Restaurant News: Nearby Celtic Cowboy bids farewell; Aggie’s BBQ beckons in Perrinville

Celtic Cowboy BBQ is moving into the smoked dog biscuit business.

A goodbye message filled with gratitude

Saturday, Sept. 9 will be the last day for Edmonds’ Celtic Cowboy BBQ’s retail location.” We want to thank all of our employees now and over the last 7 years for your hard work and dedication. Thanks also to all of our customers over the years. Your support of our dream has meant the world to us and it’s been an honor to serve you. After a short break, Steve will continue pursuing different aspects of the business with his first focus on our smoked dog bone and smoked doggy biscuit business. “

Come celebrate with Celtic Cowboy folks this Saturday until 3 pm. Come get some Q or smoked brisket taquitos and share some stories with us!

To contact CCBBQ for dog products or future catering, email ccbbqedmonds@hotmail.com

Aggie’s BBQ- Perrinville

Born in New Orleans, Lod Agge is the real deal: a true Cajun, with the cooking credentials to prove it. For years, he said, friends and family who dined on his divine food urged him to open a restaurant. He looked around as he spoke to me and waved his arms and said “I finally did.”

His family history is displayed on the wall; black-and-white pictures. At the center is his father — a French Cajun. Many photos are of Lod, his children and his grandchildren, who currently operate the restaurant during the day.

Lod assures me that he still does all the cooking, though he’s trained up his granddaughters Roshana and Ciara.

“They cook just as well as me.”  He is ready to depart, to tend masonry projects around Edmonds, and leave the restaurant in their capable hands.

“Seafood dishes, street-food style,” Lod says these are next on his list.

I can’t wait!

Pork ribs at Aggies BBQ.

Aggie’s BBQ created a culinary sampler of menu items. The rib dinner comes with cornbread accompanied by plenty of butter and honey, and your pick of two side dishes. We chose collard greens and potato salad, supplemented with chicken wings and beef brisket, and for dessert, a slice of sweet potato pie. The order delighted my son, who between moans of delight kept saying “this is awesome, Mom.”

Beef brisket

Meat entrees are tender enough to yield to a fork or one’s teeth, whatever your preference. Sauce is traditional Cajun barbecue — a vinegary, smoky flavor, sweet with a touch of heat that lingers in your belly after you’ve swallowed. All the meat was cooked to perfection, on top the grill, next to a stove with burners loaded — pots made of cast iron held beans, greens and more.

Potato salad and collard greens

The potato salad’s chunks of vegetables get an extra kick from paprika. Collard greens — a standard in the South — were steamed just tender.

Oh that sweet potato pie — nice pastry crust, perfectly creamy and well-spiced filling.

Sweet potato pie

All dinners are intended to be shared by two people. There are rib sandwiches if you’re dining solo.

I was happy to find Aggie’s BBQ open and taste this delicious food. Hours of operation: closed on Sunday and Monday; open from noon-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Catering is available within a 20-minute drive of the location and orders must be placed one day in advance.

Fresh bread at 85°C Bakery and Café

 

The interior of 85°C.

85°C Bakery and Café opened this week in Lynnwood. The second Washington location of this fabulous bakery is just west of Alderwood Mall, at 18700 33rd Ave. W.

My hubby is ecstatic. I’d heard all about 85°C Bakery and Café — he’d raved about the bakery and its breads, cakes and the coffee when he visited his home offices in Irvine, Calif. last year.  He’s been waiting…

A  dangerous place for a woman who’s been on a low-carb diet for the last six months, 85° C Bakery and Cafe was a candy shop and I was the kid on the loose. I walked up to a large display of white trays and tongs and sighed.

Trays and tongs at the ready.

Tray in hand, I surveyed individual cubicles along two walls. “Fresh bread,” cried café employees bearing trays of out-of-the-oven-baked goods. They filled the empty spaces left by hungry customers.

This week is a soft opening for 85° C Bakery and Cafe but word has spread in the community. As I waited in line to complete my purchase, a fellow patron shared that he’d been there earlier in the day. “The line had wrapped around the building parking lot,” he said.

“Wow,” I said. The official grand opening is Sept. 15 and a large poster on the front window indicates 10-cent coffee, free totes and state mugs. I predict an extremely long wait for folks who desire exquisite pastries and desserts.

According to the 85°C website, the shop got its name because 85°C (or 185°F) is the appropriate temperature for coffee — according to franchise creator Mr. Wu.

Coffee and crème brulee

Coffee, tea and other drinks like bubble tea are ordered at the counter. Ditto the refrigerated case items: individual crème brulee, whole cakes and other desserts with fillings that require a chilly environment.

Baked goods boxed for home.

Baked goods accumulated on the trays are tenderly tucked into individual bags. Stylish boxes ensure safe transport…unless one is trapped at a stoplight with fresh pastries on the front seat of their car.

Mocha bread

Let’s just say the mocha bread barely made it home. I told myself it would be good to show the interior of the loaf, as I kept taking little nibbles to even up the edges. Great fortitude required, but I managed to save enough of the product to photograph.

Red bean panna cotta

Desserts in refrigerated cases offer more delight. Mr. Wu’s vision — a cafe that provides premium coffee, bread and cake at affordable prices — is evident in the coffee brulee and a red bean panna cotta I purchased. The texture, taste profile was every bit as good as a dessert served in a fancy restaurant cafe.

The egg tarts and tuna Danish, along with other savory items, are made with croissant-style pastry– buttery flakes melt on your tongue with every bite.

Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, which is Oct. 4 in 2017. 85°C Bakery and Café is the spot to purchase items to celebrate. Mooncakes, the traditional round cakes, symbolize reunion. A flyer encourages shoppers to “pre-order” Mooncakes in pretty gift boxes and they are offered at a discount until Sept. 24, 2017.

“Fresh bread,” shouted the staff as petite loaves of multigrain bread arrived and I grabbed a loaf with my white tongs.

“For best quality, please consume the products as soon as possible. No artificial preservatives added. Keep in cool, dry place.” Small print on the box- I had no trouble with those instructions, and I’d bet readers who visit 85°C Bakery and Café will consume the products as soon as possible too.

You never know where an internship may take you

Valuable experience gained with volunteer gigs and internships-Spuds Fish and Chips former intern Peter Keckemet and his co-chocolatier Sam Tanner launched Joe Chocolates this spring. I spotted bags of Midnight Coconut and Honey Almond at the counter in our local Edmonds Spuds location — YUM!

190 Sunset celebrates first year with special offers

“We are filled with gratitude as we turn one this Friday!” the announcement from Edmonds restaurant 190 Sunset states. “Join us this weekend for our three-course anniversary special. Bring a friend to share our two-for-one martinis.”

Enjoy a three-course meal for $30. Start with a 190 House or Caesar Salad. Select from Prime Rib, Citrus Glazed Salmon, or Pear Brie Ravioli. Finish with house-made Vanilla Creme Brulee.
Two for One Martinis — Manhattan, Vesper or Sidecar — are $12, available with purchase of three-course special. No substitutions.
Offers available from Sept. 8-10, 4 p.m. to close.

Bon Appetite! Next column will detail the delicious food found at restaurants in Mukilteo.

– By Kathy Passage

A specialty gourmet food broker for over 30 years, Kathy Passage has in-depth knowledge on food and the special qualities of ingredients used in the exquisite products she helped bring to market. Kathy brings this unique perspective from the “other side of the plate” to writing about the local food and restaurant scene.

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