tighe

If you're a golfer, I think the North Pole golf course is a must. A total cow (well, Moose, actually) pasture, but its the northernmost golf course in the world. I have the hat to prove it! Local rules are that if your ball ends up near a moose, you get a free drop at a safe distance....

Truth is, there aren't a lot of options. Since you will pass right by Denali State Park, your best option may be to go to the Grande Denali Lodge, which I believe is close to the highway.

It's too bad the photos from my original post aren't there anymore because it would show how much stylistic evolution there's been in Mistral's food over the last three years. Everything looks great, I need to go back.

Green Leaf Muy Macho Belle Epicurean In a former life Brasserie Margaux and Union would have been on the list too....

As a fellow Seattle-ite and lover of Paris, my answer would be "yes". If you want to have a non-French meal, I think you would be better off doing something that isn't available or at least isn't anywhere as good in Seattle, such as North African or Senegalese food.

I think what Tulio's chef found is that once he got into bed with the Mackays (wasn't it?), he had even less control and more risk than he did at the hotel. I think mamster's comment holds, even if he chooses to disavow it....

Yes, here. It's been a while though.

Look, I'm not saying its a foregone conclusion that restaurants in hotels are going to end up being pedestrian. Hell, I think one of the very best restaurants that Seattle has ever seen was Painted Table. Given the demands of catering to a hotel crowd, it's difficult to not regress to the mean, so to speak, just to keep everyone happy. BOKA sounds like it has some plans in place to prevent that, I hope they're successful.

Too true, too true. If you ever find yourself in the train station in Rennes, the patisserie there has the best pastry:chocolate ratio I've experienced, and the pastry kicks ass over any I've found on this side of the pond.

You talkin' to ME? Yeah, I read about this place somewhere else a while back. Sounds great, hopefully they won't get dragged down to the lowest common denominator by being a hotel restaurant. Website ← I'd guess, think E&O, Fish Club, Fullers (r.i.p), Hunt Club, Georgian, etc, rather than Cayenne. ← I guess I was thinking of 727 Pine as the cautionary tale and frankly, to me the places you cite, except maybe E&O, all have certain generic hotel-ish-ness to them.

You talkin' to ME? Yeah, I read about this place somewhere else a while back. Sounds great, hopefully they won't get dragged down to the lowest common denominator by being a hotel restaurant. Website

Burien, as if.... FYI, we are likely going to be incorporated by the great city of Seattle, so we can start being snotty about "southenders" too...

Just a heads up for anyone who may come across this thread in future years & want to go to the Seattle Tilth sale: Go saturday, preferably in the morning. the lines will be horrendous, but you will have the full array of plants. By sunday afternoon there's almost no variety left. You still have a super long line to wait in though... ← I went Sat morning and the line was heinous, but to their credit, it moved pretty quickly. Given how long it was, I fully expected to wait an hour or more, but it was probably no more than 20 minutes. Bought a bunch of cool stuff. Any expert opinions on whether or not its too early to put tomatoes in the ground?

I was sorely dissapointed by the degustation menu at Gagnaire the one time I went. Only afterwards was I advised that alc was the better option. Drat! From what I remember of the alc menu, it's not difficult to spend 200-300 Euro/pp on food alone.

Is it still there? The last time I was there, about a year ago, they had signs saying they were moving to Woodinville. I signed up to be e-mailed with their new address when their move was over, and never heard anything more. Later, I heard a rumor that they had a terrible rat problem affecting the nearby yarn distributor. ← You're right, it appears they have moved, but to Kent. According to DEX: International Food Bazaar 18439 E Valley Hwy Kent, WA 98032 - 1205 (425) 656-9111

I was not enthused about Volterra, sadly, it didn't live up to the promise of its menu. If higher end Italian is what your intersted in, I think Tulio or Il Terrazo Carmine might be closer substitutes than Cafe Lago.

Seattle Cellars is just a block away from El Gaucho.

I hope that Ethan goes with his take on Italian rather than making it an exercise in "authenticity".

Using the loosest possible definition of pudding: Bread pudding at Matt's in the Market, best ever Panna cotta at Union Tiramisu at La Spiga (minimal cake and made in a bowl)

Tremendous episode. I absolutely need to go eat at Au Pied Cochon. I'd be interested in knowing how much of that food Tony actually consumed. Was it just me, or did the creepy maple syrup guy have same mildly deranged smile as Mr Sang (sp?) in Vietnam?

The International Bazaar near Southcenter is focused on Indian/Pakistani goods, but covers the Middle East pretty well too.

The version of the story I heard is that the because the arm is so shallow, with so many shoals, when Cook sailed up it, the lookout on the bow of his ship kept telling them to turn, to avoid another sand bank. Thus 'Turnagain Arm'. As I mentioned before, I concur with the Alyeska rec, great location and bringing your own picnic is a great idea.

My experience is out of date, but a couple thoughts... Dinner at Seven Glaciers on top of the mountain at the Alyeska resort was amazing for the views and acceptable for the food. My best restaurants experience was at the Marx Brothers Cafe.

I'm not in the biz, but have been told that The Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver is a very good option for those that want a program that takes less time than a community college and offers lots of real-world experience. Obviously, it's much more expensive as well.

I watched TC for the first time this week and really liked it despite the fact that I've never had such a visceral reaction to a reality show contestant as I did to Stephen. I hope I never meet him in person, because I'll probably punch him in the face. I like Colicchio's style on the show andthe two 'guest judges' I saw were good too. Getting these people outside of the box and out of their comfort zones really helps create some good dynamics.