By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Some might say that The Summit At First Hill has been keeping one of its most valuable assets a secret. Once a month, a small but happy group of restaurant-goers in Seattle’s Jewish community has been savoring the gourmet dining experience provided by The Summit’s world-class executive chef, Michael Rogozinski. But now that the word has begun to spread about Rogozinski’s Bistro Night, which features an international wine selection, salads, desserts and a three-entrée prix fixe dinner menu, good luck in getting a reservation.
In addition to the cuisine, the entire Summit kitchen is fully kosher and supervised daily by dedicated Va’ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle staff. In past months, including at its most recent dinner on April 5, the menu featured dry-rubbed prime rib roast, rib-eye steak, roasted whole game hens, cherry wood-smoked black cod, and Prince William Sound salmon wellington. It’s all a treat for the kosher-observant, who don’t otherwise have a kosher meat restaurant to eat in locally.
“There’s enough talent here that we can pretty much do whatever you want,” Rogozinski, the Summit’s director of culinary services for the last seven years, told JTNews during preparation for the April Bistro Night. “Almost everything is natural, organic, and homemade. We splurge and we just charge a few percent over cost.”
That evening, Rogozinski served Chilean, Italian, and Californian wines, each specially paired with a course and included in the total cost.
“It’s the only place you can get a kosher ‘three-for-$30’” said Chris Eager, dining room manager, referring to regular restaurant promotions throughout the Seattle area.
Guests eat in the well-lit Summit dining hall, at tables set with linens and flowers.
“Kosher food used to be an excuse and it’s not an excuse here, for anything,” said Jeremy Duitch, sous chef at The Summit. “It’s nothing but top-notch product. We don’t miss out on anything. If it’s available, we go get it.”
Raised in Guatemala, Rogozinski infuses his roots into his cooking style, using dried chiles, cilantro, cumin, cinnamon and clove, in the savory dishes.
He moved to the U.S. after an apprenticeship at the Guatemala City Westin Hotel. From there, he took an apprenticeship at the Houston Four Seasons. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he moved to Paris and studied at Le Cordon Bleu. He moved to Seattle in 1993, where, coincidentally, his mother was born and raised.
“I’ve learned a lot about cultures, and different societies and languages,” said Rogozinski, who speaks English, Spanish, and French.
In Seattle, Rogozinski has worked at Szamania’s in the Magnolia neighborhood, Ray’s Boat House, and the downtown Sheraton hotel. He was also the executive chef at The Pink Door in the Pike Place Market.
Rogozinski said that running a kosher kitchen is not hard, but it takes patience and planning.
“We have between eight to 10 hours a day of supervision,” he said, referring to the Va’ad oversight. “We are friends, and we are partners.”
Keith Krivitzky, vice president for the Center for Jewish Philanthropy at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, who observes kosher eating laws, invited a large table of friends to enjoy bottles of wine, sample the entrées, and share sumptuous desserts.
“The fact that this is the only kosher meat-eating-out option was a key reason for coming,” Krivitzky said, “but more than that, this is some of the best restaurant food I have had in a while. The prime rib I had last time was out of this world, and the fried chicken they served this time was amazing.”
Elizabeth Davis, a self-described kosher foodie, said the food served at Bistro Night was on par with really good non-kosher restaurants. According to Davis, the rib-eye steak with onion-balsamico marmalade was “flavorful and tender, and the caramelized onions added a nice flavor counterpoint.”
Commenting about the desserts, Davis found the dark chocolate ganache with raspberry sauce and spicy glass pineapple tiles “was so rich — yet not heavy, it was balanced and had tremendous mouth-feel.”
But, by far, the best dish that evening, she said, was the cherry-wood smoked black cod.
“The sweet-smoky flavor and the meltingly tender fish were light and yet it was also substantial,” Davis said. “It reminded me of great smoked fish you’d have at Sunday brunch, but here it’s dressed up, served warm, and really would make a wonderful Shabbat meal.”
The fish was smoked in-house by Rogozinski, who said he used his neighbor’s chopped-down cherry tree as an opportunity to claim the wood for use in his kitchen.
The smoked fish is also a delectable treat for all of the residents who eat there. They benefit from the Bistro Night menu, which usually finds its way into the daily Summit resident meal offerings.
“Right now, for Passover, we’ll do almost 400 to 500 pounds of different smoked fish,” said Rogozinski. “We even do our own lox and smoked salmon here, but the salmon is only for special holidays because the process takes four or five days.”
Rogozinski and his staff want to have Bistro Nights at the Summit every month or two. The notify the community through synagogues and an email list.
“We have this opportunity to…show off a little bit,” sous chef Duitch said. “To the community that hasn’t come and seen what we can do, [they’re] missing out.”