Sauced

Seattle Beer Week Essentials: Trappists at Brouwer’s, Firkins at Maritime, Night of the Living Nanos

Here are the final picks.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 27, 2011 at 12:30PM 0 Comments

Cody Morris of Epic Ales. See him without the sepia tones at Night of the Living Nanos.

Photo: Epic Ales

Oh my god it’s still Seattle Beer Week.

This will be my last post on the matter and much as I love SBW, can’t say I’m entirely displeased we’re wrapping up here.

These are the picks for March 27 through 29.

EVENTS ON FRIDAY, MAY 27

BALLARD
Great opportunity for Belgian beer geeks: Brouwer’s Cafe is hosting reps from five Trappist Breweries: Chimay, La Trappe, Orval, Westmalle, and Rochefort. Try the beers and talk to them.

Maritime Pacific is tapping six firkins on its bar. These firkins will be filled with the following: Tropicale Island, The Bends, coconut-rum infused Bosun’s Porter, Jolly Gator Old Ale, Dry Hopped Imperial, and Dry Hopped Jane’s Bitter. They will be there from 4 to 11:45pm, but you should get there early for two reasons: 1. the beer may run out. 2. happy hour ends at 6pm. Sliders on brioche buns!

WEDGEWOOD
It’s Night of the Living Nanos at Fiddler’s Inn. (A nanobrewery is a very small brewery). Brewers from Foggy Noggin Brewing in Bothell and Seattle’s Emerald City Beer and Epic Ales will be hanging around the bar from 7 to 11pm. Fiddler’s has five of their beers on tap. I called but the guy I spoke with couldn’t remember which beers they were and the kegs weren’t labeled. I’m having a similar kind of day.

EVENTS ON SATURDAY, MAY 28

GREENLAKE
The Duck Island Ale House is doing a cider and cheese pairing event that sounds promising (where there is cheese, there is joy). That’s from 6 to 11pm.

SOUTH LAKE UNION
Brave Horse Tavern is hosting Ninkasi for a beer brunch that begins at 11am. There’s live music and a special menu—I have a call in about that menu, check back for details.

EVENTS ON SUNDAY, MAY 29

BALLARD
Old Town Alehouse is tapping a keg of Pliny the Elder. It will be tapped at noon, so get there before then. Pliny!

GREENWOOD
The Yard Cafe (from the Dray people) is having its grand opening party on the final day of SBW. That’s all-day long and there will be tacos.

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Tags: Ballard, Greenwood,

Seattle Beer Week Essentials: $3 Pints at Noble Fir, Fremont Brewing Collab, HUB in SLU

The whole thing ends in three days, so tighten up and stay in the zone. There’s more beer to drink.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 26, 2011 at 04:18PM 0 Comments

The Noble Fir turns one.

Photo: Noble Fir

No silly stuff. I’m just going to get to it:

BALLARD
It’s kind of hard to believe that The Noble Fir has been around for a year already. Celebrate its anniversary tonight with $3 pints on all draughts.

FREMONT
Through 8pm, stop by Fremont Brewing where they’re dusting off their agers for Cellar Night. You can also try the brewery’s collab with Left Hand Brewing called “Left Handed Dark Star.” That’s a mixture of Dark Star and Milk Stout.

PHINNEY RIDGE
74th Street Ale House is hosting the folks from Ninkasi, a Portland brewery we all know and love, from 6 to 9pm.

SOUTH LAKE UNION
The Brave Horse Tavern welcomes reps from another excellent Portland brewery: Hopworks Urban Brewery. That lasts from 8 through 11pm.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Beer, Ballard, Seattle Beer Week,

Five Cinco de Mayo Suggestions

The day has come, let’s do this thing.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 05, 2011 at 08:04AM 0 Comments

Margaritas at the Saint. Always pretty fun.

Still no plans? Here are some options to consider, organized in the form of a countdown (though a rather meaningless one. It mostly depends what you’re looking to do.)

5. La Casa Azul
Way up Greenwood Avenue, this ever-underrated Mexican restaurant has excellent food—including moles made by the owner’s family in Mexico then Fed Exed here. It also sells very serviceable margaritas by the pitcher. I like the strawberry.
Best for Hungry people (servings are huge) and families.

4. The Saint
It’ll be busy, but it’s always fun in that bar.
Best for Party people.

3. Bottleneck
You know how couples have to choose whose family they’ll visit on holidays? Bottleneck is the bar equivalent of the low-key side of the family, the one that tells you to grab whatever you want from the kitchen and does a buffet at dinner that’s eaten in front of cable television and never asks if the sheets were too scratchy or whatever. (The sheets usually are a little scratchy, the price you pay for the privilege of watching an America’s Next Top Model marathon on Christmas Day and not getting judged for it).

It’s a neighborhood bar that likes to celebrate stuff like Cinco de Mayo—there will be a special taco bar tonight—but not, you know, get to crazy. Always a good option.
Best for People who want to wear sweatpants to the bar and not be judged for it, people who live in the neighborhood.

2. The Noble Fir noble fir/
It’s centrally located on Ballard Avenue, and as I mentioned yesterday it has tapped a special jalapeno-infused beer from Two Beers.
Best for Beer people and people who have the wreckless notion of going out to Carta de Oaxaca on Cinco de Mayo only to discover a long line of people who had the same notion hovered outside the door. I wish Carta would accept reservations.

1. Barrio (on Capitol Hill or Bellevue)
One time a friend of mine was going to dinner at Barrio and he couldn’t remember the name of it. “You know, that condo-people place,” he said. Cue rolling eyeballs. Capitol Hill people dismiss Barrio for being too corporate for the neighborhood but have you eaten there lately? The food is really very good. And the drinks are way more interesting than what’s on offer at your typical tequila bar. I say go, fight the crowd, and order some cocktail you’ve never had before.
Best for People who like cocktails that taste good and people who live in Bellevue.

And now, just because it’s Cinco de Mayo and because we can, let’s revisit David Granger’s description of drinking a Skinny Girl Margarita.

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Tags: Bellevue, Capitol Hill, Ballard, Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo for Beer Fans

Exclusive: Noble Fir serves up a jalapeno-infused IPA from Two Beers

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 04, 2011 at 11:09AM 2 Comments

A baby in a jalapeno suit.

More one-off beer news!

The Noble Fir is a fairly new beer bar on Ballard Avenue. It’s nice. And on Thursday—Cinco de Mayo—it’s going to serve a jalapeno-infused version of Two Beers Brewing’s Evo IPA.

The kegs will be tapped at 4pm, this is the only bar at which the infusion will be served.

For margarita people, I’ve included a bunch of Cinco options here.

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Tags: Beer, Ballard, Cinco de Mayo

Paratii’s New Opening Date

The Ballard cachaca bar opens this week.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 03, 2011 at 02:43PM 0 Comments

Citrus fruit is good in drinks

Word from Paratii Craft Bar manager Michael Kostin is that the new cachaca bar on Ballard’s Leary Ave will officially open at 4pm on Wednesday, May 4. (It’s been opening softly for the last few days).

The bar was originally slated to open in late April but that date was moved back due to a death in the family of owner Samir Hassan.

I don’t know about you but I’m overdue for a good caipy: the $17 one I had at Trump Hotel Chicago was decidedly subpar. I’ve got investigators looking into the matter, they’re also trained deep-sea divers. Har har har.

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Tags: Ballard, Cachaca

Drinking Events This Week: Cinco de Mayo and Derby Day

Boozy things to do around Seattle.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 03, 2011 at 01:44PM 0 Comments

Your royal wedding hat could win you a prize on Derby Day—Tavern Law and Bottleneck are doing costume contests.

The Sauce has been a little thin lately, you may have noticed. This is due to the fact that I was having a little Illinois adventure last week. But I’m back and there’s a lot going on.

Let’s get to it.

Wednesday, May 4 Lupec Seattle will hold its monthly meeting. This time the ladies will be heading out to Woodinville Whiskey for a tasting class. The suggested donation—which will go to relief efforts in Japan—is $20. See the Lupec Seattle’s site for more details.

Thursday, May 5 is of course Cinco de Mayo, so we’ll be wanting to drink some margaritas. You could hit up La Carta de Oaxaca but let’s face it, that place is likely to be a total cluster on Cinco. Maybe try one of these parties instead: Milagro Cantina in Kirkland is rolling out the $5 food menu and a $5–7 specialty cocktail menu. Bottleneck is offering a special taco menu that night. Bandolero in Greenlake is having a Cinco de Mayo party too and margaritas there are always $5 during happy hour (4–6 and 10–midnight).

Also on Thursday: good beer! West Seattle’s Beveridge Place Pub hosts the Three Matts brewers night with, you guessed it, three brewers named Matt. The Matts in question are Matt McClung from Schooner Exact, Matt Stromberg from Scuttlebutt, and Matt Lincoln of Fremont Brewing. This starts at 7pm.

One more thing on Thursday: Theo Chocolate’s Abby Culin is heading over to Wine World Warehouse to conduct a wine and chocolate pairing class with WWW’s owner, sommelier David LeClaire. That’s from 7pm to 9pm and costs $20.

Saturday, May 7 is Derby Day, so if you’re one of those royal wedding hat people, here’s a chance to give that kooky headwear a second life. Bottleneck hosts a costume contest with prizes during its annual derby party, and Skillet will show up from 2 to 4 to dole out burgers and poutine and so forth. Just a little way’s away on Capitol Hill, Tavern Law will be doing its annual Derby Day party. That’s from 1 to 7pm and it, too, features a costume contest.

Looking forward to next week: Bartender Miles Thomas will work his last shift at the Hideout on Friday, May 13. Should be a party….

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Tags: Kirkland, West Seattle, Drinking Events, Ballard, Cinco de Mayo, Seattle Margaritas

Update on Paratii Craft Bar

An opening day delay for the Ballard cachaca bar.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 25, 2011 at 08:16AM 2 Comments

Paratii’s opening delayed.

Photo: mybraziltrek.com

The opening of new Ballard bar Paratii—originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 26—has been delayed. The change in plans is due, sadly, to the death of owner Samir Hassan’s mother.

Bar manager Michael Kostin says that a new opening date will be announced soon. I’ll let you know that new date as soon as I hear from him.

A cocktail bar specializing in cachaca and Brazilian seafood, Paratii will take over the Leary Avenue space formerly occupied by Ballard Best BBQ. Find more details on it here.

Condolences to the Hassan family.

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Tags: Ballard, Bar Openings, Bar Openings

Drinking Events This Week: Dry Fly at Meet Your Maker, Earth Day Tastings, Eggs N Ovaries

Booze-focused to-dos for the week of April 18.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 19, 2011 at 10:13AM 0 Comments

Bring your reusable vessel to the 7 Seas tasting at Full Throttle Bottles in Georgetown.

On Tuesday, April 19, Palace Kitchen begins the Meet Your Maker series, “an opportunity to meet some of our favorite specialty liquor, beer and wine producers.”

Kent Fleischmann of Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane will be there from 6 to 9pm. Pay $25 to meet him and try Dry Fly’s gin, vodka, and whiskey paired with bites from the chef: scallop crudo, smoked salmon, and glazed pork belly. Details here.

Gig Harbor’s 7 Seas Brewing will be tasted at Georgetown’s Full Throttle Bottles on Wednesday, April 20 from 5 to 7pm. It’s $3, or $2 if you bring your own earth friendly vessel.

Attention organic hair-product junkies (I know you’re out there, stand up and be counted): the Local Vine on Capitol Hill is inviting Aveda over for Earth Day on Thursday, April 21 from 6 to 9pm. Admission is free and you can enter to win products. The bar will be serving organic and biodynamic wines for the occasion.

Molbak’s Garden and Home in Woodinville is hosting a wine tasting in honor of Earth Day this Friday, April 22. A $25 entrance fee buys you six “generous” pours from Brian Carter Cellars, Castillo de Feliciana, DeLille Cellars, Dusted Valley and Elsom Cellars (good wineries!), plus appetizers.

This Saturday, April 23 it’s Eggs N Ovaries in Ballard: you donate, you get a wristband, and you run around Ballard bars looking for hidden Easter eggs. The event benefits ovarian cancer research, all the info you need is here.

Sunday, April 24—some people call it Easter—Bottleworks welcomes Full Sail Brewing to the store. It’s a chance to try 10 beverages (year-rounds, seasonals, and barley wine) from the fine Hood River, Oregon brewery for the bargain price of $1.

Bottleworks opens at 11am on Sundays.

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Tags: Tastings and Classes, Beer and Food Pairing, Earth Day, Georgetown, Washington Wines, Ballard, Woodinville, Wine Tastings, Beer, Capitol Hill, Seattle Beer

Paratii Craft Bar Opens This Month in Ballard

Ballard, prepare for an “imbibing palace” with tableside caipirinhas, boozy kombucha, and—why not?—piranha soup.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 18, 2011 at 12:00PM 9 Comments

Tableside caipis are coming your way, Ballard.

Photo courtesy: transparent.com

Here’s something you didn’t expect me to tell you: If Samir Hassan—the Brazilian restaurateur behind shuttered establishments All Nations in Bitter Lake and, before that, Samba in Maple Leaf—can find a way to source piranhas, he’ll offer piranha soup on the menu at his new bar in Ballard.

“It’s delicious!” Hassan assured me. “And supposedly an aphrodisiac. Actually, piranha has two meanings in Brazil. It could be a fish, it could be a really slutty girl.” (He says lots of awesome stuff like that.)

In addition to piranha soup, the Brazilian-seafood menu at Paratii Craft Bar will include the classic stew vatapá. Hassan wants to feature specialties from all over his native land; the task of executing these falls on Kal Gellein, whose cooking you may have experienced at the now-defunct Kallaloo in Columbia City. There will also be an all-you-can-eat happy hour food buffet featuring hams, sausages, and other meats—all sourced from Chicago.

Despite all his talk of food, Hassan cautions that Paratii is not, first and foremost, a restaurant. It is, rather, “an imbibing palace.”

“My bartenders are the star of the show,” says Hassan, who has hired five ’tenders for the project: Michael Kostin, Pepe Castillo (who also works at Canlis), Jeshua Madden, John Star Gilmer of 1022 South in Tacoma, and Cynthia Delancey, both formerly of 1022.

The star of the back bar will be cachaca, a rum-like spirit from Brazil that anchors the caipirinha cocktail. When you order a caipirinha at Paratii, a bartender will come make it for you at your table, as if this were a fancy steak house and you’d ordered a Caesar salad instead of a mixed drink of cachaca, lime, and sugar. Order an absinthe, and you’ll get your own tableside louching too.

Twelve on-tap beers will include brews from the great Black Raven Brewing in Redmond, and Hassan says he’s working with Big Al Brewing to create a special house beer named “Tangerine Dream.” He’s also talking to a local kombucha-maker about offering his boozier version of that drink. House-made infusions are another focus—apple-cinnamon rye whiskey among them.

The only beverage that Paratii does not celebrate, it seems, is vodka. Hassan disdains it. “It’s an excuse to get drunk without tasting the spirits,” said the restaurateur, who will nonetheless keep about five bottles on hand.

Hassan plans to open Paratii on Tuesday, April 26 at 5463 Leary Ave NW, the space inhabited most recently by Ballard Best BBQ and, before that, Chai House.

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Tags: Ballard, Bar Openings, Cachaca, Seattle Beer

Seattle’s Tiny Bars

Six favorites among the local little guys.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 18, 2011 at 09:40AM 7 Comments

Sambar is small.

There are a lot of lists floating around the internet, but sometimes one just catches your fancy. If you haven’t yet, check out Budget Travel’s slideshow of the 10 Smallest Bars in the World.

This got me thinking about our own small bars here in Seattle. So below I gathered some of my favorites. They may not match the Budget Travel list for wee-ness, but they’re all pretty fun places to hang out…if you can get a seat.

1. Sambar: A teensy Ballard bar with very wonderful drinks and fussy-delicious French food from Le Gourmand next door. At the risk of sounding like a cornball, this bar is a total neighborhood treasure.

2. Vermillion: A little nook—hidden at the back of an 11th Ave art gallery—that manages to feel at once hip and friendly, like the time you made your older sister drag you along to her friend’s parents-out-of-town kegger just to see what actually happened in high school but then everyone ended up being super nice to you and bringing you beers and stuff and then your poor eighth-grade pals (who had stayed home that night watching Pulp Fiction again because, like, did you even think about inviting them?) had to spend the next two weeks listening to you talk about how epic it was.

3. The White Horse Trading Co: Tiny, covered in Brit bric-a-brac, frequented by local characters who bring more than the requisite eccentricity and flavor, the White Horse endeavors to mimic an English pub but ends up feeling like a bar on another planet.

4. Hazlewood: You must arrive early to secure a seat upstairs, but if you can manage it, this is one of the best places in Ballard to settle in for a chat and some crazy drink involving prosecco, crème de cassis, and squid ink.

5. Joe Bar: Wait, is Joe Bar even that small? I’m not sure. But it doesn’t get praised nearly enough, that’s for certain. There’s something to be said for a place that just gets it right and then doesn’t try too hard to do anything else.

6. The Dray: A fine little wood-lined beer bar in Ballard frequented by friendly neighborhood revelers garbed out in “Fremont fashion”: puffy vests, Sounders scarves, Dansko clogs, Timbuk2 messenger bags… What’s great about The Dray is that its owners are not afraid to nerd out on the on-tap offerings, but understand that unfamiliar beers need to be accompanied by educated, friendly staff willing to explain what they taste like.

So. What did I miss?

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill, Ballard, Seattle Bars, Friends in Small Spaces

This Week in Happy Hour News: Local 360 and Golden Beetle Roll Out the Discount Menus

Two new restaurants with even newer HHs.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 16, 2011 at 03:27PM 0 Comments

Golden Beetle has gotten around to happy hour.

Two new restaurants have introduced happy hours. Let’s have a look.

First, Local 360 in Belltown now offers HH from 3 to 5pm on weekdays, and the same menu is also available starting at 10 every night of the week. Four-dollar food items include: fried manila clams with aioli, deviled duck eggs, mini mac and cheese, corn dogs, and a rabbit liver mousse. There is also a $10 hamburger on the menu (with beef ground by the house butcher) and $1 oysters.

Draught beers are $4, select wines are $5, and well cocktails featuring local spirits are $5 too.

Also, the new Ballard restaurant from Maria Hines, Golden Beetle, has rolled out its much anticipated happy hour menu, featuring smaller portions of menu items for $4. This happens from 5 to 6pm Tuesday through Sunday. (A snacky late-night menu menu, more expansive than the HH one, is served every night the restaurant is open beginning at 10pm).

On the early HH menu: Za’atar-spiced French fries deep-fried in beef fat, grilled chicken wings, pita and hummus, a turkey doner kebab, and spiced donuts.

Snack away, Seattle.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Belltown, Ballard, Seattle Happy Hours

Five Questions for the Bartender: Charles Veitch III

Bastille’s barman on Fernet-Branca, bike-riding, and the drawbacks of life in the digital age.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 09, 2011 at 09:48AM 4 Comments

Photo: Lucas Anderson

Bastille bar manager Charles Veitch is a Fernet fanatic.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Bastille bar manager Charles Veitch is a Fernet fanatic.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

However, he’s also very into absinthe. This fountain is the wallpaper on his iphone, just to give you a sense of how serious the situation really is.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Look at him here, admiring the absinthe.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

This is Bastille’s absinthe collection—assembled by Veitch for your drinking pleasure. You can try any of them for $8 every Monday in the back bar.

Connecticut native Charles Veitch—whose demeanor is more gentlemanly history professor than blustery bartender, if we’re talking stereotypes—says he first started mixing drinks in the city of New Haven while studying organic chemistry, an academic background that still strongly influences his approach to wine and spirit studies.

He then worked as a sommelier, fell in love with Northwest wines, and moved out here.

It was in part his polite and erudite manner, I’m guessing, that landed him a gig as a server at Campagne. He went on to run the restaurant’s bar program.

Working with Cyril Frechier, the wine director, was an amazing opportunity says Veitch. However, the natural pull behind the bar was inevitable. When Spur opened in Belltown, he joined the staff there.

Since moving to Bastille in Ballard, Veitch—who confesses below to a bit of a Fernet-Branca obsession—has had the chance to focus on another of his great loves: absinthe. Click through the slideshow to see him getting his louche on.

Here, five questions for Charles Veitch III.

What is the most underrated spirit?

Tough question. To the fraternity of bartenders it may sound funny, but Fernet-Branca is still horribly underrated in my book. I walk into a bar and just assume that they will have a bottle on the shelf, or at least hidden away for those of us that do know. Unfortunately, that’s all too often that’s not the case. I have a blast exposing guests at my bar to this amazing elixir. How could anyone not fall hopelessly in love with a spirit that is named for a fictional doctor, rumored to contain opiates, and excusable as an AM beverage if your breakfast is too big? Fernet and I have become good friends.

What is your favorite Seattle bar (other than Bastille)?

I love the Roanoke. No it’s not closed. Trust me. It’s really near my house and is a great stop after a tough ride up the hill. I also frequent Quinn’s. Of course I’m a fan of all the other heavy hitters that need not be mentioned, but the one that I’m surprised doesn’t come up more often is Spur. I may be biased, but they just get it right there.

What drink do you order at that bar?

I’m usually drinking something with Campari at Roanoke, and they are sure to keep Fernet in good supply for me at Quinn’s.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen someone do in a bar?

Well, the worst thing I’ve seen recently was when this guy on a date got caught by his wife after her friends, just a few seats away, started texting her pics from their phones. Can anyone say PINCHED?

List three reasons you live in Seattle.

I’ve never felt so challenged, creatively stimulated, or welcomed by such a large community of bartenders and restaurant professionals the way I have here in Seattle.

I love to bike and walk, these are my major forms of transportation. Rain doesn’t scare me and there is nary a day so cold that I can’t just layer up for the commute.

Lastly, when the weather does finally shape up everyone appreciates it and takes advantage. Too many industry friends from the east coast take the sunny months for granted. I’d rather be on my bike or hiking than hiding inside in the A/C.

Charles Veitch works the front bar at Bastille every Friday and Saturday night, and the back bar most every Sunday night. He occasionally works Sunday brunch, when it is absolutely appropriate for you to order a shot of Fernet.

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Tags: Five Questions for the Bartender, Ballard