When the frogs are barkin’, peace and harmony has come a’knockin’. According to Native American folklore, when frogs are croaking (or barking), it speaks of an euphonic balance in nature. Bringing this essential consonance to the dinner table and locally-flush wine list, the Barking Frog at Willows Lodge in Woodinville, Washington is a long way from lore.
With 14 years under the leadership of local celebrity and executive chef Bobby Moore, the Frog recently received an internal transformation. New faces, new menus and a younger demographic has rolled into the house, with a few bright and eager millennials calling the shots. Sous chef Chris Smith leads the line with a decade of experience under his belt, toting menu revisions that sing of the seasons and showcase trends and intricacies without going overboard on foam and flair. Seattleite Anthony Berkau commands the troops on the restaurant front lines as Willows’ director of restaurant outlets and wine. His front-of-the-house expertise comes from years in wine wholesale, schlepping and selling the very wines that are on the list to previous Frog management. Now, Berkau’s team of fresh blood (both staff and beverage list) attunes with Smith’s vigorous heat of the kitchen to bring a higher caliber to the casual bistro—all signed off, of course, by Chef Moore.
Willows Lodge, the celebrated and adored boutique resort in the center of Woodinville Wine Country, has been the longtime home for two of the Eastside’s finest dining establishments—The Herbfarm (the area’s original farm-to-table, multi-course, multi-hour restaurant) and the Frog. Standing out as it stands next to a culinary icon (separated only by a courtyard and patio), the Barking Frog has defined itself as far from the ordinary kid next door. Chef Moore recently launched Barking Frog Mobile Kitchen, affectionately known as the Road Toad, which serves up elevated road-side dishes like smoked brisket sandwich on a Macrina Bakery potato roll, caramelized Brussels sprouts or smothered frog legs.
Inside the restaurant, defining (and defiant, maybe?) changes have been made to distinguish the Frog as a revamped and restored restaurant to reckon with. To tie in its deep-rooted connection to the local wine scene, the dinner menu is coyly laid out like a wine description.
For starters, “the attack” including appetizers like fresh-shucked oysters with seasonal mignonette, unctuous Ahi tuna tartare with Meyer lemon, candied ginger, sweet onion and lavash and dense yet delicate fried sweet breads with a parsnip puree and sherry gastrique. The “mid-palate” shows off a colorful beet salad with endive, pistachio, orange and yogurt alongside an opulent and flamboyant duck consommé centered around a beet-duck confit ravioli with sorrel green onion.
The entrees are divided into two categories, “light bodied” and “full bodied” and are (you guessed it) recommended with those type of wines. Lighter fare ranges from flaky Japanese-inspired snapper with black trumpet mushrooms, shiso, glass noodles, dashi broth and wasabi cream to creatively rich scallops on a layered bed of sweet potato-butternut squash puree next to shredded spaghetti squash, kale and bacon lardons topped with a spiced carrot sauce. Fuller provisions include a straightforward Iberico pork loin, Waygu short rib, rib-eye and center cut beef tenderloin but the venison loin takes the cake. Gloriously gamey with all of the flavor, texture and succulence of wild red meat, the generous portion size is plated next to gnocchi, hedgehog mushrooms, apple, lollipop kale (the new rage) and dolloped with a chestnut cream and espresso demiglaze. The Smith-Moore dishes are detailed and comprehensive but come together cohesively on the plate, altruistically in the pursuit of frog-barking balance.
Berkau plans to take his wine list in an international direction, while still staying true to the roots of hometown pride. According to him, local winemakers come in for the vivacious cocktail spread and Old World prizes—not the juice of their own backyard. Introducing a larger selection of first growth Bordeaux, big name Burgundies and preeminent producers of Barolo and Rioja, Berkau called upon fellow Seattleite and esteemed sommelier Cara De Lavallade to collaborate, adhering to the requests of both Woodinville-thirsty tourists and Francophile locals alike.
Amidst all of the changes, the classics are still available, but off-menu. Like the Grand Marnier prawns—colossal shrimp dosed in the orange liqueur and orange juices and zests (recipe leaked here!)—or the pork belly sliders and truffle fries.
Change is hard—but with the guidance of an experienced chef (who isn’t going anywhere), the fervor of a hungry young sous and the education and awareness of a zealous wine director, change might be easier to swallow. And the frog will continue to bark.
