Sauced

Happy Hour of the Week: Seatown Seabar

A TDR bar that’s exactly right for a sunny spring evening.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 13, 2011 at 12:35PM 0 Comments

Oysters at Seatown

Photo: Facebook

• HOURS: 3-6pm daily
• PRICES: Tap beers $4, tap wines $6. Small plates $1-$12

On a bright spring evening, Seatown Seabar feels like precisely the best place to be in Seattle.

From the vantage point of the bar you can take it all in: servers shucking big, bumpy oysters and toasting half-lemons with creme-brule torches, bartenders straining tawny concoctions into cocktail glasses, and their customers beyond them, chatty and buzzy and pleased with themselves for scoring a spot at this Sound-view boasting, bustling creation just north of Pike Place Market.

The first time I encountered this fetching scene, I was surprised. Last time I had been to the Tom Douglas restaurant, it had been a gray, wet winter afternoon, and Seabar felt grim. Its back of the house, on that occasion, seemed rather too exposed, like when you visit a sick friend and get a look at her indoors-only sweatpants. The design—big open bar claiming most of the floor space, tables framing it on three sides, two walls of windows—makes it feels more like a sun porch than an enclosed room. Whatever mood is created by the climatological conditions outside becomes magnified inside, setting the tone for the meal.

But back to happy hour: The menu focuses on smoked and cured fish ($6-$8, or $12 for a sampler). There’s trout, sturgeon, ling cod, and king salmon—if you’re sharing that salmon, prepare to fight over it. All of these come with slices of baguette, so no need to order bread separately. Also on each plate: plugra, a French-style butter sprinkled with black lava salt, and a tomato-parsley salad. The idea is to combine these things to create wee fishy sandwiches.

There’s also a cheese plate with Tin Willow Tomme from Black Sheep Creamery, and rotating oysters for $1 a pop. The suggested pairing for the oysters is a 2009 Michel Delhommeau muscadet, an uncomplicated wine with the right acidity for the occasion. But to my mind the perfect Seatown Seabar drink is Syncline’s unassailable rose, which the restaurant keeps on tap. A little spicy with a lovely dry finish, it’s a great food wine whose pretty pinkness only enhances the happy factor of a sunny evening at Seatown Seabar.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Pike Place Market, Keg Wine, Seattle Happy Hours

Keg Wine For Bellevue

Black Bottle Postern will offer wine on tap.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Dec 22, 2010 at 11:44AM 1 Comments

Keg wine hits the Eastside in mid-February.

UPDATE: Just learned today that El Gaucho Portland is going to employ a bio-cask system from Willamette Valley Vineyards. They’re hoping to bring something similar to Seattle, according to a spokesperson.

Yesterday I wrote that Black Bottle Gastrotavern’s Bellevue outpost, Black Bottle Postern, will be opening in Mid-February.

And here’s the related booze news: The restaurant will be serving wine on tap. Now I can’t be 100% sure of this—and I know you’ll correct me if I’m wrong—but I believe it will be the first Bellevue establishment to serve keg wine.

Why do we care? Wines on tap are a great value because the producers and manufacturers cut out all the costs associated with glass bottles and corks and the transport of many fragile vessels. Waste is reduced since the keg wine lasts a long time, which means savings for the bar. And that, in turn, means savings for you and me.

In Seattle, the Local Vine on Capitol Hill and Bottlehouse in Madrona serve keg wines. Seatown Seabar has three wines on tap outfitted with a nitrogen replacement system to keep them fresh. Black Bottle GM Chris Linker says that if tap wines work out in Bellevue, he’ll likely bring them to the original Belltown location too.

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Tags: Bellevue, Seattle Restaurant Openings, Bar Openings, Keg Wine

Is Keg Wine The New Normal?

Two Seattle spots are on the keg tip. It seems we might see more soon.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Oct 11, 2010 at 08:28AM 1 Comments

Kegs store wine longer, and make by-the-glass offerings cheaper for everyone.

Photo: raggedshirts.com

The new iteration of The Local Vine on Capitol Hill has been garnering attention for offering two keg wines by the glass, and as Sean Sullivan of Washington Wine Report, um, reports, Bottlehouse in Madrona has plans to start tapping its own very soon.

But how big is this trend going to get? In a New York piece last week, Paul Grieco of Terroir wine bar in New York City told the magazine: “I think every new restaurant that opens will dedicate at least one beer line to wine.”

Every one? Probably not. But the more wine kegs the better for we wine-drinking consumers. Keg wine allows restaurants and bars to offer by-the-glass offerings for a much-reduced price, and by much-reduced I mean, like, half of the normal cost. There’s also less waste—keg wine can stay fresh for months and the kegs themselves are reusable.

I’ll keep you posted as new vino kegs show up around town.

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Tags: Wine, Behind the bar, Wine Bars, Keg Wine