Elite Event at El Gaucho

Open Bar, beautiful, smart and sociable people, great food and service that glowed in the dark. What is not to like?
When is the next Unilocal event?

I know I’m a little late on this, but I felt I needed to write this. The El Gaucho event really made me realize how lucky I am! Every event gets better and better, and I think a big part of that is that each time I get to know more people, and get to spend more time with the friends I’ve made through Unilocal.
How exciting we had an event where we got to get all gussied up and then be treated like royalty. The staff was truly amazing and gracious. The food was delicious and so plentiful! The drinks were, well the drinks were damn tasty and as stiff as they come. Thanks again Katie and Michelle, for hosting yet another top notch event.

I’ve worked real hard in the last year to eat healthy, exercise more, drop some weight, lower my cholesterol, and tell at least one funny joke. Well… I’ve been successful dropping the weight!
Unilocal hasn’t helped, of course. I mean as far as food – I’ve stolen lots of funny jokes from other Unilocalers. And made them into groaners.
But regardless of Elite events like this one with stunningly good food – food so good that I actually stopped gesturing wildly while talking and was able to have a conversation in the middle of a group of people holding glasses and plates without knocking anything onto the floor because the only thing my brain could concentrate on was the heavenly goodness in my mouth – I’ve been able to drop lots of weight.
Unfortunately, this means I’ve also shrunk right out of all of my formal wear. On one hand, we all know how great it is to go out and shop for new clothes that are several sizes smaller. On the other hand, it means that since I haven’t had any of my suits tailored to fit the newer me, I have to show up to events like this one looking like I’m going to go play a show at the Showbox or something.
Seriously, Unilocalers were looking NICE. Grand prize to Ron for the sweet tux. Damn, you were looking AWESOME, my man!
And El Gaucho… wow. I love going to a place who understands that the key word in ‘service industry’ is service. I mean, besides the fact that I was stunned stupid by how good the food is – not a difficult feat considering I’m already dumber than a box of hammers – the folks working there treated us like royalty. My personal favorites? The valets. Wow. Those guys were absolutely spectacularly amazingly cool. My brother rolled in late, and they took care of his bag, bringing the car up and leaving it right out in front for us where they kept an eye on it, and leaving water bottles for all four folks that wound up in it.
And even after the event was officially – and regrettably – done, the staff very agreeably prepared a meal for him. In his words, «I’m not full, I’m not hungry, I’m PERFECT. That was GOOD.»
So kudos to Katie, Michelle, and the rest of you Unilocalers for making the evening as memorable as ever by being the coolest folk in town. And even more kudos to El Gaucho for taking such amazing care of us, regardless of our bad jokes and not-​so-​formal wear.

Free food?
Free BOOZE?
Free… Steve Ballmer?
Prettty damn good in my book!

Katie and Michelle, is it possible to raise the # of potential stars for elite events by a few hundred? Because this one deserves WAY more than five!
Hard to put into words how perfect this cocktail party was. It all started with rock-​star (handicap) parking and a private elevator ride up to the VIP area. Then I got to stand (prop) myself on the sideline while John S. held my drink/​purse/​food like a good little Plus One. THEN I got to mix and mingle with some old Unilocal friends and meet some new ones, and only had to tell the story of my lame injury about 37.5 times. I’m so glad I got myself up off of El Coucho to go to El Gaucho!
Everyone looked really fancy. Not that they don’t look classy when we meet at, say, the Baranof. But this was a whole new ballgame, and it turns out Unilocal can rise to any occasion!

I don’t even know what to say. that’s right, I’m almost speechless. ME!
Why, why does EVERY Elite event force me to put in every review: I don’t know what kind of black magic our Unilocal crew is using, but damn if every event isn’t greater than the one before it.
And, like every Elite event, it either gives me new eyes on a place I didn’t care for (i.e. Crimson C), or exposes me to a place I may have never gone on my own (i.e. almost every other one)
Many new faces, a lot of not seen in awhile faces, and a new sparkle on the ‘good ol’ faces with everyone all dressed up!
The food was fabulous, the bartenders were great, and …
OPEN BAR!!!
I wish I had somehow managed to get a picture of the look I gave Michelle when she said those words. A combination of abject terror and pure excitement, I’m sure.
The valet parking was great, and well worth the $ 5. The valets are friendly, attentive (and know how to drive a stick!!!). The complimentary water on the way out is a nice touch.
Truly, an amazing event, where decked out like Princes and Princesses we looked down over a gorgeous restaurant, and were treated like Kings and Queens by Unilocal and the staff of El Gaucho.
Cest manifique!

~ Something in the way you love me won’t let me be
I dont want to be your prisoner so baby wont you set me free ~
Oh you are such a tease! Just when I’m about to leave beloved Seattle, I happen upon what must be the most epic Seattle Elite Event of the century! I may have to become a frequent flier just for your heart-​stealing swanky parties!
~ Dont you know you drive me crazy ~
I’ve always knew we were a group of hotties, but migosh, my eyes were poppin everywhere I turned. What a beautiful group of Seattle Unilocalers we make! Props and love to Katie and Michelle!
M’beau and I showed up a little late, but the drinks and food were out of this world! I could not have enough of the Sugar Plum. I even paid for another after the open bar… just sat there… sipping…yummeh. The steakies were un-​freakin-​believable! The shrimp… perfectly cooked and mouth-​watering flavor. The El Gaucho staff — professional and super duper nice as can be (from coat check to finding our way back to the garage).
I lurve my Unilocalfile and hoodie. The beau even snagged a Unilocalstick. Oh I can never give up my Unilocal love. You little well-​oiled machine will have to kick m’booty to the curb before I would even begin to think of breaking up with you! **kisskiss**
~ cause you got the best of me ~

Oooooh my first Seattle elite event! So much awesomeness calls for many many thank-yous…but alas, for every thank you, there must also be an apology:
THANK YOU: Quinn C for telling me when the RSVPs opened up… as I am not from the Seattle area, I didn’t get the email… and this one filled up quickly!
APOLOGY: Sorry (to both Quinn and Ari) for all the drunk texts… and I wish both of you could have been there!
THANK YOU: Bartenders, for your patience in dealing with all of us (although I seriously was expecting SF-​style drink lines all along the length of the bar… I was surprised to find there was only one).
APOLOGY: To the woman who took our order, for the glaring looks we gave you while we waited at the bar, watching the people behind us actually get their drinks *before* us. We didn’t know you would be able to find us later, in the crowd, with our gimlet and gibson (yum yum, onions I could eat right out of the jar).
THANK YOU: Valet guys, for helping me out of the car, for being so nice and pleasant when you had to find us — in the crowd — to retrieve the keys, and for the bottles of water (complete with El Gaucho labels) you left in the car at the end of the night. Two little unexpected presents to make us feel even more special. How did you know we would need them?
APOLOGY: Okay, not really an apology, I’m complaining about the lack of spaces in the self-​park area. Complain, complain.
THANK YOU: to all the women who let me stick my finger in their cleavage.
APOLOGY: If you looked like you were having fun, but were really thinking «if this girl doesn’t stop touching me, I’m gonna pop her one good,» I apologize for having the gall to stick my finger in your cleavage.
THANK YOU: Katie and Michelle (and Jeremy by proxy) for setting up such an awesome, lavish event during these tough times. Right when we’re at our lowest, you let us enjoy, among other things, food that had to be *carved* and *flambeed* at one of the swankiest restaurants in the area. Such a morale boost, we’re all so grateful.
APOLOGY: I’m so sorry I wasted three shrimp by dropping them on the floor… and I’m also sorry I so uncouthly just took a banana that had not yet been flambeed and ate it with my hands.
THANK YOU: Rebecca L, for setting up the after-​party at Vertigo!
APOLOGY: Sorry Vertigo, for eating the complimentary appetizers but not getting any drinks.
THANK YOU: Seattle Unilocal,for taking me in as one of your very own over the past year. I’m so happy I got to meet more of you in person (yay Laina, finally!) — I love you all!

I cannot even begin to thank Michelle and Katie for this amazing event. The balloons leading me to parking were fabulous. Without them I would have driven around for hours.
Upon walking in I was floored by how nice of a place it was and how fabulous all the other Unilocalers looked. As always, it was great to see so many old faces and new ones.
The food was fantastic. The drinks were delicious. The staff was on their game all night long. And the men making the Banana Foster may be my new favorite people. The dessert was heavenly.
Thanks to all the people that were there and made it fun. And thanks to Valentina and Ron (and everybody else with cameras) for taking pictures to commemorate this wonderful event!

If I had just stuck to the El Gaucho event instead of joining in the Vertigo merriment, I would be feeling a lot better this morning! :)
Thank you so much to Katie and Michelle for throwing a phenomenal event! I loved EVERYTHING. The eye candy was a nice bonus, wow. Thank you to El Gaucho for being such gracious hosts and having some of the best food and service I have ever had the privilege of enjoying. I haven’t eaten that well since… well, I’ll have to look through my reviews. :)
I am so grateful to have attended such an amazing party! Everyone was so friendly and I had great conversations with many. Y’all are fabulous!

I’m with Tres… El Gaucho’s shrimp were some serious business. I had to fight the urge to throw elbows whenever anyone approached them while I was loading my plate up.
Katie, you really did a bang up job. Last night was one hell of an event. The food was fantastic, seeing the guys looking sharp and the ladies looking even more lovely in their cocktail attire was a treat, and the atmosphere that El Gaucho created was perfect.
Kudos to everyone who made it happen and to El Gaucho for just being such a wonderful place!

Wow, my first Elite event, and Unilocal,you didn’t disappoint in one bit.
The location — El Gaucho, at their swanky new Bellevue location was awesome. For a group the size of ours, the servers were awesome, from the guy slicing the steak sliders, to the nice gentleman who directed me to corner so I could sample some of their fine white and red vintages that they made available for us.
The people — This being my first event and coming without a plus one, i did not know anybody. That changed quickly. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming into my new Unilocal Elitedom. I look forward to many more events in the future.
The hosts — Katie, Michelle (and anyone else i missed), did an amazing job planning and executing this event. I don’t know how they will top this, but I’m sure they will!

Katie, this is your best work so far. Excellent food, freely-​flowing alcohol, plenty of space to mingle and patient staff — what else could one still want that Unilocal could provide?
Michelle, your plot (
) continues despite your «departure» — you claim you’ve moved on, but I am onto you and your unabated machinations. This is not over.

wow. what a great, no, strike that, a phenomenal, no strike that, stellar, yes, stellar event. The food was fantastic especially the sliders and beef skewers. my god. it must be what jesus eats in heaven. so good.
I really wish more restaurants were like el gaucho. The location is beautiful with big windows and soft piano music in the background. I have never been to a restaurant with a waitstaff as professional and courteous as the ones in el gaucho. wow. impressive. really.
now, all i need to do is work harder so that i can come here every day.
thank you katie for putting this together. it really shows your mad community manager skills. fantastic. :D

Wow, what an event! Quite possibly the best one yet!
It started off a little rough with the parking, but once we finally got out of the garage and used the valet it was smooth sailing from then on.
What a beautifully swanky location for a Unilocal event. El Gaucho was awe inspiring and I loved the lighting and décor of this establishment. It was really nice to have the entire upper floor to ourselves ( Unilocalers). The food was fantastic, I had the steak sliders, mmm so tender and juicy! I had some shrimp too, they were huge and a little spicy, I love spicy! I also had some of there famous Banana Foster, I’m not a «sweets» kind of guy but it was pretty good and the presentation was cool to watch!
It was great to have such a nice place, with such wonderfully dressed and friendly people, excellent customer service and of course free flowing booze!
Thank you so much Katie and Michelle for putting this all together and being such sweeties! You ladies cleaned up well too! ;)

Best Elite event ever. Gorgeous Bellevue location, very drunkening drinks (you’re welcome, feel free to use that word as if it were real), post-​mouth-​watering food (it doesn’t make sense to describe as mouth-​watering when you’re describing its taste as it’s eaten), and excessive use of parenthesis and run on sentences in the event review. As usual, the company was well beyond fantastic. Met some cool new people, saw some people I haven’t in ages.
Mad props to Michelle and Katie and anyone else who helped set this one up! The new high bar has been set.
I love the smell of bananas foster in the evening!
The cleavage. The cleavage…

It was fun to dress up and go somewhere fancy!
The service was great and so was the freely flowing booze (martinis and Col Solare red wine are all I can speak for). I loved the part where we went up to the bar and had a staff member say «If you want good wine… follow me!» Was it worth it? Oh yes…
The food was great. I loved everything and especially the little cuts of steak. It was some kind of amazing and I was thankful they were served in small slices because… well… one really could find themselves having too much steak without realizing until too late. The food selection over-​all was wonderful.
I must say that this event was a MAJOR success!
My pictures:

Yet another awesome Unilocal Elite Event, and only like 10% of that had to do with the fact that it was a Unilocal event (sorry Unilocal). The other 90% was the setting and the food at Bellevue’s El Gaucho.
I’ve been to the Seattle El Gaucho several times and always enjoyed the well-​prepared beef dishes, the old-​school ambiance, etc. All of that is present in the Bellevue location too, except I’d say the layout is better, owing to the fact that they have room in Bellevue for an expansive mezzanine. The dining room is quite large on its own, and there’s this massive mirror over the bar («Biggest mirror in de world», said in a faux-​Celine-​Dion voice like on those SNL skits)
The food we were served was great — dry-​aged prime-​rib, shrimp the size of your hand (both chilled and in sauce), delicious cheeses and some wonderful little stuffed mushrooms. The Caesar salad retained the same delicious flavor you get when they make it table-​side. There was even a flaming dessert of some sort (which I didn’t sample, but I sure enjoyed the presentation). We had a couple different glasses of wine, and also each samples one of their specialty drinks (vodka gimlet for me, well prepared).
The general manager, David, was very gracious, knowledgeable about the food, told us about the early happy hour (3 – 6!) and some Col Salari red for us to sample.
It’s a little hard to find, being in a new building that’s set back from the street in the middle of a plaza. The building is also not completely finished, and so it feels a little «dead» (because there’s no one there but the El Gaucho). I’m guessing that will change over time with some better signage and once the building fills in.
So huge thumbs up to El Gaucho, and to Unilocal for hosting this event. And a shout-​out to Katie and her special brand of hosting skills (should I spell that skilz?)!

Big thanks to Katie and Michelle and the Unilocal team for the terrific evening of food and drink tonight at El Gaucho. We had a great time getting dressed up and out of the house at least for a few hours. I guess now would also be a great time to thank our babysitters. Yea, babysitters!
I feel a little bit bad because I didn’t do a lot of mingling or meeting of new people, but that was because I was busy chowing down on steak and crab and shrimp and bananas foster and all of the other delicious treats that El Gaucho was serving up. Did you get there early enough to have the skewered beef with bearnaise? I only saw it come around once so you might of missed it, but it was delicious.
And cheers to the staff of El Gaucho, super professional and unbelievably friendly and helpful. It almost makes me feel bad about calling El Gaucho «El Gouge-​U» all of these years. Sure the prices are unbelievable, but you just can’t get the service of a waiter escorting the ladies to the restroom anywhere else.
Also, I’m the first to review! Hooray for an early night! Hope you had fun at the Vertigo after-​party.

Yes, they keep doing it in style and great fashion! M’lady Katie and Miss Michelle put together another wonderful, out-​of-​this-​world event! Everything about it was absolutely fantastic: the ambiance, the crowd, the pretty and elegant outfits, the food (oh-​la-​la that meat was butter made in heaven and brought to us Unilocalers!), the cocktails, the Banana Foster… all delicious and sleek!
Special thanks to David and his team… as I told him, El Gaucho has, by far, the best service one could get in Seattle and around. They were warm and professional, knowledgeable and sweet.
As usual, it was good to see old and new faces. It’s always delightful to mingle and chat with fellow Unilocalers.
All deserve a standing ovation! Clap, clap, bravo, bravo!