articles
Old Vines Bearing Good Fruit
In the first of a three-part series, we look at some of Washington’s most mature vineyards.
Washington’s wine industry is maturing into adolescence—a far cry from its infancy in the early ’70s. Back then, there were only about a half-dozen wineries operating in the state, and only a few hundred acres of grapes planted. Few wineries and vineyards had survived Prohibition, and the ones that did grew grapes primarily for sweet,…
Belltown’s Innkeeper is Plenty Hospitable
This rustic abode serves up satisfying drinks and Mexican-Caribbean cuisine.
With lighting on the dim side, the Innkeeper could at first be confused with the type of lounge that caters to those who sip serious cocktails while contemplating life’s mysteries. But the bustling happy hour (3–6 p.m. and 10 p.m.–midnight daily), and the friendly staff soon reveal a different personality: rollicking neighborhood joint. The atmosphere…
Three Summer Reading Musts, All Set in the Northwest
In three new books, local authors emphasize the Northwest sense of place.
The Pacific Northwest is often misunderstood by outsiders—written off as a rainy hinterland populated by fleece-flaunting Earth Firsters, or parodied as a land of hipsters and dot-com millionaires jacked up on espresso. But when descriptions of the local landscape and inhabitants are in the hands of talented writers who live and work here, a truer…
The Ultimate Urban Wilderness Chair
Our hearts go pitty-pat when we behold the tricked-out Wilderness Recliner chair ($60; available at rei.com) by GCI Outdoor. Its profile is low enough to be welcome at outdoor plays and concerts, it reclines for intermission snoozing and has enough pocket space to keep sunscreen, bottle opener and playbill easily at hand. A plus: You…
10 Things We Love About Seattle Summers
Or, ways in which a few hours of sunshine make Seattleites go a little crazy.
1. It’s yet another opportunity to recycle! (Remember that tube of sunscreen you didn’t finish last summer?) 2. Late sunsets mean you can work on your backyard chicken coop until 10 p.m. 3. Lake Washington has a very low incidence of shark attacks. 4. You can now wear your Tevas without socks. (Wait! Hideous winter…
What to Pack for a Deluxe Picnic Dinner
The editors' picks for a perfect al fresco dinner...in Seattle. (We can dream, can't we?)
Appetizers: Dinah’s cheese from Kurtwood Farms ($9/half; $18/whole), served with Columbia City Bakery’s walnut toasts ($4.25) • Mt. Townsend’s Seastack cheese ($12), served with Sardinian flatbread with truffle salt from Macrina ($6.25) Main course: Picnic’s kale and heirloom bean salad with preserved lemon vinaigrette ($7) • DeLaurenti’s Parma sandwich ($5.99) Dessert: Dahlia Bakery’s chocolate truffle…
30 Perfect Summer Nights in Seattle
Your guide to the best summer nightlife, arts and outdoor entertainment our city has to offer.
When it comes to endless summer nights, Seattle has the bragging rights sewn up: Around here, sunlight lingers into end of day (we’ll have 16 hours of daylight on June 21!), making for long, languid evenings that seem to stretch on forever. Sure, our nights are seldom hot—some years, we just settle for dry—but the…
Watch Seattle mag’s Best Food Trucks on Evening Magazine
As part of our annual Best Restaurant package this April, our foodie team not only ferretted out the best restaurants and happy hours, but the best food trucks as well. Like many of you, we are hopelessly devoted to these roving gourmet diners and King 5’s Evening Magazine took notice, asking for a tour of…
Become an Urban Beekeeper
Ballard Bee Company’s Corky Luster offers advice on how to join the urban-beekeeping movement.
One mild day in spring, on the roof of Ballard’s Bastille Restaurant, a sweet, summery smell pulsed through the air. Was it emanating from the rooftop beehives, or from the beekeeper busily checking on the bees? Corky Luster, owner of urban apiary business Ballard Bee Company, wasn’t wearing cologne. He suggested the smell was probably…
Foodies Afloat
A new kind of moveable feast comes to the San Juan Islands.
Crudités with truffle salt…sweet corn soup with shrimp and jalapeño cornbread…bacon and kale farro with scrambled eggs…white chocolate raspberry cheesecake….It’s hardly what you’d expect to be served while on a sea kayaking trip. But I wasn’t on just any kayaking trip; I was tagging along on the inaugural voyage of a “gourmet” guided kayak trip…
Test-Tube Food
Local lawmakers want to force the labelling of genetically modified foods. Here’s a look at the cons
Hardly a day goes by that genetically modified foods don’t make the news in some form: legal battles over labeling requirements, rumbles in the blogosphere about potential new products, theories about the harm these products might do to people or other species, or a new scientific perspective that becomes ammo in the battle over these…
Distill My Heart: Washington’s New Liquor Laws
Knute Berger’s spirited take on legal moonshine and our state’s changing liquor laws.
When I was an editor at Washington magazine back in the ’80s, I kept a Mason jar of moonshine on my desk, something to share with special visitors. A friend had picked it up somewhere up near Darrington, our state’s little bit o’ Appalachia. That area was settled by many folks from the Carolinas and…
Creamy Uni Pasta
Lorna Yee's combines the spiny sea urchin with delicate pasta.
Ingredients 1 pound spaghetti 1/4 cup cream 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Salt and black pepper 8 ounces fresh sea urchin (uni) 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter 2 cloves garlic, chopped 3 Tablespoons finely chopped chives Begin by cooking the pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions. In a food processor, combine the…
Cooking with Sea Urchin
Lorna yee crafts a meltingly smooth pasta sauce with uni, or sea urchin
What it is: Uni, or sea urchin, is a small creature with a spiny shell. It is the orange roe within the urchin that is edible and considered a delicacy, especially in Japanese cuisine. Uni has a delicate, sweet sea flavor and a meltingly soft texture. It must be served impeccably fresh—uni past its prime…
Pick the Schuhs’ Berries
Mount Vernon’s Schuh Farms is ready for a bountiful berry harvest.
Second-generation farmer Steve Schuh, along with his wife, Susan, has been selling U-pick strawberries for more than 30 years. Now, the Mount Vernon couple has expanded their operation with the help of their daughter, Jennifer, to include a host of summer berries. The berries at Schuh Farms—whether U-pick or picked for you—offer a rainbow array…
Local Takes on the Classic BLT
Aching for some bacon? Try these local takes on the classic sandwich.
DOT’S DELICATESSENDot’s bacon is dry-rubbed and smoked in house, then laid on sourdough slices from Macrina Bakery with heirloom tomatoes (when in season), mixed baby head lettuce and fresh house-made aioli. $7. Fremont, 4262 Fremont Ave. N; 206.687.7446; dotsdelicatessen.com THE SWINERYPerhaps the Swinery’s entry should be called the PBLT, because the chefs use thick, crispy…
Signing to the Music
Jeff Wildenstein uses ASL to interpret lectures, plays and rock shows for the local deaf community.
1/ Wildenstein also teaches yoga. “Being able to visualize what the ASL translation is going to look like prior to doing a show is very similar to preparing for a yoga class,” he says. 2/ Recent challenge: when Beck sang a brand new rap song in concert. “I ended up signing something like, ‘He’s speaking…
Tia Kramer’s Paper Necklaces
High-art sculpture meets arts-and-crafts fair wear-ability.
A Tia Kramer paper necklace is best described as the love child of an arts-and-crafts fair and a cosmopolitan sculpture: The Northlake-based installation artist uses recycled sterling silver to complement her handmade Philippine plant paper pendants, often layered with wire in intricate patterns for a decidedly contemporary cap to your ensemble. $148–$350 at the Seattle…
New Designs from Seattle’s Fashion Reality-TV Stars
For two seattle designers, a brush with reality TV was surreal: design god John Varvatos draping fabric and Jessica Simpson poring over fashion sketches. Add model Elle Macpherson to the mix and you have NBC’s Fashion Star, which recently featured locals Lisa Vian Hunter and Lizzie Parker as they competed against 12 other designers to…
LeMay: America’s Car Museum Opens in Tacoma
Tacoma’s new car museum is an ode to hitting the road.
Cars may have lost some street cred among bikers, environmentalists and anyone tired of pouring her paycheck into the gas tank, but a new museum in Tacoma is here to remind us of the glory days, when we could rev up and roll down the road free of guilt. LeMay: America’s Car Museum opens this…
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