Today, I’ve been writing about burgers (watch for the stories next week). So I asked TNT Diner readers via Twitter about the perfect yin to burger yang: fries. Click “more” to see what TNT DIner readers recommend for fries about town and vote for your favorite, too. Read more »
Is a Cuban a Cuban if you douse it with chipotle mayo, stuff it with tilapia, zucchini pickles, or a hamburger patty? The restaurants featured here think so, or at least they bill their sandwiches as Cubans, those pork-filled puckery grilled cheese sandwiches that have been popping up on menus everywhere.
Today: I feature Cubans on the menu at Doyle’s Public House (my favorite sandwich for this report), Pacific Grill, Asado, the Ram and Sidebar Bistro. Click “more” to read about the sandwiches.
Yesterday: I bit into Cubans at Chambers Bay Grill, Blazing Onion, Powerhouse Brewery, and Panera. Read it here.
Since June, Tacoma’s Pacific Grill has operated Noodle Bar, a separate menu offering Japanese style street eats, a menu that’s vastly different from the restaurant’s core upscale steak and seafood menu. It’s a neat idea – a restaurant offering multiple menu concepts. Read more »
Ian Thompson is heading back to the books. The Executive Chef of the Pacific Grill was in the middle of degree in Hospitality Management when Pacific Grill owner Gordon Naccarato called and asked him to come cook at Pacific Grill.
Thompson is just finishing up his 18-month career at Pacific Grill and will take a few weeks off to travel through Oregon before returning to the South Sound area to work in a lower-stress job while he focuses on his studies. “I plan on taking a kitchen lead position at Fircrest Golf & Country Club. I have never worked in a club kitchen before, I know it will be different than independent restaurants. I anticipate it being low stress enough to allow me to focus on school. I will consider this job as a bridge,” he wrote in an e-mail. Click “more” to read his plans, and to see what’s next for Pacific Grill. Read more »
Here’s something new and cool: Pacific Grill will turn into a noodle bar every Thursday late night starting next week, June 24.
Owner Gordon Naccarato calls it a pop-up restaurant, where from 9 p.m. to midnight every Thursday Pacific Grill’s menu goes late-night street style Japanese dining.
The menu is like nothing around town – and reminds me of dining at Ping, the hot spot in Portland that serves inventive Japanese street food with Southeast Asian and Chinese twists. My last visit at Ping found all kinds of small bite wonders – grilled skewers with short ribs, quail eggs and fish balls, small plate duck egg salads and tea-steeped eggs.
Pacific Grill’s pop-up noodle nights will feature customized noshing in a bowl –ramen soups come in a broad array of flavors. Read more »
The strawberry season, depending on the weather, should be here in the next week or two. Today’s SoundLife section featured nearly 20 recipes from local chefs, mixologists and bakers for how to make everything from the strawberry sotol cocktail at 1022 South to the fennel-strawberry salsa at C.I. Shenangians (pictured here, made at my house last week and shot by TNT photographer Janet Jensen) and the puckery delicious strawberry-rhubarb crisp at Pacific Grill.
We also compiled a list of farm stands, U-pick fields and other places where you can buy locally grown strawberries. And, if you’re a …
Home cooks know it can be challenging pairing beverages with food for a dinner party, but restaurants always make it look so easy. But is it? I asked the staff at Pacific Grill to give TNT Diner readers a behind-the-scenes look about something unusual happening Jan. 26 at Pacific Grill – the first ever beer pairing dinner featuring Belgian Abbey beers. I asked Pacific Grill’s tasters to tell TNT Diner readers how they came up with the menu, and give readers tasting notes about each of the beers. Read more »
This week I’ll be writing about cocktailing around Tacoma bars. From the housemade peppercorn-infused tequila at Pacific Grill to the elderflower cocktail at Top of Tacoma and the Starburst-infused vodka at Varsity Grill – I’ve collected cocktail recipes from Tacoma bartenders – and tips for making the drinks at home. Have a cocktail you’d like the recipe for? Email tntdiner@thenewstribune.com or just comment here.
The lineup:
Today: Pacific Grill’s Urban Bourbon and a peppery margarita
Tuesday: Elderflower cocktails at Top of Tacoma
Wednesday: Varsity Grill’s candy-infused vodka (think Starburst and jolly ranchers)
Thursday: Hotel Murano’s puckery drinks (and a twitter cocktail recipe contest)
Friday: Tempest’s obsession with basil and lime
Click more to read about Pacific Grill’s grown-up cocktails, including a margarita with a peppery sting.