Was My Surprise Dinner at Harvest Beat Worth It? | Seattle, Washington

The Surprise

I was told that we needed to leave no later than 3:30 pm. Otherwise, we wouldn’t make our “experience”. After having a relaxed morning of going for a stroll through the park, had a birthday brunch at home with chocolate chip pancakes.,I started to get ready for the surprise that awaited me.

I asked how I should dress for this “experience” and I was told to dress comfortably, because it was a bit of a drive. So I did just that and asked no further questions.

It was just before 3 pm by the time I was ready. So we started to head out and drive so we could get there and walk around the area before this “experience”.

I noticed that we were driving north. It wasn’t until well into Washington state that I realized that we were most likely going to Seattle. I mean the clues said it all: we had to leave no later than 3:30, our “experience” started at 7, we’re driving on I-5 N. We were going to Seattle.

Almost 3 hours later I see the downtown Seattle skyline. “Ah ha! I was right!”. But where in Seattle are we going to that we had to drive all this way from Portland for this “experience”?

We drove past downtown and headed to Northern Seattle. Eventually, we made it to the Fremont neighborhood where we parked the car. We then started to walk along N 45th St. where there’s several buzzing restaurants (many vegan and vegan friendly ones too). The question now in my head was “which one are we going to”?

As we’re walking, I see across the street Harvest Beat. “Harvest Beat, I remember, that’s another one that I’ve been told is supposed to be really good”, I say.

“Where you saw that?” he says.

“Right there”

“Oh”

“Why? Is that where we’re going?”

“That’s exactly where we’re going.”

You best believe that I screamed and jumped for joy because I had been wanting to come here for quite some time. So the “experience” begins.

I managed to capture this moment on video. You can see my reaction and video review here.

The Experience

It was 6:30 pm and we were the first ones to arrive. The restaurant was ready for their 7 pm service. All the tables were set and the welcome drinks were ready to be served.

We approached the bar where you check in. Before serving us our welcome drinks, I was very pleased to hear that not only was there an option for a wine pairing for this 5 course meal, there was also an option for an N/A pairing.

As someone who doesn’t drink alcohol (going on almost 6 years now), I really appreciated that one could enjoy each dish with a carefully crafted non-alcoholic cocktail that complimented each dish.

We were asked which pairing we preferred. “N/A please”. So they served us the N/A welcome cocktail. A delightful drink of comforting lavender echinacea with chamomile, ginger, peppermint, ashwaganda, apricot, and rose pedal sparkling elixir with a lemon ice cube.

I was already impressed and we hadn’t even had the first course yet.

We got first pick as to where we wanted to sit. As we walked through the restaurant to choose a table, I caught a glimpse of the kitchen preparing the first course. The sight and the smell made me that much more excited for what was to come. It all looked beautiful and smelled incredible.

We ended up at a table towards the back, next to the window, and beside the fireplace. It felt cozy and welcoming.

We sipped on our N/A cocktail as the other guests began to arrive. After the long drive, I was eager to start our meal.

It was finally 7pm. One of the chefs came out and gave an introduction to the restaurant and what we’d be enjoying throughout our meal. A round of applause kickstarted everything.

The first two courses came out at the same time as they were plated together. It was an asparagus soup with cumin seed bisque topped with a white asparagus cream that was to die for! My only issue is that I wanted more! I never knew I needed asparagus soup in my life, but here we are.

The first and second course came together. The asparagus soup was a standout for me.

Beside it was a spring vegetable salad with cannellini beans, and radish in a fennel coriander vinaigrette. It was bright, fresh, and the perfect company to the soup. For the N/A pairing it came with a sweet pea, earl gray lemonade that I also could have had a second serving of.

Our dishes were taken and the next course was served. This next dish to me was just like bread with dips, but beautifully plated. It came with freshly made focaccia along with roasted purple carrot and beet hummus. There was a dollop of carrot top pesto and some house pickled vegetables. As much as I enjoyed this dish, I could’ve just eaten the carrot top pesto and focaccia. Those were the true winners for me on the plate.

The third course came with focaccia, pickled vegetables, hummus, and pesto.

The fourth course was interesting. It was an herbed garlic roasted mushroom paella. It had spring vegetables, apple wood smoked cauliflower, and Fresno pepper coulis. I say this was interesting because I’ve never had a paella like this and I’ve lived in Spain, twice.

Firstly, it was spicy and the Spanish aren’t that into spicy foods, but as a Mexican myself, I loved that aspect of it. Secondly, the smoked cauliflower really added a level of complexity in the dish that I wasn’t expecting. Overall, I loved all the flavors that this paella had. It was surprising, bold, unexpected, and especially, delicious.

The paella was deliciously spicy and smoky.

The meal finished off with dessert, which I wish I could say I loved, but in all honesty, to me it was ok. It was a cannoli with an almond, lemon, poppy seed custard filling with a rhubarb compote. We were told that cannolis are the restaurant’s signature.

As someone who’s had a cannoli on the east coast, this cannoli didn’t have that nice crunch that I’d expect from a cannoli. I’m also not the biggest cream filled dessert type of person. So if I’m going to get a cream-filled dessert, it really has to have that wow factor for me. But this one, it was ok. What made it special though is that they brought out my dessert with a lit candle to help celebrate, which I greatly appreciated. The rooibos peppermint lemongrass ginger tea that came with it was also a nice touch left me feeling quite satiated.

My cannoli came with a birthday candle.

Overall Thoughts

Harvest Beat’s farm-to-table approach is what really makes this experience for me. They use seasonal ingredients to make beautiful dishes with unique flavor combinations, which kept things interesting throughout the meal. While some of the dishes sounded familiar, every bite I took from each dish gave me something unexpected every time, but in a good way. While some people may not like surprises, I love surprises and Harvest Beat’s dishes continuously surprised me.

I am so grateful to be taken to a place where they create one-of-a-kind experiences to celebrate my special day, but was it worth the 3 hour drive from Portland? In my opinion, I’d say yes. While we have vegan spots in Portland that are doing amazing tasting menus such as Astera and the new Verdure pop up (Vegan Ventures also recently hosted a multi-course dinner experience in May with La Casa de Mama), Harvest Beat has their own unique style that is different enough that is worthwhile going to. Plus, it’s one of the few vegan restaurants that are continuously doing set menu dining experiences.

It was a birthday dinner I’ll never forget, but I’d be open to going back and trying some of their other dishes when their menu changes.

Make it stand out

Ashley, owner of Vegan Ventures, has been vegan for 7 years and is a foodie and traveler who loves finding the best eats and experiences.