I grew up in Gig Harbor and am always amazed at how much it has grown and changed. The problem historically is that the restaurants have not been very exciting. True, there is the old stand-by, Tides Tavern, which was the first place I went after turning 21, because it seemed to be the place to go! Once the excitement of "21" wore off, I realized that it's a solid, waterfront bar with great beer choices and a perfect, traditional bar menu. It would be my Cheers if I lived in Gig Harbor.
But hey....we're not here to talk about the Tides Tavern. We are here to talk about 7 Seas Brewery, Morso Wine Bar and JW.
The first thing I did yesterday was get on Yelp and look for new restaurants in Gig Harbor. JW was the first one to pop up. I perused their menu, which at first glance seemed interesting. I then looked at their wine menu and saw that they had some local Washington wines, which pleased me. Nothing like locals supporting locals. I called the number, left a message and a few hours later received a friendly call back and a reservation for 7:30pm.
Our first stop of the night was 7 Seas Brewery (http://www.7seasbrewing.com/). We drink their beer at the Swiss and have seen them featured at a few local brew festivals. My brother Mikey is especially fond of them and keeps telling us we have to go. I'm not sure what I expected, but when we pulled up, I noticed that there were a lot of people outside in the tented area. My first thought was, "Smoking section". Then we walked into the tap room and realized that the people sitting outside freezing couldn't fit in the tap room because it was wall-to-wall people.
For those of you who grew up in Gig Harbor...you used to not be able to go anywhere without seeing people you knew. Now, not so much...although during the time we were there, I did recognize a few people, but was not sure if they would remember me.
Hubby ordered a Ballz Deep IPA and I ordered a couple of 1/2 liter growlers for white elephant gifts for a holiday party this weekend. We were situated in the corner next to the bathroom when someone turned the bathroom light on and there I finally saw my brother's artwork.
He had mentioned that he pinstriped a bunch of growlers for the tap room...Cool!
Anyway, our recommendation is to not show up at the 7 Seas tap room on a payday-Friday. We had fun people watching, but the place is tiny and we would definitely pick a summer night to go or at least a different night of the week. The growlers make great gifts and I'll definitely be buying more for holiday gifts.
We decided to head to Anthony's to pass some time in the bar before heading to JW. We were having trouble finding parking near Anthony's so we turned around, came back down Peacock Hill and there on the right hand side was a sign for Morso Wine Bar (http://morsowinebar.com/home.html). We decided to venture in and are glad we did.
They were having a sold-out concert last night, but I assured one of the owners that we would be heading to JW for dinner and only wanted to have a glass of wine. He smiled and seated us. We both ordered Washington wines (I had Seven Hills and Hubby had Milbrandt). The service was amazing and the menu had some incredibly yummy looking items. We will definitely be back! Steven Lynn, one of the owners, made sure we were on the email list to hear more about special food and wine events they do each year.
Last stop: JW. JW(http://www.jwgigharbor.com/#!) is located in the same parking lot as the Gig Harbor Maritime Museum, right across from where the shell of Il Bistro sits (boo!). ***Please, please, please make reservations so that you aren't disappointed when you show up and the dining room is full.***
We pulled in early, but they had our table ready. Jason Winniford and his brother Jarett were both working the restaurant and are incredibly friendly! Jason brought a sample of an Argentina Malbec to the table along with the dinner specials. Hubby and I looked at the wine menu long and hard and settled on a 2008 Cuvee Lucia Sangiovese from Andrew Will winery (http://www.andrewwill.com/index.html). The menu listed the grapes from Red Mountain, WA, so we knew we were in for a treat. Even better, Jason explained that the winery is on Vashon Island and is touted as one of the best wineries in the state.
We started with the Honey Almond Prawns, which are in a honey-mayo sauce with crushed almonds. Yum! If I were eating bread I would have sopped up the sauce...instead I watched hubby do this.
For main course hubby chose the flat iron steak and I had the wild boar bourguignon. Both were delicious! The flat iron steak was cooked perfectly and the wild boar, which I had never had before, was done in a pot roast style and was rich, warm and perfect for a winter meal.
For dessert we had traditional creme brulee, which was spot on.
Overall, date night was a HUGE success!!! We drank local and we ate local...which is the goal.
Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Kirty
No comments:
Post a Comment