chuck

If you're travelling from Portland to Seattle via 'miscellaneous Washington', and looking for places to camp, I'd suggest heading west from Portland out to Tillamook, then north along the coast to Long Beach/Ocean Shores. Camping is more spectacular in Oregon, but great in Washington as well. Plenty of mention lately on this board about coastal eating and things to see along the way. East from Hoquiam, north up the east side of the Olympics on Hwy. 101, across the Hood Canal Bridge (closed 8/11/05 8PM through 8/15/05 4 AM) and into Seattle on one of the state ferries. I can't think of a more spectacular entrance. For you, not for us. We probably won't spot you coming in. North from Portland to Seattle on I-5 takes about 3 hours. The route described above would take seven or so, but you'd see the ocean and some cool rural areas (including some great spots in the Olympics, like Lake Quinault and the eastern foothills) vs. boredom on the interstate. Wow, this is one slow site! Oh, Oregon. This one is much faster. Thanks, Washington. If you're looking for a beer, by the way, you came to the right place. In Portland: http://www.nwbrewpage.com/McMenamins.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/orbpubs/Bridgeport.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/orbpubs/RoguePort.html Along the way: http://www.nwbrewpage.com/orbpubs/Pelican.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/orbpubs/BillsTav.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/orbpubs/WetDog.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/Maxwell.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/SilverC.html In Seattle: http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/Elysian.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/BigTime.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/JollyRog.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/HalesBP.html http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/DiamKt.html Well now I'm thirsty and I want to go on vacation...

Thirty or so miles north of Ocean Shores is the village of Taholah, the heart of the Quinault, a people who definitely take advantage (in a good way) of what the sea has to offer. If you head into town and find the processing plant on the banks of the river you will be able to buy whatever it is they have fished that day. I picked up a beautiful steelhead at one point, but it depends on what is in season. Here is a guide to what you might expect this time of the year. I found a selection of frozen razor clams in their shop, among other things. The drive is pretty cool too. Not many people venture north from Ocean Shores on this dead-end road, but if you happen to make the journey you will see plenty of tall trees and open surf, and not a few on-the-cheap dream retirement houses on the beach.

Finally, finally, finally, that BBQ place on Lake City Way has opened. It's been 'Coming Soon' for about six months. About 83rd or so, on the left side of the street heading north, past Cooper's Ale House by a few blocks. It's called Willie's, but I'm not sure if it's connected to Willie's Taste of Soul on Beacon Hill. Open 'til midnight during the week, then, oh man, 3AM on Friday and Saturday nights.

Generally the goose foie gras imported from France was cheaper than even the Grade B American from D'Artagnan when I've bought it. I think there's more waste when you cook it, so keep that in mind.

I've pulled up to the Penn Cove office on the water to buy mussels right out of the bay. No dice. They recommended the Safeway in Coupeville. Seems like if you call them ahead of time and ask for a large quantity, more than about five pounds, they should be able to accomodate you in some way. I've just never planned that far ahead. Let us know. It'd be fun to head up there with a bunch of people, pick up ten or twenty pounds, then have a cookout on one of those fabulous beaches.

University Seafood has it, for about $10 less a pound than Seattle Caviar. 47th and University Way. 206 632 3700.

I spent half an hour picking a gallon of blackberries at Magnuson park yesterday. I wouldn't mention it if I thought there weren't enough for all of us, but clearly half the city could show up with me in the next few days and I'd still get another gallon. I'm thinking about an old fashioned cobbler, dropping flaky, not-too-sweet biscuit dough on the sugared berries and then sending it into the oven. Or maybe a buckle. Or a grunt.

The damage estimate was $350K. Wow, it didn't look that bad in the early afternoon. Looks like they had to punch through some bricks up near the roof but that's about it. I didn't get a good look inside but from what I saw it seemed OK, although it's probably smoke-damaged. Only went there a couple of times and it wasn't that good. Maybe if they clean up the mess they'll get the bug to improve.

Across from Carmelita is German pub Prost, not Barking Dog. Prost is actually very good but the food they offer is mostly very simple and simply done, like a cured sausage plate with a couple of links and a dollop of mustard. Avoid Barking Dog, at 70th and 7th NW at all costs. I like the coffee house on the corner of Greenwood and 80th when the time comes to sober up.

Yep, I passed by Luau the other day and noticed it was papered up. Circled around and peeked inside and saw that they had taken a lot of the interior out. I had heard that the original owners had repossessed it from their buyer, but it doesn't seem like they would have torn out the inside if it were going to open up as the same place. Anyone know?

The whole of the Oregon coast is beautiful and you can drive and drive and still see amazing things. So do it. Heading south from Cannon Beach is incredible, both for the scenic beauty and for the kitschy businesses that are the livelyhood of year-round residents. There are great places to eat and cosmopolitan things to do, but it's best to travel with an open mind about what really keeps the little towns going. I had some disappointing vacations until I realized that I wasn't going to find great espresso or the best line caught seafood, although both are certainly possible. Instead I embraced some things that back home I wouldn't have considered. (Wow, that was sort of depressing...) Now here are some things that I really enjoyed: The Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City was phenomenal, primarily because of the location on the beach, the gill-netting and surfing going on a hundred feet away, and the delicious beer, but the food wasn't bad either, if slightly expensive. Cute little resort town. http://www.pelicanbrewery.com/ In Yachats there is a little restaurant on the left side of South 101 just after the big 90 degree turn that serves good food in a hip family atmosphere. I had a couple of drinks at the bar, then a good, solid meal. The service seems to be recruited from the immediate family, but they were friendly and happy to be there. It's hard to be disparaging about a 12 year old girl sweetly delivering a plate of food from her uncle's kitchen. I'm not saying that that was the reality, but the very large martinis gave them the benefit of the doubt. For me the one place that I always hit is the Rogue Brewery in Newport just south of the bridge. I recently heard that they also have a pub in the downtown area, and it made me sad to think about the high price of unleaded and the fact that I will keep thinking about it until I go down there. The original, and still the primary brewing facility, is very cool. You walk through the warehouse to get to the pub that overlooks the river, then have sort of common pub food done very well. They have the usual sampler sets for beer tourists, but also have things that can't be found anywhere else. They also have a gift shop that sells bottles of obscure Rogue beers. The Tillamook cheese factory is certainly something to see. I've been there a few times now and I always leave with a bag of 'squeaky cheese', the fresh curds before they are pressed and aged. It's crowded, it's touristy, it's educational, but there's plenty of parking. If you can put up with those issues then don't miss it. Oh, Manzanita. Why are you so alluring? You know I will never be able to afford a vacation cottage there, and it's so outrageously pricey to rent a house for a week. I will see you the next time I'm in the vicinity, and you will be there with an expensive boutique food store and an excellent bakery, all located on the three-block-long main street. I will drive along the side streets with my latte, wondering who lives in the mansions on stilts to the north and the low, large ramblers to the south, all of which have views of the rugged coastline. Then I will return to my tent at the Nehalem State Park, which is also spectacular for walking on an undisturbed beach, and pretend that I can stay for the season. Oh, I'll see you again. To return to the main theme briefly, whatever you do enjoy the fact that you are there instead of anywhere else. You can't find everything good on the first try, but hopefully you will see enough to want to come back, and then be able to return someday and see more.

I think the one and only place I've been to in Oly is the Fish Brewing Company. Kind of cool for a brewpub, small, homey, but if you're a beer drinker they make some of the finest Northwest style beers around. Some, if not all, of the beer is organic.

Ah. Weird that it would get that hot that close to the North Pole.

One thing I definitely love is cold butter and room temperature bread. It's no crime to serve these to diners who know how to eat. Break off a piece of the bread you're given into a bite-sized portion, cleave a hunk of cold, unsalted butter, and combine just before you put it into your mouth. Nothing better than letting it warm up on it's own. Warm red wine, served at modern 'room temperature', now that's a travesty. If grandma wraps up in a throw with the heat on it does not mean that you should follow suit with pinot. 55 F - 60 F. Please.

30 degrees? Oh man that's cold! I guess Vancouver really is up there... My favorite squid thing is much the same as John's. Heat cast iron over a high flame for a long time, then season sliced squid with salt and pepper, chili flakes, garlic, and minced parsley. Peanut oil in the pan, and it should start smoking almost immediately, then slide in the squid, shake, stir, toss, juice of a lemon, a dash of white wine. Throw in some cooked pasta, toss again, plate, and top with some bread crumbs. The whole cooking process should take less than a minute, with everything ready to add to the pan ahead of time, but remove the batteries from the smoke detector firstly, as that can interupt.

Even if they've only been open for a few weeks they could have had that cheese somewhere for more than a month. It looks dried out and crappy, but sometimes cheeses are nasty looking and delicious. I say cut the thing in half (they'll take it back in half if they would take it back whole, especially if they're new) and take a look at the inside. It may release more aroma, good or bad. See if they have more examples of the same cheese somewhere for comparison. You want them to do well, of course, but not at your expense.

Has anyone mentioned victuals? I didn't realize how it was pronounced (or rather how the word 'vittles' was spelled) after reading it my whole life until maybe a year ago. Anytime I'm in a French bakery I just say, 'I'll take one of the, uh, yeah that, no the next one over, with chocolate. And a tall drip.' Works splendidly. I avoid mangling both pastries and espresso.

There's a very European coffee shop in Pioneer Square that has great coffee and a ton of tables outside. It's right in the middle of all of the art galleries on a closed-off brick street. I'm almost positive that it's Torrefazione, possibly even the original one. I don't think that they do too many of the speciality drinks, like shakes and granitas (and Swirkles!), but focus on more time-tested espresso drinks. The view is of the beautiful women/handsome men-historic brick building-no visible nature variety, but really cool. And you can't get much closer to downtown.

The best thing in the whole store is the smoked salmon collars for $7/lb or so. Sometimes they're on sale for less, which is how I discovered them. It's the fatty part at the front of the filet, brined, then heavily smoked. Rich, juicy, and they should be plentiful, and hopefully cheaper, now that we're heading into the season. I usually get some rye crackers and cream cheese, shred the salmon over the top, then a dash of hot sauce or black pepper. Compared to some of the other places around town they often have great sales on organic salad greens. Arugula, spinach, mixed greens, even mache. Be careful to check the weight though as some of those are bulky. I'll think of more...

Watching this has definitely inspired me to find some geoduck and make it myself at home. There was only a quick clip of a Chinese chef taking one apart, but I think I can wing it. Hearing it described as sweet and mild was really appetizing, as those tend to be the descriptors for my other favorite seafoods. I was disappointed to sit through almost 50 minutes of the Victorian street busker just for 10 about Seattle coffee. They made it sound like the hour would be half and half. Oh, well.

Getting over to the good parts of the wine country can take 4 hours and you should plan to go and stay instead of trying a day trip. My only advice is about the drive. You can take I-90 then head south at Ellensburg, but my god will you be sorry. That part of Washington reminds me of Nevada or something. You absolutely cannot go wrong by heading south from Seattle, either down I-5 to Tacoma or down SR-167, then turning east to go around Mt. Rainier on the north and east. Over some spectacular passes (White Pass? Blewett? I think you have a choice) and into some lovely dry eastern Washington mountains. There's a good place to stop and have breakfast near Sumner, just to keep this post relevant, called Charlie's, I think.

I'll vote for the I.D. also. Sea Garden serves until 3 at least on weekends and is damn good, if a little inconsistent lately. Walking around down there doesn't make me uncomfortable and it's possible to come across some cool things open at that hour. If you are timid you can drive down all of the streets until you see a bunch of cars lining the curb, then park and head in to whatever place is busy. It can be a long way from the rest of the late night action sometimes, but freeway access is cake with north or south I-5 right there, as well as an easy connection to I-90. If you don't have a Mai Tai at 1:45 you should be safely home in no time.

The Bungalow Wine Bar in Wallingford was really cool after I got used to it. Also, Cafe Paradiso on Pine was a good way to kill a couple of hours a day, but it just isn't the same now that it's a different coffee shop.

They take some simple trimming to make them succulent and absolutely delicious. Maybe a 70% yield or so. Subsititute them in any braised dish, or simmer until tender, chill, then marinate and grill. It's a shame that Don and Joe's doesn't have more people who can take them off of their hands.

I was disappointed by the Cora/Lee result, but was still in disbelief over the Lo victory over Batali. She whined about things from the start. Please shut up about the lack of BTUs. A true professional would have dropped their head and doubled their efforts, not started complaining. And on television? One of her sous chefs was obviously affected, and was kind of loud and bitchy later on (again, on TV?), and that revealed a bit about Lo's lack of authority. All of this leads up to the fact that her dishes, if not by taste then by appearance and technique, sucked. I think that the judges decided that she had used the mushrooms more effectively than Batali had, but their comments were transparently one-sided. The main course with deep fried guinea hen had no mushrooms whatsoever until plating when the dish was finished with a truffle sauce then topped with shaved truffles. Oh, that bread pudding looked good, didn't it? Actually, it looked almost exactly like the previous dish, a corn flan. I think she won because she is a girl. Witness the advertising push by the Food Network over the whole 'female Iron Chef' thing. Now imagine the ratings advantage of having two whole shows in a row where women beat men. I think it's a ploy. I realize that this is just like rehashing the Rowdy Roddie Piper/Hulk Hogan grudge matches in 7th grade homeroom, but fuck if I can stop myself.