Finally! Got to eat dinner at Altura on Capitol Hill, Seattle mag’s Best New Restaurant of 2012, at last and, oh, man, it lived up to the lofty expectations.
During a week when attention was focused on the Supreme Court considering the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Facebook profile pics and Twitter avatars showed pink-on-pink equal signs in support of marriage equality for all, it seems especially fitting to share some sparkling good news:
Égalité, the first-ever wine created in support of equality for gay Americans, has arrived in Washington, making it the first state on the West Coast to carry the fast-growing French bubbly brand.
I’m a proud Taste Washington veteran, an old salt, you might even say. I was at the very first Taste, held in the cozy confines of the Paramount Theater back in the 1990s.
The industry was just a whisper then, fewer than 100 wineries. Now, just two decades later, it’s well worth shouting: Washington state wines kick booty! We’re more than 700 wineries strong, a growing number of growers are growing world class fruit. Hello, Napa Valley! You all should be shaking in your over-priced Gucci loafers!!
Cody Morris's Sodo nanobrewery, Epic Ales, is a beer-lovers oasis. Tiny, with just a few stools front and center behind which Morris often stands, tasting folks on beer and talking shop, it's the sort of place you really want to succeed, but still don't want to tell anyone about.
Morris makes clever but always tasty brews, many infused with food and inspired by the seasons. Beets, tea, mushrooms, cinnamon, peppercorns, lemongrass; they've all been put to use.
Whether you’re the designated driver (always an honorable role), taking a break from drinking for a particular reason or no reason at all, or just don’t feel like cocktail-ing it up, it’s never bad to have a few un-alcoholic hits available. The following recipes don’t sacrifice any spirited flavor, even if they are lacking spirits.
I brought Dahlia Bakery’s caramel corn to my meeting last week with Michael Moss, the Pulitzer Prize winning author whose latest book Salt Sugar Fat debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. That sweet, rich, just a tiny bit salty treat was my way of testing how evangelical Michael was about preaching the gospel of restraint.
Talk about a match made in heaven.
The Pine Box is the absolutely stellar, somewhat hidden beer haven on Capitol Hill co-owned by Ian Roberts (one of our 2012 Tastemakers). I love the place, but I'm a beer amateur. So I asked my favorite beer fanatic, Washington Beer Blog's Kendall Jones, to weigh in on the place. He told me this:
When my kitchen begins to smell like the sweet perfume of chicken potpie, I start to think pink.
Yup, rosé. That’s just the thing to drink alongside one of my go-to warm/fuzzy comfort foods, the take-n-bake pie from the Rub with Love Shack next door to Seatown.
St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and with it comes not only an honoring of Ireland and the Irish people, but usually a whole lot of tipsy folks running around. Instead of just drinking green beer randomly, why not dig a little deeper with a few choice bits of lore and learning – and some drinks that match up with them.
A friend from Durham, North Carolina, recently visited Seattle for the first time. Ate his first-ever Dungeness crab – on a BLT with some C at Seatown – and slurped for the very first time Kushi oysters. We spent a couple happy hours trolling Pike Place Market, buying stuff he’d eventually cook for friends out on Hood Canal and made a final stop at Pike and Western Wine Shop, where he made a request: Do you have any Burgundian-style Chardonnay from Washington state?
As the seasons get ready to turn (and soon, let's hope, 'cause I could use a bit more sun), it’s a good time to check in and see what our local bars and distillers are up to. We’re lucky to live in such a creative cocktail culture, because there’s always fun and exciting things happening, including the below.
High fives guys!!
In the Kitchen with the Pike Place Fish Guys debuts Thursday, March 7, and those fish-throwing fishmongers are planning a big splash, offering sample recipes, bites from the book and plenty of access for autographs from noon until 3 p.m. at the city’s famous fish-throwing seafood shop. You know the place. Right by Rachel the Pig. Or, just look for the crowds with their camera phones pointed toward the fish-tossing action.
Previously on the Seattle Mag Blog, Allison Austin Scheff wondered why she'd spotted Richard Blais in Seattle, even (almost) guessing the correct reason:
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