Seattle Mag
Reviews: Flying Fish, Marjorie & Fatty’s Corner
Allison Austin Scheff reviews what's new in Seattle dining scene
Flying Fish Owner/chef Christine Keff’s Flying Fish, which opened in Belltown way back in 1995, built a reputation on great seafood but, boy, did the interior need an update. Instead of spiffing up the old girl, Keff moved her to South Lake Union in May to start over in a neighborhood with new life (and…
Key Ingredient: Alum Powder
How-to get your fried foods even crispier
ALUM POWDER In the quest for a crisp finish to her Chinese doughnuts, Lorna Yee relies on an old culinary standby WHAT IT IS: Alum powder (crystallized potassium aluminum sulfate) is an astringent white substance commonly used in pickling recipes to retain crispness. You can find it in the spice aisle of grocery stores. It’s also…
Food We Love: Double Chocolate Figs at Fran’s
Our latest chocolate obsession
FIG HEAVEN On a whim, I stopped into the Fran’s Chocolates Bellevue store (10036 Main St.; 425.453.1698; franschocolates.com), figuring I’d treat myself to a truffle and be on with my day. But there under a glass dome—beside neat rows of the single-malt-whiskey dark chocolate truffles, the milk chocolate caramel truffles and President Obama’s beloved smoked…
Cravings: Seattle pear dishes
Nothing tastes quite like a ripe, in-season pear on a crisp fall day.
PAIR The pancetta-wrapped pears at Pair (no pun intended) constitute a decadent pre-entrée bite. Served in a wine and ginger reduction and topped with a sprig of parsley, this savory/sweet combination celebrates the pear in all its glory. $6. Ravenna/Montlake, 5501 30th Ave. NE; 206.526.7655; pairseattle.comCITIZENThe melt-in-your-mouth caramel pear brûlée crêpe starts with a…

The Foodies Calendar: Oyster Fest
October 3, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. OysterFest Mason County Fairgrounds, 751 W Fairgrounds Road, Shelton; 360.426.2021; oysterfest.org ? Ahoy, seafood fanatics! Set sail for Shelton on the Olympic Peninsula and catch OysterFest, the 29th annual West Coast Oyster Shucking Championship and Washington State Seafood Festival. The event offers a taste of Washington’s best oceanic hors d’oeuvres,…
Meet the Producer: Proper British Bacon and Meats
Got the fever? Proper British Bacon & Meats has the cure
Last year, when a Scottish friend of Robin Halbert’s began spreading word around the Microsoft campus that Robin and his wife, Calli, were creating British-style bacon, the orders started pouring in. The couple began making regular deliveries to Redmond, and the word kept spreading. In February, the Halberts created a website: properbritishbacon.com. In April, they…
Style: Parisian Flair with Carolin Meesier
Restaurateur Carolin Messier adds dramatic European finesse to her locally gathered vintage wardrobe
WHY WE LOVE IT: From her bright red lipstick to the ever-present pearls, north Capitol Hill resident Carolin Messier would have looked perfectly at ease in a 1940s French film noir, sipping café coffee in a sassy, tailored suit and Mary Jane heels. The spirited sometime pastry chef and full-time owner of the Harvest Vine…
Spotlight Shorts: City Arts Fest, 100 Ways & more
Local art that matters
ARTS FESTS Two new arts events erupt all over town this monthJust when you thought it was time to crawl into your winter cave, gloomy October is proving itself to be quite the festive month for artsy goings-on in Seattle. The first City Arts Fest (10/20–10/23; times, prices and venues vary; cityartsfest.com), helmed by Michael…
Spotlight: Next of Kindle
What does the ink-and-paper landscape look like in the city that spawned the hugely successful e-rea
The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair takes place this month (October 9–10; seattlebookfair.com), enticing local book lovers with the promise of fragrant and crumbly yellowed pages, and at the same time prompting the question: Aren’t all ink-and-paper books becoming a bit antiquarian? In an interview with Newsweek last December, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos praised the physical…
October 2010: Shopping Around
Our top shopping finds for the month
WHAT A FLEURT It’s easy to be seduced by Fleurt, longtime Westside resident Sam Crowley’s perky new flower and gift stop. Freshly cut hydrangea blooms, peonies and dahlias sit in bud vases ready to be plucked for an arrangement ($8), vintage window frames accent the chartreuse walls, and cheerful repurposed tables are piled with ever-changing gift ideas,…

Shelter: Eco Lighting
How many interior designers does it take to change an eco light bulb into something as attractive as
You might guess that Mount Baker-based eco architect Rob Harrison would be a zealot about energy-efficient lighting. But beneath his family’s roof, tucked in among the curly compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), a few energy-hogging incandescent light bulbs still glow. “You can’t create a mood” with energy-efficient lighting, Harrison says, so he reserves a few lamps…
Scoop: Seattle’s Pollinator Pathway
Seattle's bees stay busy along the Pollinator Pathway
Seattle artist and designer Sarah Bergmann is making quite a buzz, thanks to the Pollinator Pathway, a project she began in 2008 with the intent of creating more habitat for local bees and other pollinating creatures. If you haven’t heard, the nation’s population of pollinators is plummeting, and the pathway aims to aid their plight…
Scoop: Radar Hair and Records
Radar Hair and Records caters to overgrown music lovers
Have you ever found yourself in mid-haircut, wishing your salon also offered a selection of vinyl LPs and vintage music gear? Us, too! Thankfully, Radar Hair and Records has landed in SoDo. Open since July, the funky space combines the talents of owners Betsy Hansen (formerly of Rusk, Vain and Helmet Head salons) and Johnny…
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