tsquare

Completely forgot to add Gelatiamo (at 3rd and Union) to the list. They have very Italian type pastry, including cream filled croissant (okay, cornetto?). A lot is hit and miss, but the gelato is good and the cookies are very good most of the time.

Have't done this, but tarragon butter sounds like a great way to go as it's flavor changes so much when dried. My sage is year round, as is my rosemary. tarragon comes back in the spring, most of the time.

I made spearmint syrup last year - didn't blanch first, but did strain out the matter after. Then, froze them as ice cubes - great for ice tea and lemonade. Zip-lock bag and good for a long time.

On TV (Cook's), they recommended the $70 KitchenAid Artisan hand mixer for the DC power it provides, if you don't need a stand mixer. But they said most of the others are suitable for most jobs. I bought something less for about $25 recently, to replace a 3 speed 30 year+ job that was just plain worn out. It's AC, but a few more hp than the basic. Haven't run it through any drills yet. I'm drawing a blank on the brand...but it has old flat blades and a whisk, a drink mixer, and double dough hooks. I'm hoping for miracles in terms of performance. My kitchen is too small for a stand mixer. Now if I had room for one of those under cabinet swing up mixer shelves I'd be far more tempted. I didn't think about the meat grinder, pasta maker, mill accessories, but I haven't been tempted to explore those areas in my (almost) half century.

Porta's new bar is stocked and furniture is in place - are they open?

Fresh Flours has something like that - just sub red bean custard! It's tasty, but foreign for me. It might have crystal sugar on top, I forget.

We got some of their bread at last week's market and it was wonderful. Unfortunately, they'd sold out of pain au chocolat. Their retail space is going to be about a block south of the market location on Rainier. ← Sorry. My pain au c' was quite tasty.

If you are in town on Wednesday afternoon, you can go to the farmer's market in Columbia City and try the pastry and bread from the new CC bakery. It bears alot of similarity to Dahlia, no surprise, as he was their baker before going South. They say they will open the retail doors soon.

A couple of brothers- with accents from Scotland, I suspect. One a contractor, building, the other a barkeep. Waiting for health department pre-opening inspection, then ready to go. They say, non-smoking, will try to keep it compatible to PCC, as in organic beef hamburgers, simple bar food. Looks fresh - they built new booths and a bar. Oh yeah, they still need to stain the concrete floor. It's at Winona (approximately 74th.)

manioc? (seasoned cassava flour, farofa)

If the prices stay the same - and the food as good - next trip try Black Bottle - all plates $8 ($7 for desserts.) 1st and Vine (?) which most can walk to from the Market.

Sid's (not very) Italian Deli at 4th and Wall is undergoing a renovation. The sign was being taken down yesterday. To reopen or something new (one can hope)? Work also in progress at Starlite Lounge (Avenue One space).

Yup. Gulp.

Opening late this year - Moxie - in Nonna Maria's space on Queen Anne. Look for the dimpled cook from Matt's in the Market, doing her own thing.

I saw shrink wrapped pork uteruses (uteri?) in a market recently. Can't imagine what you do with those!

Looking at the corporate website, the only thing identified these days as kosher are the beef franks. They also have bacon on the menu - sandwiches and breakfast items. And it Aidell's sausages. Not bad. Probably neither insensitive nor ignorant, just corporate.

Oh, island openings - Vashon - "Hardware Store" opened last month. Trying to be everything it seems. Good reports, so far. Soon, in the old Stray Dog place, an Italian place. Could be good.

Fish Club has flatbread with proscuitto and fig jam (savory) and gorgonzola. It's a Todd English signature pizza combo. Great stuff - recipe is in Figs cookbook. An easy pie. And great flavors.

If you want to try Duke's Chowder Bar (4th, just south of Union - 1324 4th) they are running a chowder happy hour - 1/2 price from 2 until closing (I think that is around 3:30.) They are also serving free clam chowder on September 21, 2005. Last year the line was very long.

Market Grill - spicy, tons of clams, dill. Across from Uli's in the Market.

Not exactly new, though their second place qualifies, but new to me: Casuelita's Had a different style mojito - martini style, not very minty or limey - a rum martini? Nice plates of fresh food. Cooler to sit in the bar than the mezzanine restaurant, at least on a warm night. Colorful, light food, a bit different in flavors. I didn't get anything that claimed to be spicy, so can't comment on the heat.

At the base of the Seattle Heights building (2nd Ave - 2600 block) is something called Le P'tit Bistro. It has some very traditional French menu items, crepes, weekend brunch, weekday lunch and dinner. Anyone eaten there?

Carla, you rock. Assistance operator speaking in tongues as your first job? That's hysterical. (Okay, not exactly tongues, but with fake accents and such...) I read too much.

And when you go - drive into the parking lot and go to the back - the sign is not easy to see from Jackson. I went and had the typical TT experience - they lost the order for half an hour. But the food was quite good - light and fresh - and very reasonably priced - $25 for two, and we were quite full. The masses were waiting to be seated when we left around 8:00 p.m. Oh, they also have some outdoor seating with a wall of water feature falling to mask the traffic noise.

Speaking of Earth & Ocean, Maria is continuing with this cuisine.