Recovery School District. It is lucky to have a proffesional musician in its employ and a skilled art teacher; however, without the proper supplies and instruments, they are unable to pass on the beautiful traditions of New Orleans. The city has long been famous for music and art and it is these children who will grow up to pass on that legacy. By supporting this auction, you can help them to revitalize and rejuvinate the culture of the city.

Stop by the 5 Spot and immerse yourself in the beauty that eminates across the country from New Orleans. Jazz on the stereo, shrimp and grits in your bowl and beautiful paintings of the French Quarter which you can make your own.

For more information on the art auction, call the 5 Spot at (206) 285-SPOT.

Pumpkin Carving at the 5 Spot

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this yet! I thought I had done so a while ago. Hopefully you can still make it to this awesome event. GM Dave has been really excited about working to make the 5 Spot a real community gathering place, so be sure to turn out for his event.

Upcoming Tastings and Menus

So I meant to put this up a little while ago to give you some time to get jazzed about the upcoming menus that I will post tastings of as they come, but alas, here I am posting, and then tomorrow I will head to Coastal Kitchen’s tasting, but that just means you only have a day or two to wait for the pretty pictures and delicious descriptions.

Tomorrow I am heading to Coastal to taste the menu featuring foods from the Basque region of Europe. If you are unfamiliar, the Basque are a unique people living in a mountainous region of Spain and France (their area stradles the border). With the Sea to one side and a fertile valley to the other, Spain to one side and France to another, the Basque cuisine draws from a number of different sources for culinary inspiration. I can’t wait to taste what chef John Mehl (formerly of Atlas Foods) has come up with for us.

 Next week, I will be zipping across town to check out the New Orleans menu at the 5 Spot. General Manager Dave has been working his butt off getting this menu not only up and running, but also totally integrated with a number of philanthropic events. If you have ever wanted to donate money in a unique and exciting way to help out Katrina victims and re-enliven this oh so lively city, Dave will have many ways for you to do that.

Two weeks after that I will be off to West Seattle to explore my own families culinary heritage at the tasting for Endolyne Joe’s Brooklyn menu. With a mother who grew up on Eastern Parkway, I have eaten my fair share of knishes and brisket in my life and can’t wait to taste the versions chef Janel comes up with.

Looking forward to supplying all of you out in blog land with pictures and descriptions to get your mouths watering. Questions? comments? suggestions? Leave ‘em for us!

Banner Sale at the 5 Spot

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to all those lovely banners that hang in the restaurant during festivals, we sell them! Usually you can buy them right away and pick them up after the end of the festival and your money goes straight to the painter–and they are all painted by our wonderful and talented CHOW Foods Employees. If the banner doesn’t sell, the employee can take it home to hang in their own lovely homes, or at times they get abandoned in the restaurant to sit sadly in a basement. UNTIL NOW.

 All this lovely artwork will be available for discounted purchase as we clean out our storage area. These are handicrafts representing a variety of American regions. To recap, in the last year we have been to the Chicago, the Rio Grande River Valley and Hawaii!  So how do you claim one of these masterpieces for yourself? You get thyself to the 5 spot the weekend of September 29th-30th and they will all be hanging in the back room for your perusal.

America’s Harvest Festival Tasting at the 5 Spot

This past week has started to seem a little more like fall, so we felt appropriate tasting the America’s Harvest Festival. The idea for this festival came from all the great food festivals that are celebrated in the fall all over the country, so there will be one dish on the menu from each of the featured festivals. The appetizers included fried oysters from the local OysterFest in Shelton, Washington, but my personal favorite was the mozzarella cheese curds from Green County Cheese Days in Monroe, Wisconson.

One dish that made us excited for more cool fall weather was the Navy Bean and Ham soup from the Tracy Dried Bean Festival in Tracy, California. Brimming with heartiness, the chunks of ham float around in a tasty broth that makes you feel like cuddling up with a good book in front of the fire.

As we moved on to entrees, we had a dish from the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon in Lafayette, Indiana, and a vegetable entree from the local Wild Mushroom Celebration in Long Beach Washington. The fan favorites by the staff were the Andouille Shrimp, from the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama (that’s right, sausage encrusted shrimp…mmmm), which were served with beer and jalapeno hush puppies and the 40 Clove Chicken from the World Chicken Festival in London, Kentucky. While there might not have been 40 actual cloves, this was one garlicky, delicious chicken! The far and away prettiest dish, however, was the gorgeous Pork Osso Bucco from the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, New York. The deep brown of the meat and sauce was sitting upon the bright yellow polenta and an accent of green broccolini, I had to include the picture up here.

The festival fun continued in to the desserts, as we tested out not just the Whoopie Pies from the Whoopie Pie festival in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but also our own ‘Whoopie-ing’ Skills, with a Whoopie yelling contest. For those who have never had a Whoopie Pie, prepare to be impressed by this sandwich of vanilla frosting between two rich chocolate cookies.

What’s cooking at the 5 Spot?

It might be hard to think about the next menu at the 5 Spot because our weather has been so fitting to the delicious tropical foods from Hawaii that are there now, but, alas, after 3 months we will be moving on. It was recently decided that the fall menu will be the Festival of Festivals. This will be a celebration of food festivals across the country, because what is more fun to celebrate than a celebration of food?

5 Spot Family in the News

Queen Anne residents might recognize the friendly face on the front of this week’s Queen Anne News as Dick Kearns, father of the 5 Spot’s general manager, Dave Kearns. Both father and son are long time residents of Queen Anne and have spent much of their lives bettering life on the hill for residents. Be sure to check out the story on Dick and say hi to Dave the next time you are in the 5 Spot.