Family Dinner at The Pantry at Delancey

This past summer, I had the pleasure of attending a family dinner at The Pantry at Delancey.  The theme of the night was "Fruit Harvest Supper" and featured many seasonal fruits in an ode to summer. In true Seattle form, it was a beautiful August evening, so we commenced the meal with appetizers and rosé in the beautiful blooming garden. 

My favorite appetizer was the fromage blanc crostini with pickled cherries and honey. It brought together delicious flavors of the northwest in a lovely bite-sized treat. We also enjoyed arugula-chickpea fritters with blueberry-lemon creme fraiche as well as white anchovy wrapped melon and pickled pepper.

As we moved from appetizers to the rest of the meal, each course was paired with a lovely wine. This was one of my favorite courses of the night: hamachi yellowtail crudo with strawberries, black pepper, shaved fennel, and lime dressing.  The pinot gris from Oregon complemented this dish wonderfully.

Yet another amazing course, an heirloom tomato crostata, complete with the flakiest crust imaginable. 

Can you say peaches? Next, we had grilled beef ribeye (cooked in the garden while we enjoyed the earlier courses!) served with caramelized peaches, bourbon, and rosemary. Yum.

The long table was decorated with beautiful sunflowers.

This was another winner: a nectarine, wild huckleberry, arugula, and hot coppa salad with pinenuts. It incorporated sweet, sour, and spicy elements all in one dish- the perfect salad for someone (namely moi) who can never decide between savory or sweet.

By the end of the evening, we were almost full to the brim, but of course we made room for dessert: a blackberry budino with whipped mascarpone and almond cake. The mascarpone was whipped like fluffy clouds and the tart blackberries were a nice foil to the dense, nutty cake.

I really enjoyed the family-style setting as it allowed us to speak with strangers. The dinner was sold-out at 22 people, however, so there were many that we didn't have a chance to speak with. Perhaps it would have been nice to have an introductory "hello" at the beginning of the meal, but all-in-all, it was a lovely evening spent with a great community of people.

These family dinners are held throughout the year, but sell out quickly so make sure and sign up as soon as they're announced!

The Pantry at Delancey is located at 1417 NW 70th St in Seattle