Trev's Bistro

Tales of Seattle’s Cocktail Bars

Coffee by morning, beer by day, cocktails by night is how the drinking rolls in the Emerald City. Or so it seems with their impressive number of espresso baristas pulling top notch shots, mighty micro breweries such as Fremont and Schooner Exact providing refreshing and bold ales and lagers, and at night the cocktail shakers come out. Whether or not Seattle can quite compete with the caliber of this liquid trio in rival Portland is a debate for another place at another time.

There’s no doubt after a long day of work at Amazon or (another) Mariners loss or to celebrate a grand night out to compliment the city’s excellent array of restaurants, Seattle has plenty of cocktail options. The craft, artisan cocktail movement that now spans the globe from windowless cocktail dens in Tokyo to faux speakeasies in Milwaukee certainly has not skipped Seattle. Surprise, surprise the premier pair of places to imbibe in the city are a) a speakeasy and b) a luxurious, “Mad Men” 1950’s plush room with the name of the bar not shown outside. It seems to never get old how each outstanding bar in major cities either evokes “Mad Men” or strives to pretend you are Al Capone in a 1920’s speakeasy.

The essential cocktail experience can be found upstairs at the gastropub Tavern Law on Capitol Hill, in their speakeasy Needle and Thread. Dozens of bars across the country do the same schtick now: make a reservation for a drink, when you arrive call the bar on a special phone and they’ll let you in, walk up a secret passage, voilà you’re in the bar, there’s no menu, so let us know what you usually drink. Then you’ll struggle to say anything other than, “Give me your best drink,” or “I’ll drink anything that tastes good.” Fortunately the wonderful, gleeful server and bartender know what they’re doing. Bitter? Yes. Sweet? Sure. Rum? Eh, no. Then you will remember that you love ginger in drinks. It all adds up to the best cocktail made in Seattle that I encountered, the Ginger Rogers.Continue reading “Tales of Seattle’s Cocktail Bars”

Cocktail of the Week: Ginger Rogers at Needle & Thread, Seattle

Make a reservation days in advance. Then arrive at the Capitol Hill gastropub and bar Tavern Law and find the hidden telephone to call upstairs. Climb the wooden stairs up to the secret parlor upstairs and you have arrived at the pinnacle of the Seattle cocktail world: the speakeasy of Tavern Law, known as Needle & Thread. Menus are for the clueless. You know cocktails and appreciate them to take the effort to even get here and go through the whole telephone and secret speakeasy game.

As usual I had no idea what to request when the jocund, so happy to see us waitress quizzed me on my cocktail tastes. Continue reading “Cocktail of the Week: Ginger Rogers at Needle & Thread, Seattle”

Restaurants: Le Pigeon, Portland, Oregon

Is the name of this exceptional bistro along East Burnside pronounced with a French accent to the pigeon or as a mash up between French to start and English to finish? It is not an important question, seeing that the reservationist who called to re-confirm used the latter and the waitress leading us to the end of the snug communal table used the former. What the question represents is how appropriate the peculiar name fits the gutsy, bold cooking on display nightly in the domain of thirty year old Gabriel Rucker.

The setting oozes Parisian bistronomy, the new term for the young French chefs of the city who train with the masters such as Ducasse and Gagnaire, then continue that ambitious level of cooking at bargain prices in cramped, Ikea furnished quarters. Le Pigeon’s atmosphere is a step up in elegance from those dining rooms, with luxurious silk curtains at the windows facing busy Burnside to one side, a communal table that seats most of the diners leading to cupboards holding various knick-knacks and the bottles of red wine poured by the glass. The wall is composed of exposed brick with a gigantic mirror, giving the room an industrious effect counter to the elegant curtains, candles, and soft lighting that makes everyone look ten years younger. Continue reading “Restaurants: Le Pigeon, Portland, Oregon”

Sleepless But Not Hungry In Seattle: The New Legends II: Almost There…

Continuing along from Sitka & Spruce to…

Cascina Spinasse

Up Capitol Hill from Sitka & Spruce, chef Jason Stratton is cooking some of the most intensely focused regional Italian cuisine anywhere, at his little slice of Piedmont, Cascina Spinasse. The bustling pair of dining rooms and adjoining bar and patio were filled on a strangely warm Monday night, all enjoying the superb Italian wine list and tour de force pastas. Only a trio of pastas are offered each night and fortunately can all be ordered in half portions for sampling.

Trio of Pastas: Top: Lamb Caramelle, Right: Gnochetti with Green Chick Peas, Bottom: Tajarin with Lamb Ragu

The signature tajarin, thinnest, mostly densely packed squiggles similar to angel hair pasta, comes either with sage or butter, or in a lamb ragu with tiny specks of lamb that don’t add much to the robust sauce. Much better were the tiny, fluffiest gnochetti with studly green chickpeas and the zing of a pure sage leaf, along with the lamb stuffed caramelle (think a meat pasta tootsie roll), served simply with butter and pine nuts.Continue reading “Sleepless But Not Hungry In Seattle: The New Legends II: Almost There…”

Sleepless But Not Hungry In Seattle: The New Legends

Beet Salad with Walnuts, Anchovy Dressing, and Breadcrumbs at Sitka & Spruce

Seattle is quite possibly the most unheralded dining city in the country. Most of the Pacific Northwest attention goes to that Rose City to the south and is never talked about in the same sentences as the big boys of the Northeast, California, New Orleans, and Chicago. In fact the most talked about Seattle restaurant isn’t even in Seattle, but two hours north on the San Juan Island of Lummi at the Willows Inn, with its Noma alum chef Blaine Wetzel. Perhaps it’s because the chef personalities here don’t do Twitter tirades or spend more time in the T.V. studio than the kitchen. The celebrity chef of the region is Tom Douglas, whose empire started with the still strong Dahlia Lounge in Downtown and now has reached a dozen. Douglas might be third behind Bill Gates and Ichiro for fame in the city, yet that may change after he received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur during our visit to the city.

Dahlia, along with stand-bys such as Ray’s Boathouse and Armandino’s Salumi (the office of Mario Batali’s father, home to a blissful porchetta sandwich) started the Seattle dining scene two to three decades ago and are still very much worth visits. The new guard is sweeping Seattle now by storm.Continue reading “Sleepless But Not Hungry In Seattle: The New Legends”

Monday’s Neighborhood (on Wednesday): Fremont, Seattle, WA

Seattle is an intriguing city where the outside neighborhoods of its limits are indeed still part of Seattle, yet each so individually distinct that they really are their own city. Nobody says the Ballard “part” of Seattle or the “north” of Seattle when referring to Wallingford. Perhaps, it is because they are across the water from the center of the city, as opposed to Capitol Hill and West Seattle and Queen Anne. Bellevue and Kirkland? Not neighborhoods of Seattle, those are complete other cities, yet still referred to in the same style as Fremont and Ballard.

Along the Lake Washington Ship Canal that connects Lake Washington to the east (and Lake Union) with the Ballard Shipping Yards and the Puget Sound to the west, Fremont lies between the water, Wallingford and its quirky shops to the east, the steep Phinney Ridge to the north, and Ballard’s sprawl to the west. When I refer to Phinney Ridge as steep, I mean it. Accidentally asking a taxi to drop me off at 45th Street and Phinney instead of 36th Street and Phinney, the actual site of the restaurant I was going to, the ten block walk down (with a suitcase) was like trying to inch down Half Dome at Yosemite. Luckily, my brakes were working. Continue reading “Monday’s Neighborhood (on Wednesday): Fremont, Seattle, WA”

Beer of the Week: Fremont Brewing Co.’s Interurban IPA

The Interurban IPA is a textbook rendition of what a hop forward, refreshing IPA should be like. It’s not one of those 120 IBU hop bombs, nor an imperial/double IPA that borders on barley wine, nor a meager IPA too scared to add enough hops that it seems to be an off tasting pale ale.

The Fremont Beers, Interurban IPA is third from right

The IPA gets its name from the statue in Fremont, “Waiting for the Interurban,” a strange statue of people and a dog waiting for a train. I’d wait for the train to head to the brewpub (or the nearby excellent restaurant Revel) for a taste of this beautiful blend of various unique Northwest hops such as Chinook that add a spice element to the traditional pale Bavarian malts. This is a smooth, satisfying IPA, potentially a session beer at just over 6 %. Continue reading “Beer of the Week: Fremont Brewing Co.’s Interurban IPA”

Wine of the Week: Penner-Ash 2009 Pas de Nom Pinot Noir

Some wines just don’t need a name. They’re so good you just sit back and savor the delights of berry notes leading to a cinnamon-spice finish, all perfectly rounded and smooth, without the slightest nod to the weak, watery structure boasting too much fruit that constitutes most Pinot noir.

Penner-Ash, a young winery by Lynn and Ron Penner-Ash located near Newberg on a breathtaking hill overlooking acres of Yamhill-Carlton AVA vineyards, with Mt. Hood poking into the horizon to the east, sure knows how to make Pinot noir. Released last August, the Pas de Nom is a true gem and very rare to find, being sold for upwards of $100. Only ten barrels of this Pinot noir were crafted, using a blend of grapes from five different Yamhill-Carlton and Dundee Hills vineyards, which then are aged in four different French oak barrels, of varying ages and levels of oak.Continue reading “Wine of the Week: Penner-Ash 2009 Pas de Nom Pinot Noir”

The Week After: Thoughts on 2012 James Beard Awards, Plus The New Reviewed New York

It has been a week since the 2012 James Beard Awards and courtesy of a splendid fun, food, and drink filled week exploring Seattle and Portland, we were unable to quickly analyze the proceedings and winners last Monday night in New York, as we were busy dining at some of the restaurants of the winners (true story). It’s never too late to take a look at some of the main story lines to take away from this year.

Beginning with, the amount of attention lavished on the chefs and the awards themselves was unprecedented this year. As foodies become more and more common in the smallest pockets of the world, chefs are truly becoming Hollywood starlets and rock stars. This year’s complete red carpet treatment proves just how mainstream the fervent passion for restaurants and chefs has become.

No James Beard Awards for this restaurant

The difference between the Oscars and the James Beards: while actors and actresses are used to a media and camera frenzy, chefs tend to be of the awkward sort who freeze when attention is lavished upon them. I’d like to see Ryan Seacrest run the James Beards red carpet show for E! Network.

On to the winners, here is the complete list of winners and finalists.Continue reading “The Week After: Thoughts on 2012 James Beard Awards, Plus The New Reviewed New York”

Tuesday Project: Ike’s Fish Sauce Chicken Wings from Pok Pok, Portland

We’ll cover Portland and Seattle over the next few days, so let’s get things started with the iconic dish of Portland and the best bites of many amazing bites that I sampled on the entire trip. Having visited Andy Ricker’s original Pok Pok in a funky, multi-level hut-restaurant in the middle of the residential Southeast two years ago and treasuring every taste of the wings, I had to re-visit now that Ricker’s superb, rigorously researched Thai cooking is now known nationally and showcased at Pok Pok and Pok Pok Wing (for these wings!) in New York.

Continue reading “Tuesday Project: Ike’s Fish Sauce Chicken Wings from Pok Pok, Portland”