Sauced

Five Questions for the Bartender: Michael Bertrand

Meet Mistralkitchen’s lead barman, a jazz drummer turned gin apostle with apparently excellent taste in ties (and shirts).

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 06, 2011 at 12:05PM 3 Comments

Photo: Lucas Anderson

This is Michael Bertrand in a pink shirt. Click on the slideshow to watch him make a Fernet Branca-Maker’s Mark old fashioned with an ice ball.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

This is Michael Bertrand in a pink shirt. Click on the slideshow to watch him make a Fernet Branca-Maker’s Mark old fashioned with an ice ball.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Step 1: Carving the ice ball.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Ice ball complete.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

The peeling of the orange.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Straining the OF into the glass. (Wait, how come we can’t see the orange peel?)

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

And there she is.

White City, Oregon native Michael Bertrand moved to Seattle at age 18. The plan was to study jazz percussion at Cornish College. I dropped out and now I hate jazz music says Bertrand, who started supporting himself through retail jobs. Evenings, he’d belly up at Flowers Restaurant and Bar in the U-District, where he discovered his love of booze extended beyond the realm of consumption.

He became a bartender.

I was hired at Vessel, where my boss was Jim Romdall. Vessel closed, and then I was hired at Mistralkitchen by [former bar manager] Andrew Bohrer. There I am currently lead bartender.

Without further ado, five questions for Michael Bertrand.

What is the most underrated spirit?

I’m constantly creating ways to converse with customers about why and how gin is delicious and excellent in cocktails. You shouldn’t be scared of gin because you drank a bottle of Bombay Sapphire at a party in high school and woke up throwing up in the dirt.

What’s your favorite Seattle bar (other than Mistralkitchen)?

Sun Liquor. I live a block away. If I actually venture outside my comfort zone: Rob Roy, Liberty, and Zig Zag. When Canon opens, there’s a good chance that it will be my favorite bar.

What drink do you order at that bar?

A Sazerac, but also Fernet or bourbon and a beer. Sometimes a glass of sparkling rose.

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

I’ve dealt with a lot of gross/crazy/weird situations in a bar (sex, puke), but the worst was when someone snuck into the back office and took our laptop and thousands of dollars worth of another employee’s camera equipment. That was one of the only times I’ve been sincerely upset about someone else’s actions while I was behind the bar.

Name three reasons you live in Seattle.

I live in Seattle for the art and culture, the people, and because it is home.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Five Questions for the Bartender, Seattle Bartenders, Mistralkitchen

Brave Horse Tavern Debuts a New Brew

Try the American Brewing collab beginning at 4pm this afternoon.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 16, 2011 at 11:27AM 0 Comments

Tonight: Brave Horse debuts a brown ale.

Photo: activerain.com

Beer nuts (by which I mean people who love beer, not salty snacks you eat alongside beer) might want to pop into the Brave Horse Tavern tonight. Tom Douglas’s bar is debuting a new dry-hopped brown ale made in collaboration with The American Brewing Company in Edmonds. It’s called Brave American Brown Ale.

According to Brave Horse’s marketing rep Amy Richardson, it was the tavern’s sous chef Warren Peterson—his coworkers call him the “beer czar”—who developed the ale with American Brewing’s Skip Madsen. Madsen is an inveterate brewer whose resume includes local enterprises Pike Brewing and Boundary Bay, according to this article I read by Washington Beer Blog’s Kendall Jones. Oh! Madsen has a nickname too. It’s “the wookie.” (A lot of nicknames in the beer world, I’ve noticed.)

Peterson (the “beer czar”) previously worked with another nearby brewery, Schooner Exact, to develop the Brave Horse’s first feature beer, a pale ale (the “pale ale”) that will remain on the menu. And Richardson says the tavern is currently at work on yet another beer, a sour cherry brew made with fruit from Prosser Farm, the Prosser property owned by the Douglas family and run by Douglas’s wife Jackie Cross (I don’t know if she has a nickname).

The brown ale debuts this afternoon at 4pm, and Richardson says a special food item will be offered in honor of the occasion. It’s fried padron peppers with parmesan, apricot, and toast. That’s $8.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Beer, Tom Douglas

Changes Behind the Bar at Mistralkitchen

Tavern Law, Vessel alums now mixing drinks at the SLU restaurant and bar.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 05, 2011 at 11:25AM 0 Comments

The bar at Mistralkitchen

Photo: Andrew Waits

Update: Bertrand says he is behind the bar at Mistral Wednesday nights through Saturday. “Friday night is when Nathan Weber and I are there together.”

Last time we checked in with Mistralkitchen, Andrew Bohrer was leaving the bar and Ashley Pugh was taking over the role as manager.

Since then, Pugh has moved to New Zealand—nice place—and Mistral has hired Michael Betrand, once of Vessel (now shuttered), and Nathan Weber, who recently left Tavern Law. Weber, who happens to be one of the all-time great Five Questions interviewees, has also been seen behind the bar at Rob Roy alongside several other highly skilled Seattle bartenders (including Bohrer).

No official word yet on which of these guys is managing the situation at Mistral, but I will share that with you when I can. There’s also some schedule shifting going on, I expect to have updates on that as well.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Seattle Bartenders

Well-Priced Wines from a Seattle Expert

This week: Michael Teer of Pike and Western and Soul Wine.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 29, 2011 at 11:51AM 0 Comments

Need a bottle? This guy will never steer you wrong.

The expert
Michael Teer, owner of Pike And Western and Soul Wine.

The Cred
Michael Teer? Come on, man. The advice he doles out at Pike and Western, his den of potable treasures in Pike Place Market, has been saving Seattle dinner parties for the past 35 years. Seven months ago, Teer opened Soul Wine, his second shop, in the retail space below Serious Pie. If you see him, say hello. Then ask for a recommendation—Teer is every bit the unpretentious wine expert.

So what’s this week’s theme, Expert?
“Wines that will make your friends think you spent more than you did.”

Ooh, tricky. Why did you pick that theme?
“A frequent request from customers goes like this: ‘I am going to a friend’s house for dinner and want to bring a nice bottle of wine. I don’t want to spend a lot but I want something that is delicious and distinctive.’ I take great pleasure in finding wines under $20 that outperform their price point. Each of these is an estate-bottled wine, which means it is made where the grapes are grown, by the people that own the vineyard.”

Let’s do this thing.

The Red
2009 L’Ecuyer de Couronneau Bordeaux Superieur, France ($15) “Two thousand and nine was a great Bordeaux vintage, and it is through wines from small properties that most of us will be able to experience it. This 100-percent merlot (don’t even tell me you don’t like merlot until you taste it) is certified organic—unusual in Bordeaux—and it’s full of ripe but balanced fruit with a bit of structure to add character.”

The White
2009 Château de La Greffiere Macon La Roche Vineuse “Sous Le Bois’’ ($18) "White Burgundy is a favorite of mine, but it is not cheap…usually. This wine shows the richness and minerality of more prestigious appellations, and a surprising level of complexity for the price.”

The Rose
2010 Château du Rouët, Côtes de Provence, France ($15) “Provence makes some of the world’s best and most sought-after roses. This one is dry, with hints of dried fruit, spice, and minerals, and it’s beautifully balanced. When you drink it the sun will come out…somewhere.”

The Sparkler
2007 Domaine du Vieux Pressoir Saumur Rosé ($18) “Little is more festive than a glass of rose with bubbles. This sparkler from the Saumur region of the Loire Valley fills the bill quite nicely at only $18. It is 100-percent cabernet franc—full of snappy red fruits but also a surprising depth of flavor.”

Sounds delicious. Thanks for the recs, Michael. So how’d you end up with a life in wine?
“By the time I graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in editorial journalism, I had already started in the wine business. Neither the New York Times or the Seattle Times came calling, so my hobby became my vocation. I’ve never looked back.”

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Tags: South Lake Union, Wine, Pike Place Market, Well-Priced Wines from a Seattle Expert

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,

The Brave Horse Tavern Is Seattle’s Next Table Shuffleboard Spot

Here are five more bars where you can slide the puck (that’s not a euphemism).

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 22, 2011 at 12:00PM 10 Comments

Shuffleboard table at the Brave Horse Tavern

This morning I attended a media thingy at Amazon’s new SLU headquarters. This included a look inside the Brave Horse Tavern, the new pretzel-and-beer bar from Tom Douglas, one of three establishments he’s opening there.

It’s very pretty. There’s lots of exposed brick and repurposed wood and old timey signage…it basically looks a lot like the new Serious Pie down the street. But check out these shuffleboard tables! Don’t they make you want to play shuffleboard?

Brave Horse opens the first week in April. If you can’t wait that long, try one of these places:

1. The entire back area of Auto Battery on Capitol Hill is devoted to shuffleboard. Claim a table early—happy hour is from 3pm to 7pm daily.

2. Big Time Brewery in the U-District has a shuffleboard table along with good beer and cheap, filling food befitting its student clientele. Stuffed baked potatoes? Yes indeed. [UPDATE: Awkward. The BTB no longer has shuffleboard even though the web site says it does. My fault, I guess I’ve been too distracted by my delicious overstuffed potatoes to notice the table went away.]

3. Garage has shuffleboard downstairs, in case you want to escape your office mates during the next bowling bonding venture.

4. In Eastlake, there’s Zoo Tavern, an amiable dive bar that serves pitchers of beer but no liquor. There’s also a snooker table. If there is a better word out there than “snooker,” I’d sure like to hear it.

5. Nobody’s trying too hard or caring too much at the 9LB Hammer in Georgetown—except at the shuffleboard table, where certain spazzy east coasters have been known to get a little competitive (and loud, much to the irritation of the people not trying too hard).

Bonus shuffleboard table: Lava Lounge in Belltown!

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Tags: South Lake Union, Tom Douglas, Bar Openings, Seattle Bars, Shuffleboard

Zoka Coffee Roasters and Tea to Open a Fourth Location in South Lake Union

The new Boren Ave shop has been designed in the style of the Kirkland Zoka, according to an employee.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 03, 2011 at 02:28PM 1 Comments

Zoka’s fourth location opens April 11.

Photo Courtesy: Zoka Coffee

As if consumable treat-wealthy South Lake Union needed something else to be psyched about, now it gets a Zoka?

I just spoke with an employee at Zoka HQ about the company’s new location at 351 Boren Avenue North in South Lake Union. “It’s in one of the buildings of one of the new companies down there. You can probably guess which one,” he told me.

Mysterious. And by mysterious I mean Amazon.

The new store will resemble the Kirkland location, said the employee. Of the three existent local Zokas, Kirkland’s is decidedly the fanciest, with sleek modern lighting and a big communal table carved from a tree trunk. (For maximum Northwestiness, please add communal table carved from a tree trunk).

The South Lake Union Zoka will open on April 11.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Coffee Buzz, Coffee Shop Happy Hours, Seattle Coffee News

Happy Hour of the Week: Re:Public

Piggy small plates for $4 draw South Lake Unioners to a daily happy hour at this brick-lined bar.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 14, 2011 at 11:24AM 0 Comments

Re:Public’s daily happy hour is a hit in South Lake Union.

• HOURS: Daily 4-6pm
• PRICES: $5 Select wines by the glass; $4 wells; select pints $3.50. Small plates $4 each. Kusshi oysters $2.

The bottles behind the bar at Re:Public aren’t stacked three deep on the shelves, the way they are at Liberty and Zig Zag, they’re displayed proudly. Lit up. “Look at me!” they seem to say. So I do. And I find several of them contain mere drops of liquid. If you’re out of Blanton’s, I wonder, wouldn’t you get out a new bottle? Or at least not display your dreggy one so prominently? Suddenly, bourbon doesn’t appeal. I order a glass of wine, a crisp chardonnay from Impuls—$5 at HH. A smart, easy-going choice for a happy hour wine.

It’s noisy in Re:Public, people lean in towards each other at the row of wooden booths lining one brick wall and at the tall tables surrounding the bar. This feels good, lively, urban. So often Seattle feels half deserted, have you noticed? Where are all the people, you wonder, as you belly up at some excellent Belltown cocktail lounge by your lonesome.

They are at Re:Public, as it turns out, eating kusshi oysters, $2 each both at HH and on the dinner menu (dinner service begins at 5pm). They are eating the meaty things that taste so good: pork cheeks ($4), pig’s tails ($4)—food names that sounds like the start of a nursery rhyme. If it’s after five they are venturing off the HH menu, sinking their forks into a pork belly cooked perfectly—a cube of crispy, fatty pig heaven with a cute riff on a Waldorf salad for compliment.

Hmm, Re:Public. Nice food, neighborhood feel, generous but tiny little HH menu, empty bottles of booze behind the bar. I don’t know though, it’s fun in there. And the neighborhood has clearly spoken: Re:Public is a hit.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Happy Hour of the Week, Seattle Happy Hours

Five New and Very New Places to Check Out This Weekend

New year, new watering holes. Here’s what’s popped up around town.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 07, 2011 at 12:40PM 1 Comments

Locöl Revelry It’s the weekend, time to explore fresh drinkeries.

1. 50 North has opened across the street from University Village—stop in for happy hour.

2. Chorizo dumplings, pork belly pancakes, five spiced duck balls: Almost everything on the menu at Revel is under $15 and Quoin, the attached bar, is shaping up nicely.

3. Patience, my dears. Local 360 is opening very softly and slowly, but stop by the coffee bar and grab a latte and a chance to check out the interior.

4. Pop into Soul Wine, the new South Lake Union shop from Pike and Western’s Michael Teer, and get a glimpse of the goings-on upstairs at about-to-open Serious Pie.

5. All signs point to a grand opening this weekend at West Seattle’s year-in-the-works beer and wine bar Locöl. I’ve got a message into the owners, will let you know as soon as I hear.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, South Lake Union, Fremont, West Seattle, Wine Bars

Mistralkitchen, A Lot of Champagne, And You

Five hours of sparkler sipping begins at 5pm tonight.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Nov 01, 2010 at 01:21PM 0 Comments

About 30 sparkling wines will be popped at Mistralkitchen’s informal tasting.

An informal five-hour champagne party is happening tonight at MistralKitchen beginning at 5pm.

You pay $100 to get in, and then you eat stuff—oysters, crudo, pork belly, cheeses, charcuterie, vegetarian whatnot—while sampling from about 30 sparkling wines. It’s not a table-to-table sort of tasting, the staff is just going to be pouring different champers all night long (plus some sparkling wines—remember only wines made in the Champagne region of France can be called champagne).

What will you taste? Mistral is popping about 30 different sparklers. Among them is a 2003 L. Aubry Fils Le Nombre d’Or Campanae Veteres Vites Brut; a 2005 Soter Brut Rose from the Willamette Valley; a NV Gaston Chiquet Cuvée de Reserve Brut; a NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne…and so forth.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Tastings and Classes, Wine Tastings, Sparkling Wine

Happy Hour Starts Early Outside the Pan Pacific Hotel

On April 30, the restaurants at 2200 Westlake inaugurate their patio, you have an excuse to take a half day.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 28, 2010 at 11:58AM 1 Comments

It’s supposed to be partly sunny and 58 degrees on Friday, April 30—summer weather, by Seattle criteria anyway. The three restaurants at 2200 Westlake—that shopping center at Denny and Westlake anchored by Whole Foods —are having a party to inaugurate their new outdoor-seating area.

Tutta Bella, Seastar, and the Bar at the Pan Pacific will all be serving a special lunch starting at 11:30; at 2pm all three places will break out their HH menus. That means $5 margarita pizzas from Tutta Bella, $5 Manhattans from Seastar (not to mention raw bar specials like a dozen oysters for $8), some sort of special party punch from Pan Pacific, and all kinds of other stuff that makes going back to work look like a pretty ridiculous idea.

A jazz singer will be on hand to entertain you. Wear your sunscreen.

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Tags: Happy Hour, South Lake Union, Deals, Outdoor Dining

Saint Patty’s Season Continues with Green Drinks at the Pan Pacific

Pucker up for vodka-based specials at the SLU hotel bar.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 09, 2010 at 02:16PM 0 Comments

We started this SP season off with Tom Douglas’ Beer Blast but if vodka cocktails are more your thing, check out the green drink specials at the bar the Pan Pacific Hotel.

There is the Go Green: Cucumber Dry Soda, pear vodka, and Sour Apple Pucker schnapps, and then there is the Irish Pride: pear vodka, triple sec, and Cucumber Dry.

Hmm. Which of these would I choose? I guess the second one, because it doesn’t have Sour Apple Pucker schnapps in it, which sounds like it tastes like a Jolly Rancher. I don’t really drink vodkas though, unless I’m in suburban Connecticut, where my parents live, and where the Grey Goose flows like it’s Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow. I do like an infusion now and again though, why not? And Cucumber Dry is good, though I prefer it with gin. I’m digressing: if these sort of drinks are up your alley, lucky you. The Pan Pacific will be serving them on Wednesday, March 17 for $10 a pop.

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Tags: South Lake Union, Cocktails, St Patrick's Day, Vodka