Dinner at Sutra

First, I have to apologize for my neglect of the blog these past couple of days. This week has been extraordinarily busy and I have barely had a moment in the past three days of unscheduled time. I defended my dissertation proposal on Tuesday, which was actually a really good experience. I had applied for a research grant in October, and I found out over winter break that I did not get it. So, I’m currently in the process of revising my application so that I can resubmit it next week. My committee was so helpful in giving suggestions for revisions and guiding me toward a better proposal. It was also such a treat to be in the room with all those amazing people again and have them talk about one of the things that is absolutely most interesting to me–the dissertation project! In addition to revising my proposal this week, I’ve been teaching and meeting one-on-one with each of the students in my class to hear about their individual research projects for the class. This has been so amazing–each project is so interesting and unique and the students seem so engaged in thinking through issues relating to animals, ethics and food. It’s really a total dream to be teaching this class, and the students are so thoughtful, insightful and talkative!

Anyway, a couple of our friends found out recently that they are going to have a baby (more on that in the coming months since I get to do the baby shower!!) and one them also found out that she was awarded a really prestigious animal studies fellowship. That, paired with defending my dissertation and taking my generals last quarter, gave us lots to celebrate! So, we went out for a very special meal last night at Sutra in Seattle. Sutra is a lovely place–we had been there once before with Eric’s mom and her husband, but my pictures didn’t turn out well enough to post, so I made sure to take the real camera (and not just my phone) this time. Sutra serves a vegan, organic, pre-determined menu. Each night they have either one or two seatings where everyone comes in at once and is served a fixed menu at the same time. It’s typically four courses and there is an option to do either an alcoholic or a non-alcoholic pairing with the meal. The menus are printed on recycled grocery bags.

Last night, the menu was:

FIRST COURSE: black cardamom-curry leaf-butternut squash soup finished with thyme oil:

and a roasted chioggia beet-fennel & cara cara orange salad with kiawari sprouts:

SECOND COURSE: urfa biber-risotto cake-roasted rainbow carrots-preserved lemon-arame-sunchoke chips and a caper rose-hempseed sauce:

THIRD COURSE: porcini dusted celery root stuffed with hedgehog pecan cheese served with a cauliflower-smoked french green lentil-asian pear-lacinato kale ragout with a porcini-marjoram-tomato demi and a port-black lemon gastrique:

FOURTH COURSE: sandra rose cherry tort with a fig-sesame-sunflower seed crust and saffron-coconut ice cream:

Eric and I shared the N/A pairing which was:

while you wait….lemongrass ginger cranberry sparkling elixir

1st course: local CommuniTea kombucha on tap

2nd course: housemade cherry-rosemary syrup with sparkling water

3rd course: blueberry echinacea hibiscus sparkling elixir

4th course: french pressed Pangaea coffee or Sutra blend tea

Eric and I have decided that Sutra is our new special occasions spot. Since becoming vegan, we’ve tried a bunch of different vegetarian and vegan restaurants looking for one that could replace our old meat-centric spot for celebrations. The atmosphere at Sutra is very warm and intimate and before the meal is served, the chef rings a large bell and talks to all of the guests, sharing a moment of giving thanks for the farmers who produced the food, and setting our intentions of sending out gratitude and compassion to the world. I love this part. I so often forget to slow down and give thanks on a daily basis, especially when things are as hectic as this week as been.

The food is outstanding, and I love that you don’t have to choose what to eat–it takes so much of the pressure off and allows us to just enjoy the company of the people we’re with and periodically the lovely owners of Sutra bring outrageously good food to the table.

I think my favorite part of the meal was the beet/fennel orange salad and the butternut squash soup. I hesitate to say it out loud, but I think I might actually be starting to love beets! I liked sharing the pairing with Eric because one per person would be a bit much. The first time we went, we found it hard to keep up with drinking each pairing before the next course came, so sharing it was perfect for us!

What do you like to do for special occasions? Make a special dinner? Go to a special place?

And now, back down the rabbit hole of grant writing, teaching, cleaning the house for a most special guest this weekend (!), etc.