“K&L Bistro, owned by Karen and Lucas Martin, who share cooking duties, is a classic neighborhood restaurant in the French tradition. The food is both predictable and infinitely appealing, in the way that good French food always is. There are personal touches but none that eclipses the spirit of bistro cuisine. There’s no foam, no architectural presentations, no gymnastic combinations of flavors, just excellent ingredients prepared and presented by talented chefs at the top of their game.” ~Sonoma Uncorked
I remember ordering grilled halibut at a truck stop restaurant somewhere between Oregon and California when I was in college. Somehow I was surprised when it was rubbery and tasted, well, off. That experience taught me that confidence in menu choices is relative to the restaurant.
There aren’t many restaurants where I’m comfortable ordering absolutely anything on the menu, where I would just as soon not even look at the menu knowing that I’ll be wowed by whatever arrives at my table. K&L Bistro in Sebastopol, California is one of those restaurants. It’s not just that K&L has a coveted Michelin star or even that my beautiful sister Suzanna (Below, knock out, yes?) manages it. It’s that every dish I’ve tried from the K&L kitchen, no matter how unfamiliar, has delighted my tastebuds!
The first time we ate at K&L, my dad and sister treated us to a lavish assortment of dishes. Suzanna insisted that we try the tuna tartare and she’s a woman to know and a woman who knows, so of course we tried it. I dream of many K&L dishes when my tummy rumbles, but most of all I crave the tuna tartare.
The problem with this is that K&L is 500 miles and a mountain pass from my house.
During one of these cravings, I conjured the courage to ask Suzanna if Karen and Lucas might, please oh please, share their recipe with me and perhaps allow me to share it with you. Oh generosity! They agreed.
If you order this at K&L, it will come along with deep fried, black sesame seed studded pot sticker wrappers (delicious). Since I’m timid about deep frying in my own kitchen, I decided to make a whole grain, black sesame seed version of the the Sesame Lavosh Crackers that Lorraine posted several months ago (back with that recipe later).
Many thanks to Karen, Lucas, and Suzanna for this incredible recipe!
- 1 tsp chopped shallot
- 2 tsp chopped chives
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp sriracha sauce or more if you like it spicy
- ⅓ c. #2 plus tuna or sushi grade tuna, cut into ¼ inch cubes
- avocado, cut into ¼ inch cubes, to taste
- ponzu sauce and mayonnaise mixed to taste
- Combine first 6 ingredients (shallot through sriracha) and stir to combine. Add tuna and gently stir to combine.
- Serve with like size cubed avocado, and a drizzle of sriracha on plate along with a drizzle of combined ponzu with mayonnaise.
- K&L serves the tartare with pot sticker wrappers that have been brushed with buttermilk pressed into a mixture of black and white sesame seeds and deep fried @ 300 degrees until golden brown.
Sounds delicious!!! i love meat or tuna tartare, and i’ll try this for sure but … what is sriracha sauce ? and ponzu sauce?
Hi G. I wonder if you can find sriracha in Italy – if not here’s a recipe to make it at home http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/sriracha-recipe-chili-garlic-hot-sauce/ – it’s a pleasantly spicy, tangy sauce. And ponzu, here’s a recipe for that too http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/ponzu-sauce-10000001599636/. I think you could get away without the ponzu/mayo mix, but don’t leave out the sriracha!
No i cannot find these sauce in Italy, thanks for recipes!
I wish for a restaurant like that. There are so few around here that I truly like time after time, or where the food is great one time and the opposite the next. I´m longing for those cracker since, you know, I hate fish, but I´m going to look into that sriracha recipe! You and your sis are both beautiful Marissa!
You are very sweet Paula!
This sounds like it has all of the flavours that you would want in one of those tartares-I like the spicy, clean flavour of this!
Me too – in fact I’ve started adding sriracha to canned tuna sandwiches too – love that flavorful kick.
sounds amazing! I love sriracha sauce more than anything!