Seattle's Gourmet Way To Beat The Flu

The centerpiece in Matt Dillon's Pioneer Square charmer, Bar Sajor, is its open kitchen. The wood-burning oven and wood-fire grill roast, char, and flavor intricate plates — smoked yogurt with pickled peppers, ribeyes cooked over coals, and locally foraged chanterelles with burnt bread paste. Each dish is complex yet comforting, refined yet rustic.

While dining at Bar Sajor recently on one of fall's first chilly evenings, I was smitten with the sophisticated menu's simplest offering: a cup of hot broth. Cooked overnight in the oven, the chicken broth was nourishing, nostalgic, and subtly sublime. Sipped between courses of cold (Blue Pool oysters on the half shell) and hot (grilled lamb chops) proteins, the broth was a warming palate cleanser.

My fellow diners and I agreed the broth — which we affectionately dubbed the Most Flavorful Flu Shot — was just the elixir to drink as the temperatures dropped. Intrigued, I asked chef Preston Miller the story behind this cup of goodness.

He shared that the broth's ingredients come from Bar Sajor's "pretty hefty pantry of dried, pickled, and preserved goods" including local mushrooms, pumpkin, seafood, smoked meats, and herbs. Inspired by the desire to "showcase" this well-stocked larder, chef Miller and his team revolve the broth recipes weekly to complement and balance the current menu. For instance, last week featured a "vegetarian broth made of pumpkin and dried mushrooms that were preserved from the summer." Cooking the broths overnight in the oven "create a rich and subtle smokiness."

When I queried chef Miller if the broth would remain on the ever-evolving menu, he responded that it would most likely stay throughout the cold-weather season. I'm no medical professional, but I heartily prescribe Bar Sajor's curative cup. Fighting colds has never tasted so good.