Man vs Food and Man wins!

Before the Christmas break set in, AK's was witness to a Burger Throwdown! All of this stemming from a bet at a very late night dinner after a dinner. The premise is that if one, eats a new burger patty record, then one gets to name the burger, until it is topped by the next patty. Currently we were on The Hogg, a Triple Bacon Cheeseburger. Well one thing leads to another and someone says that they can throwdown a Quad Bacon Cheeseburger and it escalates to the now Famous Andrew Trio, claiming" I'll take that challenge and see you one patty" And its on! So as the day breaks, we were left wondering if the record was to be broke, finally our hungover contestants finally made there way to AK's and it was on!





We pride ourselves in our burgers, a purely local burger, using Walla Walla Bread Company buns, Thundering Hooves meat and bacon, caramelized Walla Walla winter onions, green tomatoes pickled by yours truly and Tillamook Cheddar Cheese. Griffin, the quad man came first, his had cheese and onions on each 5.5oz patty, a bun in the middle of two sets of two patties, bacon on the top patty and two layers of tomatoes. This beast topped out at 41oz pure of pure burger bliss! Now if was a timed event, Griffin would had this one in the bag, gone in under 10 minutes, absolutely amazing!







Andrew then saunters up and we pass his now famous, Andrew Trio Five Patty Daddy, through the window to him. It was a sight to behold, 48.5oz of hot and juicy burger bliss. Andrew dressed it up with a little Tabasco and Ketchup and "headed to the wall". Now with Andrew, time wasn't the issue, the pure size was. Well, as time wore on the burger was getting smaller, finally the deed was done and The ATFPD, was history! Amazing, 2 guys and nearly 6 lbs of burgers consumed!




We now await the arrival of the person who thinks they are man or woman enough to up the ante! We will see!

This got us thinking, of a little food contest for the upcoming Spring/Summer. If Nathans can have a Hot Dog eating contest, why can't AK's have a burger eating contest? We are currently working out the details and lining up the sponsors, but we might have a new annual event happening here in Walla Walla!

Upcoming Dinners and stuff!

We have 2 dinners coming up in the next few weeks, both have limited seats, so I you are interested you might want to act fast.



Saturday November 20th- This will be La Porte Brune's 8th Walla Walla Dinner. Kind of the Post-Harvest party, though I am sure some will still be working away! We started with 32 seats for this and have a few left. These dinners have taken on a life of their own, always fun and entertaining. As always, great friends, food and wine! How can you go wrong here. Check out www.laportebrune.com to sign up!



Saturday December 4th- I am really honored to have been asked to do this dinner again for good friend Geoff and the gang. We will be serving it up at Three Rivers Winery on Holiday Barrel Weekend, with Queensryche. This dinner will be a great night of music, wine and food. The guys will even be performing an acoustic set, in a very intimate setting, so very cool! Here is the link http://www.threeriverswinery.com/WinemakerDinner or call Three Rivers Winery 509-526-9463 to sign up. This is not you typical wine dinner!



So as many of you know, we now have our very own Food Truck! Andrae's Kitchen or AK's has it has become, is Walla Walla's first gourmet food truck! You can keep up with the location and menu changes a couple different ways, either on the website www.andraeskitchen.com or via the Face Book Page: Andrae's Kitchen, or Twitter @andraeskitchen

AK's is available for whatever type of event that you can think of. Give us a shout and let us put together your perfect menu, dinner or event! We have wheels and can come to you!

Enjoy our beautiful Fall weather and we will see you out and around the Valley!

The LPB & AK's Crew

Graphic's, Location, Burger and a Website

Lots of cool stuff to report on here! We have added a graphic package to AK's, talk about sticking out, well that it does! Very cool graphics done by Lytle Signs in Boise. These are the guys that designed the original restaurant logo, so we just tweaked that one a little. I think that it is pretty cool. A whole lot better then a big white trailer.



Currently we are serving lunch Monday-Friday at 2nd and Pine, in Walla Walla. This is the Corliss Winery parking lot and is a beautiful spot for us to hang out at. The weekends we are moving around the valley to different wineries and setting up! Once the wineries start slowing down for the winter we will probably be changing up our routine, so stay tuned for all the details.

You can keep track of things from the brand spanking new website.
www.andraekitchen.com Don't laugh too hard as this is my handiwork. Web-master I am not, but it is functional and easy to use and I can keep it updated. Menu, contact info and other stuff is all on it! So check it out and let me know what you think and if I need anything else added!





The burger, well this is slowly taking on a life of its own. I think that it is evolving into one of if not the best burger I have ever eaten, anywhere, and I am not one to talk about my food publicly. I have been trying really hard to make this a 100% local burger, and I am very close. Maybe 99% right now. We are using Thundering Hooves for our grind and bacon and Walla Walla Bread Co. is providing the bun. The produce is all local, right now it is pickled green tomatoes.

AK's is Rolling!

Well it has been a long time coming, but AK's(Andrae's Kitchen) is out and dishing up some mighty tasty grub! We have kind of set a schedule of; Monday-Thursday at the old Airport Terminal Building Parking Lot; Friday and Saturday, we will be traversing out and about the South-Side wineries and Sunday's you will be able to find us at Woodward Canyon out in Lowden.

It feels pretty good, to be back on the stove, I am having a blast getting all of my timing back! I guess once you do this it is always in your blood! Our menu is pretty straight-forward now, but look for some fun and whimsical specials to be rolling out, once we get the whole thing figured out.

We will be getting our blank canvas, all logo'd up soon, so make sure you keep an eye out for that!

We appreciate all the great words that have already been said and printed about us, and hope to keep you guys happy and full enough to keep them coming. Oh yea and thanks for all the votes for Food Networks, The Great Food Truck Race. It is very cool that our little big town rallied around that, unfortunately we are kind of limited on our population!

Make sure you stay up with all the news, menus and whereabouts of AK's by following our Twitter feed and Face Book page.
Stop by and say hello to us and and the crew and I guarantee you won't go away disappointed!!

AK's is almost ready!

Ak's arrived on Saturday August 14th, and hopefully will be ready to rock some food out soon. We have our Health Dept. inspection on Tuesday the 17th and then a Washington L&I inspection in Tumwater. This has been a long trip and I feel that we are very close! We will be having a soft opening for friends and family then we will get this ball rollin. Look for a Grand Opening sometime in September! We will have a somewhat flexible schedule, and then will also be scheduling Vineyard dinners and be available for private functions! What we have is a 8.5X18 foot trailer, essentially 153 sq ft kitchen, with 50 cubic feet of refrigeration. By comparison, my total kitchen at Andrae's was 340 sq ft. We have a 6 burner range with a convection oven, a 24 inch Charbroiler, a 24 inch flat-top and a 40lb deep fryer. The menu will be all over the board, from burgers and fries to curries and croquettes, we will have something for everyone! Hopefully our website will be finished and we will be able to post updates and menus, as well as allow customer/fan interaction, by the time we open!

Menu for Seattle and stuff

It has been a very busy month, with some very cool stuff on the horizon! We are now very close to the arrival of our mobile kitchen, that has been dubbed"AK's" ( Andrae's Kitchen). looking for it to be sitting in my driveway in about 10 days!! This is going to allow us more flexibility in providing great events in just about any location! Can you say vineyard dinners! We will be using this blog as well as a revamped website to keep everyone posted as to the whereabouts of the kitchen. Seems South and West of town might be seeing some food heading there way!




Below is the menu for Seattle Underground dinner this Friday!

Compressed Watermelon with Tomato and Juniper

2009 Elio Perrone, Bigaro, Moscato d’Asti


Potato and Wild Mushroom With Potato Chip and Wild Mushroom Gelee

2008 Hirsch, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast


Kobe Beef Steak Tartare with Truffled Crostini and Quail Egg

2007 Sleight of Hand, Illusionist, Columbia Valley


Duck Confit with Scallops, Parsnip Puree, Hazelnuts

and Watercress

2007 Mark Ryan, Long Haul, Red Mountain


Roast Leg of Lamb with Chickpeas and Almond Mint Pesto

2005 Dunham, Lewis Vineyard Syrah, Columbia Valley


Flourless Chocolate Cake with White Pepper Ice Cream and Fresh Cherry-Cassis Sauce

2007 Sinclair Estate Vineyard, Vixen, Columbia Valley

Dinner at Jose Andres' Bazaar in Beverly Hills

This last weekend we ventured to Los Angeles with great friends and had our sights set on Bazaar in the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. This is Alice in Wonderland meets el Bulli, what a place! We had reservations for the private dining room called SAAM, and were in store for a 23 course extravaganza plus cocktails and wine. The meal lasted 4 1/2 hours and never once did we think that we had been there to long! This easily falls into one of the top meals I have ever had. I had the huge honor of working with David Bouley and Julian Serrano in a James Beard event in 2003 to honor the Culinary Stars of Spain, where I was honored not only to meet Jose Andres, but Ferran Adria and Juan-Marie Arzak. This is the first time that I have been able to get to one of his restaurants! Kind of a tune up for our Spain trip in 2011


The Golden Boy This was a mix of Cava, simple syrup, sherry and gold leaf and a squeeze of lime. Very unique started with a huge flavor wave over the palate. The sherry carried the flavor profile


Lotus Root Chip Loved this little chip, perfectly fried and seasoned.


Olive Oil Bonbon Consensus, one of the best flavors on the table, very high quality olive oil encased in a sugar membrane.


Bagel and Lox Steam Bun One of my favorites, the Salmon Roe and the steamed bun worked perfectly.


Tuna Handroll 2009 An old trick with still great results, the flavor of the tuna, nori puree and avocado worked great!


Black Olives Ferran Adria This is just a flavor burst of olive! As a side, I did this dish with bacon and pea puree for LPB#2


Jose's Combination Mix of jamon and caviar, in my opinion, probably towards the bottom of the list of dishes, seemed to need a little more salt, either from the caviar or the jamon.


Boneless Coconut Thai Chicken Wing Nice flavors and melt in your mouth chicken wings helped this dish rock.


Crispy Nigiri Very fresh Hamachi made this dish sing, the perfectly cooked and peeled baby turnip worked awesome. Gotta love peeling baby vegetables!


Chipirones en su Tinta This squid was probably the most tender, I have ever had. Amazing how in the hands of a trained chef a simple ingredient can be lifted. To many times I have had this at restaurants and had to chew till my mouth was sore. The Nori/rice chips were fantastic.


Linguini and Clams Perfectly cooked noodles and barely cooked clams. I love the fact that these clams had little to no heat on them, maybe 15 seconds, the flavors are so much more intense!


Magic Mojito So the simple syrup in the drink was in the form of cotton candy, then they poured the rum that had been infused with mint over it and it all melted together. Great drink!


Magic Mojito


Japanese Baby Peaches one of my top dishes. The flavors here were amazing, the hazelnut, peach, burrata and the brioche crouton. This worked and rocked.


Hot and Cold Foie Soup with Corn Another top dish, foie infused broth on the bottom with a cold corn emulsion on top, topped with some crispy corn flakes. Unbeleivable! Very similar to a dish I did when we opened the Andrae's in 2004, Foie Gras Creme Brulee with a Chantrelle Corn Goulash.


Norwegian Cigalas This dish had my favorite component to the meal, the Langoustine Broth..WOW! We did a style of this dish at Andrae's with lobster instead of Langoustine and added cauliflower to it. Both these dishes rocked. But that broth..WOW!!


Not Your Everyday Caprese Fun little dish, the mozzarella was done in the spherical form and just bursted with flavor.


Kurobuta Pork Belly My only other quibble with the dinner, we all thought that the pork belly was undercooked. Not the melt in your mouth texture you expect. As I have always said, if you are cooking it 8 hours what is 9. The rest of this dish rocked!!The pickled baby vegetables were so good.


Wagyu Beef Cheeks Braised meat at its peak! the meat was amazing, the cippolini onions had just tons of flavor! Just the right amount of citrus, helped cut the fat and made this dish near the top of the list.


Truffle Rice WOW, this was done with White Summer Truffles and just had tons of flavor! the rice perfectly al dente!


Philly Cheesesteak This dish, was out of control! The "bread" was hollow, but filled with a cheese espuma, then the thinly sliced Wagyu tenderloin on top, huge bursts of flavors when you bit into this! Consesus table favorite.


Dragons Breath Popcorn So here they cooked the popcorn in liquid nitrogen then you eat it and breath out your nose. All the "steam comes through your nostrils, more of a fun dish, then anything.


Dragons Breath Popcorn


Rose and Clementine The rose petal espuma and clementine sorbet worked well. The citrus was a nice complement to the rose flavor.


Lychee and Coffee loved this dessert. The coffee crumbs were delicious and the Lychee sorbet was very fresh and flavorable. Just a great pairing of the two flavors!


Sexy Little Sweets Nice little selection of chocolates for us at the end of the meal.

Nice NPR Story on the Underground Movement!

This was done at our most recent La Porte Brune Underground in Walla Walla.
http://www.nwfoodnews.com/2010/06/07/underground-markets-restaurants-speakeasies-for-the-foodie-set/

Gratin Dauphinois for the Masses

So we will attempt to explain this recipe with out the aid of pictures. We have had numerous requests for this and not sure when we will be making it again. This dish is a labor of love as it is a little time consuming and will dirty many different pots and pans in your kitchen. But oh are the results worth the effort! So here we go.

1. In separate bowls, place your Gorgonzola, salt, small cubed butter, ground white pepper.
2. Have at least a quart of cream on hand.
3. Wash and peel your russet potatoes, then place in a bowl of water.
4. Take a casserole dish and liberally butter it, bottom and sides and set aside.
5. You are now ready to start building your layers, the key here is to slice only the amount of potatoes that you need for each
layer. When sliced do not put them in any water, as you need all the starch left in them.
6. Using a Japanese Mandolin, slice the potatoes very thin and layer them in the bottom of your casserole dish, shingling
them as you go.
7. Sprinkle the layer of potatoes with some salt and pepper.
8. Randomly place cubes of butter over the layer.
9. Sprinkle the Gorgonzola evenly over the layer, more or less depending on how strong you want the flavor.
10. Pour a little cream over the layer.
11. Now you are ready to add another layer of potatoes, like the first. Once you have them covering, firmly press down.
12. Repeat all the above steps. You will add a total of 6 layers. Finish the top off as if you were adding another layer, so all the
cheese, butter, cream, etc.
13. Cover tightly with foil and place in a 320 degree oven for approximately 2 1/2 hours. Checking occasionally by poking a
knife through the layers to see if you have resistance.
14. Once you feel that they are done uncover the pan and let finish cooking until the top is golden brown.
15. Remove and let cool, it is best to let them sit over night in the fridge.
16. Very carefully cut them into serving pieces and remove with a spatula, reheat in the oven till warm.
17. ENJOY!!