January 2008

In my house, Mt. Townsend’s Seastack Cheese is a mainstay. It’s not an everyday cheese—a bit too pricey at $12 for an 8-ounce wheel—but when the occasion allows for a small splurge, a few crackers, a pot of fig jam and we’re in business. Made of local cow’s milk in small batches in Port Townsend,…

What is the bronzed, round, impossible-to-pronounce pastry that’s lately popping up in the finer artisanal bakeries? Kouign amann (pronounced queen-ya-mahn) is a Breton pastry that has it all: tons of butter, sweet caramelization and a good bit of salt, like a salted caramel in pastry form. Honoré, in Ballard, makes a sensational version, with a…

There are people whose jobs require them to wake before dawn, pound cold butter and fold it into chilled dough, and then fold it, roll it, chill it, fold it, roll it, and chill it again and again until the butter is but a whisper-thin memory between weightless layers of pastry. The perfectly “laminated dough”…

Every year, when the first 70 degree day hits, Seattleites go completely bonkers. Swimming, boating and water skiing on Lake Washington, playing beach volleyball on the shores of Alki Beach in skimpy shorts and tank tops, and sunning themselves in patches of ardent green near Green Lake–it’s all about to go down. If you’re new…

Just announced on the Space Needle’s Facebook page: Our 50th anniversary is this Saturday, April 21 we’re going retro in more ways than our Galaxy Gold roof. We’re opening the doors early (7:30 a.m.) and offering $1 admission, the original price in ‘62, while supplies last. Tickets will be good for a 1-hr time block….

After announcing in February that it would be closing up shop on June 2nd, Ballard’s beloved bastion of fine French-Northwest dining is going to be with us a short while longer. According to an anonymous-yet-reliable source I met in a dark underground garage (ok, that last part isn’t true), the restaurant has been so flooded…

With a half-dozen stylish boîtes under their belts—Po Dog, serving luxe hot dogs in the $7 range; Grim’s, a bar; and The Social, a nightclub; along with a Ballard project in the works—it’s clear that Laura Olson and Chris Pardo’s collection of edgy hot spots attract the young and hip like bees to a hive….

In the tidy, snug dining room where Madison Park Café lived for 30 years, Café Parco now thrives (all those displaced Sostanza fans needed somewhere to go for the saucy Italian food they love). Parco’s chef and owner, Celinda Norton, is a pro; she’s owned eight restaurants, so she knows well the flavors—garlic, butter, meats…

At chef Tak Kurachi’s bright U:Don noodle shop in the University District, you’ll wind your way through the clean, spare restaurant, grab a tray and order one of the eight udon (Japanese rice noodle) dishes. On a warm day, try the zaru udon, the thick noodles with soy dipping sauce, ginger and scallions. (There’s also…

Wilridge Winery and Vineyard’s 80-acre estate on Naches Heights near Yakima is most likely the only vineyard site in the state—maybe even the world—that shares a border with a popular rock-climbing cliff. “We usually suggest people get their rock climbing in before they visit our tasting room,” jokes Wilridge’s Paul Beveridge, who bought the former…

Sotol, Tequila and MezcalLittle Water Cantina’s big wooden bar is hefty and backed by an impressive array of bottles, an instant hint that cocktails take center stage here. The menu proves it, with libations that feature a trinity of Mexican spirits: tequila, mezcal and sotol. A spirit made in Mexico from the desert spoon plant,…

Before opening contemporary art space M.I.A Gallery in Seattle last January, Mariane Lenhardt was working with a much older group of artists—ancient artists, in fact: the anonymous creators of Neolithic rock paintings in Somaliland. Lenhardt (who is of Somali descent) was struck by both the beauty of these 5,000-year-old paintings (cows, giraffes, dogs, many wearing…