Sauced

Announcing Macleod’s Scottish Pub, a New Ballard Bar Taking Over the Harlow’s Space

The restaurateurs behind Bastille, Poquitos are creating a bar for their friend Allen Macleod. Expect lots of scotch.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 29, 2011 at 11:45AM 8 Comments

5200 Ballard Ave, future home of Macleod’s Scottish Pub.

A rep for James Weimann and Deming Maclise—owners of Bastille in Ballard and Poquitos on Capitol Hill—confirmed for the first time today that the restaurateur team have taken over the lease at purchased the 5200 Ballard Ave property that housed the short-lived Harlow’s Saloon. (The saloon belonged to Kevin and Tracy Erickson, who own nearby Mosh Moshi. The couple also recently unloaded their wine bar, Bricco, on Queen Anne. Chef Sam Crannell, formerly of Five Corner, is converting that space into a restaurant called LloydMartin. Everybody still with me here?)

The new bar will be called Macleod’s Scottish Pub. When a liquor license application first emerged with the name Macleod attached to the project, there was speculation of an association with the people behind the shuttered Belltown gallery known as the Macleod Residence. But in fact, the new bar is named for Allen Macleod, a friend of Weimann and Maclise’s who painted both of their restaurants. The rep says Allen is from Edinburgh, Scotland where he was a bartender. He’ll be the owner and operator; Weimann and Maclise will take charge of the concept and design but consider themselves silent partners. The two men will travel with Macleod to Scotland next month to research bars and pubs there, but current plans include a painting featuring a map of Scotland on the roof of the 1000 square-foot space.

The cocktail menu is being created by Bastille’s bar manager Charles Veitch and will emphasize aged spirits and classic drinks. A large collection of single-malt scotches is promised, and Macleod’s will offer four tap beers and several wines by the glass.

Bastille chef Jason Stoneburner is creating a menu of savory meat and veg pies. Scottish smoked salmon and a charcuterie plate will also be among the edible offerings.

The target opening date is December 1. Stay tuned for more details.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Pubs, New Seattle Restaurants

You Will Want To Drink At Golden Beetle

The bar at Maria Hines’ hotly anticipated new Ballard restaurant looks likely to be awesome.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 11, 2011 at 11:48AM 1 Comments

A custom lantern at Golden Beetle, which opens on Friday February 18

Photo: golden-beetle.com

I had a chance to visit one of Seattle’s most inspiring chefs, Maria Hines, at her new Ballard restaurant Golden Beetle yesterday—look for the full article over on Nosh Pit soon.

Details about the food have been rolling in over the past few weeks as Hines and crew finalize the menu, and we’re all very excited about the sous-vide snails with wild mint, lavender, and pomegranate peel, but when I walked in I was very pleased to see that it isn’t just a new restaurant we’re talking about here, it’s a new bar too.

In fact, the 45-seat bar takes up more than half of the dining room.

Hines has made some exciting staffing decisions in the booze arena. Bar manager is Andy McClellan, formerly of Lola, and among the bartenders is Marley Tomic-Beard, last seen at Spur.

McClellan and his staff have put together a menu of specialty cocktails ($10 each) to compliment the Eastern Mediterranean food. I love the sound of the Lion’s Milk Swizzle: Efe Raki (a Turkish liqueur), lemon, orange flower honey, and orange flower water. Bitters and tinctures will be made in-house.

Hines told me she wanted a bar where industry friends could come hang out before and after shifts—she’s doing an early HH from 5 to 6pm on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. The HH features $3 menu items—I don’t have all the details but Hines was tantalizing me with talk of french fries cooked in beef fat and some pretty sick sounding falafel, so I expect good things.

The late-night menu is small plates and desserts between $2 and $12 and is offered from 10 to midnight on weekdays, 10pm to 1am on Friday and Saturday.

Golden Beetle is set to open Friday, February 18 at 1744 NW Market Street.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Happy Hour, New Seattle Restaurants, Seattle Restaurant Openings, Cocktails, Seattle Bartenders, Ballard, Seattle Bar News, Seattle Bars

Happy Hour of the Week: Toulouse Petit

Fifty dishes under $7. What manner of kitchen voodoo is this?

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 07, 2010 at 10:00AM 4 Comments

Photo: Lara Ferroni

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Photo: Lara Ferroni

View Slideshow » Illustration:

• HOURS: Daily from 4–5:30pm and 10 pm–midnight.
• PRICES: food specials between $3-$15

Toulouse Petit is a restaurant inspired by New Orleans, a mystery-drenched city full of doom and magic. But there is nothing doomed about Toulouse, the million-dollar project of savvy restaurateur Brian Hutmacher, who also owns neighboring Peso’s —a cash cow of a Mexican restaurant that at night becomes a popped-collar sausagefest unlike anything else this far north of Chico.

And while the twinkle of candles conspires with the glow from Georgia O’Keefe-esque blown-glass chandeliers to create a certain mystical ambiance, if there is magic at Toulouse Petit it is the happy hour, featuring 42 dishes (plus 12 sides), all of them under $7. (The restaurant also offers rib eye for $15 a plate during the late-night HH.)

I go to a lot of happy hours, but I’ve never seen happy hour food like this. The first plate that emerges is a tuna tartare, which comes laced with a subtle horseradish-truffle vinaigrette and topped with a quail egg ($5). Then comes a small platter of three oysters on crushed ice ($6) followed by a duo of spicy lamb sliders ($5) accompanied by a handful of fries and aioli. Finally, our server brings a glorious hunk of chicken and duck liver terrine ($4) the size of a small moleskine notebook. It is flanked by a pile of onions, a scattering of gherkins, some spicy mustard, and a few (rather too few, actually) tiny toasts.

The bill for this food, this feast of delicacies, comes to $25.85. Uh, what?

I spoke with Hutmacher just before Toulouse opened, when he told me he planned to offer HH food at cost, relying on alcohol alone to turn a profit. (If you doubt him, consider that Peso’s is the largest buyer of alcohol in the state, not counting casinos.) This takes the pressure off the staff, he said, to make all of their the money during the dinner hours of 6-9pm. Thus, the deals that await anyone who can get to Toulouse before 5:30 or after 10pm. How the kitchen can push out so many different items so quickly is another matter, I can only assume the have some kind of Louisiana voodoo working for them. And only hope that they can keep it up.

There are no drink discounts during HH, so all things being equal you have to make a choice between 1. the excellent fair-priced wine list (the creation of Wild Ginger vet Shing Chin, who honors his fine-dining background with a well-finessed and totally charming tableside manner) 2. one of 22 beers including several that hail from the Big Easy, or 3. a New Orleans-style cocktail like a sazerac ($7.50) or vieux carre ($9).

Each of these options is a good one.

***************************************************
Find more happy hour favorites here.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Happy Hour, New Seattle Restaurants, Lower Queen Anne