A ‘Top Chef’ Alum is Bringing Texas Brisket to Shota Nakajima’s Taku This Month

Evelyn Garcia, a “Top Chef” alum and Houston chef known for her creative melding of Texas and Southeast Asian cuisines, is coming to Seattle this month to collaborate on a dish with Shota Nakajima, another “Top Chef” alum and the owner of Capitol Hill Japanese fried chicken restaurant Taku.

The two celebrity chefs are collaborating on a dish that combines their culinary talents: a brisket rice bowl with yuzu kosho teriyaki glaze, peanut nuoc cham, crunchy chicken bits, herbs, and pickles. It will be available for pickup (for $25) at Taku’s takeout from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on June 25, or until sold out.

Garcia and chef Henry Lu, co-owners of KIN HTX restaurant in Houston, are flying out the brisket from Texas to Seattle to make the dish. Preorders (which will probably sell out) will be available on Nakajima’s Instagram later this month. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Lambert House, a Capitol Hill organization that supports LGBTQ youth.

Levantine food purveyor Villa Jerada regales Seattle with a summer full of pop-ups

For those who missed Villa Jerada’s pop-up collaboration with Beacon Hill restaurant Homer last month, there’s still a chance to try other collaborations with great local restaurants, which owner Mehdi Boujrada is calling “Les Nomades: A Caravan of Summer Pop-ups.” Though menus will shift based on the host restaurant, the Homer event included delights like pitas stuffed with braised lamb, smoked kohlrabi, and stuffed chickpeas; loaves of buckwheat sourdough to-go; and Moroccan coffee cooked in sand.

Coming up is a pop-up is at Vashon Island restaurant Gravy on July 3, a collaboration with Madrona’s East Anchor Seafood on July 9, an event at The Corson Building in Beacon Hill on July 17, and a final celebration at The London Plane in Pioneer Square on August 6. Find more information on Villa Jerada’s Instagram and those of participating businesses.

Salt and Straw unveils a fried chicken ice cream collaboration with Ezell’s

The newest of the whacky flavors Portland-based ice cream chain Salt and Straw is becoming known for is a fried chicken ice cream, made in collaboration with popular Seattle chain Ezell’s Famous Chicken. Salt and Straw cofounder Tyler Malek and Ezell’s president Lewis Rudd will be scooping this concoction at the Capitol Hill Salt and Straw location on June 17th from 6-8 pm, and it will also be available at Salt and Straw locations around Seattle.

Malek said its the “most complex flavor” Salt and Straw has ever made in a statement. To make it, he deep-fried croissant bits in chicken fat then blended them into salted vanilla ice cream. Will it be weird? Yes. Will it be good? Only one way to find out.