Revel and Quoin | The Seattle Times
Friday March 18th 2011Fine revelry at the Center of the Universe
Revel and Quoin is a casual Fremont cafe where Asian street food — dumplings, pancakes, rice bowls and noodles — goes upscale and gets the full sit-down treatment it deserves.
Special to The Seattle Times
Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi have a knack for naming. The husband-and-wife chefs (he's from Illinois, she's Korean,) called their 8-month-old son Pike because it's so very Seattle.
Joule, their first restaurant, named for a unit of energy, is a homonym for jewel, so appropriate for their Wallingford gem whose Korean- inflected menu continually creates sparks.
Now comes Revel and Quoin. Revel has a host of meanings: to take pleasure; to enjoy a party; a noisy celebration. All apply to this casual Fremont cafe where Asian street food — dumplings, pancakes, rice bowls and noodles — goes upscale and gets the full sit-down treatment it deserves.
And Quoin? Defined as a block that forms a corner different in some way from the rest of the structure, it perfectly fits the dimly lit bar attached to the far end of the warm, welcoming eat-in kitchen that is Revel.
The couple opened Joule on a shoestring: here they have partners, Chad Dale, Bryce Philips and Ira Gerlich, developers of Ballard's Kolstrand Building. Graham Baba Architects, whose projects include Kolstrand and the Melrose Market, designed the cool, clean-lined interior that mixes raw wood, white tile and brushed stainless steel.
Revel is sedate by day, but the energy builds at night, fueled in part by Quoin's creative libations, among them soju cocktails infused with basil and blood orange or lemongrass and mint.
A broad, butcher-block counter separates the cooks from the customers, not so much dividing as connecting them. Chirchi often presides, sometimes Yang, but their capable sous chefs Michael Wisenhunt and Pat Chang (both longtime members of the Joule family) perform admirably without them
You won't be far from the action seated along the banquette, but the counter's front-row seats are prime real estate. Watch them knead dumpling dough or catch the fragrance of coriander and fennel seeds toasting on the stove. Play Alton Brown in kitchen stadium and try to guess what they are rolling in cheesecloth and lowering into a stock pot of white liquid.
That would be Earl Grey tea to flavor the ricotta that will ultimately fill one of three varieties of dumplings, steam-seared on the griddle so they caramelize on one side. If pressed to pick a favorite, I might choose those cheese-stuffed, pepper-speckled pouches served over a sweet purée of kabocha squash and beneath shaved slices of pickled delicata squash. But it would be a close race with the short rib dumplings — sweet, rich beef encased in paprika-reddened dough topped with pickled shallot.
As at Joule, pickled vegetables pop up frequently. A pickled carrot, sunchoke and onion graced one night's special of lemon-marinated grilled lamb with spiced yogurt.
There are just 14 items on the menu. It's the same at lunch and dinner. (Brunch is a different party altogether.) I didn't encounter any dish I wouldn't happily have again, but let me single out a few, beyond dumplings, you shouldn't miss.
Clam and zucchini soup has a briny broth and wondrous green noodles both bright with fresh basil. Corned lamb (so much earthier than corned beef) joins radish and mint in an arugula salad. It's dressed with oil and strained nuoc cham, the potent Vietnamese dipping sauce, whose garlicky, chili-riddled solids are then spooned over the top for one big flavor punch
A silky, soy-cured egg yolk lays nearly hidden in a rice bowl heaped with grilled escarole, fennel kimchi and seared albacore crusted with fennel, coriander and black pepper.
A pork belly and kimchi pancake provides a savory, golden brown canvas that invites experimenting with a quartet of condiments. They range from kicky ginger and lemon-spiked soy sauce to fish sauce made fiery with Thai bird chilies.
Extinguish the fire with a mint-kissed pancake packed with edamame and shrimp, a gentle reminder that warm days are coming (and Revel has a deck just waiting for the merrymaking to move outdoors.)
No revel should end without dessert. All are clever riffs on ice-cream sandwiches. Can you resist chili ice cream packed between two chocolate chip cookies? I can't.
Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com