Poutine O The Sea, with little neck clams, fries, chowder, bacon, and scallion, now available at the White Swan Public House.
Poutine O' The Sea, with little neck clams, fries, chowder, bacon, and scallion, now available at the White Swan Public House. Courtesy of White Swan Public House

White Swan Public House Opened a Few Days Ago on Lake Union

The new lakeside seafood spot White Swan Public House, brought to us by the Matt’s in the Market/Radiator Whiskey team, officially opened on September 28. I haven’t been in yet, but look at their menu. There’s a lot of potential awesomeness, especially a seafood poutine topped with clams, bacon, scallions, and then basted in chowder instead of gravy.

White Swan also offers free moorage if you arrive by boat, a mega-view, an ample patio from which to take in that mega-view, some really delicious-sounding fried oysters, and a rumored raw oyster happy hour. Sounds fabulous. But let me reiterate: chowder poutine. Like regular poutine, but with chowder. Genius.

If you arrive by boat, here's where to park:

White Swans free moorage.
White Swan's free moorage. Courtesy of White Swan Public House

Mamnoon’s New Chef

Carrie Mashaney, who has been Mamnoon’s pastry chef and formerly was a contestant on Top Chef, just became Mamnoon’s actual top chef, reports Eater. With the changing of the guard comes a few small changes to the program: more desserts (obviously), a big family-style kebab platter, and the return of falafel and hara frites to the takeaway window.

RN74 Also Has a New(ish) Chef

Ben Godwin, who was most recently in charge of Meat and Bread, took the helm at RN74 three weeks ago, bringing a wealth of culinary experience from such places as NOMA, The Fat Duck, and Alinea, famous for their forays into (and occasionally off) the deep end of molecular gastronomy. RN74 recently hosted a preview of his new, more Northwest-y menu, and I was impressed, especially his reimagining of the classic caprese salad as a sorbet topped with salmon roe.

Paseo and Lil’ Woody's to Expand

To Capitol Hill and SLU, respectively.

Another Day, Another New Poké Place

When will it end? When will we get tired of paying $13 for a simple bowl of cured fish and rice? In Hawaii, where poke is ubiquitous for non-trend-based reasons, you get it at the grocery store for cheap. You eat it from a plastic container on the curb outside the skatepark, not at the bar at the goddamn Four Seasons. Anyway, the latest poke spot to take a stab at it is GoPoké in the ID, which will be open by the end of the month, according to Eater. They’ll have all the usual stuff, plus some items obviously aimed at the Instagram crowd, like a “Spicy Salmon Pokérrito.”

It's Fresh Hop IPA Season, and Two Beers Brewing Co. Makes a Great One

And speaking of Two Beers Brewing Co., they and their sibling, Seattle Cider Co., just got bought by a large French cider producer. Agrial, the company in question, is a farmer-run cooperative, they’re very supportive of everything Two Beers is doing, and they’ve stated that they have no intentions to meddle. “Leadership, staff, brewers, cidermakers, distributors and most importantly, the beer and cider people have come to know and love from the two companies will also remain the same,” a statement from the company says.

What Agrial does have is a massive international distribution network and plenty of capital. Which means, if you find yourself in Paris hankering for a taste of home, you might be able to snag an Evo IPA or a Day Hike Session from the awesome beer store La Cave a Bulles. Or, even better, see those two on the pairing menu at La Fine Mousse, Paris's temple of beer-friendly fine dining. Conversely, if you’re hankering for a taste of French cider that isn’t advertised on enormous billboards, Two Beers will be distributing Agrial’s flagship Louis Raison brand here in the States.