mb7o

I suggested Union to a friend recently. He reports that he will never go back. It took over 2 hours for a 2 course mid-week dinner, including long stretches with nothing happening--including things like over half an hour for a drink refill. Additional comments: the lighting was so dim that multiple people (both in his party and other adjacent parties) had to use the candle to try to read the menu. Also it was noisy. The one time I was there was by a window in the summer, so light wasn't an issue. And it was early, so noise wasn't either. Service was fine in the beginning when the place was mostly empty, but became inattentive later.

Cape Flattery is the northwesternmost point of the continental US, and is a spectacular setting.

I think the big blue barn place across from the Pacific whatever (New Kowloon/diagonal from Viet Wah) is called something like Bill's or other generic name. They have all sorts of canned goods in the back, including a number of curry pastes I haven't seen before, but many have a nice coat of dust on them--depends on how well they sell. But the produce sure is cheap (why are limes .10 there and .59-.99 in the supermarket?), and some the canned goods probably are too. To get there, and the other places mentioned in this thread from Sea-Tac: Take I-5 north. When you start to see signs for I-90, get to the right. There will also be signs for Dearborn, which is what you want, but those signs are hard to spot. Exit at Dearborn. (do not get on I-90, pay attention close to the exit). Turn left on Dearborn. Turn right at the first place you can after going under the highway. This should be 8th. Go as far as you can (4 blocks) Turn right, this is Jackson. As you go up Jackson, the produce place mentiond above will be on the right just after you go under I-5 again. Viet Wah will be on the left just after that, they have parking. go up to 12th and turn right, and Hau Hau will be on the next corner (King)--turn left to go to their underground parking lot. There are also other markets around. I don't know which one of these is best for a quick in-and-out for a case of stuff. Uwajimaya is a lot of fun and way cleaner and more expensive than the others. It's at Dearborn and 6th, just go back down the hill to find it. To get back to I-5, retrace your steps (back to Jackson, down the hill, left on 8th, left on Dearborn). If you're travelling near the evening rush, you may want to skip the ID so you can take the express lanes through Seattle.

Paradise is at 5400 feet or so, so yes, there's a chance of snow there. But the current forecast is sunny and warm, and the snow from a week ago has all melted. Layers will be fine, even if it snows it won't be truly cold. (forecast) I see you're up for a driving vacation... don't know the best places to hit along your route, but the food in the Quinault lodge is what you'd expect of a place run by ARAMark. There are a few other restaurants in the area, perhaps one is better (the Salmon House up the road perhaps). The rainforest at Quinault is quite nice and has very nice easy trails and also access to difficult ones. Given you'll be in Quinault, I'd skip the Hoh and go to Cape Flattery instead.

The places in Kent should be a lot closer to you. I'd like to head down to Kent some day to try it out, maybe on the way home from the mountains some day.

There's a bunch of grocerys there. I think the one Dej is thinking of is Hau Hau, at 12th and King (park under the building on King, the 'proper' exit from 7 stars pepper's underground parking is actually to go through Hau Hau's parking lot.) You probably found the one across the street, in the same plaza as one of the Banh Mi places.

i think the secret ingredient is tamarind, maybe even as part of the curing process, but I can't say for sure... the bright orange tea tastes like soap to me. though perhaps the condensed milk it's often served with cuts that flavor.

Café Allongé is roughly the same as an americano in French. Funny, I looked it up to verify and found a little note from Juan Valdez. http://www.juanvaldez.com/menu/preparation...s/rightcup.html Doppio is just double in Italian. So espresso doppio = double espresso.

No idea. The space is mostly empty, though there are some aluminum studs up for walls. The floor is strange (looks like a raised floor), but I think it was built for .com insanity: the building apparently has all sorts of expensive redundant computer-friendly infrastructure, which is why it sat empty for years before being leased out to Subway (open), Cheese Cellar (not open), and Sports Bar (not open). There are two recently posted liquor applications on the window (from late June/early July) for a grocery selling beer/wine. Don't know if that means they plan to sell wine and cheese or what.

Busboy- You're right. I don't let the bellman take my bags, though sometimes they'll follow anyway. I sometimes tip valet parking agents, but avoid them when possible and am not generous when forced to use them (esp. since the parking charge itself is elevated for the service. sorry, why am i paying twice again?). Often they don''t even have reasonable service (i've waited half an hour at a hotel where they just put the car in a public garage across the street, and that was after calling 10 minutes in advance as requested. could have gone and done it myself in far less time, and will next time if I go back.)

I'm in the no camp, though of course there are exceptions (e.g. extra service). In the no camp for things like valets and bellhops too, not because they don't deserve it, but because I resent paying for something I don't want and didn't ask for. Restaurants generally have no discount for the fact that I'm not renting the table space or requiring cleanup or washing dishes (how does that compare cost-wise to take-out containers?). On the other hand, I don't really know if restaurants pass on their savings to their employees. If you want to know the minimum for your state, here's the full list, http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/tipped.htm

There's been a sign in the window of one of the retail spaces in Fisher Plaza about some sort of cheese shop "coming soon". On the last block of 4th before the space needle. Kind of an odd location, but a fair number of tourists pass by.

Service charges for any mixed group (by that I mean more than 2 parties together, like 4 co-workers at lunch or 3-couples at dinner) is understandable, since people under-estimate what they owe. But the percentages keep getting higher and higher. Recently, there were 6 of us at dinner. We ordered different numbers of courses. Service was pretty good, but forgetful. Simple things, like not bringing spoons for the soup, and more serious things like skipping the drink promised as part of the tasting menu (it was the first night of the menu and we hadn't all ordered it). We mentioned it and the waiter sort of recovered. But in the end we got a 19% service charge... wasn't worth complaining, but it was unexpectedly high. Note that in Seattle, the minimum wage for servers is something on the order of $7-8/hour. Also, any mandatory service charge is taxed with sales tax. What do restaurants do about mandatory service charges on alchohol? I've never quite understood why a $100 bottle of wine should be twice as hard to serve as a $50 bottle of wine, is the a 18-20% charge added on top of that?

There's a Pappadeaux in the Houston Intercontinental airport in terminal E. The nice restaurant is no longer at SeaTac anymore, they've totally remodeled that entire part of the terminal. In fact, there's probably a security checkpoint right there. Most terminals now have decent food courts, nothing too special, but a few unusual and possibly good things sprinkled in (the new terminal A lists "Africa Lounge" as one concession.) When the finish construction, there will be a new 'fine dining' restaurant in the terminal.

Yes. Humans understand language and dialog at a very deep instinctual level, and when you only hear half of a conversation your brain goes nuts trying to figure out the other half. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040412.html Thankfully, most people now have more courtesy, as being the person w/the cell phone is not a status symbol.

The land of the stip mall is not all barren... http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41505

There's a McCormick & Schmicks on the lake within easy walking distance of your hotel. Qualifies for cheap eats at happy hour, but othewise not noteworthy. Well, other than getting a cockroach in the sauce once. Just some quick numbers for your car decision: Airport shuttle from Gray Line is about $11, but I don't know if they go to your hotel (they do go to ones close by with a transfer). By Metro bus it's $1.25 or $2.00, but can take an hour or more with transfer. By cab it's $35 or so. From shuttle express it's not worth it, almost as expensive as a cab and almost as slow as Metro. Bicycle rental info at http://www.cascade.org/Community/rental.cfm, Alpine Hut on 15th W or Bikestation downtown look most convenient.

One restaurant nearby the hotel is Pasta Freska, in the triangle at the other corner of 8th and westlake. The hotel is between 8th and Westlake. Head north a block and they merge, head north another few blocks & they split at a trafficlight. In the point is Pasta Freska. At lunch you can order off the menu or use the buffet. At dinner it's supposedly no menu--they make you what they want. I've been curious but never tried dinner there. Here's a review: http://www.nwsource.com/ae/scr/nws_rev.cfm?id=6141. Mediterannean. If you want to move a lot, a car's not such a bad idea. Do note that there are many car rental places within walking distance of your hotel, plus a bus 28 (or 17) which goes where you probably want to be in Ballard. As to Eastlake, it's about a mile to I Love Sushi, another mile to the heart of Eastlake with Hines Public Market et al. Capitol Hill is a 25 minute walk at full speed, my co-workers used to do that every day when we worked down there. $6 by cab. Oh, and if in Fremont, there's Paseo. Last time I was there they'd opened a limited place in downtown fremont proper on the first block of Leary.

was there in april... quick review basically in agreement with everything above this post, including the noise rating. a friend and i split i believe the 80 & 120 omakase, one for each. why? because he's lactose intolerant, and the waiter suggested doing it this way to get a wider variety than two x 100, one with no milk based things. yes, milk-based dishes in a 'japanese' restaurant. many but not all of the cooked dishes were amazing, it was much the same as the post right before this though i can't remember it all in detail. the sushi, which ended the meal, was just not particularly good at all, and left a bad last impression. others ordered off the menu, they were accomidating of that request and the service was quite good. edit: one of the dishes was kobe beef, probably with foie gras (there certainly was foie at one point). i have no idea if it was really kobe beef, or american wagyu, or some random cattle. the sauce completely overpowered it and the texture was unremarkable.

Another thing about Ototo--the noise level is unbearably loud. (unless they changed something). Also, Chinoise... on 45th the sushi isn't very good, and I don't remember one way or the other about Queen Anne. Is the Madison restaurant an exception? I don't remember anything about it, which is probably neutral (I don't generally order sushi there. Or go that often.)

Larry's (QA) has it, $27.99/lb I believe. Wild unidentified King at $13.99/lb or so is cooking right now. I think Larry's is always expensive for salmon. Fred Meyer often has it under $5/lb, don't know if it's a loss leader or from some strange fish farm.

Something to look for no matter where you go: it should also be Copper River Salmon season next week... the only truly memorable salmon nigiri that I've had was Copper River @ Mashiko. Then again, if it's all frozen, should the season really matter?

(you can probably get scrapple at philadelphia fevre, on madison between 23rd and john)

er, what makes something NW? lots of suggestions here, from pre-european (plank cooked fish, local berries, dried fish, etc) to modern (a whopping 200 years later, NW fusion). since you dismiss both, what is the magic point half way between? maybe read louis & clark? bison doesn't really count--i belive they are all recent transplants from other parts of the country (great plains) as for presentation, a potlatch? kind of hard to do on a commerical or daily basis. unless you want to go down the route of Tillicum Village.

la spiga is right where you'll be, but it's closed monday and tuesday. are you staying in the new silver cloud? someone mentioned that the hotel restaurant (cayenne?) might be interesting, has anyone tried it sazerac would be far for breakfast from there. if you work 9-5, try and get out early/come in late/take a long luch one day to see the market.