31 replies to this topic

[Lauren]

I decided it needed a thread of its own. I hope no one minds if I copy some posts from the Farewell and Welcome thread here.

[Lauren]

I'm psyched for this:

Rachel Yang and her husband, Seif Chirchi -- who opened Coupage in January and left shortly thereafter -- are gearing up to launch Joule in Wallingford early next month.

The co-chef couple will focus on a menu that plays to their Korean roots, using classic French techniques, similar to the dishes created at Coupage in the Madrona neighborhood.

"We've been doing a lot of traveling, and have come up with some really exciting dishes," said Yang in a phone interview from the work-in-progress restaurant (1913 N. 45th St.). "We've got a big menu, probably too big."

The space, on the other hand, is fairly intimate, just 45 seats. The room will be anchored by an open kitchen, where eight diners can catch all the action.

Stay tuned for updates.

Look forward to seeing what they do when they have free reign.

[Lauren]

Went and tried Joule tonight with Dani. We sat at the counter and let them go to town on us. We started with a nice steamed slice bun with a nice soy glaze that went to everyone as an amuse sort of thing. Then we moved into a spicy cornbread that was to die for and nice take on kim chee ji gae. The creme fraiche on the kim chee stew really added a nice accent of smoothness to the spicy soup.

We then had a take on vitello tonnato of veal sweetbreads and tonnato sauce and that was paired up with a grilled prawn dish that had these great little pickled garlic with it and a nice chili oil over it. The sweetbreads were nice and crunchy on the outside and the tonnato sauce made a nice counterpoint to them. The prawns were well cooked and were bursting with roe sacs which made for a very nice textural accent.

We finished up with Kalbi marinated short ribs, some kim chee, and roasted fingerlings with a bagna cauda. The kalbi was less intense in flavour than the kalbi you get in Korean restaurants but still tasty and well cooked. The only thing I found about it is that because it is cut thicker than you would normally get, you have to really like kalbi the way I do, that is with lots of texture and gristle to it. Dani and I both love crunching on the chewy bits of kalbi, in fact, if I had my way, kalbi would only consist of the part immediately around the bones. The kim chee was very good, made in house along with all of their other kim chees, nice bite but not overly spicy and very crisp. The potatoes were nicely roasted but the oil in the bagna cauda kept it too warm to really enjoy with the sauce. They were very nice plain but I would have liked to have been able to get into the sauce with them without scorching my tongue.

We had a nice tempranillo and a sparkling nigori that was very unique and tasty. The wine list is pretty small with a good number of glass pours, a nice little section of half bottles, and some well priced full bottles. Overall our dinner was very good and I will definitely go back. Most of the dishes that we had leaned heavily in the Korean direction and that seems to be where a lot of their strength lies for now. I would like to try their other dishes and see how they hold up. Service was pretty good, and we felt well taken care of with only a few small lapses. I think they are going to be a great addition to the neighbourhood, especially since they're open pretty late.

Rocky

[Lauren]

Rocky, can you compare/contrast with the style of food they were doing at Coupage? It sounds like they've moved farther towards the Korean end of the Korean-French spectrum and maybe offering more 'authentic' flavors?

It does trend more towards the Korean end, but reading the menu there were a number of items that had no Korean or overtly Asian influence at all.

Rocky

[Lauren]

Paul and I had dinner at Joule on Tuesday. It was the second time we've been and the menu had changed a bit from the first time so we tried to order new things.

We started off with a couple of glasses of bubbly. The wine list is quite short: a handful of wines by the glass and a dozen or so bottles of whites and a dozen or so reds. To nibble on with our bubbly we started with something from the salad section of the menu (which is different from the menu online). It was soft boiled eggs served on top a smear of caeser dressing with fried baby anchovies on top. The eggs had been soaked in soy sauce. I liked it just okay. Paul liked it much better. Their new "bread service" is the steamed bun slice that Rocky mentioned in his review but this time it is fried in butter and sprinkled with sea salt. It was absolutely heaven. A little sweet, a little salty. Yum.

Next up we shared an order of the Spring "Cassoulet". I asked our server why cassoulet was in quotes. "It is?" he says. "I don't know, it's just regular cassoulet - white beans with a buttered crumb topping. I ask what type of sausage is used. There is none. In fact there is no meat at all. I comment that this might be the reason cassoulet is in quotes. Our server is very nice, but not as knowledgeable as I would expect. Anyway, the "cassoulet" is fine. It's got spring garlic confit and the garlic is very soft but not nutty like roasted garlic gets - it retained it's green-ness if that makes sense. I liked it a lot. We also shared a dish of Malaysian prawns with vanilla cream and candied walnuts. An obvious riff on walnut shrimp and I liked it a lot. The prawns were large and served with the heads on. We shared a half bottle of chablis with this course.

Next up we had the beef short ribs with enoki mushrooms drizzled with truffle oil. They have changed the preparation of the short ribs since we were there last - they are now a traditional braised short rib. It was really, really good with just the right amount of truffle oil. I'm glad we shared them because they were also really, really rich. To go with this we had the creamed spinach topped with hazelnuts. Most of you know that I really like salt. This dish was so salty that we couldn't eat it. Every dish we ordered was topped with a nice amount of finishing salt. In fact we commented that I'm sure others might be put off by the amount of salt. But this dish had too much salt both in the sauce and on top. It really made me pucker up. We shared a half bottle of Cote de Rhone for these.

Nothing on the dessert menu spoke to me but Paul is on this grapefruit kick so we ordered the Joule Box. It's basically tapioca with slices of grapefruit on top. Not my thing but I liked the glass Vielles Vignes I had to go along with it!

The place was nearly empty on Tuesday, granted it was Tuesday but then I hear that places like Quinn's were packed. I think the limited menu is a problem for some people. And, let's face it, these preparations are a little out there. Which would be fine if they were great. But mostly they were just okay.

[Lauren]

The Wallyhood blog reported that Joule was mentioned in an article about Korean food in the WSJ. Click here for the article.

[tsquare]

We went, we ate, I would like to go again.
little review

[Cathy]

Any recent experiences here? My sis is taking her son to Seattle to look at the university, and Joule is on their short list of places to try.

[rockdoggydog]

I still really like it. Sit at the counter if you can.

Rocky

[Cathy]

Thanks, Rocky! I'm sending them to Tilth tomorrow night - so envious.

[little ms foodie]

Thanks, Rocky! I'm sending them to Tilth tomorrow night - so envious.

I would love to hear how their meal at Tilth is, I think most of us here have had pretty bad or lack luster experiences there also and are interested to see if things are changing

[Cathy]

Wendy, I didn't know that. Maria and I used to work together, but I've never had an opportunity to dine at Tilth. My sis (also a Wendy!) and nephew really enjoyed it, FWIW.

[tighe]

I had one great meal at Tilth and one clunker. I don't think this is a good time of year to go since the restaurant leans heavily on being able to get good quality (local) organic produce.

[little ms foodie]

Wendy, I didn't know that. Maria and I used to work together, but I've never had an opportunity to dine at Tilth. My sis (also a Wendy!) and nephew really enjoyed it, FWIW.

great to know Cathy, I really should go and give it a go again!

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Hi all:

Here's the schedule for Joule's Urban BBQ 2010, taking place every Sunday for the entire summer:

http://www.joulerest...nt.com/bbq.html

This Sunday June 13, we're doing Austin, TX:

Joule presents 3rd annual Urban BBQ 2010. We will serve a casual urban bbq fare around different themes on Sundays from June through August. Join us for a delectable world culinary tour this summer. You won’t have to travel far for this delicious experience, but we guarantee to send your test buds to places they have never been.

Tickets for each Sunday are $18 for adults and $10 for kids. Tickets are good for your choice of hot dishes, and a “picnic table” filled with a selection of cold dishes, non-alcoholic drinks, and desserts, which changes weekly. Please visit Joule’s FaceBook page for the complete menu or follow “JouleRestaurant” on Twitter for updates. Walk in or call for reservation.

Menu for Austin, TX
Pickled jalapeno cheddar cornbread
Collard green and smoked ham hock slaw, pickled spring garlic
Macaroni salad, grilled pablano, chipotle hot sauce
Rice and bean salad, chicharones, cilantro

Beer battered crispy catfish, fried tomatillo, pickled mustard remoulade
Pulled pork, Texas toast, red onion marmalade, smoked tomato confit
Smoked brisket, grilled spring onion, chili salsa

Kids
Cheese burger, dirty jojos
Dessert
Rhubarb marmalade cobbler

Sweet iced tea
Strawberry lemonade

Thank you,
Pat, Joule workerbee