The Battle in Seattle: Let it RAIN!

It's a sold-out show, but the head chefs from Enotria and Rain Modern Infusion Cuisine are going head-to-head in an Iron Chef-style competition for fame and glory.

Our 9 yr-old daughter LOVES Rain, chats up Takashi and Jenn, the owners/sushi chefs, and has had her manga sketches of each Rain employee posted on the wall behind the sushi bar for weeks at a time.  Needless to say, we'll be the fans in the front row, waving signs and cheering Takashi to certain victory. 

Here's an excerpt from their website:

The Battle in Seattle
Crudo vs. Sashimi

August 25th, 2009 from 7:00-9:00pm

The Battle in Seattle is a bit of summer fun and a bit of culinary adventure. Two restaurants, Enotria and Rain Modern Japanese Cuisine, have decided to spice up the long summer months with a little competition. Which is better, crudo, the Italian preparation of raw or cured meats and seafood or the well-known and much beloved Japanese counterpart, sashimi? You already know and love sashimi, come try crudo and decide which chef can best walk the walk when it comes to mastering the raw or cured.
Tickets are $25.00 each. The battle will take place August 25th from 7:00-9:00pm. Both chefs, Enotria's David Hahne and Rain's Takashi Ogasawara, will each prepare three dishes featuring an as yet undisclosed crudo/sashimi ingredient. Their dishes will then be judged by a panel of guests including Q13 Fox News sports director and anchor Dan Devone, Georgetown Brewing Company co-owner Manny Chao, best-selling author Jonathon Evison (All About Lulu), Jay Friedman, blogger for Gastrolust and Grant Donesky, Director of Design of the Cornish College of the Arts. They will also be judged by the unforgiving public…

(a couple tickets may still be available at Enotria)

Review of the event to follow tomorrow night!

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Here's the follow-up in a nutshell:

The food was amazing!  It was such fun to taste 3 courses from each chef....the dueling flavors, the edible imagination. 

The event itself was a bit chaotic and disorganized, though I will be forgiving here because it was their first time and planning a large event like this while slinging sushi full-time is rough. 

The Travel Channel covered the event, so the place was filled with bright lights and cameras of all shapes and sizes.  It definitely interrupted the organic flow of the competition, but also added a touch of excitement and Hollywood energy. 

Of course, it lasted far longer than the anticipated 7-9pm scheduled time.  We took two 9-yr old girls, so eating three small tastes of fancy raw fish over the course of 3.5 hours wasn't ideal.  Live and learn. 

Our man, Takashi from Rain, emerged victorious, and the crowd went wild.  Clearly, he has a loyal following. 



Overall, it was fun and we're glad we participated.