The Rainbow roll at Sushi Island

Two dollar sushi rolls automatically make me suspicious. It makes me think of gas station sushi. Sushi is not like a cheap burrito. It takes skill to make.

I paid a visit to Sushi Island, a new South Hill sushi restaurant that opened last week, not knowing that menu prices were as cheap as the dollar store. But there it was: prices for maki rolls in the $1-$3 range. The rolls were four pieces, not the typical six to eight. Even with fewer pieces, it still was bargain sushi.

A deal is not necessarily something I want from sushi- specifically maki rolls.

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Pictured here is the entree Strip Loin of Beef, served at the fine dining service at Bates Technical College. Photo by Peter Haley/The News Tribune

Grilled sea scallops with a watercress lemon butter sauce, a chevre-stuffed artichoke with sorrel butter, and wild salmon noisettes with a ginger peach glaze. It all sounds super fussy — and that, it is.

But that’s just fine with Bates Technical College culinary instructor Roger Knapp, who, with a team of second-year Bates culinary students, introduced the college’s first fine dining service June 16 in a small dining room that flanks the Bates cafeteria. It’s billed simply "The Dining Room" on the menu, which is full of lofty ingredients and dishes with flair.

Knapp has his eyes on culinary credibility: accreditation of the school’s culinary arts program by the American Culinary Federation. The foodie stamp of approval from the ACF would boost Bates’ desirability as a culinary training institution. A fine dining service, Knapp says, is one piece of achieving accreditation.

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Russ Carmack/The News Tribune

Buy, taste and learn to grow and cook with lavender this weekend at the Vashon Lavender Festival. The event is Saturday July 11 and Sunday July 12 at three farms on the island – Fox Farm, Lavender Sister and Lavender Hill.

Here’s a look at the schedule organizer/promoter Karen Dale sent me:

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Infinite Soups – which celebrated its second anniversary in February – will open its second location Monday in the Sanford & Son building at 744 Commerce. They’re calling it the Infinite Soups Lunch Counter at Sanford & Son.

The second soup location will be a smaller version of the "mother ship" — the nickname owner Wendy Clapp gives the original Infinite Soups location at 445 Tacoma Ave. S. The Tacoma Avenue location will continue to operate, emphasized Clapp, who runs Infinite Soups with husband Todd DeShazo and Clapp’s daughter Laura Adams. Some customers thought Clapp and crew were moving the business to the Sanford and Son building. Not so.

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In case you missed it, TNT business reporter John Gillie broke news today that the old Elks building will become a McMenamins pub. Read it here.

Coconut prawns at Woody’s on the Water

I took another detour into happy land last week with a visit to a waterfront restaurant that a few TNT Diner readers recommended – Woody’s on the Water. (For my recent Happy Hour blog posts, see this story here, here and here.)

Happy hour is 3 p.m-6 p.m. daily at Woody’s, with bar eats half off during that time. TNT Diner reader gmaglenda raved about the coconut prawns ($5 during happy hour) at Woody’s, and I can see why – the flavors were a complicated meld of spicy, sour and sweet.

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The margherita pizza and ham and brie sandwich at Minoela. Craig Sailor/The News Tribune

For popcorn fiends who also like to nosh, it might be a duel between The Grand Cinema’s popcorn – I know people who say they go to the Grand just for popcorn – and Minoela, the new bistro wine bar that Danielle Kartes opened last week next door to the nonprofit arthouse cinema off of Sixth and Fawcett. (For background on Kartes, read this story I wrote in May).

I don’t know if the popcorn really is better at the Grand, or if it tastes better because the environment provides far more interest than a generic chain movie theater. Regardless, the Grand’s popcorn makes for great snacking. But filling, it’s not.
Enter Minoela: it seems on first perusal the perfect place to grab a substantial something before a movie at the Grand. And, based on a first taste this week, nosh lovers will like Minoela.

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I’m back from working with high school journalism students at the Seattle University Journalism Summer Workshop. I worked with four students who wrote articles you’ll see published throughout the summer in The News Tribune and on the TNT Diner blog.

Here’s a chef question/answer feature written by Peninsula High School’s Ian Clarke with Tacoma chef Matt Stickle.

By Ian Clarke

Executive Chef Matt Stickle has worked at the Bite Restaurant at Hotel Murano for six years and has been working in the food industry for the last 10. The last two restaurants he worked at were the Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado and Mission Grill in Sister Bay, Wisconsin.
We phoned him up recently to throw a few non sequiturs his way. Here’s what he had to say.

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