All Roads Lead to Redmond’s Woodblock
Find a new twist on American favorites in the heart of a developing pocket of Redmond
By Chelsea Lin January 17, 2017
This article originally appeared in the January 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.
To longtime residents Carolyn and Tony Scott, Redmond’s downtown shift toward density and walkability is a welcome evolution. The couple has spent close to 20 years dreaming of their own restaurant, and last March they opened Woodblock on the now-vibrant few blocks where Cleveland Street intersects with Redmond Way, which is packed with new restaurants. Woodblock prints adorn the walls, and pendant lamps swing from tall ceilings.
Roasted cauliflower redux, with house-cured bacon, curry-carrot puree and mint sauce, apples, golden raisins and cilantro
Chef Savuthy “T” Dy is in the kitchen. His experience ranges from interning at The Herbfarm to acting as culinary director of Tacolicious in San Francisco. Dy was raised in Kirkland and shares the Scotts’ Eastside pride. He also understands the area’s sensibilities. Although the menu reads as safe and standard—you’ll notice mac ’n’ cheese, roasted cauliflower, glazed wings, the requisite burger—there’s an unexpected complexity in the flavors. That mac is actually fat rigatoni, accented with bold hunks of blue cheese, aromatic with truffle oil and benefiting from the tart crunch of the tiniest matchstick apple slices. The cauliflower is combined with mint and cumin and golden raisins, giving it a decidedly Indian flavor. Dy’s favorite dishes are among the best: tender octopus (a braising technique he picked up from a chef in Mexico City) and delicate gnocchi (which he learned to make while working in Italy), refined by his experience in the kitchen with Seattle chefs Lisa Nakamura and Ethan Stowell. Bryce Sweeney manages the bar, where barrel-aged cocktails are highlights.
Cleveland Street isn’t done developing—more shops and restaurants are surely coming—and we hope Woodblock evolves right along with it.
Woodblock
Redmond, 16175 Cleveland St.; 425.285.9458; woodblockredmond.com
Follow Us
Restaurant Roundup: Holiday Cheer at SLU BRU, StarChefs, and Kabul Closing
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
Fusion food has an innate ability to bring us together. In the blending of two (or sometimes more) cultures, new perspectives are unlocked and we are all better for it. Esquire is in agreement, as the magazine has selected Lupe’s Situ Tacos, a Mexican-Lebanese taqueria in Ballard, as one of the 33 best new restaurants…
Counter Culture: Sansonina Ristorante Italiano
An Italian escape hiding in Renton.
Tucked just off Rainier Avenue, across from a Safeway, Sansonina Ristorante Italiano—which opened early in 2019—is the kind of place you drive past for years without noticing until you walk through the door. Once inside, the outside world dissolves, the hum of traffic fades, and suddenly you’re not in Renton anymore. You’re in a dimly…
5 Things to Eat in December
This month’s assignment: Take the pressure off.
There’s something about the end of the year that adds pressure to everything we do. Despite all the talk of holiday cheer and “merry and bright,” heightened expectations can bring a sense of weariness. We’re fretting over feasts and gatherings while working fervently to tie up loose ends—gifts, work, everything—with a pretty bow. Each month,…
Ahead of the Cut
How a tech-minded home cook turned years of tinkering into a chef’s knife powered by 40,000 vibrations per second.
Scott Heimendinger traces his love for knives back to college, when his dad taught him how to cook over the phone. By his junior year he had saved for his first real knife, a JA Henckels Santoku. Compared with the $9 IKEA knife he had been using, “it felt like a laser… things that used…