The Experience Music Project has been built from the ground up as a multi-sensory cultural experience. If you have a taste for great music, there’s something appetizing at every turn for you to sink your teeth into. As it turns out, the Project’s Turntable Restaurant has followed the same recipe.
This creative kitchen is anything but the touristy Tomorrowland Terrace one might expect to find at a major thematic attraction like the EMP. By emphasizing top quality, organic ingredients and popular American regional dishes, the Turntable spins out a medley of culinary classics that are right in synch with the museum’s eclectic sights and sounds.
To say the Turntable is tucked away inside a corner of the Frank O. Gehry-designed rock and roll palace is, of course, a physical impossibility since the EMP’s undulating architecture appears to have no corners. But the restaurant is in fact nestled in its own lagoon of contemporary woods, metals and swooping laminates of eye-popping color, interlaced with flat plasma monitors playing the latest music videos or sporting events. The ambience is light and airy like the crab puffs the pastry chef whips up daily, not dark and murky like so many Seattle haunts. While reservations are accepted, it’s also possible to stroll over from the Space Needle, Fisher Plaza or one of the EMP’s world-class exhibits like the visually awe-inspiring Sky Church for lunch or dinner.
I’d always been intrigued about trying the Turntable’s platters from my musical excursions to EMP. The buzz on the restaurant had only whetted my appetite. Word out was that Executive Chef Doug Murray, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in his native New York, was the corporate chef for Duke’s restaurants, a Seattle institution. He left to open Post Alley Pizza in ’97. Before the EMP opened in June of 2000, Murray had teamed up with food guru Kathy Casey to plan the menu at Turntable which launched with the museum at its grand opening.
So when the Seattle Online Network decided to host a social gathering at The Liquid Lounge, a steep staircase climb up from The Turntable, I found the occasion to satisfy both my curiosity and my tastebuds.
As mentioned, The Turntable isn’t a theme restaurant. There are no “Rolling” Stone Crabs, Patty “Smith” Melts or Phish on a bed of Queensryche. That’s not to say there aren’t some tongue in cheek tributes to the musical genre. Appearing on the lavish and ultra-creative cocktail menu is The Purple Haze Jimi Hendrix cocktail, a double-shot Finlandia Cranberry vodka concoction with the house-made sweet-and-sour, and a Strawberry Fields martini, among others. And there’s an homage to the way Louis Armstrong used to sign his correspondence, “red beans and ricely yours.” Throughout the year, on select Monday evenings, a special Meals & Reels program is offered featuring a choice of delicious movie-themed entrees plus a film in EMP’s JBL Theater. Check SpaceCityMixer.com for details.
But what rocks at The Turntable is the food! With its commitment to organic ingredients like Kobe beef, Kurobuta pork and free range chicken, the emphasis is on reinterpreting the great American classics, from southwest chicken to N.Y. Style Thin Crust Pizza and northwest Elliott Bay Cioppino, all done with an authentic flair.
For openers, the Turntable serves up a number of appetizing treats including a house specialty of Fried Green Tomatoes that are as zesty and flavorful as pineapples, and surrounded by black eyed peas. The mushroom soup is a delightful standout, like something out of a Tolkien hobbit village, a velvety smooth porridge that is just the right texture with the right dash of seasoning.
For the main course, the Turntable offers a culinary tour de’ force of iconic American supper plates from across the USA. Chef Murray’s crew skillfully recreates such regional American classics as a Tender Spiced Steak Sandwich of American Kobe beef, Herb stuffed Idaho Trout served on stacked potato cakes, “down home” Southern Fried Chicken with country gravy and home baked biscuits, an inspired Flatbush Avenue Pizza Pie, a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and a marinated Pulled Pork roast that will transport you back to Carolina with its smokey barbecue reminisces.
What EMP does so well in presenting its cavalcade of musical history inside the museum, the Turntable sets out to accomplish for America’s panorama of great food. Light a match for an encore! The Turntable is cooking up a storm. — Larry Sivitz [24×7]
Location: 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109 Phone: 206.262.3030. www.emplive.com
