Conscious Choice Seattle: Seattle’s Carmelita

March 2007 | Local Food

Seattle’s Carmelita

So many vegetarian dishes, so little time

By Amy Pennington

I have a confession to make. You know the fatty pieces of steak that most people cut away and push to the side of their plates? I ration those fatty pieces to last the duration of my dinner, so I’m sure to get a succulent bite with every piece of lean meat. I like pork fat. And beef fat. And crispy chicken skin. And, well, you get the idea. It’s a bit alarming, especially since I recently ended up at vegetarian restaurant Carmelita for a Friday night dinner.

As I stood waiting for the host to see us, I surveyed the room. Done in light, natural colors with a textured ceiling of big, fernlike leaves, it’s a very calm place full of casual table groupings and dim lights. It’s half an hour till closing time, yet it’s full in the dining room and busy. That might explain why it took more than five minutes to be seated, and why the server took about ten minutes to get to our table. When she arrived, she was pleasant as a peach and promptly steered us around the menu. Beverages? Yes, please. She recommended the house-made Tamarind-Ginger Lemonade and it was delicious. Hot on her tail was the owner/manager delivering cut bread from Macrina Bakery and warmed roast shallot-infused olive oil. “Ladies, so you’re aware, we recommend adding a pinch of salt to the oil. Enjoy.” We took his suggestion to heart and dug in, the warmed oil a nice touch.

I was surprised to find such diversity on the menu. I read and re-read the starter list, finding it hard to choose. We settled on a soup and a salad to start. I chose Roasted Cauliflower Soup ($8) because it’s vegan. I was curious to see what the chef could do for a soup without the usual suspects of butter and cream. The soup came embellished with crispy capers, lemon zest and piquillo peppers mounded in the center. The garnishes lasted throughout the entire bowl, a nice touch that ensured a fully flavored mouthful in every bite. The sting of the capers with the tang of the peppers went perfectly with the smoothness of the cauliflower, which had been roasted before being puréed down. Our Chestnut Custard ($10) came stacked on the thinnest slice of apples and fennel. So thin, in fact, that light spilled through the fruit. The plate was lined with chestnut honey (a strong musky flavor) and crème fraîche, a sour contradiction to the sweet.

For dinner, we chose the Corn Risotto ($18) and the Semolina Baked Gnocchi ($18). The Risotto arrived looking mostly like a mix of wild rice. It’s an unexpected touch to a traditionally starchy dish of white Arborio rice. While initially daunted by the dark grains, after a few bites I was swayed. The dark grain gave the whole dish texture, peppered from the musk of heavy truffle oil. The semolina gnocchi dish was charred from time spent in a hot oven and tasted of slightly burned cheese, a welcome addition to the tart of warmed plums. Alongside the perfectly cooked plums was their partner: sautéed rapini. Both plums and rapini were fork tender, with enough bite in them to add texture to what easily could have been (in the wrong culinary hands) a plate of soft pasta, soft fruit and soft vegetables.

Carmelita’s dessert list has something for everyone—winter fruit sorbet, chocolate and lemon. I opted for the vegan option, curious again to see what the chef could do without those sweet crutches of butter, eggs and cream. The Phyllo Purse ($7) was a busy plate with flavor from bananas, finely ground coconut, cinnamon brandy, pecans and bittersweet chocolate. The dessert sauce was refreshingly not overly sweet and the brandy added a bit of complexity to the combined flavors. My dessert came out slightly cold and therefore, not completely melted, but I’d order it again tomorrow.

I’d order five more of Carmelita’s vegetarian dishes tomorrow, if I could. And for a fat-lovin’ carnivore, that’s sayin’ a lot.

Amy Pennington keeps a small urban vegetable garden, even though she loves to eat meat. She is a big fan of all vegtables, and is now committed to one vegetarian meal each week. Ok, one every month. Or so. Stop counting.

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