Contact: Heather Jensvold
Evado PR
heather@evadopr.com │ 206.931.4580
For Immediate Release
Maria Hines To Open Golden Beetle February 18
SEATTLE – (Feb. 9, 2011) – Chef Maria Hines has announced that her highly anticipated new restaurant, Golden Beetle, will open in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle on Friday, February 18. Golden Beetle is the second restaurant for Hines, her first being the nationally acclaimed Tilth.
Golden Beetle’s menu will feature elevated street food and draw on the spices and strong, robust and earthy flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. Hines’ has made many trips to the Eastern Mediterranean including a recent trip to Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, all of which inspired the menu. Dinner items, featuring mostly small plates, include Flat Bread with Dips of yogurt sauce, muhammara and hummus ($9); Skagit River Ranch Ground Beef Skewers with tamarind glaze, sultana and peanut ($12); Sous Vide Snails in Broth with wild mint, lavender and pomegranate peel ($12); Turkey Doner Kebab with heart of romaine, yogurt mousse and pickled onion ($12), similar to a shawarma; and larger plates such as the Aspen Hollow Lamb Tagine with green olive, cauliflower and cous cous ($27). Golden Beetle will also feature a tasting menu and vegan menu.
The craft cocktails are original creations and complement the menu’s flavors. Bitters and sodas are all made in house. Cocktails are $10 and include Granada Gimlet with Gordon’s Gin, Lillet Blanc, Pomegranate Molasses and Absinthe; Charmoula Cocktail with Cava, Lemon and Charmoula Syrup; Lion’s Milk Swizzle featuring Efe Raki, Lemon, Orange Flower Honey and Orange Flower Water; One Good Conundrum with Old Overholt Rye, Cynar, House Orange Bitters and Scrappy’s Celery Bitters; and Toronto to Cairo made with George Dickel Whiskey, Fernet Branca, House Spice Bitters and Tamarind-Lemon Foam. The wine list will feature glass, quartino (8 oz.) and bottles from Washington, Oregon, Spain, Italy, France and Lebanon. Draught and bottled beer will include local microbrews and imports.
Happy hour and a late night menu will be offered at Golden Beetle. The happy hour menu will feature $3 menu items from 5 to 6 p.m. and again from 10 p.m. to midnight on Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday. The ample late night menu will feature 15-20 small plates and dessert from $2-$12 until midnight on Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Lunch will begin in the spring and be reminiscent of the street food vendors from the countries that inspire the menu. It will encompass a much more casual concept than dinner with a walk-up counter for ordering and limited service at tables or takeout. Beer and wine will be available.
The restaurant has already received its organic certification from Oregon Tilth and is the third restaurant in the country with the certification, Tilth being the second. The certification requires that 95 percent of what is purchased for the restaurant must be organic.
Golden Beetle offers seating for 85 guests with 40 seats in the dining room and 45 seats in the bar.
Hines will split her time between Golden Beetle and Tilth. She recently promoted Tilth’s sous chef, Jason Brzozowy, to chef de cuisine. Golden Beetle’s chef de cuisine is Forrest Brunton, who previously worked at Tilth.
Hines is a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Northwest of 2009, as well as one of Food & Wine Magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs of 2005. In 2008, the New York Times deemed Tilth one of the best new restaurants in the country.
The name, Golden Beetle, is rooted in a celebrated 27 ingredient spice mixture from Morocco, ras al-hanout, which includes dried golden beetle, a Spanish fly that is considered an aphrodisiac. Beginning February 18 Golden Beetle will offer dinner six days a week: Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. with a late night menu available until midnight and the bar open until 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. – 11 p.m. with a late night menu offered until 1 a.m. and the bar open until 2 a.m. Happy hour will be Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, 5 – 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. – midnight. Lunch and Monday service will begin in the spring. The seasonally changing menus will focus on the flavors and spices of the Eastern Mediterranean. Golden Beetle will offer knowledgeable and friendly service in an elevated bar and restaurant setting with a hip, vivacious atmosphere that allows guests to sit back and relax, and enjoy exquisite food that has been prepared with a sustainable conscience. Golden Beetle will be located at 1744 Northwest Market Street, Seattle, WA, 98107. For more information visit www.golden-beetle.com or call (206) 706.2977.
