LEdlund

I'm drinking one right now and I almost did a spit take when I saw that. Wow! 21 grams of fat! That said, I do like it - but I really like my afternoon coffee. I wonder if I can get a shot of espresso in it...that would take up some of the room that the fat takes.

I freeze mine all the time. I use it as a base for bloody mary's so I freeze it in one cup containers then thaw, mix with tomato juice and vodka and drink. Yum.

Well, I'll have an interesting mix of things for sure! I'm going to offer the usual beer and wine but wanted something to get us geared up for the upcoming meal. So far I've got something with red beans (great idea Bond Girl!), Coca-Cola, tea, Cognac and fruit juices (lychee, melon, quava). Since I want to offer both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, this is perfect. Thanks for the suggestion, keep them coming! Lauren

A bunch of us in Seattle are going to a Taiwanese Banquet next week. I've invited the attendees to my house before dinner and am wondering if there is an appropriate cocktail/beverage that I should serve. Does anyone know?

That is too funny. It's been a while but, iirc, the story about the owner making his fortune elsewhere rings a bell. I remember thinking that it seemed like a case of the owner opening a place where he would to hang out. They sort of billed themselves as a wine/cocktail bar with food, as opposed to a restaurant serving wine and cocktails. That being the case, I tried to engage the bartender in a conversation about interesting cocktails, but he was not familiar with quite a few types of liquor (chartreuse comes to mind). Again, iirc, the chef was not someone I would pay money to see unclothed, but I can see where he might have a following with those of a persuasion other than my own

I was there a few months ago. It really wants to be a high profile location but my feeling was the owner and bartender didn't quite have the knowledge to pull it off.

Is that where the Red Robin used to be?

After reading this thread then seeing it at Costco for ~ $89, we did the same thing. We had it for New Years Eve and it was very good. I don't know if I'd pay $150 for it but it was well worth $89!

I was finally able to locate a bottle over the weekend and tried it with grilled lamb chops last night. It had a great concentrated fruit smell but I also got a hint of something fresh like rosemary. On its own, I thought it had a bright fruit taste with a hot almost chemical finish (alcohol?). Once we got dinner on the table and I was able to try it with food, it tasted much earthier much more like black cherry. I have another bottle and am looking forward to trying it again.

This sounds like fun. I'm in. Oh, and Palace sounds like a good place to start and I also think "Friend of Chuck" is confusing what with a chuck posting and all. I like Ground Roundup. Maybe at the first "meeting" we can all bring our suggestions of burgers to try so we can create a master list.

Tagging on to this, if anyone has a recipe for the crawfish bread served at JazzFest, I'd love that.......

Me too. I have my local wine store trying to find a bottle for me. So far - no luck. Has anyone tried ordering from the U.S. distributor? I may try that next week.

I haven't been yet - but I know that Wonderbar in Wallingford serves espresso and cocktails. I assume they have beer as well. Strange, I haven't had a need to seek out a place that served both coffee and beer

Every time I am by there, it's not open

Are there two different drinks - one called Falling Leaves with Pear Brandy and reisling and Fallen Leaves with Calvados and vermouths? The recipe on Drink Boys website is different from the one posted here, then I noticed the names were slightly different......

I had my Barbera this past weekend. The color was a deep garnet at the center moving to a more raspberry/geranium at the edges. I got a very smoky smell right off the bat. Secondary to that was concentrated fruit. The first time I had the wine, I was eating some good stinky cheese. The second time it was served with puttanesca. Both times I noted strong tannins. With the cheese, it tasted earthy to me. With the pasta, it tasted fruitier. I also got a strong hit of pepper when drinking it with the pasta - but I'm guessing that was from the sauce! I didn't feel it was a very interesting wine - something I would want to drink on its own. But I also felt it didn't stand up to the food I had with it. And, at $22 per bottle, a little more than I want to spend for what I consider "book group wine". After reading through the other posts - I can see that decanting could definitely help with round out the wine. And I'm going to go with a hamburger next time!

Me too! Mine (along with my rolling pin) gets stored in my flour bin.

My two cents: I loved the space. The exposed brick with the cut-outs for wine storage was wonderful - the "stained glass" (back-lit art) was fun - the stairway leading to nowhere and the table set on a balcony above the pizza oven added interest. The heat was fine for me - but I am always freezing. Where I had a problem with it was the temperature of the wine. It felt cooked. Yuck. I liked most everything about the pizzas - the sauce and the wood fired bits on the crust added a nice smoky flavor - the flavor of the cheese was fantastic (especially the mozzarella) - the crust had a nice stretch to it. Like everyone else I didn't like the undercooked middle. Actually it made Paul feel sick to eat - like he was eating raw dough. What I really didn't like was the canned mushrooms. To me, they were the deal breaker. The host (I got the impression he was one of the owners) was perceptive, attentive and charming. The wait staff (hmm, I guess I could use a gender specific term because they were all women) were better than average. The kitchen (Dino) was over-the-top. It was almost like the passionate chef was the role they agreed he should play. Based on their location, the ambiance and the fact they are open until 2 AM, I'm sure they will be around for awhile. I'd go back to enjoy the party atmosphere but not necessarily for the food.

From the Pike Place Market Newsletter: WINTER COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE FARMS Blue Moon Farm, Vashon Margaret Hoeffel and Jean Bosch Vashon Island pick up (206) 463-1224 bluemoonfarm2@earthlink.net Growing Things, Carnation Michaele Blakely (425) 788-0480 mjb@premeir1.net Terry's Berries, Tacoma Terry Carkner (253) 922-1604 terryann@nwrain.com Whistling Train Farm, Kent Mike Verdi and Shelly Pasco (253) 859-5197 shelley@whistlingtrainfarm.com Pick up at Pike Place Market on Fridays and at Ballard Farmers Market on Sundays More info at: http://www.whistlingtrainfarm.com/ Willie Greens Organic Farm, Monroe Jeff Miller (425) 485-4128 williegreens@hotmail.com

When we were at lunch at Union yesterday our waiter mentioned they would be having two or three seatings on NYE with the latest one at 10:30. I checked their web site, but no menu posted.

I actually love this place but, the service sucks so bad that Mr Ledlund won't go with me anymore. It has become the place I go on the holidays that only banks get. I always get the hotlinks omlette with fresh fruit and a scone. Yum.

I was wondering if that was it. I've driven by it many times but couldn't remember if that's where Duke's used to be.

My father loves Andy's Diner and I think this is why. Even though he doesn't smoke any more, I think he still prefers to be in this type of environment. Me, I go when I am craving a good patty melt or french dip sandwich.

It must be a case of "it's not what you say, but how you say it". I don't think asking if you need help with the wine list causes the patron to lose face. I'm sure there's more to the story than is able to be conveyed..........

I've never been to the Broadway Dick's but have been to the QA one a couple of times and the Wallingford one more times than I'd like to admit. Unfortunately, I've never known them to do any special orders. After many years, we still tease my mother about trying to special order her Dick's Deluxe. (They shot back the same retort you got). There's a cadance to ordering (another soup nazi?!) and, to me, it's part of their appeal.