Walla Walla Cuisine

As I walked around Walla Walla yesterday I realized that my excellent dinner at T. Macarrone's the night before had not been unusual for Walla Walla, and that this little town is really a culinary delight.



Since the mid-to-late 1800s Walla Walla has been the commercial center of the prosperous Walla Walla Valley. This was excellent farmland, noted for wheat, asparagus, sweet onions. and a few vinyards established by its Italian immigrants. Plus cattle. There are many signs of Walla Walla's affluent past, including: the remains of the Opera House (@1893, I think); many Italianate buildings along Main Street, dating from the 1880s and 1890s; the fact that the Baker Boyer National Bank, Washington's oldest, was founded here in 1869 (and the fact that there are numerous other banks in this relatively small town, population about 40,000).



In addition, it's home to Whitman College, Walla Walla University, and Walla Walla Community College,.



And, most important from a gustatory point of view, the number of wineries in the region has expanded to more than one-hundred. I had always assumed that most of Washington State's wine production was along the coast, but actually it is here in the Walla Walla area. Walking through town, virtually every other storefront is now a wine tasting room! This influx of wineries has brought in a lot of "wine tourists" and skilled chefs, and it is no wonder that the restaurant scene is so outstanding.



So all you sybaritic gastronomes should consider flying out to Walla Walla to wallow for a weekend in the outstanding food and wine.



P.S. My dinner at T. Macarrone's: roasted asparagus and roasted mushrooms, with a zabaglione sauce; pasta carbonara with fresh peas and fresh salmon; strawberries with zabaglione; a glass of a light red wine.



P.P.S. Last night I ate at Whitehouse-Crawford's: aspargus soup; poached halibut served on pasta and aspargus; rhubarb crisp; a refreshing white wine.