If you don’t know, Paul Clarke is one of the finest cocktail and spirit writers in the world. He’s been an observer and participant of the cocktail happenings throughout the last 10 or 15 years, starting with his legendary blog The Cocktail Chronicles, and then going on into his freelance career writing for spots like…

For 10 years now, Seattle magazine has tracked the burgeoning wine scene in Washington with an annual celebration of the best wines, people and places in the industry. When we started, there were seven American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in Washington. Today, there are 13. In 2005, wine grapes were growing on 30,000 acres in the…

Nominations for this year’s Washington Wine Awards were solicited via survey from a panel of Washington wine and food professionals. The top vote-getters in the wineries, winemaker, vineyard and sommelier categories were selected as winners. The more than 100 wines receiving the most votes in the varietal categories qualified as finalists for a blind tasting,…

Steven Han’s fourth restaurant, a high-end Korean steakhouse in Pioneer Square’s new Stadium Place complex, is named after a divine creature in Korean culture that marks the arrival of good luck. Han established his reputation with Japanese restaurants (Momiji, Kushibar, Umi Sake House), but Girin, a massive, 125-seater next door to CenturyLink Field, is his…

For our 10th anniversary, we reached out to wineries whose wines had been declared Wine of the Year in our past tastings. We asked them to submit the current vintage, as they define it, of that same wine. A five-person panel tasted these wines openly, as opposed to blind tasting, and discussed what these flagship…

Let’s face it, there aren’t enough bars in stores—shopping can wear you down, and cocktails pick you up, so it’s a perfect match. Nordstrom appears to agree, as evidenced by its Habitant bars within stores, the newest of which is on the third floor of the fashion retailer’s downtown Seattle location (500 Pine St.; 206.628.1635;…

In the waning hours of last December, David Heller had dinner with friends at a neighborhood Thai restaurant. Over shared plates of pad kee mao and panang curry, they drank red wine and talked of plans for the coming year. Spirits were good. Yet Heller’s friends were worried about him. He looked pale, walked with…

It’s a late spring morning at West Seattle Elementary and as usual, morale is running high. Counselor Laura Bermes high-fives students as they walk through the door. Principal Vicki Sacco greets teachers while cradling Bingo, her watchful Chihuahua. The children walk single file to their classrooms, and a bespectacled special guest bounds upstairs to talk…