Bastille Day bashes offer a taste of la France in Seattle

 

Saturday, July 12, 2008 Last updated July 14, 2008 11:23 a.m. PT

LYNSI BURTON P-I REPORTER Nothing screams patriotism and national celebration like duck confit — at least for the French. This weekend, Bastille Day hits Seattle with a lively festival, fancy dinners and dancing — and plenty of confit.. Laure-Alessia Leroy, deputy director of the French-American Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, says there are 6,000 French nationals in the Puget Sound area. But Bastille Day celebrations are for anyone seeking a taste of la France. 

Bastille Day, officially July 14, is the commemoration of the storming of the Bastille fortress by a Parisian crowd in 1789 that marked the beginning of the end of France’s absolute monarchy. France Education Northwest, under the auspices of the Consular Agency of France, is hosting a two-day celebration starting Saturday with the second annual Bal des Pompiers (Firemen’s Ball). Instead of having a ball at a local firehouse, as is traditional in France, the dance will be held at 6 p.m. in the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center. A four-course dinner prepared by culinary experts, including the famous “Chef in the Hat,” Thierry Rautureau of Rover’s, will be served at 7. DJ music and dancing lasts until midnight. “(In Seattle) there is a young French population that likes to dance,” said Jack Cowan, executive direction of the French-American Chamber. Chef Dominique Place, a culinary fixture in Seattle since 1974 and owner of Crêpe de Paris, Dominique’s Place and G&D Seafoods, will be awarded the Order of Agricultural Merit by Patrice Servantie, deputy consul general of France in San Francisco. The menu includes smoked salmon, duck confit with cherries, assorted cheeses and Basque cake. Admission is $49 and coffee and wine will be sold separately as a fundraiser for the Seattle Nantes Sister City Association and France Education Northwest. Reservations are taken online at seattle-bastille.org. Separate from the Bal des Pompiers, Sunday also is the day of the 13th annual Bastille Festival at Seattle Center, free to the public. The event is part of Festál, a series of multicultural programs hosted by Seattle Center.

Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the festival will include food, live music and wine tastings, plus cooking demonstrations and exhibits from French artists and photographers. Children’s activities include a soccer penalty kick tournament, an educational presentation on French culture and tile decorating. Attendees can buy a $5 raffle ticket for the chance to win a pair of round-trip tickets from Seattle to Paris. Featured musicians include Pearl Django, Eric John Kaiser and Bonnie Birch.

On Monday, the official Bastille Day, Bruce and Sarah Naftaly, owners of Le Gourmand restaurant in Ballard, will open for a five-course dinner (the restaurant is usually closed Mondays). In its 24th year of celebrating the holiday at the restaurant, Le Gourmand will serve local sea scallops, salad with locally grown edible wildflowers and dessert among other dishes and feature live music from The Monarch Duo. The dinner is $65 a person and reservations are taken only over the phone. Le Pichet restaurant downtown also will celebrate French independence on Monday with a Bastille Day party from 6 p.m. until “late.” A special menu features popular Parisian street food and special wine selections available by the glass, pichet or bottle. Live music by the Djangomatics starts at 7 p.m., with DJ Darnell Sue taking over at 11. Maximilien restaurant at Pike Place Market is having a fête nationale of its own from 5:30 to 10 p.m., with a classic three-course dinner that includes a choice between duck confit and steamed mussels. Steve Rice will perform live accordion melodies throughout the evening. Dinner is $35 each and reservations are taken over the phone or online. Cafe Campagne on Post Alley is going the extra mile with not only a celebratory dinner but also a street festival in Post Alley from 3 to 10 p.m. Monday. The public can enjoy $5 wine pours and $5-10 menu items such as Brie and onion tarte. There will also be live music and cancan dancers. An extravagant five-course dinner including sea scallops and duck is $80 per person and is served from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Phone reservations are recommended. BASTILLE DAY EVENTS Bal des Pompiers When: 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday Where: Fisher Pavilion, Seattle Center Cost: $49 per person Reservations: seattle-bastille.org Bastille Festival 

When: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday   

Where: Seattle Center Cost: Free 

P-I reporter Lynsi Burton can be reached at 206-448-8246 or lynsiburton@seattlepi.com.

Seattle Center goes French for Bastille Day festivities

French speakers and French lovers transformed Seattle Center into a hub of European culture, with food, wine and music Sunday during the fifth-annual Bastille Day celebration, commemorating France’s independence.

By Arla Shephard

Seattle Times staff reporter 

“Eat, drink and be merry” might as well have been the motto for the fifth annual French Independence Day celebration at Seattle Center Sunday.

French speakers and French lovers transformed Fisher Pavilion and Fisher Lawn into a hub of European culture, complete with food, wine and music during the seven-hour celebration of Bastille Day, which is actually today.

It was sponsored by the nonprofit France Education Northwest, in cooperation with the Consular Agency of France.

“This is how the French community celebrates and presents itself to the public,” said Laura Leroy, deputy director of the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Seattle.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be a French party without food and wine.”

The celebration is a way for the French community to feel closer to France, Leroy said, and for them to make friends in Seattle. The festivities are planned three to four months in advance, and include cooking demonstrations, wine tasting and a traditional Bal des Pompiers (Firemen’s Ball) held Saturday in Fisher Pavilion.

Those who attended were treated to a four-course dinner cooked by expert French chefs and dancing until midnight.

France-born Yumi Vong moved to Seattle in January and came to see what the celebration was all about. She was surprised to see how strong the French community is here.

“It’s nice to see all of this happening here,” she said.

“We’re so far away, and about as far away as we can get from France. The bakeries here are really good; it’s hard finding a good bakery on the East Coast that’s got good French food, but they somehow made it all the way over here.”

French-related clubs and organizations set up booths to promote awareness of French culture and education. One group, Seattle Pétanque Club, hoped to attract more members. Pétanque, or boules, is similar to lawn bowling.

“People who are francophone or francophiles generally have seen pétanque being played and they don’t know that we play regularly during the summer in Seattle,” said John Hunt, president of the club. Informal games are held Saturday afternoons at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill and Sunday afternoons at Bellevue Downtown Park.

any revelers had no idea the celebration was a regular event — or that there were enough French-speakers in Seattle to put this on.

But Vong, who sometimes attends French-language groups, says the community is there if you look hard enough.

“It’s a pretty strong community out here,” she said. “You just have to find it.”