Vote for McCracken + Tough in Food & Wine's THE PEOPLE'S BEST NEW CHEF and tell your friends. You'll be entered to win a family style dinner for 8

Show your support for Seattle Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough and their restaurants Spur, Tavern Law, The Coterie Room and (coming soon) The Old Sage. Vote for them in Food & Wine magazine's THE PEOPLE'S BEST NEW CHEF and tell your friends. You'll be entered to win a family style dinner for eight at The Coterie Room. Here's how in two steps:

1. Tell your Facebook friends why you're casting your ballot for Brian McCracken and Dana Tough, and urge them to cast their vote too, by Monday at 2pm, online at Food & Wine here.

2. Share your Facebook post with us via a Facebook message to Spur here. 

One winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook Tuesday, March 19th, so be watching the Spur Facebook page.

It’s such an honor to be nominated for this. McCracken and Tough are the only Chefs in Seattle on the list—with lots of competition in Oregon and even Hawaii. Vote Brian McCracken and Dana Tough!

While THE PEOPLE’S BEST NEW CHEF competition is the intellectual property of American Express Publishing Corporation (AEP), this promotional event is not sponsored or endorsed by AEP in any way and AEP does not, and will not, assume any liability or responsibility for any damage, expense, inconvenience, and/or loss to any persons or property whatsoever.

Relish Magazine Includes Spur in Nation's 10 Top Restaurants in the Country Redefining the Way We Look at Bar Food

Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough of Spur, in the running this week for Food & Wine magazine's THE PEOPLE'S BEST NEW CHEF, were included in the Relish magazine story showcasing the ten best bars in the nation to get some serious food.  To read the entire story and plan your road trip for some great eats, visit here.  Thank you Jennifer Wood of Relish.

And to vote for Chefs McCracken and Tough, please visit here and vote before Monday.

Saturday's Make A Wish Gala is Themed Mission Incredible- Chefs McCracken and Tough Have a Live Auction Item with the Crew of Deadliest Catch

We're excited for Saturday's event where one auction item will be: 

Do you think you’re cool enough to hang out with the Northwestern crew from Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch? Captain Sig Hansen, Deck Boss Edgar Hansen, and a few of the crew will keep you and up to twenty of your friends company on a 57-foot private yacht while touring Lake Union at sunset. As if the Northwestern crew’s company and sweeping views of the Sound aren’t enough to make this a spectacular experience? Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough of the famed Seattle hot spots Tavern Law, Spur and Coterie Room will provide mouth-watering appetizers and a featured cocktail or two just for you! They will join you on the yacht to serve their concoctions and pour the freshly shaken and chilled cocktails to cap off this unforgettable evening on the lake.

• Yacht tour of Lake Union for up to 20
• Special guests Edgar Hansen, Sig Hansen and Jake Anderson from the show "The Deadliest Catch"
• Appetizers and cocktails provided by Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough
• Mixed case of 2011 Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay and Joel Gott Alakai Red Wine
Mutually agreeable date/time between all parties. Expires March 9, 2014.

Will we see you at the Westin this Saturday in support of Make A Wish Foundation?  http://www.makeawishwa.org/donate/gala13.asp



Our Valentine's Menu at Spur, Chefs McCracken and Tough

Valentine's Day Menu

February 14th 2013

1.  KOHLRABI SOUP

2.  SMOKED HAMACHI

celeriac. meyer lemon. pak choi

3.  TRUFFLED GNUDI

parsnip. hazelnut.brussel sprouts

4.  SQUAB

sunchoke. grapefruit. escarole

5.  PECAN

bourbon. white chocolate. citrus

$100

additional $40 for wine pairing

additional $45 for cocktail pairing

206.728.6706 to reserve

substitutions are politely declined.
-a gratuity of 18% may be included for parties of 6 or more.
*consuming raw or undercooked foods may cause food borne illness.
photo courtesy of Seattleite

New Year's Eve at Spur

New Year’s Menu

Spur

Chefs McCracken and Tough

December 31st 2012

$125

additional $40 for wine pairing

additional $45 for cocktail pairing

1.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

merguez. charmoula. argan oil

Montelvini Prosecco. - French 75.

2.

SMOKED HAMACHI

foie gras. blood orange. grapefruit

Herbert Pazen Riesling. - Violet Lasso.

3.

TRUFFLED GNUDI

parsnip. hazelnut. brussel sprouts

Bastianich Ribolla. - Old Cuban.

4.

SEARED CERVINA VENISON

chestnut. treviso. Castelvetrano olives

Thomas Leithner Zweigelt. - Morning Glory.

5.

DARK CHOCOLATE

beet sorbet. Kumquat conserve. chamomile meringue

Please phone to reserve at 206.728-6706.

Spur's Tagliatelle Make Seattle Weekly 100 Favorite Dishes List

Hanna Raskin wrote, "The dishes at Spur Gastropub change so frequently that it's almost impossible to catch and commit them to a permanent list. Since this collection of favorite dishes is meant to have a longer shelf life than a loaf of bread, there's no use spending a slot on, say, the salad of smoked baby artichoke hearts bathed in smoked yogurt or the lamb merguez on Spur's current menu (Although if you're in Belltown, you ought to order them both.)

But chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough have kept their terrifically popular tagliatelle on the menu since Spur's 2008 opening, and the dish seems likely to stick around, making it the perfect list stand-in for all the fleeting veal sweetbreads and spot prawn preparations.

The tagliatelle is a mission statement at Spur, which has never shied away from molecular gastronomy and other trends that reliably turn off diners who think any entree with a double-digit price tag should come with a steak knife. Like all the best modern dishes, the dish can't be eaten with the eyes: Only the palate can parse all the flavors dripped and dropped on the willfully abstracted plate.

The fresh pasta is topped with a trembling duck egg, primed to spill a yolk that's spent 45 minutes luxuriating in a 145-degree bath. But the egg's partially obscured by a cloud of foam flavored by Parmesan rinds, and there's a toboggan run of Parmesan leaving against the noodles, which are threaded with oyster mushrooms. It's a hot mess of umami.

And while the dish has become a fixture, it's clearly the product of a kitchen that prefers change. The tagliatelle and the sous vide egg beautifully demonstrate two very different things that can be done with an egg, a neat trick for a restaurant that's obsessed with possibility."

Photo by Raskin.

The Shared Kitchen- A Trend Reported on in Food and Wine Magazine July 2012 Issue

Thank you to Food & Wine magazine for including us in your Trendspotting section in the July issue, which read:

THE SHARED KITCHEN

At these innovative restaurants, the all-powerful chef has been replaced by more collaborative duos...


SPUR, SEATTLE“We force ourselves to argue to develop better ideas,” says Brian McCracken, describing how he and Dana Tough perfect dishes like veal sweetbreads with stinging-nettle puree, smoked beets and lemon balm.
www.spurseattle.com