jbonne

Zachy's appears to sell it for $16.99. >> Cerdon Vin du Bugey Renerdat-Fache NV (750ml) #132935 should be a quick hop down I-95.

i'll second Matt's, and add Zoe and Union to that list. plus Shiki, which should be in walking distance. (Though as BCers, you've no doubt got a high bar for sushi.) Crow is OK, since you're in the nabe for it. skip Lola and Cascadia; not worth your time. i don't think Brasa's worth it either these days, but you may want to investigate. and i'll avoid my usual words of caution about Lark; too many fans in these parts (meaning eG) and the hype has surpassed anything i could say about it.

go to Red Mountain. go to Walla Walla. make appointments, if possible. i find Woodinville largely optional, unless you're pressed for time or come on an open-house weekend. most of the small W'ville wineries are appointment-only. Tri-Cities can be folded into a Red Mountain trip. you can also do a two-day swing: go all the way to WW, spend the night there, then hit RM and TC on your way back. i find the Yakima Valley stretch along I-82 far less compulsory than i used to.

Abra, i think you found your bonito expert. (thanks for the insights, Jason!) i'll second what mamster said about Maekawa's vibe. the mellow feel makes it what it is, even beyond the food.

i'll toss in another non-bubbly option (though a nice bubby would certainly work): gruner veltliner, though i'm blanking on a good one right now. i think you need a big mineral component to match the arugula, cucumber, mint and infused olive oil, acid (and citrus) to match the lemon, and something bright enough to cut the fat of the salmon. the SBs mentioned would all do the trick quite well, but i think you may want some additional minerality and herb notes, and for whatever reason i translate that to gruner. the albarino seems like it might work for similar reasons, and so would Chablis. i'd stay away from anything with too many non-citrus fruit notes. with so many herbs in the recipe, too many peach or tropical notes might be jarring. but that's just me ...

i have to admit i've done approximately zero testing of dried bonito. in fact, the bonito shavings in my house predate my moving into it, so i'm no help there. Otokoyama is wonderful, with its full body, though i'm partial to Suishin myself. but its availability there is on and off, so i just rely on the bottle in my fridge. as i'm sure mamster can attest, there's nary a weak dish on the menu. i haven't always been bowled over by the mackerel and some of the sashimi isn't as good as elsewhere (but then, they're not a sashimi place) but Maekawa remains, hands down, one of my five favorite places to eat in Seattle. their onigiri alone can make any day 10 times better.

Maekawa rocks. but i'm already on the record on that ...

they actually got 15 minutes to clean (plus 15 to prep and 15 to make the drinks), but most cleaned in about 5 mins. clearly, one element the technical judges were watching was whether the station remained clean *during* the drink-making -- perhaps as a true sign of comfort and skill behind the bar. many of the finalists finished their 12 drinks well shy of the 15 minutes; i think the Dane was done in about 13. since watching the competition, i've been second-guessing my espresso shots at home all week.

thanks ... sangio's been on my list for a while, along with domestic barbera. but i honestly have had trouble finding many U.S. versions that don't over-extract the fruit. they may be a different style, but at the price point, i'd usually rather go Italian. not always, though. note today's column. am very open to sangio suggestions, but that's probably a topic for a new thread ...

i realized i never posted a link to our conclusions after tasting. Dry Creek was not far off what we were looking for, though i was looking for more punch. (curiously, it tasted better on the third day in my fridge than when we initially tasted.) Geyser Peak, Honig, St. Supery and newcomer Two Angels were the big almost-Kiwi winners. Morgan, too, though the style wasn't entirely to my liking. but it fared well among the panel. now i'm really curious about Wildhurst.

funny, i didn't notice that the first three times i read through it. in any case, it's not a particularly helpful disclaimer. i'm astounded she took him to Piecora's. i know she's a Pagliacci fan (i know many people are Pagliacci fans) but i just don't think it's in the realm of the pizzas he personally rates in his book. Levine is very, very strict about crust and tomatoes, and i parsed from her article that he was trying to be charitable: "Levine says the sauce could stand to lose some sweetness, but 'this crust is much better than Piecora's.'" the "tipping his hat" graf is hard to parse. did Levine actually mention those places, or did Nancy fill them in herself? would have been intresting to take him to Via Tribunali. and i'm just jaw-dropped she didn't take him to Lago, unless this was a mid-day pizza sojourn. of course, you should see what he says about Boston pizza. ouch!

thatsa lotta acid, no? i'm stunned by how high the pH in many red wines has gotten, along with the alcohol. whatever happened to balance?

i considered this topic in a column last August. and i don't think there's an easy answer. you can find 15-16 percent zinfandels that are in balance and can match food, and 13 percent Cabs that are thin, weedy and too unpleasant to pair with a meal. since i wrote that piece, the ABV is probably the second or third thing i examine on a label, as it's an immediate shorthand for the style of the vintage, the winemaker, &c. i've certainly enjoyed plenty of wines over 14 percent, but my personal buying habits lead me back to wines below that, which usually means wines from Europe, (and sometimes Oregon, though not so much in '03). the Piedmontese achieve wines of extraordinary complexity without exceeding 14 percent, as do a good majority of Rhone vintners. that said, i accept we live in a world of sweet-craving palates, where high alcohol and the often resultant levels of R.S. are a sure bet in the marketplace.

unmentioned in the piece is that the Seattle section of the book was contributed by ... Nancy Leson. i was not a fan of her picks, which were pretty much where she took Levine on their little pizza voyage.

thanks, folks, for the explanations! hadn't ever heard about skin temp as the basis for warm sake, to say nothing of rice. i've generally ordered 3-4 pieces at a time, if only to avoid pestering chefs with lots of tiny orders. but the enormous platters never made any sense to me.

can i get a ruling on the proper, not-for-gaijin temperature and texture of rice for nigiri? there's lots of utterly contradictory information floating around online, but my general understanding has been that it should be slightly warm (just above body temperature is quoted occasionally) to help warm the fish -- which for both aesthetic and sanitary reasons means no piece of sushi should linger on the plate. texturally, my understanding was that it should bind together solidly enough to be eaten by hand, while not being so sticky that you have to pry it off your fingers. but i may be enormously misinformed. i ask because i'm finding the sushi rice in what otherwise is a great sushi town (Seattle) has been lackluster of late. (torakris, if this has already been well discussed elsewhere, please feel free to delete.)

oh, but stating the obvious is what makes this country great. personally, i think NPR's "Hidden Kitchens" is doing a far better job with a similar concept, avoiding most of the obvious platitudes and giving a real texture to their theme. but then, i haven't actually seen the PBS series.

i sense AP came to the same conclusion. i imagine i would too, except i have too many other things to watch ("Iron Chef" soybean battle, for instance) to waste my precious TV-viewing time. too many of these segments sound rote, obvious and self-serving. (and i'm not even talking about the one where they all coo over Knorr instant vichyssoise.) needless to say, our local paper fawned all over it.

thanks -- outside the parameters of this piece, but i'll keep it in mind for the future ...

the Cana's Feast wines always impress me, though i think they're really built for aging. but then, i think Gino Cuneo makes terrific wine. his Two Rivers Bordeaux-style blend is a junior version of the Cana's Feast, made with grapes from both WA and OR, and has been retailing around Seattle for $14-16. a local restaurant was pouring it last Friday by the glass, and impressing everyone. (we were drinking an arneis, but only because i really wanted white wine.)

thanks! the Brander is already on the way. while i'm a big fan of most of what Joel Gott makes, i'm just not a fan of his SB. the fruit in it doesn't really pop out to me. and thanks too for the Gary Farrell. i'll take a look for it, but i've set a pretty firm cap at $20 for these. have already written off a couple because of that.

which is "the temple" -- Vivace or Victrola? (or Vita, i guess.)

thanks! i'll check out Hanna and Rochioli. already have Honig on the way; they said it's all stainless.

diving back into the SB thread briefly ... anyone got any other recommendations for *stainless*-aged NZ-style California sauv blancs? i'm compiling a batch for a tasting soon, but still looking for a few more to add in. St. Supery and Mason already on the list. Cakebread not (since they're using neutral oak and going for a different style). would especially love new contenders from Santa Barbara and Paso.

i'll add another endorsement for De Laurenti. they carry the Alps prosciutto and soppressata (made in NYC), which is just about the only non-Salumi cured meat i've seen Salumi carry. (Alps doesn't really need Armandino's vote of approval, but given some folks' Salumiphilia, it can't hurt.) some of the Whole Foods meats i've had were so bad as to be almost inedible. also, i've seen them misspell San Daniele. at $25/pound, you damn well better know how to spell what you're selling me.