RIDER

619 Pine Street | Seattle, WA 98101

Detail, that is my one word for Rider. Their acute attention to every element of the restaurant as well as ingredients is remarkable. From their charming water bucket stands, to the thorough care taken in selecting their ingredients, then carefully finding how to showcase each of them in their thoughtful menu. Dan, the executive chef at Rider, started this Restaurant just about 2 years ago inside the grand Hotel Theodore, which has been a Seattle Hotel since 1929.

Dan and his wife shop the West Seattle Farmers Market where they pick up some of their ingredients. There they have created relationships with several local farmers who now source them anything from mushrooms, beans, pluots, micro greens, squash, etc which you will see all across their menu. They try to always source from directly around them {WA then OR} as well as what is perfectly in season. At times the fish they receive from Northwest Harvest, an Uncle and Nephew duo who drive to the coast then deliver direct, is so fresh it has to rested before it can be prepared. Therefore Rider has to take that fish off the menu due to it being too fresh. What an incredible problem to have!

The downtown restaurant has been ordering our Wigwam Reserve cheese every week for over a year now and rave over its depth and versatility. If you have never heard of our Wigwam Reserve cheese it is not surprising for Rider purchases every wheel we make. How this cheese came to be was occasionally when making our Coho cheese we would have left over curds that would not be enough to fill a full hoop. In efforts to not waste we began to hoop the precious curds into a small unused basket hoop. Months later we discovered a few of those experimental wheels in the back of our aging room, to our surprise they were absolutely delicious. The small size, enclosed pressing method, basket form, and of course our rich Jersey cow milk made this cheese buttery, grassy, with notes of toffee, and quince.

This cheese is the main focus of their newest pasta dish, House Made Espresso Caramelle Pasta. I followed Dan as we winded through the side kitchen, down a flight of stairs to where the pasta making was going on. Geof, pictured below, was shaping what initially look like chocolate taffy but was in fact the Caramella pasta. Due to the potato ash and espresso in the pasta, the rectangle of fonduta wrapped inside, and darling zig-zag edges it is easy to make that mistake. Fonduta, made with our Wigwam, is similar to fondue but it is portioned and chilled instead of being served hot in a pot. This is a true labor of love and respect of ingredients. Below are pictures of this beautiful pasta process after the fonduta had been made.

Once the Caramelle pastas are carefully formed and boiled they are tossed with shallots, garlic, and local apples, then placed on a bed of pureed fire roasted chestnuts where they are topped with squash, pickled chanterelles, sunflower shoots, fried sage, olive oil and celery leaf. As you can imagine the burst of flavors are incredible. The tender pastas are delightful and even more so when cut open spilling out the cheese that brings the dish together.

Dan, above and right, recently started ordering another product from us, our cultured buttermilk. They use it for their pull-apart rolls, that are made every day. After fermenting overnight the rolls are baked in small batches to assure they are just right. Alone the rolls are slightly sweet with an incredible fluff and stretch, but they usually are served with a crab fat butter, old bay seasoning, nutritional yeast, with Dungeness crab atop. These rolls are most definitely the richest and most decadent rolls you can imagine. Yes these rolls exist. Yes they use our buttermilk. Yes they are at Rider where you should try to dine next time you are in Downtown Seattle.

Once you are in the doors you forget you are in busy downtown and feel as if you are in a neighborhood restaurant, that happens to be in a stunning hotel, that happens to be in the heart of Seattle. 

Thank you Rider for supporting our tiny dairy, we love working with you.

“Rider celebrates the bounty of the Pacific Northwest by working closely with small, local, family-owned farms, ranches, fishermen, foragers, vineyards, and craftsmen. We strive to offer fresh, unique ingredients that showcase the region that we love.” Riders ethos statement