Sauced

A New Chef for Canon

Tavern Law’s Andrew Cross takes over, but the buns remain.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 23, 2012 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Another departure from Tavern Law; a new food program at Canon.

Canon, a little bar on 12th Avenue that you’ve probably heard of, has a new chef. Per the Twitters, Andrew Cross arrived on Friday to take over the kitchen. He didn’t have far to move; Cross previously worked just up the street at Tavern Law, right up until the night before he reported for duty at his new job. Cross was, according to Canon owner Jamie Boudreau, the kitchen manager and lead cook over there. Before that, he worked in the kitchen at Canlis.

While Cross is still settling in, Boudreau says patrons can expect the menu to expand, change more frequently, and offer more specials and food pairings. He’s also hoping for more special dinners like Canon’s New Year’s Eve celebration and, as soon as it’s feasible, brunch.

“It’s our goal to have our guests talk about the food as much as they have our drinks,” says the barman, a lofty goal considering the roster of behind-the-bar talent, and the love that has rained down on Canon since it opened. Boudreau was also quick to note that the pork belly buns, an item so in demand at Canon that they are listed at the top of the menu inside a thick black box, aren’t going anywhere.

Boudreau says that Canon’s opening chef, Melinda Bradley, left to pursue another career, but he was “pleased with the direction that she has steered our ship.”

Cross isn’t the only Tavern Law alum that’s changed things up lately. Former lead bartender Ian Cargill now spends his weekends running the Trophy Room over at Shorty’s.

In totally unrelated (but still enjoyable) Canon news, partner Andrew Fawcett informed me that the bar called in a former BBC announcer to record its voice mail message. So next time you find yourself with a moment to spare during daytime hours, dial 206-552-9755 and revel in the fact that everything sounds more classy with a British accent.

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Tags: Jamie Boudreau, Tavern Law, Canon Seattle, Shift Change

Murray Stenson Joins Canon Crew

The legendary barman surfaces.

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Oct 17, 2011 at 12:00PM 1 Comments

Murray Stenson: find him behind the bar at Canon.

Even on her way out she delivers the big stuff.

On Sunday evening Jess Voelker—whose last day at Seattle Met was last week —was the first to tweet huge news: that Murray Stenson has joined the crew at Canon, the new cocktail emporium of Jamie Boudreau.

In May the legendary barman departed from his longtime post at Zig Zag. His plan was to take a gig at Michael Mina’s RN74. That never panned out, however, and Stenson has laid low since.

According to Eater and Seattle Weekly, Stenson will tend three nights a week; which ones are yet to be determined.

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Tags: Jamie Boudreau, Murray Stenson, Canon Seattle

Bartender Jared Scarr Joins the Canon Crew

The Vito’s drink mixer is the newest member of the cocktail team at Jamie Boudreau’s bar.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 29, 2011 at 11:14AM 2 Comments

Photo: Lucas Anderson

Jared Scarr: Now mixing drinks at Canon

Sazerac sipper Jared Scarr is a favorite at First Hill throwback Vito’s. And while he’ll continue to work at that lowlit lounge, he has also begun to mix drinks at Canon alongside Nathan Weber and owner Jamie Boudreau.

For now, Scarr will be working Tuesdays and Saturdays at Vito’s. Thursdays and Fridays he’ll be at Canon. As is always the case with such shifts, they are subject to change. But if you want him to make you a drink tonight, for instance, you know where to go.

In less happy Canon news, Eater Seattle’s Allecia Vermillion reports that the bar recently lost 15 glasses thanks to an indelicate dishwasher. As anyone with an appreciation for vintage glassware knows well, this is a sad development indeed.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Behind the bar, Jamie Boudreau

First Look at Canon

Jamie Boudreau’s Capitol Hill bar takes shape.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 31, 2011 at 09:15AM 1 Comments

When will Canon open? Nobody knows. But soon!

Photo: Canon via Facebook.

On Tuesday night I (along with some other media and a few contest winners) had the chance to check out Canon, Jamie Boudreau’s new bar in the former Licorous space on 12th Avenue East. The place has been transformed to pleasing effect: there’s antique-looking wallpaper with a silvery shimmer and dark, manly blinds where once hung gauzy curtains. The wall behind the banquette has been painted a chocolatey hue, and Boudreau is planning to decorate it with framed newspaper clippings from the day Prohibition was repealed.

Some things you will see at Canon when it opens: an old-timey cash register where you might except a computer, an alembic still posing like a reclining nude atop a shelf behind the bar, and a gramophone. Also: Book-length cocktail menus stored in menu cozies under the tables, aged cocktails that may come presented in a glass flask or some lovely piece of glassware amassed over Boudreau’s five years of collecting, and lots and lots and lots of bottles of booze. In fact, Boudreau says he wants Canon customers “to feel ensconced in booze.”

Shimmery wallpaper, manly blinds.

Photo: Canon via Facebook

People you will see at Canon: Boudreau, of course. And Nathan Weber—the one-time Tavern Law tender is leaving his post at Mistralkitchen to join Boudreau behind the bar (he’ll still work some shifts at Rob Roy). Boudreau told me last night that Weber was the very first bartender who expressed interest in Canon, back when the bar was still just an idea.

As previously reported, the chef is Melinda Bradley, a NYC transport who has toiled at lofty establishments owned by Marcus Samuelsson and Daniel Boulud. Last night she prepared some steamed buns stuffed with saucy pork belly, but Boudreau cautioned that this dish should not inspire us to make generalizations regarding the fare on hand. The menu will change at his whim. His nobody-puts-baby-in-a-corner philosophy applies to the entire place—Boudreau called Canon “a bar of change,” and said we should expect it to “evolve constantly.”

Coasters for your cocktails.

Photo: Canon via Facebook.

Things you may see at Canon down the road: A Fernet Branca tap (yup), cocktails on tap, and customers who have cartoon bubbles floating over their head to indicate the effects of alcohol consumption. (I should mention, not everyone has the special powers required to see that last thing. Also customers are not things, they are people.)

A date at which you can go check out Canon your own self: I don’t have one. But it will open soon, possibly even this weekend and definitely within the next couple of weeks.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Jamie Boudreau, Bar Openings

Even More Details on Canon Seattle

Jamie Boudreau describes the food concept at his new bar.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 09, 2011 at 07:57AM 1 Comments

The way in at Canon Seattle.

Photo: Canon via Facebook

But wait, there’s more! I asked Jamie Boudreau for some follow-up details on the food menu at Canon Seattle, his new bar on 12th Avenue East slated to open later this summer.

He said the menu will change at Chef Melinda Bradley’s whim, “weekly, monthly, whatever, not just with the seasons.” It will consist of about 12 dishes (compare that to the cocktail menu, which will requires customers to choose from 100 distinct concoctions).

“Everything is meant to be shared, which means that a) you should be able to do so without picking up a knife and b) items will be portioned in even numbers. Nothing will be too fussy or precious. No style of food is off limits. My direction to her was that when you ate, you had to know that there was something in your mouth (nothing too subtle), when you finished you had to feel it in your belly, and when you shared you had to do so with ease. Everything had to be of good value and the food was allowed to be pretty as long as it wasn’t precious.”

Boudreau says he met Bradley years ago through a friend and that the two reconnected again at another friend’s wedding. “She’s young,” he says, “but has had some great experience at some great NY restaurants.” Those restaurants include, according to Canon press materials, Bar Boulud and Marcus Samuelsson’s Aquavit.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Jamie Boudreau, Bar Openings, Menu Descriptions, Seattle Chefs, New Cocktail Menus, Canon Seattle

Details on Canon Seattle Emerge

And here they are.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 08, 2011 at 10:08PM 0 Comments

Canon opens later this summer at 928 12th Avenue E.

Photo: Canon Seattle via Facebook

So it was only last week I was pestering Nathan Weber for confirmation on his move to Mistralkitchen. And now it seems the intrepid barman is moving on to Canon, Jamie Boudreau’s new cocktail emporium that’s set to open later this summer in the former Licorous space on 12th Avenue East. No word from Weber yet on whether or not he plans to stay on at Mistral and Rob Roy, though working behind three bars seems like a rather challenging proposition.

Canon broke the news in a press release on Monday night, announcing also that one Melinda Bradley would be the chef at the new cocktail bar. Bradley’s LinkedIn page says she last worked as a cook and baker at Lisa Dupar Catering, and before that was in the employ of Daniel Boulud’s Dinex Group in New York City. According to Canon press materials, she also worked at Marcus Samuelsson’s Aquavit, also in New York. None of this has yet been independently confirmed. (What? Some of us are still a little shell-shocked following the Daniel Jeffers fiasco. Also, update: I received confirmation from Aquavit, she definitely worked there. ) The press release says that the menu will be made up of shareable plates focused on local ingredients. Boudreau envisions guests combining the dishes to create “multi-course meals.”

Other things we’ve learned about Canon: Its “Angostura bitters-stained mahogany and birch bar,” built and designed by Boudreau, will seat 12, with 36 more seats scattered around the space. The drinks menu is huge, boasting “more than 100 cocktails.” Canon will be open every day from 5pm to 2am and will serve food until 1:30am.

I’ve got queries and confirmation requests in. I’ll update as soon as I know more things.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Seattle Bartenders, Jamie Boudreau, Bar Openings, Seattle Bar News, Canon Seattle

Jamie Boudreau Says New Bar, Canon, Should be Open by Late Summer

Here’s what we know about it.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 21, 2011 at 07:46AM 9 Comments

Jamie Boudreau hopes to open Canon by late summer.

Photo Courtesy: canonseattle.wordpress.com

Update 2: Boudreau confirms that Canon will move into the current home of Licorous at 928 12th Avenue.

Update: A liquor license app indicates that Canon is taking over the Licorous space on Capitol Hill. I will now try to confirm.

Bartender Jamie Boudreau’s goal of opening a bar in Seattle, years in the planning, may be reached by late summer. Boudreau first came to Seattle from Vancouver to open Vessel; he left the now-shuttered cocktail lounge and spent time behind the stick at local bars Tini Bigs and the Knee High Stocking Club Co. Currently he bartends at Rob Roy in Belltown and travels as a brand ambassador.

But Boudreau has been working to raise funds for his own place for some time now, and he sent word Monday evening that he is very close to finalizing a lease on a space, though he did not reveal the location.

He confirmed only that the bar would be called Canon, but “whiskey and bitters emporium,” indicates a focus on brown, bitter, and stirred. Clearly, more questions than answers at this point, but you can follow Boudreau’s progress on Twitter and Canon Seattle’s website. And check back here too—I’ll be digging for details, you can believe that.

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Tags: Seattle Bartenders, Jamie Boudreau, Bar Openings, Canon Seattle

Tasty Award Winners Announced

Seattle’s Small Screen Network was nominated in the category of “Best Drink or Beverage Program” on the web.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 14, 2011 at 02:33PM 0 Comments

Last night, winners of the Tasty Awards were announced at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. In 2010, Raising the Bar with Jamie Boudreau (produced by the Seattle-based Small Screen Network) won the Tasty for the Best Drink or Beverage Program on the web, and it was nominated again this year. Alas, it did not win.

Here’s the series that did.

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Tags: Awards and Accolades, Jamie Boudreau

Make Your Own Ginger Beer

Jamie Boudreau explains how to avoid unwanted explosions, offers up a cocktail recipe.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 11, 2010 at 01:14PM 0 Comments

In case you missed it, my coworker-in-crime Chris Werner recently talked to Jamie Boudreau about making ginger beer. Check out Boudreau’s recipe and advice on how to avoid unwanted ginger-brew explosions, then make the Cablegram: a simple mixtures of whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and ginger beer.

Cablegram Cocktail
Recipe courtesy Jamie Boudreau

Ingredients
2oz rye or bourbon
¾oz lemon juice
¼oz simple syrup
ginger beer

Technique
Shake and strain first two ingredients into an iced Collins glass, top with ginger beer.

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Tags: Cocktails, Cocktail Recipes, Jamie Boudreau