Oh no! Now there will be lines outside of JuneBug. :) Congrats!!
History is fine ,yet one must not eat it to appreciate it. No guilt.
After a lifetime in New York, I now live in Pasadena, and eat many of my meals in Los Angeles. But frankly, as much as I like and respect Pete Wells and his opinions, I still visit NYC often, and I hardly need the NYT review restaurants in Seattle or LA for that matter. I look to local critics for their comments, and expect to read about NYC restaurants in the Times' Wednesday food section. Let these be feature articles in the section, but I have trouble believing that there aren't 52 interesting new restaurants to be reviewed. Come on, NYT.
1
Why a review of a Seattle Restaurant in the NEW YORK times. I read NYT food for NEW YORK restaurants and places to eat.
4
The Times food critics regularly review restaurants elsewhere--LA, Chicago, Boston, Nashville: anywhere where chefs are exploring and experimenting with their craft. The Times is from and about NYC and its region, yes, but it's also the national paper of record. And so, the Food section--like any other section of the newspaper--stays on the lookout for developments in culinary culture that are noteworthy. June Baby fits that bill.
And for the record: I live in CT but have eaten at Eduardo Jordan's restaurant, Salare, in Seattle; delicious! Because of this review, I'll most certainly try June Baby next time I'm there in...June! Maybe Juneteenth, just to double mark the occasion.
22
I love seeing a review for another city’s restaurant. People travel. New Yorkers have family around the country.
Don’t be cranky, please.
13
@Zeldie,
You do realize people travel in this day and age, right?
4
I haven't eaten oxtails in ages. Other than the now-closed Murry's (RIP), I don't know where I would go to buy them. I wouldn't even ask at Whole Foods recalling how the meat person recoiled when I asked if they had turkey necks. LOL
Chitlins require a thorough and careful cleaning, even the "pre-cleaned" ones, before cooking. My mother made them only once a year. I wouldn't trust a restaurant to provide a sufficiently thorough cleaning - I don't think chitlins would sit well with my less tolerant stomach these days so it's a moot point.
6
I am encouraged by the number of African Americans who are embracing a plant-based life style (even here in my home city of Charleston, SC!). Check out cookbooks by Bryant Terry and Alicia Simpson. A vegan diet does not have to be expensive! My hope is that restaurants like this one will go the way of the dinosaur. Too many African Americans die terribly young from diseases like hypertension and diabetes that could so greatly benefit from a plant-based diet. We watched Ken Burns's documentary on the life of Jackie Robinson. He died at the age of 53 of a heart attack. What a tragedy! Please #govegan for the people, for the animals and for the planet.
5
"A vegan diet does not have to be expensive! My hope is that restaurants like this one will go the way of the dinosaur."
Nothing wrong with being a vegan if that is one's choice, but many people choose a balance of meat and vegetables and they can be perfectly healthy; it's not just vegans who can have low cholesterol counts, blood pressure or body fat.
Those people might stick to lean meats; have substituted lean(er) meats when cooking (using bacon/turkey bacon instead of ham hocks in beans/stews, for example); and/or only eat the meats like hog maws and oxtails on an occasional basis, like family meals and holidays.
To me, the best sounding dish in Mr. Wells' (great) review was this one:
"Bright green broccoli is tossed with grated Cheddar, almonds, apples and very delicate puffs of pork skin, all of them sharpened by preserved-lemon vinaigrette."
A balance.
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A "balance" at the expense of living beings. Your diet is a "choice" but in my opinion it's a choice laden with violence and sorrow. Dairy is in some ways even crueler than meat. Imagine being a mother who is kept continuously pregnant only to have her children taken from her within hours of their birth. Nothing in my life has brought me more joy than letting go of the murder of sentient beings as necessary to my life.
4
Seriously, enough with the sanctimony. You're not impressing anyone. Feel free to take yourself off to somewhere that only reviews restaurants that meet your lofty moral standard.
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Looks like a good diet to die young.
3
It's interesting, I guess. But I confess I have no interest in trying the offal and other cheapest parts of the animals that poor people and slaves were accustomed to out of a need for survival. I'm a vegetarian now, but even when I ate meat, give me the choice cuts.
I'd be more interested in finding out what this fascinating chef could do with the expensive parts of the pigs.
Some of the prices seem a bit exorbitant. Ten dollars for a pint of ice cream? Five dollars for frozen fruit juice in a plastic cup?
Menu isn't exactly friendly to vegetarians. Some side dishes, but no entrees that don't have dead animals in them. This is a weakness of almost every "Southern" restaurant. Did the slaves and their descendants really eat meat and seafood seven days a week?
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"Let’s just say that I am one African-American who, to appropriate a phrase, has not “licked the flip”. "
That's fine, but why be bothered that popsicles in a paper cup exist and some people grew up with them?. I'm black and have never heard of a flip until reading this - but I find many people aren't exposed to the same things even if they're the same race.
Few people outside of my family have ever heard of "fish gravy" - which is cornmeal fried in catfish drippings (shortening/oil) and served as a side dish. (Nobody eats it anymore; it's good but it's too salty). But it turns out it's related to the cornmeal-based dishes polenta (Italy), fungee (Caribbean) and ugali (Africa). In some parts of the south some people figured out they could fry cornmeal in the leftover catfish drippings for flavoring. Basically, they worked with the little they had.
It seems like chef Jordan is paying tribute to some of the people who worked with what they had. And that's what people do when they eat chitterlings (chitlins) on New Year's. I've been to a friend's chitlin/pig's feet cleaning annual gatherings (in preparation for New Year's when a lot of people eat them) and have cleaned them but have never eaten one. (I am that person who brings the crockpot of queso for the squeamish!)
I'm not brave enough to eat chitlins and I'm also not fooled when the French call similar stuff sweetbreads, serve it with Champagne, and charge a markup for it. :-) But I'm not bothered by people who do.
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It's so expensive! We came for the "happy hour' bespoken of in the Seattle Times ...we were told there are no drink discounts...and it was "moonshine" hour. We had 2 appetizers: 1) a small 3inch square cornbread and 2) giblets, appetizer size. We forgo the moonshine for one lemonade and one table water. It came to $30 before tip. So authentically, Southern food for the wealthy?
4
Yes. $30. That sounds about right. But it is clearly stated on the printed menu that a 20% service charge is included and then there’s tax. So it’s misleading to state “before tip“. Also, that “square of corn bread” is served with a flavored butter-so not just a plain piece of cornbread. I have eaten at
Junebaby four times now. I have also eaten some similar dishes in non-urban areas in Georgia and Florida. It was less expensive there of course, though not better tasting. And there are many elements in addition to real estate costs that make for “cheap eats“ being cheap. Some I will pay extra to avoid.
I and many other companions very much enjoy our visits to Junebaby. How the food tastes is one of the most important factors, but there are many others and we don’t feel overcharged for the experience.
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Yes. $30. That sounds about right. Except that it is clearly stated on the printed menu that 20% service charge is included, and then there’s tax. So it’s a little misleading to state “before tip“. And the corn bread served with a blended butter I believe, so a bit more than a “square of cornbread”.
1
Let’s just say that I am one African-American who, to appropriate a phrase, has not “licked the flip”.
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I'd heard of JuneBaby, but until I read this review (and some of the snide comments) I hadn't really planned on going, simply because we don't get over to Ravenna very often. Now, I definitely will. Edouardo Jordan's food has been well-regarded here for years, and I think a weekend lunch will be on our "what should we do today?" list of options. I'm not sure I'd try all of the dishes, but I have no doubt they are very good. Thanks for coming to Seattle, and writing this review, Mr. Wells.
16
Good grief.
Astounding how many trolls have crawled out from under their rocks to take potshots at a well-regarded chef and his immensely popular restaurant, thousands of miles from their own homes. One which not one of them likely has visited, or ever will.
Shame on every last one of you. And please, just stay where you are. Don't bother to venture West to visit, and by all means don't even dream of spreading the nation's virulent epidemic of gratuitous mean-spiritedness to this corner of the country by moving here. We're doing just fine without you, out here in the sticks in 'politically correct, libtard' Seattle and environs.
I'll take our peculiar local brand of smug but well-intentioned, mostly white liberalism over poisonous, soul crushing bullying any day of the week.
P.S., As a one-time Alabamian with some degree of experience in such matters, I'll testify that Jordan's fried chicken is top of the heap; and the collards about the best ever.
P.P.S. Sure, freeze cups are not what you expect to find in a 'serious' restaurant. Ever hear of something called 'a sense of humor'? There's a very nice restaurant outside of Chablis, serving old school French cuisine, with one of the most incredible wine lists in Burgundy, whose signature dessert comes with a hidden depth charge of... pop rocks! You've got to be a pretty sour, dour old curmudgeon not to break out in giggles the first time you encounter it. Ditto the freeze cups.
63
Wholeheartedly agree. Fergus Henderson does it, it's clever, innovative and interesting. Mr. Jordan does it and it's a problem.
I am lucky enough to get to Seattle every couple of years. Can't wait to try Junebaby on my next visit.
13
The west coast has absolutely glorious plant-based restaurants. I hope to go to more of them at some point in my life But Junebaby? I think not. The time has come for the human race to evolve. We do not need to torture & murder animals to eat good food.
3
And as far as impressing anyone? I am 62 years old. At my age you lose any remote interest that you might ever have had about impressing anyone.
1
Congratulations Chef Jordan! What a wonderful tribute to your hard work and delicious food.
16
Don't let the haters take over. This chef is one of the nation's greatest, and has made two top restaurants in the same Seattle neighborhood; both have been in the top new restaurants nationwide the year they opened. New York Times is a worldwide institution and doesn't just review New York restaurants; its readers may venture out and wonder what other places have to offer. As another person who's made the transition from Florida to Seattle, my hat is off to you, Mr. Jordan.
33
After reading this review, I was uneasy with the concept of this restaurant and was hesitate to comment until I read other comments here. After all, it’s just food, right?
It is, until the Chef/Owner presents his food as a representation of a culture. (He even publishes an “encyclopedia” that defines menu terms and concepts of said culture.)
And so I am wrestling with the thought that this may be an example of cultural misappropriation for the purpose of creating a “backstory” for marketing purposes. Although Mr. Jordan may base his dishes upon those served at his mother’s and grandmother’s tables, he has the background of a classically trained chef who went to culinary school, has worked in Michelin-starred establishments and brings those elements to those dishes. I believe that Mr. Jordan’s personal story, like his dishes, have been tweaked to fill seats. This is just another product of the pressure the public puts on chefs when treating them like rock stars.
3
How on earth can an African American chef be accused of “cultural appropriation” for cooking traditionally African American food? Your reaching a bit too far in your manufactured outrage.
37
Oh it’s just catfish and bread pudding for godssakes.
13
I believe that Ms. Bloom´s English have been tweaked as well, yes it have.
10
I grew up in the South and would argue that food has contributed to whatever progress that has been made in racial relations in my lifetime. We all eat grits, red beans and rice, cornbread, collard greens, okra, and any number of other foods that are either directly from Africa or developed through the period of slavery. The food can be like communion for all children of the South, and it sounds like this restaurant is a church I'd like to visit.
34
@ Gary Avery Germany
I agree with Tou, in principle, that food can contribute to a better mutual understanding between different ethnie, religions, etc., communities. But, liking or disliking of certain foods being only an acquired character, it is not easy to covert the minds through their taste buds, palates, and stomachs.
1
I am literally in tears as I read this review. I never thought I'd see a black chef serving southern food receive a 3 star rating in the New York Times. Well done Mr. Jordan. Like it or not, you are now the example that others will try to emulate. Educated, self employed, successful, celebrated and black.
Thank you too Mr. Wells.
48
Offer a southern diner a choice between hog maws and a decent steak and see what answer you get. I've had hog maws. There's a reason they don't feature at, say, McDonald's, and it has nothing to do with culture.
4
Southern fried foods are so out of place in the PNW, even if it is “farm raised” catfish from Idaho.
1
Well, that's a silly thing to say. Seattle has great restaurants serving cuisine from every part of the world. If we were to restrict ourselves to food which comes from around here, we'd have to give up coffee, and you know that's not gonna happen.
65
No room for southern fried food indeed. What with all the mediocre fish and chips places we have in the region.
9
Whaaaa? I am a PNW native born-and-bred, and I can't wait to eat here. Not sure what "Seattle" means to you, but to me it means being fortunate enough to access great food from around the world.
17
This review and its focus on food cooked and eaten by black slaves called to mind National Geographic's recent apology for its racist one-note coverage of black people throughout the history of their magazine.
"These are the cuts that enslaved black people on plantations were allowed to keep when hogs were killed; after emancipation, these were the cuts they might have had the money to afford and the skills to make into something memorable. Their healthy representation on the menu tells you that JuneBaby is not just a southern restaurant but, specifically, a black southern restaurant.
The one-note connection - that this is every black person's experience and therefore limiting black people to that description - made me think of that National Geographic apology.
Yes, it's too wordy, but perhaps a better way to express it would be "a southern restaurant with deep respect for the culinary history of slavery."
8
Many black people argue that the history of slavery is essential to being black. Without it, you may be African, African-American, or of African descent, but you are not black. You saw this with Obama at the beginning of his campaign. The doubts about his blackness arose not just or even mainly from the fact that he had a white mother, but that neither his African father nor any of his paternal ancestors had been enslaved. It was only after he demonstrated that he could speak in the rhythms of black Protestant Christianity that he convinced most of those who doubted his blackness.
4
"Many black people argue that the history of slavery is essential to being black. Without it, you may be African, African-American, or of African descent, but you are not black."
That's news to me! It would be a sad day IMO if all black Americans were judged by if they could "speak in the rhythms of black Protestant Christianity". Barack Obama ran for president, not head preacher.
Signed,
Black person
(Although I always read Ebony magazine when I was younger, I only capitalized black because it was at the beginning of a salutation phrase/wordnerd)
P.S. I don't know anyone who had doubts about President Obama's "blackness"; It's always odd to read about that. Perhaps it's because I'm from the South/Midwest where 1) Having ancestors who were enslaved is not seen as something to lord over someone else who did not: ""Woohoo! MY great-grandpa was a slave; aren't you sad that yours never was?" 2) Plenty of black people actually have quite a bit of white ancestry (slaves masters, remember?) but call themselves black, even if it's known they have a white parent - because they know 99 percent of adult non-black America sees them as such when they are anonymously walking down the street.
4
Catfish! But is this ranched catfish or wild-caught? There is such a difference in flavor and texture.
This was my neighborhood the 12 years I lived in Seattle. I wish it had arrived a bit earlier.
5
Oh, dear, another “what’s the grossest thing we can overcharge customers for”
eatery. I tire of these avant-grade experiments in gag reflexes. Can we have more reviews about normal restaurants that serve pasta, salads and dessert?
6
This isn't an "avant-garde experiment in gag reflexes". Black folks have been eating this food for centuries. I was raised in the South, and although I don't eat the offal dishes, I certainly recognize them. Two things that I will only eat in the South-BBQ and cornbread. As for BBQ, I'm from Memphis, so enough said. Here in the North, they absolutely ruin cornbread. It is very sweet-I call it corn cake.
17
Man, that's harsh. What about those who want to eat something other than pasta, salads and desert? Your normal is not everyone else's normal.
35
We already have those reviews honey- it’s called yelp.
Also what’s “normal food”???
39
Not enough restaurants in NYC and vicinity to review?
3
The only reason Pete Wells ventured to the Great Northwest is because Jordan was recently marketed by his backers for Best New Restaurant and Best Chef: Northwest for the James Beard Awards.
3
Contrary to the beliefs of the residents of NYC, there is a big country beyond the Hudson that receives The Old Gray Lady on a daily basis. Even in fly-over country where the only evidence we see of the costal types are their contrails in the sky.
22
Seattle is a strange place for a Southern restaurant. Perhaps it is attractive to the natives as a gustatory novelty. Best wishes to the adventurous owner, but I find unappetizing some of the organs of unappetizing animals on the menu. However, the desert (slide 12) looks great.
1
Evanston, Illinois is a strange place for a Spanish Tapas restaurant, but one of my favorite tapas places was in Evanston. I don't understand why so many people are saying that a Southern restaurant doesn't belong in Seattle. I seriously miss having a good Cajun restaurant in town. I used to patronize a an award-winning Cajun restaurant in the heart of the Midwest, but I never found it odd, just refreshing. People move around, and many people (apparently not you) enjoy trying different foods in their own locale. As for those organs that you find unappetizing, it's all a matter of personal taste. I am about as white as can be, with origins from the British Isles, but my comfort foods are pork tongue and chicken gizzards. I have enjoyed Salare and look forward to eating at JuneBaby.
5
I very much enjoyed reading about this white straight man's cultural learning experience.
9
"The huge edifice of Southern food was built by black cooks: as enslaved people in plantation kitchens and in their own families’ cabins; later, as domestic servants, hotel chefs, railroad cooks, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs"
In the age of Trump, we needed this; among the best, most salutary, sentences you have ever written. And that's saying something. Bravo, Pete Wells! I feel a trip to Seattle coming on..
45
We've been privileged to have Edouardo open not one, but two, restaurants in our neighborhood. Both Salare and JuneBaby are fun, easy-going, restaurants with no pretensions that one often finds in establishments that receive so many accolades!
52