Seattle Weekly, March 21, 2012

MARCH 21–27, 2012 I VOLUME 37 I NUMBER 12

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WEST MEMPHIS FREE PAGE 6 | COLUMBINE CINEMA’S CRITICS PAGE 11 | POOR MOON RISING PAGE 35

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NEWS

BY ERIN K. THOMPSON | Out of prison,

one of the West Memphis Three begins a new life in Seattle.

11

FEATURE

BY ALAN PRENDERGAST | Thirteen

years on, the shootings at Columbine High School bear the weight of having become a defining moment in American history.

But with a TV miniseries in the works, some survivors want Hollywood to back off—and others want to tell their own story their own way.

in back 19 THE WEEKLY WIRE 21 ARTS

21 | OPENING NIGHTS | “New Works” at PNB, heartache at West of Lenin.

24 | THE FUSSY EYE | Tunneling into history.

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29 FOOD

29 | JANE KAGIRA | A Kenyan

restaurateur bottles her own heat.

30 | FIRST CALL | A fabled Asian cocktail.

32 | A LITTLE RASKIN | How

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PULLOUT | 101 eateries we love,

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33 MUSIC

33 | TACOMA | More than just Jan to

Seattle’s Marcia, the city has a music scene you should know about.

35 | THROUGH@2 | Fitting in one band around another’s schedule.

36 | OF MONTREAL | An enigmatic frontman critiques the critics.

38 | THE SHORT LIST | En Vogue, Kelly Clarkson, Bahamas, and much more.

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The Japanese Hunger Games, burlesque at the Moisture Fest, and the Kronos Quartet returns home.

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news»

Way West of Memphis

One of America’s most famous former prisoners finds his future in Seattle.

By Erin K. ThoMpson

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Kayley Kirmse

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

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6

n August 20, Jason Baldwin boarded a flight from Memphis to Seattle. He was 34 years old and had never been on an airplane. The farthest north he’d been was the Craighead County Jail in Jonesboro, in his home state of Arkansas. The farthest south was the Varner Unit in Grady, Arkansas; the farthest west was the Diagnostic Unit in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The geographical boundaries of his life had been prisons. In 1994, Baldwin, his best friend Damien Echols, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were convicted of murdering three 8-yearold boys the year before in one of the most sensational child-murder cases in U.S. history.

Baldwin was 16 at the time.

Nearly 20 years later, the story of the West Memphis Three is familiar to the public, especially those who’ve seen Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s HBO documentary trilogy, Paradise Lost. The first film was largely responsible for raising awareness about the bizarre aspects of the trial that convicted the Three: Misskelley’s forced confession, leads not followed, the conclusion that Baldwin was involved in an insidious satanic cult with Echols because he owned black Metallica T-shirts. Johnny Depp, Natalie Maines, and Eddie Vedder subsequently got involved in the cause to “free the West Memphis Three.”

But even after advanced DNA testing failed to connect any of them to the crime, what freed Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley wasn’t an overturn or any admission of a miscarriage of justice. Last fall, they used a complicated legal loophole called an Alford plea, in which they pleaded guilty to the crime while still personally maintaining their innocence. The Three were sentenced to the time they had already served, then released.

Finally free, they were still convicted felons.

In one of the most poignant moments in the third Paradise Lost film, Purgatory (nominated for Best Documentary Feature in this year’s Academy Awards), Baldwin is shown in the courtroom, dressed in a suit and tie. “This was not justice,” he says calmly, but with a spark of fury in his eye. “In the beginning, we told nothing but the truth, that we were innocent, and they sent us to prison for the rest of our lives for it. And then we had to come here, and the only thing that the state would do for us was to say, ‘Hey, we’ll let you go only if you admit guilt.’ And that’s not justice, no matter how you look at it . . . I did not want to take the deal from the get-go. However, they’re trying to kill Damien.” (Echols had been sentenced to death; taking the Alford plea may have been the last shot at saving his life.)

“Sometimes you just gotta bite the gun to save somebody,” says Baldwin.

It’s taken Baldwin very little time to get the hipster look down pat.

Now he and Echols were sitting across from each other on a jet, leaving West Memphis behind. “Before we got on, I said, ‘I’m either gonna be totally exhilarated by it and love it, or be terrifyingly frightened!’,” Baldwin remembers. “It was the ‘exhilarated.’ It was like taking off on a roller coaster. Damien was right in front of me, and he had the opposite reaction. I thought he was going to projectile all over me.”

“Damien was right in front of me, and he had the opposite reaction. I thought he was going to projectile all over me.”

B

aldwin and his girlfriend, Holly Ballard, are eating lunch at Capitol Hill’s Café Presse on an uncharacteristically bright Thursday afternoon. He’s downing cups of black coffee, and when the waitress offers Baldwin a refill, he beams and says, “Always!”

» ContInued on page 9

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Despite the cultural witch hunt that sent him to prison, he wasn’t scared off from being a Metallica fan.

“I met a couple young attorneys, and they were like, ‘You know, I was motivated to go to law school because of what happened to you guys,’ ” Baldwin says. “It was very humbling.”

Responses like that are part of what’s pushing Baldwin to the next phase of his life: community college. One of the first things he did in prison as a teenager was earn his GED, and through funds donated by WM3 supporters, he “got a little bit of a college” via Arkansas State University. Now, through a full scholarship from Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation, he’ll work toward his associate’s degree, and, he hopes, one day achieve his goal of becoming a law professor.

Studying law, says Baldwin, is “an opportunity for me to utilize what I’ve been through to help other people. I can take what I’ve been through and couple that with a good education to help other people going through what I went through. Save innocent people from suffering that.

“I know it’s not going to be easy,” he adds.

“Just because I’ve been through 18 years of prison, they’re not going to just give it to me.

I’m going to have to work for it. I’m going to have to earn it.” E ethompson@seattleweekly.com

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

Perusing the menu, Baldwin stops at the baguette with liver paté. “What’s paté?” he asks, and then wrinkles his nose at the answer: meat paste. “We used to have platters of fried chicken and liver when I was a kid,” he says. “I would just go hungry!” He orders a croque monsieur and is immediately delighted with it when the waitress sets it on the table. “It kind of looks like a pizza, but a sandwich pizza!”

Baldwin originally flew to Seattle for a three-day visit. He stayed at a friend’s beachfront house, went kayaking on the Sound, and learned to paddleboard. “I just looked over at Holly and said, ‘We gotta stay here,’ ” he says. “Every day that we’re here reinforces that. I’m thinking this Seattle rain stuff is a myth just to keep everyone at bay. It’s sunny today! I mean, beautiful weather!”

Baldwin wears a yellow American Eagle beanie, covering a receding hairline that starkly contrasts early photos of his 16-yearold self with a long, curly blond mullet (a hairstyle he swears he’ll never go back to).

He speaks in a Southern drawl, thick as tar, and most of his words are exultant, as though he hasn’t yet gotten over the thrill of his new boundless world. Last night he and Ballard— who met in 2008, four years after she, an Arkansas native, began writing letters to him in prison—went to see Star Wars: Episode 1 in 3D. “I’ve seen Episode 1, but I saw it in prison and we just had this little bitty TV, and you watch it from a distance . . . So to see it on a giant screen is amazing!”

The influx of technology and media in 2012 is something of a culture shock compared to rural Arkansas in the early ’90s, but Baldwin’s taking it all in with characteristic zest. He says he partially knew what to expect from reading tech-savvy novels like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; he became an avid reader in prison. “I’m reading A Song of Ice and Fire, which is what HBO’s Game of Thrones is based on. It’s good. But it’s not as good as The Sword of Truth. That’s a different series. I’ve read it nine times. It’s a beautiful story, it’s a fantasy story, but what it is, is really a treatise on reason.” As for television, he loves Game of Thrones and AMC’s The Walking Dead: “What’s not to like? Zombies and apocalypse!”

Despite the cultural witch hunt that sent him to prison, he wasn’t scared off from being a Metallica fan. “I had an mp3 player, I jammed all summer while I was mowing lawns. I jammed on Metallica’s Death Magnetic, the Ramones, Bad Religion, Pearl Jam. Every time a Metallica album came out, I made certain I got it. I’m not gonna say specifically how, ’cause some of the people that helped me out are still there,” he says.

In 2003, when Metallica’s St. Anger came out, he was caught with his copy and spent 77 days in solitary confinement as punishment. Now he takes out his iPhone and flips through his iTunes playlist. “I’m free!

There’s no asinine rules saying, ‘You can’t have music,’ ” he laughs. (Baldwin saw Metallica play three shows at San Francisco’s Fillmore in December at drummer Lars Ulrich’s invitation.)

He displays his screen, pointing at it like he’s an Apple salesman. “The cool thing about my iPhone is that it’s got this cool app called Shazam, so I’ll be listening to KEXP or 107.7 and I’ll hear a song that I like and Shazam it.” His favorite new discoveries are Young the Giant and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “I go on YouTube and watch all the YouTube videos. They’re freaking awesome.”

For the first time in his life, Baldwin is living on his own. He just rented his very first apartment, a one-bedroom with a balcony. “I’m gonna get me some things to grow tomatoes, peppers, onions, herbs, bay leaves,” he says.

He wants to get a cat, and already has a name picked out: Goliath. But for the past six months, a normal life’s been on hold while he’s traveled the world, promoting Purgatory as well as Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s upcoming documentary, West of Memphis. Baldwin says he’s stopped trying to count how many trips he’s taken, including five or six jaunts to New York; the Sundance Film Festival in January; Berlin, to present Berlinger with a “Cinema for Peace” award; and the Academy Awards in Los Angeles last month. And he recently returned from Monterrey, Calif., where he attended an event for SAFE, an initiative to abolish the death penalty in that state, to hear his lawyer, John Philipsborn, give a speech.

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10

Thirteen years and a hundred school shootings later, why is Hollywood still obsessed with this one?

JAY VOLLMAR

MTV’s Extreme Cribs to American Idol. But his interest in the proposed miniseries goes deeper than professional curiosity. A couple of lifetimes ago, he was a 17-year-old junior at Columbine.

On April 20, 1999, Granillo was eating lunch in the school cafeteria, known as the Commons, when seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began shooting students outside. The pair soon entered the school, firing randomly at cornered teens and tossing pipe bombs. Hundreds of people fled. Granillo and 17 others ended up trapped in a small room in the kitchen area, listening to shots, screams, and explosions. The door had no lock, so Granillo planted his feet against it.

In about 50 minutes, Harris and Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher, injured 21 others, then committed suicide. The ploddingly

methodical SWAT rescue teams didn’t reach the kitchen for almost three hours. The police led Granillo and the others through a broken window, past pools of blood and lifeless bodies on the ground outside. Some of those bodies had been friends Granillo knew well. He’d also known Klebold since he was 10 years old—or thought he’d known him.

Past the scenes of carnage was a battery of police investigators demanding written statements, reporters trolling for eyewitness accounts, and television cameras poised to soak up the shock and grief. For weeks, survivors of the attack were stalked. Tabloid journalists offered hard cash for a hot-off-thepresses copy of the school yearbook, racing to be first to publish the killers’ senior photos.

The headlines went on for months, followed by “anniversary stories,” documentaries,

“Anyone who wasn’t there doesn’t understand how we feel about having our lives put on display.”

“This is a terrible idea for a movie,” wrote Columbine grad Anne Marie Hochhalter. She figures in several passages in Cullen’s book; she was one of the first students shot outside the school and was left paralyzed by her injuries. Her mother’s suicide a few months later provides another graphic scene. But Cullen never interviewed Hochhalter; his accounts of her family’s ordeal, complete with quotes, come from various news articles.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

T

he news first surfaced in the Hollywood trade press last month: The Lifetime cable network is developing a miniseries about the 1999 school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Based on a best-selling book about the tragedy, the project involves a team of heavyweight producers whose collective film credits include the factbased dramas Moneyball, The Social Network, and Boys Don’t Cry. Sam Granillo heard about the miniseries on Facebook a few days later. “When I read about it—I don’t know if furious is the right word, but I was intensely emotional,” says Granillo. “I was beyond irritated.”

Granillo, 30, is a cameraman and production assistant who’s worked on a slew of commercials and television programs, from

books, and even feature films loosely based on the shootings.

Even when he thought he was through the mourning process, Granillo found that Columbine wasn’t through with him. He had bouts of anxiety, recurrent nightmares about being chased and trapped. “At first the coping mechanism in my brain downplayed a lot of what happened to me, but it stuck with me,” he says. “Then I wanted to get counseling, and I kept running into dead ends . . . I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Sam, it’s been 10 years. Aren’t you over it yet?’ But it’s never going away for us, ever.”

A few months ago, Granillo began to raise funds and conduct preliminary interviews for a documentary about the long-term trauma left by the shootings. He figured this might be a way for him and others to put the tragedy to rest, to take the discussion in a new direction.

Then he heard about the miniseries. A true story about the worst day of his life, of his friends’ lives. A true story. Based on actual events. Told by people he’s never met.

“Anyone who wasn’t there doesn’t understand how we feel about having our lives put on display for everyone to see,” he says. “Who would want that? I’m worried for my friends who are going to turn on the television and see themselves portrayed as who knows what. A miniseries? That’s like the fucking straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Another Columbine graduate soon launched an online petition, “Say ‘No’ to Columbine Movie.” Within a week, thanks largely to social-media activism among alums and their families, the petition had collected more than 5,000 signatures. Some of the protesters posted comments expressing their displeasure with the project’s source material: Columbine, a book by journalist Dave Cullen, who bills himself as “the nation’s foremost authority on the Columbine killers.”

Cullen’s book won awards and made several critics’ best-reading lists for 2009, but it’s had a rougher reception in Littleton, where some prominent members of the Columbine community have taken issue with its accuracy.

Other signers were troubled that the network backing the miniseries is Lifetime, purveyor of turgid melodramas involving cheating spouses, suave serial killers, and Tori Spelling. (“Lifetime should stick to cheesy movies about pregnancy pacts and Dance Moms,” one wrote.) But the prevailing sentiment seemed to be that any film project purporting to be the “real story” of Columbine, yet put together by outsiders, would reopen wounds not yet healed and possibly inspire more copycat shootings.

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 11

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The Columbine Effect » FROM PAGE 11

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Columbine grad Sam Granillo is making a documentary about the long-term trauma inflicted by the shootings.

The Columbine killers weren’t interested in being accepted. In addition to a high body count, they wanted posthumous fame. And followers. They wanted to “kick-start a revolution,” as Harris put it.

Yet their bombs failed to detonate. The revolution never arrived. And their few imitators tended to be mental cases like Virginia Tech’s Seung-Hui Cho. The pair did, however, manage to achieve a degree of infamy that’s eluded other school shooters.

One reason for the persistent fascination with Columbine has to do with local law enforcement’s inept response to the attack.

While the first Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies on the scene exchanged shots with Harris, they didn’t follow the killers inside the school; instead, they waited for SWAT to arrive and conduct a time-consuming, room-by-room sweep. Meanwhile, the killers were free to fire at will at unarmed targets.

(They killed themselves around the time the first SWAT team entered at the opposite side of the building, but police didn’t discover their bodies for three hours.)

The entire sorry spectacle unfolded on national television that afternoon. News copters caught images of hundreds of cops standing around outside, seemingly helpless; throngs of terrified students fleeing with their hands in the air; a sign in a window announcing that teacher Dave Sanders, shot while trying to shepherd students to safety, was bleeding to death in a science classroom.

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

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“It felt kind of violating, to be honest,” Hochhalter says of the experience of reading Cullen’s book. “He got the part about how I was injured completely wrong. I couldn’t bear to read the whole thing. The fact that this movie is in the works, based on what he wrote—I just feel sick over it. I don’t want young, impressionable, angry people out there, who idolize Harris and Klebold anyway, to see this on film.”

Cullen, who now lives in New York City, says he’s surprised by the virulent opposition to the miniseries. The project has been “in development” for years now, but he cautions that it hasn’t been “greenlit.” There isn’t even a finished script yet.

“When the book came out, I braced for possible controversy, and there wasn’t much,” he says.

“People who don’t like the book probably aren’t going to like the film. But with the film, we don’t have anything for them to judge yet.

It’s frustrating.”

Although it’s drawn the most ire, the miniseries isn’t the only Columbinethemed project in the works. A stage play based on Cullen’s book is also planned, and the film We Need to Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton as the mother of a Harris-like teen killer, has been making the festival rounds and is currently playing in Seattle.

Most of the students who attend Columbine today aren’t old enough to have any direct memories of the attack. But events keep the school’s dark legacy alive—for instance, the chilling fact that there have been more than a hundred school shootings since Columbine, including the shot that seriously wounded a Bremerton eighth-grader a month ago when a gun in a classmate’s backpack accidentally went off.

If you include college-campus violence, there were deadlier school shootings before Columbine (University of Texas, 1966) and afterward (Virginia Tech, 2007). Harris and Klebold had hoped to kill hundreds more, with bombs planted in the Commons and the parking lot, but their plan failed miserably. Yet Columbine remains the touchstone—the standard by which other horrors are measured and the archetype for Harris-and-Klebold wannabes. That our culture is still so fascinated by the shootings 13 years later may have more to do with the powerful myths woven around the tragedy—by the media, the killers, law enforcement, and others—than the “actual events” of what happened that day.

“Directors will be fighting over this story,” Klebold bragged in one of the so-called basement tapes, the videos the pair made in the weeks before the attack. It was just about the only prediction the killers got right.

But whose story is it?

“We all have hundreds of stories about what happened that day and since,” says Granillo. “But that’s not the story they keep telling.”

lebold and Harris began planning their grandiose suicide mission more than a year before the attack. Amid all the fantasizing and and strategizing, it’s clear they were aiming for something quite different from the rash of late-’90s school shootings in places like West Paducah, Kentucky, and Jonesboro, Arkansas.

“Do not think we’re trying to copy anyone,” Harris announced on one of the basement tapes. “We had the idea before the first one ever happened. Our plan is better, not like those fucks in Kentucky with camouflage and .22s. Those kids were only trying to be accepted by others.”

13

A Reader’s Guide

GOOD BOOKSTORES SPOTLIGHT ON University Book Store

By Blood Ellen Ullman

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The Columbine Effect » FROM PAGE 13

T

he petition opposing Lifetime’s miniseries was started by a Las Vegas stagehand named Michael Berry. A 2001 graduate of Columbine, Berry was sitting in his guitar class in the bine, school auditorium when two students came in and said guys with guns were running around.

As the shots and explosions drew nearer, Berry’s teachers locked the doors. Later, a janitor showed the class a safe way out of the school.

They ran to a nearby park, where other students milled about in a general panic.

After the initial shock, some students and parents pressed for things to “return to normal” as soon as possible. Berry found that difficult. In his senior year, his English class went to see a production of Hamlet set in the 1920s. “The director didn’t tell my teacher

“It was this project nobody wanted to do, based on this very dark material.”

After some high-profile industry names became attached to the proposal—writer/ director Tommy O’Haver ((An American Crime)) and producers Michael De Luca (Moneyball, The Social Network) and Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler (Boys Don’t Cry)—Lifetime became interested in it as a “prestige project,” something to help change the network’s image.

Cullen expects to have considerable input into the adaptation. He doesn’t anticipate that the miniseries will inspire copycats, because the “actual” Harris and Klebold, stripped of their mythologies, “are pretty unappealing.”

For economy’s sake, the script may contain composite characters on the periphery of the story, but the intent is to tell a true story: “It’s definitely all real names, real people, keeping it as real as possible.”

Yet it’s precisely this assertion of the project’s authenticity that most troubles its opponents. In the Columbine community, Cullen’s book is widely regarded not as the definitive account of the massacre and its aftermath, but as one version of it, with its own biases and questionable interpretations. The second chapter portrays Harris as a chick magnet, an assertion based largely on the account of one reputed girlfriend whom police investigators concluded wasn’t credible; several people who knew the killers well believe both Harris and Klebold died virgins. (“Right now I’m trying to get fucked and trying to finish off these time bombs,” Harris wrote two weeks before the attack.) It’s one thread in a larger dispute some readers have with Cullen’s work—which in their view downplays the role of bullying and other factors in its efforts to portray Harris as a well-integrated psychopath and Klebold as his depressed, rejected follower.

It’s doubtful that even the most nuanced interpretation of the killers’ motives would satisfy all camps. Harris and Klebold offered contradictory explanations for their hatred

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

(He died before medical aid could be safely escorted to him.) No other school shooting had ever attracted such a massive live audience before—and new procedures, adopted in Columbine’s wake by police across the country, designed to deal swiftly with an active shooter situation make a repeat of such a prolonged siege unlikely.

The blundering continued long after the siege ended. Fearing civil suits, school and law enforcement officials lawyered up, releasing little information about the killers and even lying about a prior police investigation of Harris for making threats and detonating pipe bombs. Determined to explain the “why” of the shootings, journalists fashioned motives out of rumors, cranking out stories about Harris and Klebold as persecuted goths, members of the Trench Coat Mafia, or put-upon nerds looking for payback against bullying jocks.

The truth trickled out gradually. Under pressure from the victims’ families, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office grudgingly released some of its investigative files, while fighting for years to suppress some of the most embarrassing documents—as well as the killers’ writings and videos, claiming they would provoke copycat shootings. (The basement tapes, though viewed by some reporters and Columbine families, are still officially under wraps.) The stonewalling made these materials seem far more interesting than they actually were, helping to perpetuate a mystique about Columbine that endures to this day.

The media mythology quickly became fodder for film and television dramas—everything from high-minded indie features to episodes of Law & Order, Cold Case, One Tree Hill, and even American Horror Story. The feature films tend to fall into two camps, focusing either on the killers as some inexplicable evil force, or on the aftermath of a school shooting, in which survivors search for solace and explanations. The latest entry is Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, the artiest, darkest shooter film since Gus Van Sant’s Elephant (2003). Like Van Sant, Ramsay doesn’t offer much accounting for the bad seed who decides to practice his archery on his classmates. (Even Kevin, who survives the attack, doesn’t have much in the way of motive to offer: “I thought I knew,” he says.)

So far, Kevin hasn’t stirred any noticeable outrage among Columbine alums. None of the other filmmakers’ interpretations generated much controversy, either. But then, none of them claimed to be the “real story” of Columbine.

that at the end of it, the lights go out and guns start firing,” he recalls. “A lot of my class had a real hard time with that.”

Berry says he doesn’t have a problem with Cullen’s book, which he hasn’t read. But he believes an effort to dramatize the “actual events” of Columbine will do more harm than good. “I still have a few tics and triggers,” he says. “I just don’t understand what is going to be added to the conversation.”

Cullen is well aware of the range of objections to the miniseries. He read through comment after comment in the online petition, trying to understand his critics’ perspective, but finally gave up. “It was demoralizing,” he says. “A lot of them were calling me a horrible person.”

It stung, he says, that people think the project is just about money, as if anything dealing with Columbine is a guaranteed blockbuster.

He spent the better part of 10 years researching his book and challenging the core myths about the attack—for example, that Harris and Klebold were out to kill jocks—but most major publishers weren’t interested. Even after the book won rave reviews, major studios passed on the idea of an adaptation. “It was this project nobody wanted to do, based on this very dark material,” he says.

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The Columbine Effect » FROM PAGE 15 and despair. They were filled with rage over perceived slights from family members and the “bitches” who rejected them, but also believed they had “evolved one step above you fucking human shit.” They offered ample warning signs of their intentions because they suspected, correctly, that almost no one was paying attention.

They pursued their apocalyptic plot for months, with the monomania of terrorists, even as their lives seemingly improved, yet they were adept at blaming others for their isolation and contempt for the whole world. “I hate you people for leaving me out of so many fun things,” Harris wrote in the final, self-pitying entry in his journal. That’s not an explanation—just another expression of long-nurtured grievances by an angry, deeply delusional teenager.

A few of Cullen’s most vocal critics say they don’t trust his book because he relies so heavily on sources among law enforcement and school officials, including Jefferson County lead investigator Kate Battan, FBI agent Dwayne Fuselier (whose psychological analysis of the killers Cullen presents as if handed down from Mount Sinai), and principal Frank DeAngelis—people whom Columbine families accused of misleading them or providing self-serving accounts. Although Cullen deals in a roundabout way with the police cover-up of prior investigations of the killers and their blunders on the day of the attack, he also describes the Jefferson County commanders—several of whom lied outright to the media and the victims’ families—as “essentially honest men,” and makes a point of proclaiming that Battan “was clean.”

“He was working with Battan and Fuselier to make the police look good,” says Brian Rohrbough, who fought in court for years to establish that the official account of how his son Danny died outside the school was wrong. “He glosses over the cover-up as if it’s an incidental thing.”

When Columbine was published three years ago, Rohrbough and other parents were incensed to learn that Oprah Winfrey was going to feature the author, Battan, and Fuselier on a show marking the shootings’ 10th anniversary. Contacted by a producer for photos of his son, Rohrbough suggested that Winfrey was making a terrible mistake. “I said, ‘I’d be happy to pay for my own plane ticket and be part of this,’ ” he recalls. “ ‘If you’re going to put these liars on, someone needs to be there to refute them.’ She was horrified.”

An appearance on Oprah virtually guarantees a dramatic rise in sales for any author.

Winfrey decided to shelve the episode on Cullen’s book, issuing a brief statement: “After reviewing it, I thought it focused too much on the killers. Today, hold a thought for the Columbine community. This is a hard day for them.”

Cullen points out that Columbine also deals with the recovery process of survivors and victims’ families—especially Patrick Ireland, the badly wounded youth who crawled out of the library window into the arms of rescuers, and the wife of Dave Sanders. His book was positively received by some of the Columbine families, as well as by thousands of people affected by other shootings and forms of trauma. He insists that the producers he’s working with are as committed as he is to honor the victims and not glorify the killers.

At the same time, he concedes that he doesn’t have an easy response for people concerned about the traumas the miniseries might trigger. “Of all the anger and reasons for protest, that’s the one that gnaws at me the most,” he says. “That’s the one I’m really worried about. You’d think I had a better answer for that by now.”

Cullen says he recognizes that the posttraumatic stress experienced by many of the survivors is genuine and ongoing. He had two diagnosed bouts of “secondary PTSD” himself while researching his book, one of which was triggered by a series of school shootings in the news in a matter of days.

The two most emotionally trying chapters to write, he says, involved Sanders’ death and, oddly, Klebold’s funeral. “I couldn’t get any work done,” he recalls. “I was pretty much crying every day. I thought I would get over it. I was about three weeks into it when I realized I was in trouble. I was kind of a mess.”

But he believes the downside of revisiting the shootings is outweighed by the good that a thorough, honest treatment of the event could do. He likens the project to Vietnam movies of the late 1970s, which distressed some vets but helped the nation come to terms with the war’s legacy. “The whole country did go through Columbine, and really needs something that will help them,” he says. “So I think we need to do it.”

S

am Granillo and other petitionsigners don’t agree. The miniseries controversy has only strengthened Granillo’s resolve to pursue his own documentary about how

his classmates have dealt with the longterm legacy of the shootings. He recently launched a website to promote the project, now called Columbine: Wounded Minds, and has a fundraiser planned for next month.

“There’s no reason to relive the tragedy endlessly,” he says. “There needs to be a new perspective of the situation, from us— and that has not been done yet.”

Many of the people Granillo is interviewing for his documentary had never before talked publicly about the attack. It’s difficult work, he says, and it’s easy to get off-track, as subject and interviewer start to reminisce about various friends they lost or share little stories about life at Columbine before everything was utterly transformed.

Recently Granillo sat down with DeAngelis, still at the helm of Columbine High after all these years, the person reporters seek for every anniversary story. For the first 45 minutes, the interview trudged forward as just another retrospective—the same canned questions and answers. Then Granillo asked his old principal what was really going on in his head, having to be the spokesman and public face of Columbine.

DeAngelis thought about it. He began to talk more candidly than Granillo had ever heard him talk before. The two spent the next four hours in conversation about the school they loved and mourned.

“It was both of us,” Granillo says, “sharing things we could relate to. Things we knew, that you had to be there to know.” E Alan Prendergast is a staff writer at Seattle Weekly’s sister paper, Westword, in Denver. news@seattleweekly.com

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

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the»weekly»wire happy to separate you from some money. So as Lou suggested, come take a walk on the wild side. Mount Baker Community Club, 2811 Mt. Rainier Dr. S., 325-8773, velocitydancecenter.org. $40–$85. 5:30 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ

The Hunger Games may gain BR a whole new audience.

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by Rajah Kelly and Zoe | Juniper (just off their A Crack in Everything tour), “boylesque” personality Waxie Moon, and Animate Objects Physical Theater. They’ve got food by Skillet, specialty drinks by Turquoise and Mustard, and live music by EMP Sound-Off winners Tomten. Nancy Guppy hosts the evening, and the ever-droll auctioneer Matt Smith will be

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OMG! Have you got your ticket for The Hunger Games? (See review, page 25.) Are you just dying to see it? Did you read the books? Didn’t you just love the books? Teenagers fighting to the death—what a novel concept, right? Well, this weekend is a good time to trot out the 2000 Battle Royale, directed by the veteran director Kinji Fukasaku, who’s kind of like the Sam Peckinpah of Japan. Only here we have ninthgraders, not cowboys, battling to the death on a remote island—yes, something like Lord of the Flies. The film’s nutty premise has these sweet-faced, uniformed schoolkids try to slay one another until only one winner remains. But unlike Hunger Games (or Rollerball or Gladiator, for that matter), entertainment isn’t the point of this carnage-ridden spectacular. There are no cameras to relay the allegiances, betrayals, and gore to a viewing audience. Instead, the blood sport is meant as a cautionary, punitive example against disobedient youngsters. On hand as a gruff teacher is Takeshi Kitano, who jeers, “So today’s lesson is—you kill each other off!” Even if it lacks a coherent ending, the black-comedic Battle brilliantly escalates the hair-trigger volatility of adolescent emotions.

(Because Columbine was so fresh, the movie never had a U.S. release.) And by curious coincidence, BR is also playing tonight at Northwest Film Forum at 11 p.m. Egyptian, 805 E. Pine St., 781-5755, landmarktheatres.com. $8.25. Midnight. (Repeats Sat.) BRIAN MILLER

JOHN CORNICELLO

fri/3/23

and prerecorded voices, the 2011 piece reuses a technique from Reich’s Holocaust memorial Different Trains: Melodic licks echo the rhythm and pitch contour of spoken fragments—not merely setting words, but turning them directly into tunes. But WTC 9/11 is even more a sonic documentary than the bittersweet Trains. In the first movement, which opens with a high, shrill pulsing like a busy signal or an alarm, the voices come from NORAD and FDNY radio dispatches on that fateful morning; the second and third incorporate clips from after-the-fact interviews: “Everyone was running . . . then the second plane hit . . . it was not an accident . . . ” The third also layers in wisps of what sound like liturgical songs or laments. The Kronos Quartet, which has never relinquished its position as America’s foremost new-music ensemble since its founding in 1973 (in Seattle), commissioned, premiered, and recorded the piece, multitracking themselves. They’ll play it again tonight alongside works by Michael Gordon, Laurie Anderson, and many others. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org. $50.

8 p.m. GAVIN BORCHERT

Our soggy March is the appropriate season for the annual Moisture Festival, which offers a deluge of events and attractions. For some, that means clowns and family matinees. For others, the appeal lies in skimpy costumes, cheap innuendo, boobs, and pasties. Appropriately, for those 18 and older, the fest is tonight opening a “Libertease Burlesque” stand at the Broadway Performance Hall, running Fri.–Sat. through March 31.

(Shows also continue at Hale’s Palladium through April 8 and will arrive at the Georgetown Ballroom March 30–April 1.)

Among the familiar local titillation artists, including Lily Verlaine, Waxie Moon, and Shanghai Pearl, is the visiting Baltimore duo of Trixie Little & the Evil Hate Monkey. They promise an acrobatic brand of burlesque, with plenty of hip thrusts and naughty gyrations. Also, they’ve performed with John Waters and the Flaming Lips, which is endorsement enough for us. The house band for the burlesque performances will be the Zebra Kings, with the scantily clad Madame X as emcee. Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, moisturefestival.org. $10–$25. 7:30 & 10:30 p.m. T. BOND

19

arts»Opening Nights P Emerald City

P New Works

Sometimes you can have it both ways. S.P. Miskowski’s Emerald City is both a narrow, niche play about Seattle’s eccentricities (and delusions of grandeur) and a grander exploration of love’s mercurial nature. It’s populated by an odd assortment of transplants and native misfits who are often chillier than the weather, but Miskowski isn’t aiming for satire in this very ambitious new play. Rather, she offers a bemused, omniscient commentary on the rites of our insular metropolis. If you’re a newcomer to the city like me, still trying to learn its codes, Emerald City may feel like the story of your life, too.

The play begins in Irvine, California, where Scarlett (the redoubtable Jennifer Pratt) is still smarting from her experience in Seattle, where she recently lost her reporting job, her house, and her girlfriend.

Now she’s repartnered to a high-strung homebody named Lillian (Megan Ahiers), who dotes on her by whipping up delicacies in the kitchen and blogging about them to pass the time. When Scarlett’s literary agent (Shawnmarie Stanton) convinces Scarlett to investigate a real-estate story back in Seattle, she reluctantly agrees. Lillian panics at this disruption in their relationship, so she secretly follows Scarlett back to the site of so many bittersweet memories.

So while Scarlett is out interviewing a woman (Gretchen Douma) who won’t sell her house to developers, Lillian is knocking around Pike Place Market, adorning herself with tattoos, and seeking the troll beneath the Fremont Bridge. Scarlett is crashing on the couch of her old college pal Tina (Morgan Rowe), who happens to lead downtown tours for visitors. Lillian surreptitiously books a tour with Tina to learn more about the city and her lover’s past. The play then begins to move in concentric circles, drawing all these disparate characters together—with Lillian blossoming in the Rain City even as longtime Seattleites Scarlett and Tina drown.

Produced by Live Girls! Theater and directed by Meghan Arnette, Emerald City is both a challenge for actors to perform and a delight for audiences to relish. Miskowski’s text packs more laughs into two-and-a-half hours than eight seasons of Two and a Half Men, but it’s also achingly sad. In the play’s final minutes, Miskowski performs a trick you’ll seldom see onstage anywhere: The performers bounce back and forth between a pathos that will rip your heart out and a kind of manic glee that makes laughter impossible to resist.

The costumes and tech work here are all on a shoestring, but that’s just fine, because it leaves the focus right where it belongs: on Miskowski’s writing and the talents bringing it to life. However, the play could stand another half-hour of pruning (particularly an epilogue that asks more questions than it answers). And Emerald City is so Seattlecentric that it’ll play better here than on the road. But that’s a strength as well. With so many inside jokes and spot-on insights, it’s a jewel we can call our own. KEVIN PHINNEY

Peter Boal is fond of saying that he wants audiences to know how many different kinds of dance Pacific Northwest Ballet can do, and he’s been methodically adding works to the repertory that prove just that. Two of the three dances in the ongoing “New Works” series would be at home in most modern-dance ensembles today, but one, David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to My Skin, is most definitely a ballet.

Some of the most beautiful dances in the world, and some of the hardest, are set to Bach, and Kisses can be included on that list. It’s a stellar example of neoclassical ballet, influenced by George Balanchine and William Forsythe (Dawson previously danced works by both), an essay in speed and facility. We see the outlines of classical traditions opened, stretched, and twisted around, yet without losing the rhythm of the vocabulary or the logic of the structure. The cast of nine is more than up to the challenge, flashing through the space in sequences that change direction and accent fiendishly, but continue to accumulate momentum.

On opening night, Seth Orza and Carla Körbes were particularly beautiful in an exposed adagio. During the Sunday matinee, Margaret Mullin covered the length of the stage in a pair of leaps. The title of Kisses refers to the exhilaration of performance, but we in the audience felt that tingling, too.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Victor Quijada bring differing amounts of ballet material to the mix. Lopez Ochoa’s Cylindrical Shadows, developed last year for Olivier Wevers’ local company Whim W’Him, is a even amalgam of elements. The weighted momentum of modern dance is organized around a balletinfluenced skeleton of extended shapes and fluid phrasing. Her stated themes are isolation and grief, and you can certainly detect those emotions onstage, yet the work also reads as an exploration of hybrid movement style. She keeps the liquid virtuosity of ballet in the foreground while altering traditional patterns.

Quijada again employs his break-dancing background for PNB (as in 2006’s Suspension of Disbelief), and his world-premiere Mating Theory also features the same articulate floor work and dramatic isolations. Significantly, however, he’s now organizing the stage space and developing his characters with more traditional theatrical tools. At its heart, Mating Theory is about control and dominance, expressed through groups that pass through each other, then separate again.

They seem to be governed by the rules of an animal pack. The sudden solos and relatively short phrases are set off by a stillness, in which you could discern a fable about caution and aggression. Groups turn into tribes. Relationships become contests. By the end, when Rachel Foster and Lucien Postlewaite find an uneasy counterbalance, it’s not so much a happy ending as a break in an unending conflict. SANDRA KURTZ E

WEST OF LENIN, 203 N. 36TH ST., 800-838-3006, LGTHEATER.ORG. $5–$18. 8 P.M. FRI.–SAT. ENDS APRIL 7.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

NOW PLAYING!

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March 20-25 • The Paramount Theatre 877-STG-4TIX • STGPresents.org ®

Tickets available at Tickets.com and select Ticketmaster locations Additional fees may apply. All sales final, no refunds. Prices, shows, dates, schedules, and artists are subject to change.

MCCAW HALL, 321 MERCER ST. (SEATTLE CENTER), 441-2424, PNB.ORG. $28–$168. 7:30 P.M. THURS.–FRI., 2 & 7:30 P.M. SAT. ENDS MARCH 23.

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seattleartmuseum.org/gauguin Image: Three Tahitians (detail), Paul Gauguin, French, National Gallery of Scotland.

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arts»Performance

BY GAVIN BORCHERT

Stage OPENINGS

FREUD’S LAST SESSION C.S. Lewis squares off against

the shrink in this thriller. Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., 781-9707, taproottheatre.org. $15–$37. Previews March 21–22, opens March 23. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Thurs., 8 p.m.

Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat. Ends April 21.

GUSTAFER YELLOWGOLD’S GOLDEN HEART SYMPHONY Morgan Taylor’s show is “equal parts

pop-rock concert and hand-drawn cartoon movie.”

Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., townhallseattle.org. Adults $5–$25, kids free. Noon, Sat., March 24.

THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO Alfred Uhry’s play, set in 1939 in Atlanta. University Preparatory Academy, 8000 25th Ave. N.E., 800-838-3006, seattlejewishtheater.com. $15–$20. 7 p.m. Sat., March 24, 3 p.m. Sun., March 25.

OR, Liz Duffy Adams’ Restoration-set comedy about bold playwright/secret agent Aphra Behn. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. $12–$59. Previews March 23, 24, 25, 27; opens March 28. Runs 7:30 p.m.

Wed.–Sun. plus some matinees; see seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends April 22.

A SHORT-TERM SOLUTION TO A LONG-TERM PROBLEM The first run,

earlier this year, of Stranger scribe David Schmader’s solo show sold out, so here’s a revival. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., 322-7030.

Opens March 23. Runs Fri.– Sat.; see hugohouse.org for exact schedule. Ends April 14.

SOUTH PACIFIC Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Polynesiaset classic. Kirkland Performance Center, 350 T H I S CO D E TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE Kirkland Ave., Kirkland, SEATTLE WEEKLY 425-893-9900, kpcenter.org, IPHONE/ANDROID APP lyriclightopera.org. $35–$37.

FOR MORE EVENTS OR VISIT Opens March 24. 7:30 p.m. Fri.– seattleweekly.com Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends April 1.

XANADU Ian Bell’s “Brown Derby Series,” which stages and sends up cult films, has never aimed at a riper target than the Olivia Newton-John/ELO classic. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St., brownderbyseries.org. $18. 8 p.m.

Thurs., March 22–Sat., March 24.

SCAN

CURRENT RUNS

DINA MARTINA: AMPLE WATTAGE! An all-new show

•

•

Send events to stage@seattleweekly.com, dance@seattleweekly.com, or classical@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings. = Recommended

•

Anselmi’s comedy about a chaotic Jewish/Catholic wedding. Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, 425-392-2202, villagetheatre.org. $22–$62. Runs Wed.– Sat. plus some Tues. & Sun. evenings. Ends April 22.

LARK EDEN Natalie Symons’ play about an epistolary friendship among three women. Theater Schmeater, 1500 Summit Ave., 324-5801, schmeater.org. $10–$23.

8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. (except March 31). Ends April 14.

MAMMA MIA! ABBA tunes wedged into an insipid story about a young woman getting married on a Grecian island and her three possible fathers. Those damn Swedes really knew what they were doing. STEVE WIECKING The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org. $25–$90. 7:30 p.m. Wed., March 21– Thurs., March 22; 8 p.m. Fri., March 23; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., March 24; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., March 25.

MOISTURE FESTIVAL SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 19.

RED John Logan’s play imagines painter Mark Rothko hiring an ambitious young helper whose attitude shifts from reverence to ridicule as Pop Art begins to supplant modernism. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. $12–$69. Runs Wed.–Sun with some matinees; see seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends March 24.

THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE Jim Cartwright’s 1992 play is rarely staged, partly because it demands a young actress capable of imitating an array of songstresses. Director Christopher Zinovitch, however, has found an exceptional talent in high-school student Myrna Conn, whose energetic mid-show medley is the production’s highlight. Another explanation: the script, overthe-top characters in a funny/tragic plot that doesn’t always make sense. BRENT ARONOWITZ ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0339, artswest.org. $10– $34.50. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends March 31.

STUCK In Jessica Hatlo’s new play, a young couple can’t seem to leave their apartment. Washington Ensemble Theatre, 608 19th Ave. E., 325-5105, washingtonensemble. org. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Mon. Ends April 9.

TORSO Personal grief and a shocking crime color Keri Healey’s play. Theater Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., 800-838-3006, printersdevil.org. $15–$18. 8 p.m. Thurs.– Sat. Ends March 31.

For still more Current Runs, see seattleweekly.com.

•

• •

Dance

FACTORY SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 19.

• SILVER • BOOST DANCE FESTIVAL Marlo Martin’s chorepg-

rapher showcase runs a gamut between abstract and narrative, experienced and neophyte, physically unfettered and classically serene. SANDRA KURTZ Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, 1524 Harvard Ave., boostdancefestival.com. $18. 8 p.m. Fri.–Sat. Ends March 24.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET: NEW WORKS SEE REVIEW, PAGE 21.

PNB: SNOW WHITE Students of the PNB School tackle the fairy-tale romance, choreographed by Bruce Wells.

McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 441-2424, pnb.org. $22–$67.

10:30 a.m. Fri., March 23, noon & 3:30 p.m. Sun., March 25.

•

Classical, Etc.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY Brahms, Janacek, and Schubert,

led by Ludovic Morlot. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., 215-4747, seattlesymphony.org. $17–$110. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 22, 8 p.m. Sat., March 24, 2 p.m. Sun., March 25.

KRONOS QUARTET SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 19.

TALLIS SCHOLARS Vocal music that may have been heard at a history-making England/France summit meeting in 1520. Blessed Sacrament Church, 5041 Ninth Ave. N.E., 323-9415, tudorchoir.org. $25–$50. 8 p.m. Fri., March 23.

BACH SUITE MARATHON To celebrate the composer’s b-day, a few dozen local cellists tag-team all 36 movements from Bach’s six solo suites. Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, 7500 Greenwood Ave. N. Free. 9 a.m.

Sat., March 24.

MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE “Not Martyrs, Not Saints” features music by Simon Sargon and Osvaldo Golijov.

Chapel Performance Space, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., musicofremembrance.org. Free. 2 p.m. Sat., March 24.

BAROQUE NORTHWEST 17th-century chamber music from France. Trinity Episcopal Church, 609 Eighth Ave., 920-3822. 7:30 p.m. Sat., March 24.

NORTHWEST CHAMBER CHORUS In “Americana,” hymns, spirituals, and such. Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, 7500 Greenwood Ave. N., 523-1196, northwest chamberchorus.org. $12–$22. 7:30 p.m. Sat., March 24.

• • •

MADRONA GRACE CHOIR & TOTAL EXPERIENCE GOSPEL CHOIR Joining forces to celebrate a church’s

centenary. Madrona Presbyterian Church, 832 32nd Ave., 328-2704, madronachurch.org. 6:30 p.m. Sun., March 25.

JANET SEE From this flutist, music by Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. Cornish College/PONCHO Concert Hall, 710 E. Roy St., cornish.edu. $10–$20. 7 p.m. Sun., March 25.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

from the supreme mistress of entretainment. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St., 800-838-3006. $20. 8 p.m. (most) Fri.–Sat., 2 p.m. (some) Sun.; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends April 22.

EMERALD CITY SEE REVIEW, PAGE 21.

EPIC MASALA The Wing-It folks improvise an Indian tale, based on your suggestions. Wing-It Productions, 5510 University Way N.E., 781-3879, wingitpresents.com. $10–$14. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Fri. Extended through April 20.

FIRST DATE The premiere of a musical “about one date, two people, and all the voices in their heads.” ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 292-7676, acttheatre.org. $15–$69.

Opens March 29, previews until then. Runs Tues.–Sun.; see website for exact schedule. Ends May 20.

THE FOREIGNER Larry Shue’s comedy about two Brits on vacation in the South. Center House Theatre, Seattle Center, 800-838-3006, soundtheatrecompany.org. $15– $20. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends March 25.

HAPPY DAYS A terrific production of one of Samuel Beckett’s most accessible plays. Chatty Winnie (Mary Ewald) is buried to her navel in a giant sand mound.

Nearby, her husband Willie (Seanjohn Walsh) takes refuge from her tidal yappings in a sand hole. Winnie’s articulate, ritualistic gestures depict a person trying to fashion a varied world from the sparest of toolkits, while poor sun-scorched Willie exists like a plant in a lonely lady’s apartment, a comedic excuse for Winnie’s onesided conversation—yet shines within these constraints.

Throughout the 90-minute two-act, I was as restless as I’ve ever felt in a theater seat. Just as Beckett would have wanted. MARGARET FRIEDMAN New City Theater, 1404 18th Ave., 271-4430, newcitytheater.org. $15 Thurs., $20 Fri.–Sat. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Extended through April 7.

IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU Brian Hargrove and Barbara

23

arts»Visual Arts

BY KAT CHOW

Openings & Events • CAL ANDERSON PORTRAIT DEDICATION Visit the future Capitol Hill light-rail station on Saturday morning to see this new portrait. Sound Transit commissioned artist Kelly Lyles through STart, its public art program, to honor the late state senator (1948–1995) whose name also graces the nearby park. Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave., 684-4075, seattle.gov/parks. Sat., March 24, 11 a.m.

EMERGING FROM CHAOS: DADA AND THE BAUHAUS As part of a four-part lecture series “Chaos

Send events to visualarts@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings = Recommended

•

Museums

• AROUND THE BEND AND OVER THE EDGE

Featuring ceramics from Seattle, from 1964 to 1977.

Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E., 543-2280, henryart.org. $6–$10. Thurs.–Fri., 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Wed., Sat., Sun., 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Through May 6.

BELOVED: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION The Frye shows highlights from its core collection of mostly German figurative art. Frieda Sondland, a 90-year-old German immigrant who lives nearby, is a near-daily visitor at the museum. She helped curator Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker select the paintings. Frye Art Museum. Free.

Thurs., 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Tues.–Wed., Fri.–Sun., 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. Through April 15.

THEASTER GATES In The Listening Room, the Chicago artist has rearchived the albums from a defunct R&B record store as a kind of tribute to the Civil Rights era. Flag-like arrangements of flattened fire hoses cover the walls, and he’s set up a DJ’s console on an old church altar, too.

Visitors are encouraged to browse through another trove of old vinyl on the floor, where turntables also invite your use. Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org. $12–$15. Thurs.–Fri., 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Wed., Sat., Sun., 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Through July 1.

AN ELUSIVE • GAUGUIN &ThePOLYNESIA: tropical hues and fecund shock of PARADISE

Gauguin’s famous canvasses have been thoroughly absorbed into our visual vernacular. Native girls lounging on beaches, the ripe fruit and palm trees—these images (about 60 pieces in total) are postcard-familiar, but still important. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum.

Through April 22.

TheFussyeye » by brian miller

Tunnel Vision

During the March First Thursday art walk, plodding through Pioneer Square, I thought to myself, “Hey, what is that—some new gallery that didn’t send me a press release?” Inside the brightly lit new space were photos, historical artifacts, models, videos, and information kiosks. The staff was friendly, and there were more people inside—though none with drinks in their hands—than in some of the Tashiro Kaplan Building’s galleries that night. What was this place? And dig the crazy, giant trompe l’oeil mural in back—it’s like a portal into the Earth, like an episode of Lost! Where was I? Milepost 31 is not in fact a gallery, but it’s open late on First Thursdays to attract the gallery crowd. And when many Pioneer Square storefronts are empty these days, it’s a welcome presentation of history—as well as the future—as part of the culture scene. The soil samples and vintage photos remind you of the muck beneath downtown, how the pioneers’ building, and rebuilding, was a creative act. Sure, the leveling of Belltown and the viaduct itself were bad ideas, and there are still hurt feelings about the deep-bore tunnel and tolling (or even the monorail, for that matter). But

Milepost 31, a WSDOT project mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act, suggests that history is a continuum that reaches forward, too.

A time-lapse video of early viaduct removal at the south portal helps make the same point: Things look static only during a moment’s glance. Come back later, and everything’s different. Paintings fade, sculpture rusts, earthworks erode, and even those precious pixels and bytes of modern art may

BRIAN MILLER

and Order: German Painting Between the Wars, “ Richard West, art historian and Frye’s former director, will talk about the Dada and Bauhaus movements. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 622-9250, fryemuseum.org. $10–$15. Thurs., March 22, 6:30 p.m.

LAUREN GROSSMAN In Sphincter, she uses glass, steel, plastic, and cast iron to create sculptures that reflect changing Judeo-Christian imagery in contemporary culture. Note NCECA reception 6–9 p.m. Tues., March 27. Platform Gallery, 114 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 323-2808, platformgallery.com. Opens March 22. Wed.–Fri., 11 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. Through April 28.

IN THE MIDDLE, ON THE EDGE As part of the NCECA conference, 13 sculptors from Hawaii will show work addressing their state’s remote geographic location. Note evening reception 5:30–8:30 p.m. Thurs., March 22. Patricia Cameron Gallery, 234 Dexter Ave. N., 343-9647, patriciacamerongallery.com. Opens March 22. Mon.–Fri., 11 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Through April 27.

ALWYN O’BRIEN In Essay in Objects, O’Brien draws from her experience working in nursing homes to sculptures that trigger memories. Note opening reception 6–8 p.m.

Thurs., March 22. James Harris Gallery, 312 Second Ave. S., 903-6220, jamesharrisgallery.com. Opens March 22. Thurs.–Sat., 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Through April 28.

RED CURRENT (SWEET FRUIT) Curator Sharon Arnold presents 37 contemporary Northwest artists, with works in painting, drawing, installation, and video.

Note opening reception 6–9 p.m. Fri., March 23. Roq La Rue, 2312 Second Ave., 374-8977, roqlarue.com. Opens March 23. Wed.–Fri., 1–6 p.m. Through April 7.

not last as long as Leonardo’s codices. The mural on the back wall is a rendering of what drivers will see before they plunge underground. The scale and verisimilitude are somewhat startling— like you could drive your car into it. It’s the future, staring you in the face. Milepost 31, 211 First Ave. S., 298-5463, milepost31.org. Free.

11 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

5030 ROOSEVELT WAY NE SEATTLE, WA 98105 (206) 524-8554 WWW.SCARECROW.COM SUN.-THURS. 11am-11pm FRI. & SAT. 11am-Midnight

BATTLE ROYALE THE COMPLETE COLLECTION includes Battle Royale & Battle Royale II plus over three hours of special features

DVD or Blu-ray $19.95

BATTLE ROYALE

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

also available separately DVD or Blu-ray $15.95

24

NEW THIS WEEK

For more New Releases, visit scarecrow.com

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011)

DVD $22.95 Blu/DVD set $29.95

INVITES YOU AND A GUEST TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING OF

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

DVD $22.95 Blu-ray $26.95

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 7:00P.M. Please visit WWW.GOFOBO.COM/RSVP and enter the code SWEEK5AQY to download your complimentary tickets!

CARNAGE

DVD $24.95 Blu-ray $26.95

THE MUPPETS DVD $22.95 Blu-ray/DVD set $29.95

Text the word PERSEUS and your ZIP CODE to 43KIX at 43549 to enter to win a WRATH OF THE TITANS prize pack!

There is no charge to text 43KIX. Message and data rates from your wireless carrier may apply.

New coffee cart at Scarecrow Video 7 Roasters coffee and espresso, Kuan Yin teas & more Open Monday through Friday 7am-8pm Saturday & Sunday 9am-8pm

THIS FILM IS RATED PG-13. PARENTS STRONGLY CAUTIONED. Please note: Tickets are limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis while supplies last.

No phone calls, please. Limit two tickets per person. Each ticket admits one. Seating is not guaranteed.

Arrive early. Theater is not responsible for overbooking. This screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. By attending, you agree not to bring any audio or video recording device into the theater (audio recording devices for credentialed press excepted) and consent to a physical search of your belongings and person. Any attempted use of recording devices will result in immediate removal from the theater, forfeiture, and may subject you to criminal and civil liability. Please allow additional time for heightened security. You can assist us by leaving all nonessential bags at home or in your vehicle.

IN THEATERS MARCH 30 • WRATHOFTHETITANS.COM

film»This Week’s Attractions

PLAYING MARCH 206.324.9996 | siff.net 23–29 A film for PINA BAUSCH by WIM WENDERS

P Gerhard Richter Painting

RUNS FRI., MARCH 23–THURS., MARCH 29 AT NORTHWEST FILM FORUM. NOT RATED. 97 MINUTES.

Director Waititi gives us too much of himself in Boy.

PALADIN FILMS

Boy RUNS FRI., MARCH 23–THURS., MARCH 29 AT VARSITY. NOT RATED. 90 MINUTES.

Fake It So Real RUNS FRI., MARCH 23–WED., MARCH 28 AT GRAND ILLUSION. NOT RATED. 91 MINUTES.

If you’ve ever wanted, in a non-ironic, nonhipster sort of way, to attend a semi-pro wrestling match in small-town North Carolina, this doc is for you. Director Robert Greene takes a very generous stance toward a dozen of these rasslers, most of whom have low-paying day jobs to support their weekends in the ring.

(Those earnings amount to “$20, a hot dog, and a slap on the ass,” says one.) We watch them train, apply makeup, set up and tear down a stage in a rented VFW hall, and share cigs in the parking lot. They are, to a man, a

P Gainsbourg: The Man Who Loved Women RUNS FRI., MARCH 23–SUN., MARCH 25 AT NORTHWEST FILM FORUM. NOT RATED. 105 MINUTES.

Not to be confused with Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, the biopic that played town last October, this French made-for-TV documentary, directed by Didier Varrod and Pascal Forneri, turns out to be a witty and immersive profile of a man (1928–1991) who lived his adult life in public view—onstage, in newspapers, in numerous sultry music videos, and on countless talk shows—yet remained a charming, chain-smoking enigma. To most of his French countrymen, the brilliant pop songwriter and singer Serge Gainsbourg epitomized a freewheeling break from postwar conformity and complacency; to others he was an ungrateful, misogynistic cynic with an unquenchable appetite for gorgeous women and top-shelf alcohol. This doc aspires to unearth the artist’s true nature through a chorus of deeply affectionate female voices. Twenty years after Gainsbourg’s death, the ladies’ man is warmly remembered by ex-lovers Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, singers Juliette Greco and Vanessa Paradis, and daughter Charlotte. But it’s the legend’s voice, sometimes smooth, sometimes raspy, concealing as much as it reveals, that pins us to our chair. MICHAEL FOX

The Hunger Games OPENS FRI., MARCH 23 AT METRO AND OTHER THEATERS. RATED PG-13. 142 MINUTES.

A withering indictment of endless spectacle, the first volume of Suzanne Collins’ astronomically successful dystopic YA trilogy was inspired, she has said, by flipping the channels from a realityTV show to footage of the Iraq war. Most of her critique, then, is compromised by the very existence of this big-screen transfer, itself the most anticipated spectacle of the spring. Set in an unspecified, postapocalyptic future, The Hunger Games takes place in a nation constructed out of the ruins of North America and consisting of 12 impoverished districts and the prosperous Capitol. As punishment for an earlier uprising, the Capitol demands that one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district be selected via annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games. Now in its 74th edition, this televised pageant of nonstop gore documents the randomly drawn teenagers killing each other until only one remains. Representing District 12 is “tribute” Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a flinty 16-year-old who recalls the actress’ role in Winter’s Bone. For the film’s most difficult visual challenge—depicting the unrelenting violence of the source—director Gary Ross and cinematographer Tom Stern smartly deploy rapid cuts and quick shots of the aftermath of the kid-on-kid savagery. Although the film moves briskly and compellingly, it can’t match the fury of the book, in which Collins astringently articulates her anger at a culture— ours—indifferent to inequity and war and besotted with its own stupidity. With the focus too much on high-tech gimmickry, that rage and despair are here diluted. MELISSA ANDERSON

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

in 3D

“A unique and often sublime artistic experience!”

—Seattle Times

511 Queen Anne Avenue North

Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm

Friends With Kids

Chow Yun-Fat: Let the Bullets Fly Films4Families | All seats only $4.00 | Sat & Sun 12:00

The NeverEnding Story national theatre live:

The Comedy of Errors Mon 7:00 Back to the ’80s! Real

Genius

With pre-show Jiffy Pop race! Tues 7:00

The FP

Tues 9:30

The Big Lebowski Quote Along with Jeff “The Dude” Dowd in person and Big Lebowski Bowling Bash at Garage Weds / Bowling 5:30 / Quote Along 8:30

Raj Kapoor & the Golden Age of Indian Cinema March 29– April 11

Bollywood’s Greatest Star 12 newly restored films from the ’40s to the ’80s

—Opening Night— Awaara / The Vagabond Thurs 7:00 Seattle Center Northwest Rooms

Khodorkovsky

The world’s most famous political prisoner.

Carol Channing: Larger Than Life “A loving portrait of the legendary singer/actress/comedienne…and a century-spanning love story so sweet and touching you won’t believe it!” —The Stranger

Sat & Sun 5:00 class reunion: high school through the decades

Heathers Fri 9:30

Encore! Leonardo Live Weds & Thurs 6:30 The U.K. National Gallery’s sold-out exhibition on the big screen.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

The abundant charm of first-time actor James Rolleston, playing the 11-year-old of the title, doesn’t quite save this aimless, nostalgia-woozy second feature from Taika Waititi (after his 2007 Eagle vs. Shark). Set in 1984 in a Maori community in eastern New Zealand, the film is dominated by Michael Jackson’s Thriller: Boy pathetically moonwalks to impress a crush, and imagines, in two of several fantasy sequences, his deadbeat yet idolized dad, Alamein (Waititi), playing the King of Pop in the “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” videos. References to E.T., Musical Youth, and Shogun also turn up, but these pop-culture signifiers aren’t enough to make up for the lack of a plot (or even a purpose). Boy works best when focusing on its pre-adolescent protagonist and his 6-year-old brother, Rocky (Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, another impressive newcomer), motherless children prone to magical thinking yet burdened with too much responsibility. Troubles arise when anyone taller than five feet is onscreen, particularly Waititi, who quickly becomes his film’s biggest liability. Enervating, repetitive scenes of Alamein’s unhinged behavior (raging, bullying, drugging, digging for buried treasure) suggest the writer/director/actor underestimated the talents of the little shavers he assembled—or was unwilling to relinquish to them more screen time. MELISSA ANDERSON

likable bunch—none very articulate, all mutually supportive, and few with any delusions of reaching the WWF. (Refreshingly, none show any evidence of steroids or HGH, which they couldn’t afford anyway.) Greene treats them all like members of an amateur theatrical company, and one member of this Millennium Wrestling Federation says they have a mission of “telling a story” with their various characters, betrayals, and alliances in the ring. Rejecting the term “fake,” he continues, “I prefer ‘staged.’ ” And, indeed, putting on a show involves real work. When Fake It So Real finally reaches the big Saturday event, you care enough to wince at their falls and bruises, even if you’d never actually pay to see the real thing in person. (Note: Greene’s prior documentary, Kati With an I, plays at Northwest Film Forum next week.) BRIAN MILLER

Countless documentaries have feebly attempted to probe and illuminate the creative process (the phrase “dancing about architecture” springs to mind), and even artist Gerhard Richter—an 80-year-old master of many brush styles and ideas, from photorealistic portraiture to abstract expressionism— believes his work can’t be described with words. “Painting is another form of thinking,” the soft-spoken but no-bullshit iconoclast tells director Corinna Belz, whose magnificent and evocative observances of him laboring in his studio come as close as cinema gets to tracking the impulses and paradoxes of a gifted imagination. Alone with his enormous canvases, Richter studies his own vibranthued strokes and patterns, disappoints himself in the moment, then destroys and creates anew with a giant squeegee pulled across the would-be work of art, aided by Belz’s deeply satisfying attention to the tactile sounds of paint slapped on or scraped away.

New and vintage interviews with curators, historians, and collaborators help contextualize Richter’s five-decade career, but who even needs talking heads when you have panning shots of exhibition-layout thumbnails—rich, beautiful art on their own at 1:50 scale. Gerhard Richter Painting convincingly immerses us in the world of one of the greatest, painting. AARON HILLIS

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film» This Week’s Attractions » FROM PAGE 25 Invincible Force RUNS FRI., MARCH 23–THURS., MARCH 29 AT GRAND ILLUSION. NOT RATED. 131 MINUTES.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen OPENS FRI., MARCH 23 AT GUILD 45TH AND OTHER THEATERS. RATED PG-13. 107 MINUTES.

The kind of benign, swooningly humanist crowd-pleaser Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, Chocolat) could make in his sleep (and by this point, possibly does), Salmon mostly sacrifices the political satire and epistolary structure of Paul Torday’s source novel in favor of cute, if strained, rom-com shenanigans. If you’re not getting enough of

CBS FILMS

Directed by Daniel Schneidkraut, Invincible Force first presents itself as some YouTube video diary from a slovenly metalhead janitor in Minneapolis. The look is defiantly lo-fi, though it soon becomes obvious that the angles are professional and the action is scripted.

Drawn into a 90-day Internet weight-loss scam called “the program,” Drew (Drew Ailes) attempts a radical self-makeover, alienating his girlfriend and his only pal and ignoring calls from his concerned father. Invincible Force is long and slow, immersed in dull dieting process and amusing home workouts set to bad techno music, but there’s also a creepy artfilm fascination as our hero gradually morphs into Travis Bickle. “I think I’ve finally found my purpose in life,” he enthuses. But, no surprise, that purpose also begins to destroy his life as he seeks to “declare victory over my stupid, fat, faggot body.” The producers claim Invincible Force was shot in exactly 90 days, for no money, with Ailes dropping 35 pounds in real time.

Leeched of much obvious drama, the project feels like a stunt that could be remade with Will Ferrell (as comedy) or Christian Bale (as tragedy). Toward the insane end of his program, Drew begins spouting aphorisms that sound like nü-metal lyrics by way of Nietzsche, his brain rotted with nutritional supplements (and some peculiar bathroom habits). Invincible Force doesn’t grant Drew much depth of character; he’s merely defined by his mania, like an anorexic without the context of family or culture. BRIAN MILLER

London offices” and Tel Aviv (“How I hate this sunshine,” grumbles one, full of Russian spleen). Another pickup interviewee, apparently expressing the official Russian view, accuses Tuschi of making “free PR for the guilty person”—and though the PR bit is right on, Khodorkovsky goes some way toward questioning the guilt. NICK PINKERTON

Khodorkovsky

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

OPENS FRI., MARCH 23 AT SIFF FILM CENTER. NOT RATED. 111 MINUTES.

26

“In all my human-rights work, this is the first time I’ve defended a capitalist,” says a Hague lawyer of the unlikeliest of political martyrs, ex-oligarch Mikhael Khodorkovsky, subject of Cyril Tuschi’s documentary. Once the richest man in the world under 40—he helped found Russia’s first private bank after the fall of Communism, then headed oil & gas giant Yukos—Khodorkovsky has been a prisoner in Siberia since 2003. Many in the West, certainly German director Tuschi, suspect that the embezzlement and tax-evasion charges against Khodorkovsky have been manufactured by Vladimir Putin’s administration to silence the threat the businessman posed to the ruling party. (Since Tuschi’s film, which catches up with Khodorkovsky at his second trial, the sentence has been extended through 2017.) Tuschi plays the on-camera investigative journalist in this five-years-in-the-making doc, which moves between corny illustrative cartoons, random man-in-street interviews, and sit-downs with Khodorkovsky’s former Yukos executives, now exiled to “empty

Blunt and McGregor look great together in Salmon Fishing; pity about the script.

that from network TV, this movie’s for you.

Salmon, which sets up its premise and expectations in the title, concerns London fisheries specialist Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor), tasked by the prime minister’s flack (Kristin Scott Thomas) to export British salmon to a Yemeni river at the request of a sheikh (Amr Waked) with a jones for fly-fishing. The sheikh’s realestate assistant (Emily Blunt) tags along to help and, in the process, entices the unhappily married Jones into romance and Hallström-ian self-actualization. The first section of the film deploys chipper barbs at the expense of career bureaucrats, which is funny and effective— Scott Thomas, who brings the raunch, is particularly good—but once McGregor and Blunt start dissecting their complicated feelings for each other, things turn unexpectedly dire.

They’re a ridiculously attractive and likable couple, but Hallström overwhelms them (and the lush Scottish and Moroccan locations, and us) with his customary brand of lightweight heavy-handedness. MARK HOLCOMB E film@seattleweekly.com

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film» HEATHERS Christian Slater became a star by imitating

BY BRIAN MILLER

Local Film movie of the early • AIRPLANE! Perhaps the most-quoted Airport movies (and movies ‘80s, this lampoon of all the in general) made a late-career star of Leslie Nielsen, who had previously been a handsome bit player in precisely the same kind of solemn Hollywood fodder being mocked. The writing-directing team of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker went to the same well too many times thereafter, but you can’t hold it against them. Call for showtimes. (PG) Central Cinema, $6-$8, March 23-27.

BATTLE ROYALE SEE THE WIRE, PAGE 19.

CASABLANCA We all know the story of this 1942 Michael Curtiz perennial: a classic love triangle set against the tensions of war. True to its stage origins, the film sets up neat oppositions between selfishness and sacrifice, patriotism and exile, love and duty. Humphrey Bogart gained iconic status as Rick, who balances his lingering attachment to Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa against his long-suppressed sense of idealism. Casablanca is about a lot of things, but one strong theme is forgiveness: Two former lovers must somehow reconcile themselves with the past, mutually absolving each other to clear the way for the future. Their relationship has its parallel as Bogie and Claude Rains also forgive and forget, then famously stride forward together to battle. Other venues include the Alderwood 7, Thornton Place, and Bella Botega. (NR) BRIAN MILLER Pacific Place, 600 Pine St., FathomEvents.com. , $10, Wed., March 21, 2 & 7 p.m.

EVER AFTER: A CINDERELLA STORY Drew Barrymore stars in this rather sweet, updated spin on Cinderella.

Andy Tennant directs the 1998 movie. (PG). Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., Seattle, 206-686-6684, www. central-cinema.com, $6-$8, Wed., March 21, 7 p.m.

• •

Send events to film@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings = Recommended

•

Jack Nicholson in this darkly effective 1989 high-school satire by Michael Lehmann. But whose career did better over the following two decades? We say Jack’s.

Winona Ryder co-stars in very quotable film, written by Daniel Waters. (R) SIFF Film Center, $5-$10, Fri., March 23, 9:30 p.m.

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE Prior to its regular engagement (beginning April 27), directors Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky will present and discuss their new doc about video-game designers, who are expected to be well-represented tonight. (NR). SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, $5-$10, Fri., March 23, 7 & 9:30 p.m.

THE MATRIX This 1999 cyber fantasy starring Laurence Fishburne and man-boy Keanu Reeves is an impressive visual trip. Directors Larry and Andy Wachowski turn the world as we know it into a virtual-reality landscape with a tech-noir look (lit with a sickly green hue, like the glow of an old IBM computer screen). With the help of fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, Fishburne and Reeves become kung fu masters in a cyberdojo in a marvelous sequence that combines the ballet elegance and furious moves of Hong Kong movies with computer effects and tricked-up camera work. Let’s not mention the two sequels. Call for showtimes. (R) SEAN AXMAKER Central Cinema, $6-$8, March 23-28.

THE NEVERENDING STORY Directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot) all the way back in 1984, this fantasy tale follows a young lad on a quest through the mythical land of Fantasia. (PG) SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, $4, Sat., Sun., noon. Through March 25.

REAL GENIUS SIFF’s “Back to the ‘80s!” series continues with this favorite nerd comedy from 1985, starring a very game and endearing Val Kilmer. (PG) SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, $5-$10, Tue., March 27, 7 p.m.

SEATTLE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL If you insist on seeing something grim and Holocausty, In Darkness is still playing at the Seven Gables. Otherwise, the 17th edition of the Seattle Jewish Film Festival runs through March 25 at venues including Pacific Place and SIFF Cinema at the Uptown. The fest includes over 20 more titles, music, and related cultural events. More info: 324-9996, seattlejewishfilmfestival.org. Tickets: $9-$15.

•

TIM AND ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE As in their

Adult Swim Awesome Show, Tim and Eric’s abiding aesthetic is free-associative channel-surfing. The conceit here is that stars-directors-writers Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim get run out of L.A. after squandering a billion-dollar film budget. To recoup their losses, they give themselves a grotesque corporate makeover and take on the management of a near-dead mall in no-man’s-land America, whose residents include a Top Gun-obsessed outgoing manager (Will Ferrell) and a sickly man-boy, Taquito (John C. Reilly). In every swelling musical cue, Billion Dollar Movie displays open contempt for friendship, family, love, sex, heroism, and everything lofty and beautiful that multiplex movies have reduced to cant. It’s an inside joke for a self-selecting inside audience. (R) NICK PINKERTON Grand Illusion, $5-$8, Fridays, Saturdays, 11 p.m. Through March 30.

Ongoing

undeniably charming homage to old • THE ARTISTTheAnArtist might be the first silent film many Hollywood, of its viewers have ever seen. French writer-director Michel Hazanavicius’ film opens in 1927, when preening matinee idol George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is still the top draw at Kinograph Studios. George acts as a mentor to Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a chorine with big ambitions. Borrowing heavily from A Star Is Born, The Artist tracks both Peppy’s ascent (through amusing montage) and George’s decline as he refuses

to acknowledge synchronized-sound as more than a passing fad. By 1932, Peppy’s attracting lines around the block for her latest, while George spends his afternoons passed out on a barroom floor, his Jack Russell terrier his sole remaining fan. Or so he thinks: Peppy has never forgotten him, and the film’s concluding act restores The Artist’s buoyancy. (PG-13) Melissa Anderson Kirkland Parkplace, Harvard Exit THEATERS: Admiral, 2343 California Ave. SW, 938-3456; Big

Picture, 2505 First Ave., 256-0566; Big Picture Redmond, 7411 166th Ave. NE, 425-556-0566; Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684; Cinebarre, 6009 SW 244th St. (Mountlake Terrace)., 425-672-7501; Cinerama, 2100 Fourth Ave., 448-6680; Crest, 16505 Fifth Ave. NE, 781-5755; Egyptian, 801 E. Pine St., 781-5755; Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St., 523-3935; Guild 45, 2115 N. 45th St., 781-5755; Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St., 781-5755; iPic Theaters, 16451 N.E. 74th St. (Redmond), 425-636-5601; Kirkland Parkplace, 404 Park Place, 425-827-9000; Lincoln Square, 700 Bellevue Way N, 425-454-7400; Majestic Bay, 2044 NW Market St., 781-2229; Meridian, 1501 Seventh Ave., 223-9600; Metro, 4500 Ninth Ave. NE, 7815755; Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380; Oak Tree, 10006 Aurora Ave. N, 527-1748; Pacific Place, 600 Pine St., 888-262-4386; Seven Gables, 911 NE 50th St., 781-5755; SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., 324-9996; SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison St. (Seattle Center), 324-9996.; Thornton Place, 301 NE 103rd St., 517-9953; Varsity, 4329 University Way NE, 781-5755.

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food&drink»

Heat Jane

Frustrated by bland palates, an East African restaurateur takes to the bottle.

BY HANNA RASKIN

JOSHUA HUSTON

I

t took thousands of years for spices to find their way into Kenyan food. But it took just one enterprising Seattle cook to yank them back out.

Kenya is situated in Africa’s eastern maize belt, far removed from the western region whose cooks helped midwife crawfish, okra, collards, and black-eyed peas into American cuisines usually lumped together under the heading “Southern.” While eaters on the opposite side of the continent had their pick of rice, yams and plantains, East Africans developed a staunch porridge culture around starchy grains such as millet, sorghum, and— after its importation from the New World in the 1500s—maize. The average modern Kenyan eats more than 200 pounds of corn a year, much of it in the form of ugali, a stiff, unyielding mash superficially similar to grits.

Aid workers hate ugali because it has no nutritional value, and, although it’s the most Kenyan of foods, visitors fuss about it because it tastes like chalk. (“Kenya has no great national dishes,” sniffs the opening line of The Rough Guide to Kenya’s chapter on eating and drinking.) But if corn is relatively new to the territory now known as Kenya, ugali’s flavorlessness has ancient antecedents. In Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine, James C. McCann describes the region as “spice-challenged,” writing “Unlike the dishes of West Africa or Ethiopia, the maize belt’s relishes contain almost no spices, though they occasionally contain chopped fresh chiles and a few wild herbs. Salt was certainly rare and used sparingly, even as late as the 1930s.”

For eaters accustomed to a kaleidoscopic selection of seasonings, feasting on Eastern African food traditionally had all the appeal of gnawing on one’s own fingers. But respite came in the form of trade, with an Indian Ocean network established by the ninth century. Safety-seeking mariners, who relied on sextants instead of Zagats, huddled in the natural harbors along the African coast.

N

Tsavo Spice Sauce—has more heft than most squirt-on flavor-boosters. The slightly grainy, pumpkin-hued sauce is as viscous as Grade D maple syrup and pebbled with stray chile pepper seeds. It tastes of cardamom and grapefruit peels, and has enough heat to make the line between revelation and regret very thin. Kagira says she uses five different peppers, but won’t reveal which ones. “It’s all local ingredients,” she says. “Only maybe one or two ingredients from Kenya.”

For Safari Kenyan diners lulled into a goodtiming mood by the rhythmic Kenyan music on Kagira’s sound system, guessing the sauce’s ingredients is the parlor game of choice.

Habaneros? Oranges? No matter what’s ventured, Kagira always says no. She has reason to be coy: This month, Kagira met with a designer to develop a logo for her sauce. “The plan is to get a young man or female to stand at the farmers market,” she says; if that goes well, she’ll next approach Costco, and then perhaps contemplate national distribution.

“Somebody called me from Houston, Texas,” Kagira says. “He was here when he was visiting. He called to see if I can supply him. He wants it for his grocery store, because he liked it so much.”

Before she can start bottling her sauce, Kagira says she has to figure out what kind of container to use for it. “Because it’s not a liquid, [and] it’s not a solid,” she explains. At the restaurant, the sauce is stored in a plastic

Kagira has grand visions for her signature sauce.

ketchup squeeze bottle. The catch: There’s only one bottle of sauce, and seven times as many tables, so guests have to share.

“When I very first started, I started with Vietnamese sauce,” Kagira says. A few guests still request it, but Kagira can’t afford to buy as many squeeze bottles as she’d need to keep Sriracha and her housemade sauce on every table, so she fills the single bottle according to her table’s preference. On occasions when multiple tables have differing hot-sauce proclivities, she uses disposable cups.

For her restaurant guests, Kagira packs her sauce in emptied 10-gram jars. “I use a lot of ginger in my tea, so after I finish, I put my hot sauce in them,” she says. A jar sells for $20. “It’s good in everything that does not have sugar,” Kagira says. “It is even good with samosas.”

Having smeared the sauce on nearly everything Kagira serves in her homey restaurant, I can confirm it adds a welcome punch to tilapia and greens. But it’s especially good on ugali. E hraskin@seattleweekly.com SAFARI KENYAN CUISINE 5041 Rainier Ave. S., 778-8116.

11 a.m.–10 p.m. Mon.–Sat.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

every dish, from pan-fried goat to chicken stew, with a variety of chile peppers.

Kagira’s friends and relatives loved her unabashed use of spice. But when she applied for a catering license in 2010 so she could work a wedding, Kagira discovered the typical Seattle palate was positively East African.

“I can’t make food hot here,” grumbles Kagira, who last summer opened Safari Kenyan Cuisine in Columbia City.

If Kagira had her druthers, she’d “just put spice right in the food.”

But since the majority of Feasting on Eastern African food her customers can’t abide it, she’s purged her recipes of traditionally had all the appeal of using all the deleted gnawing on one’s own fingers. spices, ingredients to create a hot sauce that’s easily the most remarkable concoction emerging from her Their ships, loaded with curry, cinnamon, tiny restaurant kitchen. cloves, ginger, and sugar cane, became floating pantries for port cities. Although most inlanders didn’t tamper with their ations to the west of Kenya ugalis and unspiced mashed peas, coastal frequently douse their food cooks incorporated peppers into their in piri-piri sauces, made from repertoires, pioneering the dishes that crushed chiles, citrus, and garlic, typically bear the Kenyan name abroad. and harissa is a common condiment further When Kenyan native Jane Kagira moved to north. In Kenya, though, hot sauce is a rarity.

Seattle in 1999, she began preparing dishes that Kagira’s sauce is entirely her own invention. referenced the well-traveled trading corridor “I describe it as a unique taste,” she says. between Mombasa and Mumbai. She fried “It’s special because it’s original. In many hot thick-skinned samosas, rolled out sand-colored sauces, all you taste is vinegar. I don’t have chapatis, simmered greens, and steamed rice vinegar in mine.” with curry powder. And she brightened nearly Without vinegar, Kagira’s sauce—called

29

food&drink»Featured Eats

Seattle Weekly

SA s

$ = $25 or less per person; $$ = $25–$40; $$$ = $40 and up.

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a big deal about their margaritas, and with good reason; El Gallito stocks good tequilas, and they serve them up as well as anyone around. But there are many things to love about this place besides the booze. There’s the mole, for one, and for two, the guacamole. The enchiladas are the best in town, so order a combo of one guac and one mole and you’ll be in heaven. Bonus: the best old-school signage in town. $

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» by keegan hamilton

Singapour

The Watering Hole: Macleod’s Scottish Pub, 5200 Ballard Ave. N.W., 687-7115, BALLARD The Atmosphere: This prime spot on the corner of 20th and Ballard used to house Harlow’s Saloon, but the “pre-fab dive bar” went belly-up, and the space has undergone an impressive facelift since Macleod’s opened in December. The most striking feature is the magnificent, hand-painted map of Scotland on the ceiling, which gives the place sort of a Sistine Chapel feel.

There are all sorts of other homages to Scotland, including a wall with framed pictures of famous Scots. The bar itself has been rebuilt, too, and the tacky chic favored by Harlow’s was wisely replaced with handsome dark-wood shelves to house Macleod’s impressive collection of single malts. On a Tuesday afternoon, indie rock is on the stereo and two TVs are tuned to Champions League soccer.

The Barkeep: Kevin Parisi moonlights at Amber in Belltown, and also lists the “Scotchheavy” cocktail bar Tini Bigs on his resume. He is set to embark on a three-month trip to India in May, but plans to return to Macleod’s when his odyssey on the subcontinent is over.

The bar’s namesake and co-owner Allen Macleod was on hand as well. Born in the U.S. but raised in Scotland by Scottish parents, he explains that this is his first foray into the industry stateside after previously working as a barman in the UK. He’s partnering with the owners of Poquitos and nearby Bastille.

The Drink: Parisi offers two options when given free rein to mix whatever he pleases: something like a Manhattan or “something tiki.” With the sun shining outside, I say something tiki sounds about right. “Good,” he replies. “Then I get to beat something, and that’s fun for everybody involved.”

He shovels ice cubes into a canvas sack, then whales away at it with a heavy wooden muddler. It looks like a good way to blow off steam, and Parisi

723-6023. This airy bakery offers the perfect croissant: flaky, buttery, and served with raspberry jam on the side.

There are chocolate and almond varieties, as well as an array of cookies, breads and seasonal specials like Valentine’s Day chocolate truffles. Come after school lets out, or on weekend mornings, and you will find half of the neighborhood here with their kids. $ TUTTA BELLA NEAPOLITAN PIZZERIA 4918 Rainier Ave. S., 721-3501. This establishment has high ambitions for its Neapolitan-style pizza, which carries certification by the Italian government. The requisite thin crust, floppy-centered and almost translucent at the center, tastes of the wood fire it was baked over and will leave some more jazzed than others. The pizzas come topped with classy items like pancetta, goat cheese, and kalamata olives. Dessert includes gelato and tiramisu.

Kids are well treated. And you might find a jazz band playing in the corner. $

DOWNTOWN

DELAURENTI SPECIALTY FOOD & WINE 1435 First

Ave., 622-0141. Could you spend hours wandering the aisles here? You could. In addition to providing a glorious selection of imported foods, Delaurenti also caters to the gourmet in a hurry, with hot and cold sandwiches, panini, and pizza. A great way to take advantage of the made-to-order items is to pick your dish, pay for it, then

jokes, “I’m much happier now,” as he pours the finely crushed ice into a pint glass. He explains that this stress-relieving prep work is for a Singapore Sling, chosen in honor of a friend of his currently traveling in southeast Asia. On his iPhone, Parisi researches the other ingredients for the centuryold cocktail, which originated at Singapore’s Raffles Hotel: pineapple juice, Gordon’s gin, Cherry Heering liqueur, Bénédictine, and Angostura bitters. He shakes it all up and pours it out, adding a dash more Heering and Bénédictine after tasting

KEEGAN HAMILTON

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COLUMBIA CITY BAKERY 4865 Rainier Ave. S.,

Hurry up and catch Parisi before he splits for India.

a few drops with a straw. Unlike a classic Sling, there’s no foamy top, but it looks colorful and tropical served over the ice, garnished with a dark cherry and lime and lemon wedges.

The Verdict: The syrupy Heering is the dominant flavor, and the potent drink tastes a bit like a dark-cherry slushy spiked with gin—not something I’d order often, but apropos given the peculiarly warm weather. On the whole, Macleod’s is certainly worth visiting, if only to chat up Macleod himself. On this visit, he was giving free beers to a pair of new customers and quoting Trainspotting in his thick Scottish brogue. Discussing the prickly relations between Scots and Englishmen, Macleod dropped the film’s famous line: “Some hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers.” E khamilton@seattleweekly.com

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cake-envy.com 206.453.3337 7900 east green lake drive north, suite 106

food&drink»Featured Eats look around the fabulous selection of deli meats and cheeses for something to take home for dinner. $ HARRIED AND HUNGRY 1415 Third Ave., 264-7900. At H&H, each box lunch comes with a beverage, a bag of Tim’s Cascade chips, and a cookie. The falafel sandwich puts excellent, disc-shaped patties in a French roll rather than a pita, then covers them with enough hummus, feta cheese, cucumber, and tomato slices to distract you from the strange choice of bread. While the hot salami and provolone is popular, the caprese’s fresh mozzarella and flavorful tomatoes (not enough basil, though) justify making a perfectly reasonable salad into a sandwich. $ THE HUNT CLUB 900 Madison St. (in the Sorrento Hotel), 343-6156. The Sorrento Hotel is world-class, and its restaurant is a magnet in itself. Dishes like duckling served with braised endive, grilled peaches, and figs are inspired, and the bread pudding is worth a try. The dim lights and upholstered chairs, the white tablecloths and brocaded bolsters, make this restaurant magical. $$$ IL FORNAIO 600 Pine St. (Pacific Place), 264-0994. In chain restaurants, “authentic” is usually a synonym for “crap.” But Il Fornaio gets the food right, and does it all in local style. Fettuccini Bolognese will remind a paisan of grandma. The ristorante upstairs offers more formal dining with rotating special menus focused on Italian regions. In addition, Il Fornaio’s bakery is out in the mall atrium and its Caffe is more secluded, but both cater to the casual diner with morning pastries, coffee, salads, sandwiches, cookies, hearth-baked breads, and food to go. $ SPECIALTY’S CAFE & BAKERY 1023 Third Ave., 264-0887. The smell of sinfully rich chocolate-chip cookies may lure you in, but Specialty’s is at heart a utilitarian lunch place. Sandwiches and salads come out quick, even if you don’t order ahead online. It’s quite a few notches above Subway, though. Sandwiches come on homemade bread and are enlivened with ingredients like pesto, avocado and cranberries. $ TULIO RISTORANTE 1100 Fifth Ave. (in the Hotel Vintage Park), 624-5500. A fedora, or maybe even

ALittLeRAskin » by hanna raskin

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

Opening Weak

32

I never visit a restaurant during its first weeks, since I fear an hour-long wait for appetizers or a never-refilled water glass could sour me on the place forever. Even if it’s one I have no intention of ever reviewing, I’d rather spend my time at a restaurant that’s hit its stride, as it’s not uncommon for brand-new restaurants to run out of plates, mix up orders, and serve cold food.

But though I should have known better, I recently set aside my early-visit prohibition to check out Fonda La Catrina in Georgetown. My reasoning seemed fairly rational: I needed to figure out how we might cover the restaurant in the future, I wanted salsa, and the owner’s wife had sent me an e-mail asking me to visit. “They just might be ready to be judged,” she wrote. Once a restaurant issues an invitation, it’s surely fair game.

The dinner went exactly as anticipated: disastrously. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of you guys,” the bartender told us after a meal marred by mishaps. Since La Catrina will likely sort out its issues in time, it’s not worth rehashing them here. But the experience made me wonder: How do restaurants get away with this?

Unlike a play or a ballet, the culinary arts are interactive. That means it’s nearly impossible to present a perfected product on opening night. Opening night at the opera would surely be rougher if patrons were allowed to wander

spats, wouldn’t look out of place in Tulio’s handsome 1920s-era dining room. The food is far more contemporary. An Italian eyebrow might tilt at smoked salmon ravioli with lemon cream or grilled calamari with spicy Tuscan Rice beans and a parsley aoli, but chef Walter Pisano treats his ingredients harmoniously. Meats may come out overcooked; pastas and risottos, never. This is food even society matrons would unclench their jaws for, served in a room that makes all its guests feel like they’re richer than their bank accounts would attest. $$$

EASTLAKE & SOUTH LAKE UNION GRAND CENTRAL BAKING COMPANY 1616 Eastlake

Ave. E., 957-9505. Grand Central’s menu reflects a renewed commitment to sustainable choices and local, seasonal foods. To this end, eggs come from Rickman Gulch Farm and cheeses from Beecher’s. Served on Grand Central’s beloved artisanal breads and rolls are a tofuben sandwich (with seasoned tofu and house-made slaw) and the “meat and potato” (with roast beef and Beecher’s Flagship cheese). $ POMODORO 2366 Eastlake Ave. E., 324-3160. This Eastlake hideaway serves Italian entrées and Spanish-style tapas. The kitchen juts into the dining room, filling it with a sumptuous garlic aroma. Given the restaurant’s scale, service is incongruously formal: Your waitperson places the napkin in your lap, and palate-cleansing sorbet arrives unbidden between courses. The kitchen doesn’t have the lightest touch with entrées, but tapas like the shiitake and portobello mushrooms sautéed in olive oil and garlic are simple and good. $$

FREMONT

COLD STONE CREAMERY 624 N. 34th St., 547-3200.

Their ice cream is good but not great; the fun of Cold Stone is customizing your own bowlful with any of a few dozen “mix-ins”: fruits, nuts, candy-bar pieces, and more, which they stir right into your scoop. A solid fallback when you’re feeling unimaginative: chocolate with cherry-pie filling. $

across the stage and demand 20 more arias than the company had rehearsed, so kinks are understandable. The problem is that restaurants are charging customers full price for a lousy experience. A free crème brûlée can’t make up for an hour spent in a waiting area that doesn’t yet have chairs, or the bar running out of gin.

I’d love to see restaurants chop 20 percent off their prices for the first week or two of business. Of course, a discount might draw even more customers, the last thing an overwhelmed restaurant needs. And since restaurants are eager to collect all the cash they can after months of spending, it’s unlikely they’d put a reasonable cap on the guest count. But it’s ludicrous to suggest a plate of spaghetti’s value doesn’t change between opening night and a random date six months later, when $14 buys not only noodles and tomato sauce but the attentions of a server, the pleasures of a calm dining room, and the serenity that comes from knowing the kitchen is confident and capable.

A restaurateur would likely argue that diners know what they’re getting into when they show up at a new restaurant. I imagine they’d suggest the associated excitement and novelty offset the annoyances. For a few diners, I have no doubt that’s true. But I think many diners— whom the restaurant may never see again—are getting a raw deal. E hraskin@seattleweekly.com

aBLOG ON »FOOD VORACIOUS

SEATTLEWEEKLY.COM/VORACIOUS

music» »DOWN SOUTH

Destiny’s Children

A guided tour of Tacoma’s 2012 scene, courtesy of some of the city’s finest.

BY JULIA MULLEN GORDON

T

PATRICK SNAPP

Weeks, who with hough it’s less than an hour south Solverson plays guitar of Seattle, when was the last time and sings in MM. you checked out a band from If constant transition Tacoma? T-Town has a reputation plagues Tacoma’s rock as Seattle’s rougher, grittier cousin, reflected scene, the outlook’s rosby the music made there—its long history ier for hip-hop. “There of garage rock, with the Ventures, the (nonare a lot of hardworking reggae) Wailers, and the Sonics all hailing people here who are from the “City of Destiny.” passionate about music But there’s more to Tacoma than garage. and have a strong sense The city’s hip-hop contingent is “perhaps the of community,” says most creative and active element of Tacoma’s Todd Sykes, who with overall music scene at the moment,” says EvergreenOne and DJ Matt Driscoll, editor at The Weekly Volcano, Hanibal makes up rising the city’s alternative newspaper. [Since hip-hop group CityHall.

Driscoll was interviewed for this story, he’s “There are a lot of difbeen hired as a staff writer by Seattle Weekly, ferent styles and sounds and will start next week. —Ed.] And another representing every part crucial factor in the city’s musical makeup of Tacoma. Overall, it’s is the presence of the School of the Arts, or a really diverse scene SOTA, an arts-centered high school, located with a lot of talent and downtown, that’s part of Tacoma’s publica lot of creative people.” school system.

To get a taste of it, he “Quite literally, SOTA is the incubator recommends catching a that drives our music scene. The list of great show at Hell’s Kitchen or bands and musicians that have emerged from Jazzbones or hitting an SOTA over the last few years is astounding,” Driscoll says, citing bands like Makeup Monsters, Apache Chief, Red Hex, and Oberhofer. “Tacoma’s music scene is one thousand times improved thanks to SOTA, which allows all these talented kids to come together and mingle and combine forces,” he says. But “highschool kids can be a little flaky.

Bands break up and things change a lot.” He recommends keeping an eye on all-ages venues The Space and Tahoma Tea and Co. (formerly The Den) as good bets for seeing firsthand what’s happening in the ever-changing rock scene.

All this flux can be hard on young bands trying to make it. Just ask Red Hex. Isaac Solverson, Shayne Weeks, and Jay Clancy of Makeup Monsters (the name may sound familiar—they open-mike night; look for names like Bruce were EMP Sound Off! finalists in 2009), Leroy, Second Family, or Chris Crazy and you three SOTA students whose jittery garage won’t be disappointed, he says. pop recalls Tom Verlaine fronting the Strokes All in all, says Driscoll, “I think most with a hint of ’60s-beach-bum sun. They’ve people unfamiliar with Tacoma would be seen great bands like the Nightgowns break surprised to find out how many truly topup and talented musicians and friends like notch young indie bands and artists are Oberhofer and Widowspeak move in search kicking around this place. Tacoma isn’t of success in bigger markets like New York. just a metal, punk, and beer town any“Tacoma has a lot of potential,” says Clancy, more . . . though everyone still likes beer.” the group’s drummer. “I’ve always felt Tacoma is on the brink of something, but it’s never exploded.” ere are some Tacoma bands Though leaving the city is perceived as and artists worthy of serious the only way to achieve success, he hopes attention, suggested by Driscoll, their band can break the mold by growing Sykes, and Makeup Monsters: a fan base across the Northwest. The one Makeup Monsters: Check out the recently bright spot: Due in part to SOTA, there are released Nervous Case EP for a glimpse of our always “younger bands taking the torch,” says tour guide’s catchy, fuzzed-out progress.

CityHall: It’s impossible to deny their relentless grind, says Driscoll, noting that their prolific output is always well-received.

“I expect to see Sykes and EvergreenOne reach even bigger heights in 2012,” he says.

Wheelies: “To be succinct, Wheelies deal in garage pop—great hooks and endearingly messy,” says Driscoll. “It’s almost impossible not to dig these guys.”

The Fucking Eagles: “With connections to old-school Tacoma band Seaweed, the Fucking Eagles pretty much sound and act exactly like I think a band from Tacoma should,” says Driscoll. “Fuzzed-out,

Makeup Monsters: Rockers make the best tour guides.

’60s-inspired garage rock with a T-Town middle finger holding it up.”

Girl Trouble: “Quite simply, I’d get kicked out of Tacoma if I failed to mention scene stalwarts Girl Trouble,” says Driscoll.

“Closing in on 30 years, these guys have repped Tacoma and been a huge part of what T-Town’s music scene is every step of the way. Hit It or Quit It was the first full-length record released by Sub Pop. And, to this day, frontman KP Kendall still takes his shirt off at nearly every performance. That’s dedication.”

Not From Brooklyn: Driscoll calls this “easily one of Tacoma’s most buzzworthy bands at the moment.” Their electronica-inflected indie hits home with the all-ages crowd that’s a core component of Tacoma’s rock scene.

Red Hex: Jay Clancy describes their sound as “psych-punk-garage-grunge” and calls them “the badass punk rockers of Tacoma.”

He says, “Watching Red Hex, you’re always waiting for someone to storm off the stage.

They have an attitude that’s edgy.”

Bruce Leroy: This Tacoma MC released two EPs last year showcasing his gritty flow.

“We definitely look up to him in our group,” says Sykes. “He’s a great MC, with good production and a great stage show.”

Spencer Kelley: Kelley, of Basemint and Wallpaper, is one of the most talented musicians in Tacoma, according to Clancy.

He’s currently working on a solo album, and is definitely one to watch in 2012. E music@seattleweekly.com

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

H

Not From Brooklyn.

33

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

SLEIGH BELLS

34

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featuring Eric Marienthal, Mitchell Forman & Lionel Cordew Lizzy Loeb – Singer/ Songwriter/Guitarist opens the show!

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March 22 - 25

Jackson High School Jazz Ensembles Award Winning Performances!

March 26

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featuring Ben Street, Blas Cordoba and Dafnis Prieto Spanish Flamenco Jazz Pianist March 27 - 28

Hiromi: The Trio Project

featuring Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips Brilliant Jazz Pianist in Improvisational Trio Format March 29 – April 1

Carmen Lundy Celebrates the CD Release of “Changes”

Authentic and Expressive Jazz Singer/Songwriter April 3 – 4

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music»B-sides »THROUGH AT 2

Poor Moon Rising Christian Wargo looks like Christ and dates on PlayStation.

BY ERIN K. THOMPSON

SPENCER BRAY

THE SITUATION It’s a Thursday night, and I’m meeting Christian Wargo— Fleet Foxes bassist and frontman of Seattle band Poor Moon—at Mama’s Mexican Kitchen in Belltown. “You’ll see me.

I’ll be wearing my mother’s wedding gown,” Wargo texts me a few minutes beforehand. It’s a false promise—he’s wearing a woolly sweater with his shoulder-length hair tucked into the collar. I ask if he’s the most Jesus-looking of all the Fleet Foxes. “Um, maybe. I don’t really think Jesus is as cherubic as I am.” He pauses. “Josh is pretty Jesusy. He’s taller . . . ” I remind him that Josh Tillman, the Foxes’ former drummer, left the band in January. “It’s true,” he concedes, “I am the most Jesusy Fleet Fox.” HOW HE GOT HERE Wargo’s new band Poor Moon—himself, fellow Fox Casey Wescott, and their old friends, brothers Ian and Peter Murray—actually isn’t very new. The songs on their delicately mournful Illusion EP, which Sub Pop will release on Tuesday, were recorded about a year ago, but the project was put on hold while Fleet Foxes toured the world. When Wargo returned from the tour about a month ago, he got right down to planning Poor Moon’s upcoming tour.

“When you are gone that much and you come home, there is this sort of feeling of disconnection, like everyone who you’re friends with has sort of just been moving on with their lives. I find it best to be busy,” he says. “I miss home, but there’s something

magical about the road. Even when I’m home, I’ll find myself taking a shower, putting on deodorant, and then I’ll put it back in my suitcase.”

When Wargo is in Seattle, he lives in a tiny Wallingford house, drinks at nearby Al’s Tavern (“They play really weird nature shows on the TVs,” he says approvingly), and cooks for himself (his specialty right now is garlic tahini). For the past three years he’s been maintaining a long-distance relationship with an adorable French girl (he sends me pictures of her in a chic black dress with him at the Grammys last month) who lives in Paris. “It’s true what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder,” he says. “And we find ways of making it fun. We both have PlayStation 3s, so I can connect with her on her PlayStation, and so she’ll be a character and I’ll be a character, and I can see her! The first time it happened, I swear to God we

were both so giddy, like ‘Hey! It’s you!’ We were dancing around on the computer.”

SHOP TALK Poor Moon played house shows under the names Peppermint Majesty, Cookie Mask, Rabbit Kingdom, and WMW before finally settling on Poor Moon, after the Canned Heat song about Blind Al Wilson’s fear that the evil forces of mankind are going to blow up the moon (sample lyrics: “They might test some bomb/And scar your skin/I don’t think they care/So I wonder when/They’re going to destroy your face”). “I liked the idea of having sympathy for the moon,” Wargo says, although he admits the idea doesn’t make much logical sense. “That’s the part of the song that I love most, though . . . the mystery around the whole premise. It doesn’t matter if there is any foundation for his concerns. It was real to him, so that’s all that mattered.”

The band has already completed a full-length that Wargo says should be out in August. Of naming the album, he says, “I think the unwritten rule is, your first record is your one opportunity to just call it a self-titled.” Or, I suggest, they could call it Rich Sun. He looks at me. “You’ve got all kinds of ideas. Will you consult with me? I need somebody like you. Every time I ask my bandmates ‘What do you want to do?’ ”—he slumps his shoulders and mimics “I don’t know.” That’s what happens when you’re the frontman. “Yeah,” he says, “That’s been dawning on me a lot lately.”

BTW: Outside of Mama’s, Wargo takes a box of Grandpa’s Wonder Pine Tar Soap out of his sweater pocket and presents it to me. “I wanted you to have this,” he says enigmatically. It smells like a clean tire.

I thank him, and he slinks off into the night like a cherubic, woolly moon disappearing into the horizon. E ethompson@seattleweekly.com POOR MOON With Lost in the Trees, Low Hums.

Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. $10. 9 p.m. Tues., March 27.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

“Even when I’m home, I’ll find myself taking a shower, putting on deodorant, and then I’ll put it back in my suitcase.”

Poor Moon was put on hold while Wargo’s other band, Fleet Foxes, toured the world.

35

music»B-sides

»QUESTIONS/ANSWERS

Critics Vs. the Destroyer

of Montreal’s enigmatic leader confronts his adversaries.

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

BY GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

36

Kevin Barnes, frontman for Athens, Ga., art-rock band of Montreal, has over 11 albums explored notions of identity and sexuality through various personas in song (notably Georgie Fruit, his funky black shemale creation) and as costumed characters onstage. A longtime sufferer of depression, Barnes’ psychedelic indie pop echoes his state of mind with a feel of schizophrenic pageantry.

His psychic wanderings and dark days have famously fueled his output, inspiring 2007’s critically acclaimed Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? as well as the band’s latest, Paralytic Stalks, which received a paltry 4.6 from Pitchfork. Here Barnes talks about his moods, lyrics, and relationship with the music press.

How are you feeling these days?

Every day is better, but you never know. That’s the kind of ultra-weird thing. I might wake up one day and think, “You shouldn’t face the day with anxiety.

You should face the day with enthusiasm.” Every day I don’t know if I’ll wake up feeling a certain way that might change in 20 minutes, or the next day, or stick with me the whole time. But I’m not, like, suicidal all the time.

What’s it like when you hear mixed reviews of your albums? Does that affect your perspective?

I try not to absorb that so much. So many people have so many different agendas. I might think [that] such-and-such website gave me a bad review, and that means I’m not a good artist, or I failed at my attempt at making art; but then when you really think about it, it’s like, well, that’s just one joker who’s probably not very sophisticated musically.

You can get caught up on it, and I have many times, especially if it’s extremely hurtful or feels like a personal attack, because I’m so deeply connected to the album, but I have to remember it’s just a part of the game. And really, this is nothing new. This is the relationship artists have had with critics for centuries. Me being upset with some random critique of my art is something I’ll always have to deal with, such is the relationship. I don’t have that much respect for critics in general.

A lot of artists do engage with their reviews.

To some degree, I kind of always feel hurt by them, so it’s like this strange self-abuse. It’s never like, “Oh, this record is fantastic, it saved my life, thank you Kevin Barnes, you’re a genius.” I think the problem most critics have is a superior attitude.

Like they’re looking down on it, like “How cute, he’s trying to do this thing.” But they could never do it in a million years.

It’s so idiotic that they would feel so confident to just lay it out like that, and they don’t even understand the intricate subtleties and the nuances of the thing. Half the time they criticize something that’s not even true, like, oh, he says this in this one verse, when actually I didn’t say that at all.

“I think the problem most critics have is a superior attitude. Like they’re looking down on [my music] . . .

But they could never do it in a million years.”

You made a comment about that on your Facebook page, about a word in “Malefic Dowery.” Someone thought you said “crotch,” but the lyric is actually “crutch.” Are you often asked to explain your lyrics?

Yeah, that’s a review where the guy was like, “There are three things I don’t like about this record, one of them is that he says crotch instead of crutch.”

To me, I guess I was like, “Aw, I should have enunciated better.” That’s kind of ridiculous. E music@seattleweekly.com OF MONTREAL With Deerhoof and Kishi Bashi.

Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151. $19. All ages. 8 p.m. Sat., March 24.

Pianos with a Twist MUSiC SOCiEtY

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

37

music»TheShortList Kelly Clarkson

through in every composition.

While his song structures are built on well-worn territory, his radiant honey-coated voice and atmospheric guitar explorations carve Bahamas their very own confident niche. Slow-burning torch songs, playful folk ballads, and painfully transparent, soulful confessionals melt together for a steady-rolling, unflinching look at relationships—the perfect soundtrack for the post–last call comedown. With

THURSDAY, MARCH 22

Loney Dear, Red Jacket Mine.

Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8005. 9 p.m. $12.

GREGORY FRANKLIN

Black Milk

PASCAL DUSCHLETTA

Kelly Clarkson initially got a lot of guff for being the first American Idol, and for treating every song as though it was her last chance to out-Mariah Mariah. But can you believe it’s been a decade since the Texan topped Justin Guarini’s ’fro, subsequently mounting a career that’s seen the ultimate premeditated pop robot telling her commercial-minded advisers, on numerous occasions, to go piss up a rope? There are times when Clarkson grates, like when she veers into Pink territory on throwaway rock tracks like “Never Again” and “Sober” or takes Ron Paul seriously. But when Clarkson really lets her voice shine—like on “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” her stunning duet with country stalwart Jason Aldean that single-handedly restored power to the ballad— she stands in elite company, and her latest hit album, Stronger, is an apt description of her present condition. With Matt Nathanson.

Michael Gira

squealing, taffy-pulled synthesizers. Tonight he hits Chop Suey with Boys Noize labelmates Housemeister, DJEDJOTRONIC, and Strip Steve. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-

THURSDAY, MARCH 22

8005. 7:30 p.m. $12. All ages. ERIC GRANDY

Detroit producer Black Milk has continually raised the bar in his field, weaving progressive rhythms while retaining the classic allure of samplebased beat-making to become one of the best-known names in the liner notes of hardspitting lyricists coast to coast. A gifted rapper himself, he’s built plenty of self-sustaining songs to perform tonight, but word on the flyer is he’ll bring a live band onstage for good measure. It also deserves mention that local velvet-voiced MC/vocalist J. Pinder opens the bill, making it a solid night front to back. With

Hunx and His Punx

Nat Turner, A.Dd+. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618. 8 p.m. $12. TODD HAMM

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

Gira is best known for his work with his postindustrial band Swans and the label Young God Records, an imprint he launched to house an ever-growing collection of reissued Swans albums and to foster the work of nufolk artists like Devendra Banhart and Akron/ Family. He also released a handful of records under his given name—avant-garde affairs of spoken-word prose and softer-sounding home recordings—but the aesthetic visionary has always seemed more comfortable in a band, as a producer, or as a cheerleader than as the main event itself. Even so, as Swans prepare to release their 2012 double album The Seer, like any good business owner Gira has returned to the touring circuit to drum up support, and likely has a few quirky tricks up his sleeve. With Sir Richard Bishop. Triple Door, 216 Union St., 838-4333. 8 p.m. $18 adv./$23 DOS. All ages.

GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

D.I.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 23

Electronic producer D.I.M. (born Andreas Meid) came up during the “blog-house” boom of the mid-’00s—so called because the mass proliferation online of music-production software and blogs dedicated to disseminating the newest mp3s opened the floodgates for a new class of aspiring DJs and musicians. That the music of this boom tended to be a dirty, redlined mix of hard-hitting techno and electrohouse reflects a certain populist bent—toward adrenaline, toward electronic music that plays like rock ’n’ roll—that has lately found its expression in the bro-ier side of dubstep. D.I.M. has kept at it since first making a name with 2007’s “Is You” and “Sysiphos,” turning out peak-hour rave tracks full of heavy-kicking drums and

Detroit rhyme-spitter Black Milk.

FRIDAY, MARCH 23

Seth Bogart, aka “Hunx,” got his start as the go-go boy/musical auteur of Bay Area electrotrash outfit Gravy Train!!!, a band of raunchy, queer co-eds who rapped about dicks, titties, and 40s over Casio preset beats. He’s since reinvented himself as a credible singer of retro, ’60s-girl-group-style prom pop and garage rock, though with the queer and raunch safely intact. More exciting on the hometown front, though, are Hunx’s Hardly Arts labelmates Grave Babies. The fantastically sullen quartet also start with something like garage rock or pop punk, but then dial up the reverb and distortion until the pop hooks are all but obliterated and the vocals are an unintelligible smear.

Their forthcoming EP is called Gothdammit, which gives you an idea of both their sartorial outlook and the certain sense of mischievous humor that undercuts all their doom and gloom. With Heavy Cream, TacocaT. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618. 8 p.m. $12. ERIC GRANDY

Bahamas SATURDAY, MARCH 24

While the name may conjure a mental image of a tropical paradise, Afie Jurvanen’s project is far from Caribbean, yet still provides a warm breeze.

After three years of touring as a guitarist/ keyboardist for Feist, Jurvanen stepped away from the spotlight and formed Bahamas, releasing his stripped-down debut Pink Strat in 2009. Barchords, Bahamas’ newly released second album, shows Jurvanen’s unfiltered heart beating

COURTESY OF JAZZ ALLEY

ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St., Kent, 253856-6777. 8 p.m. $35–$65. All ages. MIKE SEELY

38

SUNDAY, MARCH 25

Sharon Van Etten SUNDAY, MARCH 25

This Brooklyn songwriter is like a tamer version of the gloriously unhinged Fiona Apple—she doesn’t come off quite as maddened, but her songs contain a subtler rage and passion. She’s a confessional writer who’s talked openly about her broken relationships, including one abusive ex-boyfriend who broke her guitars and told her she wasn’t good enough to play out. The guy must have been an idiot as well as an asshole.

Sung in her crystalline voice,Van Etten’s songs poetically transform loss and disappointment

*

into lovely paeans; she comes off as mournful but also admirably self-composed and even a little triumphant. On “Serpents,” the ravishing first single from her third album, this year’s Tramp, she spits, “You enjoy sucking on dreams/ So I will fall asleep/With someone other than you.” With The War on Drugs. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 877-784-4849. 8 p.m. $15.

All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Paul Kelly SUNDAY, MARCH 25–MONDAY, MARCH 26

If Bob Dylan played Australia, he’d fill any venue of any size he desired. But when Paul Kelly tours the States, he books venues like the exquisite Triple Door. Kelly, you see, is the Dylan of the Outback. Granted, that’s an overly simplistic comparison: While the two artists share a nasal vocal quality, Kelly’s more melodic; his instrumentation, while grounded in folk, leans poppier than Dylan’s (if Dylan humped World Party, Kelly’s oeuvre is about what you’d get); and lyrically, Kelly’s more local and personal, like Springsteen or Sexsmith (as in Ron). But when any country’s Dylan plays anywhere, you should probably go see him, and Kelly’s gigs, a rarity stateside, are no exception.

He’s backing a recently released A-to-Z boxed set in which he performs more than 100 tracks in alphabetical order in a handful of American cities. So shout out a letter as he takes the stage if you’ve got a track you’re dying to hear. Triple Door, 216 Union St., 838-4333. 7:30 p.m. $20.

All ages. MIKE SEELY

Young Jeezy TUESDAY, MARCH 27

This is Jeezy’s second trip through town in the past six months (he appeared at Showbox at the Market in September), and he’s again picked up a stellar, streetwise Seattle MC to open his show—Av Young Blaze set things off last time around, but Fatal Lucciauno gets the nod this Tuesday. Though Atlanta’s Jeezy doesn’t pack the lyrical punch of either of these openers, he’s captured a major slice of the mainstream-rap consciousness with his growling trap choruses and military-grade synth tracks. Jeezy can make the club move, so expect a wild night.

The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 877-784-4849.

7 p.m. $27.50. All ages. TODD HAMM

EDITOR’S PICK

EN VOGUE THURSDAY, MARCH 22–SUNDAY, MARCH 25

Before we were saying Destiny’s Child’s name, before TLC was calling out creeps and scrubs, another band of funky divas was bringing back the ’60s girl-group tradition in a bold, modern style—En Vogue. The ladies stood at the forefront of the early-’90s movement that would turn R&B into one of the country’s most popular musical genres.

More than anything, they taught women about the importance of some good sass talk—later R&B smashes like Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women” can be traced straight back to En Vogue’s iconic “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It).” The group’s gone through several lineup changes, but they’ve proved to be survivors.

And if you think these fly girls can’t step into their high heels and shake it just because they’re now in their 40s and 50s, then perhaps you need to free your mind. The rest will follow. Jazz Alley, 2000 Sixth Ave., 441-9729. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. & Sun., 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. $45. All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Imported by Cro Crown wn Imp Import orts LLC. L Chicago, IL 60603. Please enjoy responsibly.

3/14/12 12:03 PM

129347_CVICOR12020_101B 1

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

FindVictoria.com

39

seven»nights Concerts This Week dinner & show

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21

LITTLE FEAT: With The Villians All ages., 8 p.m.,

$35 adv./$37.50 DOS. The Neptune, 1303 NE 45th St., Seattle, 877-784-4849.

THURSDAY, MARCH 22

KELLY CLARKSON: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

michael gira of swans! w/ sir richard bishop FRI/MARCH 23 • 7PM CD RELEASE PARTY! SQUARE PEG PRESENTS

darrell scott w/ gary ogan

SATURDAY, MARCH 24

GEORGETOWN MUSIC MARCH: With Tom Price Desert

Classic, Panabrite, Bang Sha Bang, Rat City Brass, Moonspinners, Adam Hicks Trio, Spirograph, Faith, Leif Totusek, Steve Kim, Andre Feriante, Rats in the Grass, Earl Brooks, Lonesome Shack. All ages., 5 p.m., NC. Georgetown, 1429 12th Ave., Seattle.

GUSTAFER YELLOWGOLD’S GOLDEN HEART SYMPHONY: With Seattle Rock Orchestra All ages.,

12 p.m., Free for kids 12 & under/$5 for adults with children/$25 unaccompanied adults. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, 652-4255.

NADA SURF: With An Horse All ages., 9 p.m., $23 adv./$25 DOS. The Neptune, 1303 NE 45th St., Seattle, 877-784-4849.

SUNDAY, MARCH 25

SHARON VAN ETTEN: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

MONDAY, MARCH 26

OF MONSTERS AND MEN: With Lay Low All ages.,

8 p.m., $16 adv./$18 DOS. Showbox SODO, 1700 First Ave. S., Seattle, 652-0444.

SAT/MARCH 24 • 8PM

girlyman

w/ coyote grace SUN/MARCH 25 & MON/MARCH 26 • 7:30PM MONQUI PRESENTS & 91.3 KBCS WELCOMES

an evening with paul kelly “a to z”

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

next • 3/28 blame sally & rebecca pronsky w/ blvd park • 3/30 roy rogers & the delta rhythm kings • 3/31 ian mcferon band w/ kate lynn logan • 4/1 cheryl wheeler w/ kenny white • 4/2 kelly hogan • 4/4 alessandra rose w/ kaylee cole, zach fleury & friends • 4/5 & 4/6 apple jam: beatles singles/1962-1966 & 1967-1970 • 4/7 mike doughty

40

• 3/21 audrey ryan w/ laurel brauns • 3/22 si limon • 3/23 the djangomatics / ari joshua trio • 3/24 doug cassell band • 3/25 wes weddell band • 3/26 free funk union • 3/27 trivia + industry night! • 3/28 katy bourne TO ENSURE THE BEST EXPERIENCE

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY DOORS OPEN 1.5 HOURS PRIOR TO FIRST SHOW ALL-AGES (BEFORE 9:30PM)

thetripledoor.net 216 UNION STREET, SEATTLE 206.838.4333

TUESDAY, MARCH 27 YOUNG JEEZY: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

Club Listings Wednesday 21 ROCK/POP/INDIE

FUNHOUSE: 206 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 374-8400. Swampheavy,

with Aseethe, Oyarsa, Into the Storm., 9:30 p.m., $6.

HIGH DIVE: 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, 632-0212. Good Touching,

with Animals In Cars, Opposite Orbits., 8 p.m., $6.

JEWELBOX/ RENDEZVOUS: 2322

Second Ave., Seattle, 441-5823. Paul Hoskin, with Panabrite, Widesky, Early Atoms., 9 p.m., $5.

SUNSET TAVERN: 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 784-4880. Say Goodbye To These, with Night Genes, T H I S CO D E Branch., 9:30 p.m., $6.

TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE TRACTOR TAVERN: 5213 SEATTLE WEEKLY Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, IPHONE/ANDROID APP 789-3599. Mudhoney, with FOR MORE CONCERTS OR VISIT Feedtime., 8 p.m., $15. seattleweekly.com THE VERA PROJECT: 305 Harrison St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, 956-8372. Elbow Coulee, with AudioFaction, Mads Jacobsen All ages., 7 p.m., NC.

SCAN

HIP-HOP/R&B

NEUMOS: 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, 709-9467. Klyntel, with

Thaddilac, Rocky Sandoval., 8 p.m., $10.

JAZZ/BLUES

COLUMBIA CITY THEATER: 4918 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle,

723-0088. Scotty FM & The Broadcasters, 8:30 p.m.

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272. Choice of Meat, with Dead Hot, Dennis & The Rainiers., 9 p.m., $5.

DIMITRIOU’S JAZZ ALLEY: 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle, 441-9729. The Chuck Loeb Quartet, 7:30 p.m., $26.50.

Thursday 22 ROCK/POP/INDIE

BLUE MOON TAVERN: 712 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, 675-9116.

Tyrannosaurus Grace, with The Do Wrongs, The Confetti Kids., 9 p.m., $5.

GUSTAVO ACOSTA

THU/MARCH 22 • 8PM WAKE UP! AND SEALED WITH A KISS PRESENTS

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272.

Loathsome Couple, with Kled, The Noetics, Buildings on the Moon., 9 p.m., $6.

THE CROCODILE: 2200 Second Ave., Seattle, 441-7416.

Plants and Animals, with Little Scream., 8 p.m., $12.

EL CORAZON: 109 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, 381-3094. The Paramedic, with The Persevering Promise, Lefthead, Feels Like Yesterday All ages., 8 p.m., $8 adv./$10 DOS. FUNHOUSE: 206 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 374-8400. Tom Price Desert Classic, with Spy Device, Radioshark, Monster Trap., 9:30 p.m., $6.

SHOWBOX AT THE MARKET: 1426 First Ave., Seattle, 628-3151. Umphrey’s McGee, All ages., 7 p.m., $20 adv./$25 DOS. SUNSET TAVERN: 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 784-4880. Blood Hot Beat, with Gibraltar., 9:30 p.m., $6.

THE TRIPLE DOOR: Michael Gira: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

HIP-HOP/R&B

DIMITRIOU’S JAZZ ALLEY: En Vogue: SEE SHORT LIST,

P. 38.

NECTAR LOUNGE: 412 N. 36th St., Seattle, 632-2020.

Great White Hype, with Mikey Rocks, Bryce Bowden, J-Key, Shelton Harris, Kung Foo Grip, DJ Fish Boogie All ages., 7 p.m., $20.

COUNTRY/FOLK/ROOTS

CAN CAN: 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez

Chea, Seattle, 652-0832. Courtney Marie Andrews Band, 10 p.m., $5.

JEWELBOX/RENDEZVOUS: 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, 441-5823. Sean Hunting Morse, with The River Rust, Daryl Shawn., 10 p.m., $5.

THE RAT AND RAVEN: 5260 University Way NE, Seattle, 524-3166. Buffalo Stage Coach, with Bear Cove, Arkansas & River Bandits, Lights from Space., 8 p.m., $6.

DANCE/DJ/ELECTRONIC

THE ALIBI ROOM: 85 Pike St., Seattle, 623-3180. JK Pop!

Dance Party, with DJ Bishie, DJ BabyLoveCrash, DJ Hojo., 8 p.m., NC. NEUMOS: 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, 709-9467. Skream & Benga, with Kid Hops All ages., 8 p.m., $20.

JAZZ/BLUES

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE: 1707 N.W. Market St.,

Seattle, 789-1621. Hardcoretet, 7 p.m., $5.

HIGHWAY 99 BLUES CLUB: 1414 Alaskan Way, Seattle,

382-2171. Kathi McDonald Band, 8 p.m., $7.

MONA’S BISTRO AND LOUNGE: 6421 Latona Ave. N.E., Seattle, 526-1188. Istvan & Farko, Thu., March 22, 10 p.m., NC. TULA’S: 2214 Second Ave., Seattle, 443-4221. Michael Zilbert and the Scenes Trio, 7:30 p.m., $10.

Iceland’s Of Monsters and Men visits the Showbox SoDo on Monday, March 26.

VITO’S: 927 Ninth Ave., Seattle, 397-4053. The Jason Parker

Quartet, 9 p.m., NC.

Friday 23 ROCK/POP/INDIE

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272. Lozen,

with Shrouded Strangers, This Blinding Light, Glass Tunnels., 9 p.m., $7.

THE CROCODILE: Hunx and His Punx: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

DARRELL’S TAVERN: 18041 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, 542-6688. The Basements, with Paul Lynde Fan Club, The Rags, The Gold Records, The Dirty Dishes., 9 p.m., $5.

FUNHOUSE: 206 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 374-8400. Ancient Warlocks, with Mars Red Sky, White Orange, Coloffs., 9:30 p.m., $6.

JEWELBOX/RENDEZVOUS: 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, 441-5823. Koko and the Sweetmeats, with Thee Midnight Creep, Stephen Nielson., 10 p.m., $7.

THE ROGUE & PEASANT: 3601 Fremont Ave. N. #207, Seattle. SPORTS, with Fey Moth, Stroppy., 9 p.m., $5.

SHOWBOX AT THE MARKET: 1426 First Ave., Seattle, 628-3151. Kaiser Chiefs, All ages., 7 p.m., $16 adv./$18 DOS. SHOWBOX SODO: 1700 First Ave. S., Seattle, 652-0444.

GALACTIC, with Orgone., 8 p.m., $24 adv./$26 DOS. STUDIO SEVEN: 110 S. Horton St., Seattle, 286-1312.

I Declare War, with To The Wind, Under Cities, Hope Not Forgotten, Cowardice, Prepare The Bride All ages., 7 p.m., $10 adv./$13 DOS. SUNSET TAVERN: 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 784-4880. Dan Bern, with Blacknite Crash, Watch It Sparkle, Rosyvelt., 9:30 p.m., $8 adv./$10 DOS.

HIP-HOP/R&B

EL CORAZON: 109 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, 381-3094.

Rehab, with Moonshine Bandits,Southside, Reklez All ages., 8 p.m., $15 adv./$17 DOS. NEUMOS: 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, 709-9467. The Robert Glasper Experiment ft. Bilal, 8 p.m., $20.

COUNTRY/FOLK/ROOTS

CONOR BYRNE: 5140 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 784-3640.

Sunday Evening Whiskey Club, with Truckstop Darlin, Jessica Lynne., 9 p.m.

HIGH DIVE: 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, 632-0212. Polecat, with Head For The Hills, The Warren G Hardings., 8 p.m., $10.

Q CAFE: 3223 15th Ave. W., Seattle, 352-2525. Jeremy Serwer, with Naomie Hooley All ages., 8 p.m., $8.

Karaoke with DJ Yoda @ 9 PM THE TRIPLE DOOR: 216 Union St., Seattle, 838-4333. Darrell

Scott, with Gary Ogan All ages., 7 p.m., $22 adv./$25 DOS.

DANCE/DJ/ELECTRONIC

CHOP SUEY: D.I.M.: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

COLUMBIA CITY THEATER: 4918 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle,

723-0088. KGHB, with Strong Like Woman, Leeni, Fox Hunt., 9 p.m., $8 adv./$10 DOS.

HIP-HOP/R&B

THE CROCODILE: Black Milk: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

SONIC BOOM RECORDS BALLARD: 2209 N.W. Market

St., Seattle, 297-2666. Sol, All ages., 3 p.m., NC.

Monday 26 ROCK/POP/INDIE

Saturday 24

THE 2 BIT SALOON: 4818 17th Ave. NW, Seattle, 708-6917.

ROCK/POP/INDIE

BLUE MOON TAVERN: 712 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, 675-9116.

Magic Mirrors, with Bad Love Sessions., 10 p.m., $6.

CHOP SUEY: Bahamas: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272.

Narrows, with Heiress, Grenades., 9 p.m., $8.

THE CROCODILE: 2200 Second Ave., Seattle, 441-7416.

White Rabbits, with Gulls., 8 p.m., $13.

DARRELL’S TAVERN: 18041 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, 542-6688. Burning Of I, with Carnotaurus, Negative Hole, DA27., 9 p.m., $6.

EL CORAZON: 109 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, 381-3094. The Wonder Years, with Polar Bear Club, Transit, The Story So Far, Into It. Over It. All ages., 7 p.m., $13 adv./$15 DOS. FUNHOUSE: 206 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 374-8400.

Chaospalooza, with Moral Crux, Toe Tag, No Red Flags, Potty Mouth Society, Poorsport, Load Levelers, Shakin’ Michael J., 7 p.m., $10.

NEUMOS: 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, 709-9467. Tyrone Wells, with Joe Brooks, Tommy Simmons All ages., 8 p.m., $16.

SHOWBOX AT THE MARKET: 1426 First Ave., Seattle, 628-3151. of Montreal, with Deerhoof, Kishi Bashi All ages., 8 p.m., $19 adv./$21 DOS. SKYLARK CAFE & CLUB: 3803 Delridge Way S.W., Seattle, 935-2111. Kladruby Gold, with Sweet Secrets, Fredd Luongo., 10 p.m., $5.

COUNTRY/FOLK/ROOTS

COLUMBIA CITY THEATER: 4918 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle,

723-0088. The Washover Fans, with The Loom, Ole Tinder., 9 p.m.

CONOR BYRNE: 5140 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 784-3640.

Caleb Klauder Band, with New Country Rehab., 9 p.m.

DUSTY STRINGS MUSIC SHOP: 3406 Fremont N., Seattle, 634-1662. Laurence Juber, All ages., 7:30 p.m., $20.

JEWELBOX/RENDEZVOUS: 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, 441-5823.

Country Lips, with Brave Chandeliers, Whitney Ballen and the Intimates., 10:30 p.m., $5.

Spellcaster, with Skelator, Blood of Kings., 9 p.m., $7.

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272. Bath Party, with Lou Lou, Afrocop., 9 p.m., $5.

FUNHOUSE: 206 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 374-8400. Dirty Quarter and the Big Rips, with The Outer Space Heaters, Toyboat Toyboat Toyboat, Power Skeleton., 9:30 p.m., $5.

HIGH DIVE: 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, 632-0212. Steradian, with Strong Like Woman, Horsefly., 7 p.m., $5.

SUNSET TAVERN: 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 784-4880. Pill Brigade, with Morgue Anne, The Lady Cadavers, Coitus., 9:30 p.m., $7.

THE TRIPLE DOOR: 216 Union St., Seattle, 838-4333. Paul Kelly, All ages., Sun., March 25, 7:30 p.m.; Mon., March 26, 7:30 p.m., $20.

JAZZ/BLUES

DIMITRIOU’S JAZZ ALLEY: 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle, 441-

9729. Jackson High School Jazz Ensembles, 6:30 p.m., $20.

TULA’S: 2214 Second Ave., Seattle, 443-4221. Peter Daniel

WED 3/21 THUR 3/22

FRI 3/23

SAT 3/24

9:30PM • $6

THE CHASERS

BLOOD HOT BEAT • GIBRALTAR 9:30PM • $7 THE GREEN’S PRESENT:

DAN BERN

BLACKNITE CRASH • WATCH IT SPARKLE ROSYVELT AND MORE!

MR. GNOME

THE REDWOOD PLAN CLUTCH DOUGLASS

10PM • $8 ADVANCE / $10 DAY OF SHOW

SUN 3/25 MON 3/26

APPETITE

SPECIAL GUESTS 9:30PM • $7 BLACK MONDAY PRESENTS

PILL BRIGADE • MORGUE ANNE THE LADY CADAVERS • COITUS 9:30PM • $7

Tuesday 27

TUE 3/27

ROCK/POP/INDIE

WED 3/28

Juncture WA, with Hurricane Chaser, Knathan Ryan & The Silent Ks., 9 p.m., $8.

EL CORAZON: 109 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, 381-3094.

Design The Skyline, with The Browning, From Atlantis All ages., 7:30 p.m., $8 adv./$10 DOS. SHOWBOX AT THE MARKET: 1426 First Ave., Seattle, 628-3151. Say Anything, with Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band, Fake Problems, The Front Bottoms All ages., 6:30 p.m., $17 adv./$20 DOS.

NIGHT GENES • BRANCH

8:30PM • $8 ADVANCE / $10 DAY OF SHOW

Quintet, 7:30 p.m., $10.

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272. Point

SAY GOODBYE TO THESE

UNICYCLE LOVES YOU

MARTIN ZELLAR AND THE HARDWAYS 9:30PM • $10 ADVANCE / $12 DAY OF SHOW

HOWLER

THE STATIC JACKS • VALLEY FAIR 9:30PM • $8 ADVANCE / $10 DAY OF SHOW

NOW SERVING FLYING SQUIRREL PIZZA 5PM - 9:30PM WITH HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS NO COVER CHARGE FOR DINNER

226 1st Ave S - Kent www.thevibebarandgrill.com

tractor 5213 BALLARD AVE. NW • 789-3599

WED, 3/21 9:30PM ~ $15 HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS OF FUZZ AND FEEDBACK

MUDHONEY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS FROM AUSTRALIA

CAMERON WITTIG

NECTAR LOUNGE: 412 N. 36th St.,

Vibe Bar and Grill

Seattle, 632-2020. Eclectic Approach, with Kissing Potion, Coldnote., 8 p.m., $7.

THE WHITE RABBIT: 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, 588-0155.

Youngblood Groovement, with Quinn, Shiftless Layabout., 9:30 p.m., $5.

Sunday 25 ROCK/POP/INDIE

COMET TAVERN: 922 E. Pike St., Seattle, 322-9272. Les

Jupes, with Magnog, Golden Gardens, Us On Roofs., 9 p.m., $7.

EL CORAZON: 109 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, 381-3094.

Aiden, with Monsters Scare You!, To Paint The Sky, Amsterdam All ages., 7:30 p.m., $10 adv./$12 DOS. HIGH DIVE: 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, 632-0212. Milagres, with 1,2,3, Desert Noises., 8 p.m., $7.

JEWELBOX/RENDEZVOUS: 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, 441-5823. Bomb Crafters, with The Compound, The Slags., 6:30 p.m., $13.

NEUMOS: 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, 709-9467. Lucero, with The Drowning Men All ages., 7 p.m., $18.

THE TRIPLE DOOR: Paul Kelly: SEE SHORT LIST, P. 38.

TRACTOR TAVERN: 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 789-3599.

Poor Moon, with Lost in the Trees, Low Hums., 9 p.m., $10.

THE WHITE RABBIT: 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, 588-0155.

PonyHomie, with Yay Conifers!, Ever-so-Android., 9:30 p.m., $5.

HIP-HOP/R&B

EASY STREET RECORDS: 20 Mercer St., Seattle,

691-3279. THEESatisfaction, All ages., 6 p.m., NC.

441-9729. Chano Domínguez, Tue., March 27, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., March 28, 7:30 p.m., $20.50.

Send events to music@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings NC = no charge, AA = all ages.

KELLY JOE PHELPS AND CAHALEN MORRISON

CHARLIE PARR

THUR, 3/22 9PM ~ $6 LOCAL ALT-INDIE ROCK

MON, 3/26 7:30PM ~ $6

THE GET FAN FICTION

MONDAY SQUARE DANCE FEAT. MUSIC BY

THE TALLBOYS HELLACIOUS SQUARE DANCING STARTS AT 8 PM!

FRI, 3/23 9:30PM ~ $10 RAW SYMPHONIC CHAMBER POP

TUES, 3/27 9PM ~ $10 LOCAL FOLK ROCK

LEMOLO DINOSAUR FEATHERS

LOST IN THE TREES LOW HUMS

SAT, 3/24 9:30PM ~ $12 THE BENEFICIARY FOR THIS GLOBAL EVENT IS ADVOCACY FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS 2012 TEAM MCCREADY GLOBAL BENEFIT WITH

WED, 3/28 8PM ~ $15 FROM THE INDIGO GIRLS, PUNK-FOLK ICON

LOCH LOMOND

STAR ANNA & THE LAUGHING DOGS SHELBY EARL KIM VIRANT

POOR MOON

AMY RAY

AND HER BAND

LINDSAY FULLER

& THE CHEAP DATES

A LB U R E LE A SM P A R TY E

TIMES LISTED ARE SHOW TIMES. DOORS OPEN 30-60 MINUTES BEFORE

JAZZ/BLUES

DIMITRIOU’S JAZZ ALLEY: 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle,

SEAT SHOWED

FEEDTIME

HETEROSAPIEN

Milagres hits the High Dive on Sunday, March 25.

SUN, 3/25 8PM ~ $12 SINGER/SONGWRITERS

&UCOPMING:

3/29 The Tractor & 91.3 KBCS present ANAIS MITCHELL presents ‘HADESTOWN’ with special guests including CORIN TUCKER as PERSEPHONE and more 3/30 MEGAFAUN, FIELD REPORT 3/31 DANIEL KIRKPATRICK AND THE BAYONETS, TOM EDDY, THE SYNTHONY 3/31 The Tractor & The Stranger present at Neumos THE LUMINEERS ~ sold out!

4/1 JOHN K SAMSON & THE PROVINCIAL BAND, SHOTGUN JIMMIE 4/3 ABIGAIL WASHBURN, OLD MAN LUEDECKE 4/4 Take Warning present RUSTED ROOT, SKINNY LISTER, J MINUS 4/5 TYPHOON, LAKE, YOU ARE PLURAL 4/6 & 4/7 REBIRTH BRASS BAND, THE REVIVALISTS 4/8 DREW VICTOR album release show, ALICE IN THE RIVER, GHOSTS I’VE MET 4/9 MONDAY SQUARE DANCE with THE TALLBOYS 4/10 HANNI EL KHATIB, TIJUANA PANTHERS, THE SUNDELLES 4/11 THE AWFULLY SUDDEN DEATH OF MARTHA G, KITHKIN, THE HOOT HOOTS

Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

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THE TRIPLE DOOR: 216 Union St., Seattle, 838-4333. Girlyman, with Adrianne All ages., 8 p.m., $18 adv./$23 DOS.

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41

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

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ALTERNATIVE HEALING

column»Toke Signals

A Dragon Tale

T

his week I visited the Cosmic Dragon Collective, the first shop

in the past month without “Green” in its name. It’s located in the Greenwood neighborhood, though, so I guess it still got to be part of my month-long lead-up to St. Patrick’s Day, albeit on a technicality.

After a quick and painless verification process, I was escorted to the bud room, and immediately noticed the glass display case held only nine strains of cannabis flowers and two kinds of hash (Master Kush and Pineapple Express).

What it did have, however, was good, and reasonably priced: Eight of the strains are available for a donation of $10 a gram, with only one strain, Super Lemon Haze, at $12. Of course, since it was the most expensive weed in the place, I wasn’t about to leave without it. Since it was a sativa, I varied my selections by also picking a hybrid, Burmese Kush, and an indica-dominant, Sweet Tooth.

It didn’t take long to figure out that the Lemon Haze deserves to be called “Super.”

This potent Haze/Skunk hybrid—a back-toback winner at Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup in 2008 and 2009—has a citrusy taste and smell.

Its flowers are denser than your average sativa, and its effects, which include a soaring head high, also have more of a body component than most of its ilk. This is no doubt due to the Skunk (indica) portion of its genetic heritage.

Speaking of skunks, the Burmese Kush (affectionately known as “BuKu”) was quite skunky-smelling—in a good way, of course.

BLOG ON » POT TOKEOFTHETOWN.COM

x

BY STEVE ELLIOTT

The fat, tight nugs are lushly resinous and have the unique pine flavor shared by the entire Kush family. This strain gives an almost instantaneous rush of euphoria, followed by pain relief and stress reduction, but the effects fade more quickly than those of your average high-octane indica.

True to its name but unlike most indicas, Sweet Tooth has a distinctly sweet taste, along with the uplifting mental effects prized by patients with depression and PTSD. There’s lots of lung expansion, so approach it with caution until you get a feel for just how much you can take.

Sweet Tooth’s fat, fuzzy, limegreen buds have a complex mix of terpenes contributing to its orchestra of flavors and smells, with occasional hints of melon and blueberries. Its thick coat of trichomes makes Sweet Tooth popular among hash-makers.

Cosmic Dragon also has a respectable selection of smoking pipes. Be aware that if you donate a few dollars for medicine, the price can come down. For instance, I left with a nice glass water pipe (we’re not supposed to call them bongs anymore), marked $40, for just $30.

Cosmic Dragon Collective is at 315 N.W. 85th St., Suite B, 420-8364, cosmicdragon206@gmail.com. It’s open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from high noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. E Steve Elliott edits Toke of the Town, Village Voice Media’s site of cannabis news, views, rumor, and humor.

Sunday - Free Joint | Monday - 4 gram 1/8ths Tuesday - Free Cookie | Wednesday - 10% off Thursday - $5 off Hash, Tincture, etc.

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

Daily Specials

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I did find it odd that he wanted to get into another relationship when he was still technically married, though.

In any case, he is a great guy, is in love with me, no emotional issues, he listens, cooks, cleans up after himself, the whole nine yards. Overall, he is a great boyfriend. We live together.

He proposed the idea about a month or two into the relationship. I was hesitant because it felt too soon, but I did it anyway.

The issue is that I feel like I don’t love him. You know, that “spark” that everyone talks about? It’s just not there and it never was. Everyone says it would be crazy for me to break up

Some people—like your boyfriend—are incapable of being alone for more than five seconds. with him because there are no guys out there like him, and I would agree. But should I stay with someone because it’s convenient and we get along? I feel like it’s not fair to both of us—especially me, because I want to be with someone whom I truly love and am crazy about.

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So basically, you’re living with a great guy who—despite his talent both for feeding himself and picking up after himself—you don’t love. You’re convinced you should dump him, but “everyone” says you shouldn’t. Despite what this collective advises, you are writing to me so I can tell you what you want to hear, which is often the scenario when people write advice columnists.

Of course you should dump him!

Duh. Happy? This is what will happen if you stay with him: It’s only going to get worse.

You’re going to grow to hate his guts. Maybe you’ll even cheat on him. You’ll get mean, and, really, it’s not his fault.

The important thing to take from this is not to repeat your mistakes. The guy was married when you hooked up, and while you thought it was “odd,” you still moved in with him. Why? You were right to be wary; some people—like your boyfriend—are incapable of being alone for more than five seconds.

One relationship ends, and since they get all their self-worth from another human’s approval, they get in another one ASAP. They just need a warm body, and pretty much anyone remotely acceptable will do.

Right now, you are that someone. But the good news is, while you might feel a little guilty when you give this guy the heaveho, don’t. Chances are he’ll have lined up a replacement before you’ve even boxed up your books. E dategirl@seattleweekly.com WANT MORE? Listen to Judy on The Mike & Judy Show on the Heritage Radio Network, follow her tweets @DailyDategirl, or visit dategirl.net.

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Technical Cisco Systems, Inc. is accepting resumes for the following positions in Bellevue, WA: Network Consulting Engineer (Ref#: BEL1): Responsible for the support and delivery of Advanced Services to company’s major accounts.

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Employers

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ASTHMA STUDY University of Washington researchers are seeking volunteers to participate in a study about the causes of asthma. There will be up to seven visits at the medical center involving diagnostic tests for asthma, 3 exercise tests and 2 medical procedures called a bronchoscopy. Compensation will be provided for time and inconvenience. To qualify, you must be 18-59 yrs old, be available on a Tues. or Thurs., have a physician diagnosis of asthma, be in good physical condition, be a non-smoker, able to exercise vigorously on a treadmill and have no other major health problems. For more information contact the study coordinator at (206) 221-6393 or uwasthma@u.washington.edu (The confidentiality of email cannot be guaranteed)

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21– 27, 2012

REQUIREMENTS: * Vehicle & Driver’s License * Cell Phone * Internet Access you can use on a daily basis * Ability to work a minimum of 25 hours a week

595 Volunteers

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The 2012 Northwest Vintage Wedding Fair Join us for the 3rd Annual NW Vintage Wedding Fair! Sat,

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Southend Room For Rent...$130 a week w/no deposit! Includes Cleaning and Util. 206-762-2757 Massage Special $20 for 2nd hr 425.214.1279 License # MA00020273

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Seattle weekly • M ARCH 21–27, 2012

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Asthma Study Volunteers needed to participate in a study about the causes of asthma. There will be up to seven visits to the University of Washington Medical Center. You will undergo diagnostic breathing tests for asthma. A total of 3 maximum effort exercise tests, 2 sputum induction tests and 2 medical procedures called bronchoscopy, where a physician uses a lighted tube to look directly at the air passages of the lungs and takes small airway samples. Compensation will be provided for time and inconvenience. You must be: • • • • • • •

March 31st, 12-6pm at Greenwood Square (8420 Greenwood Ave N). Meet Vintage-inspired vendors offering home & event decor, vintage apparel, accessories, paper goods, photography, flowers & more. Hosted by Rosemary Wagner Photography, Laurie Kearney of Ghost Gallery and Sarah Smith of Deeds & Petunia! Sponsored by 2nd Saturdayz Vintage Marketplace, Parisienne Girl, Kimmi Designs, Boring Sydney & Sarah Tro Photo.

18 - 59 years old Have a physician diagnosis of asthma With or without exercise induced symptoms Be in good physical condition Be a non-smoker No other major health problems Be available on Tuesdays or Thursdays

For more information contact the study coordinator at 206-221-6393 or email uwasthma@u.washington.edu.

(The confidentiality of email communication cannot be guaranteed)

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ANNA'S MED HEALTH SPADeep tissue, Relaxing,Chinese healing massage. 425-747-2288 10Am-10Pm www.annamedicalhealthspa.com 1550 140th Avenue NE, Suite 200 Bellevue

Fantagraphics, Elysian and Charles Burns Serve Up 12 Beers of the Apocalypse In a year-long wind-up to the end of all time (according to

the Mayan calendar), Elysian Brewing Company and Fantagraphics Books, are planning a series of twelve beers, issued on the 21st of each month in 2012 and featuring label artwork by Charles Burns. Taken from Burns's weirdly apocalyptic work Black Hole, the labels will adorn Elysian's "Twelve Beers of the Apocalypse," featuring the creativity and unusual ingredients for which its brewing team is known. See Fantagraphics.com for more details.

REMEMBER: THE END IS BEER.

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Menu Highlights Appetizers (Antipasti)

Bruschetta Volterrana (Bruschetta Volterrana) Tuscan bread slices topped with a mushroom and truffle puree and minced artichokes

5411 BALLARD AVE NW | SEATTLE, WA 98107 (206) 789-5100 | WWW.VOLTERRARESTAURANT.COM

DINNER:

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Accolades Best Italian Restaurant 2010 & 2007 - Seattle Magazine Zagat “Top Restaurants in the United States: 2006 and 2007” Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011 Best Italian 2007 - Seattle Citysearch Editors Choice Best New Restaurant 2006 - Seattle Magazine Best Outdoor Dining 2006 - Seattle Citysearch Best Chef Inspired Restaurant 2006 - Seattle Metropolitan Magazine

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Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

“Oil” Soup (Zuppa all’ Olio della Villa Otium) Cannellini bean soup with croutons and a generous drizzling of Tuscan organic extra virgin olive oil (non-vegetarian) Homemade “Little Bite” Selection (Antipasti Assortiti) Daily selection of Chef Don’s seasonal antipasti items, price per person Mussels and Sausage (Cozze e Salsiccia) Mussels and house made Italian sausage steamed in a spicy tomato sauce; served with roasted garlic bruschetta

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad (Insalata di Bietole) Roasted organic beets, baby arugula, and toasted walnuts tossed in balsamic vinaigrette and topped with aged Asiago cheese

Noodles and Rice (Pasta e Risotto)

Sausage and Borlotti Bean Risotto (Risotto alla Panissa) Carnaroli rice simmered with house made sausage, pancetta, Cranberry beans, plum tomatoes and topped with Pecorino Toscano Roasted Eggplant Pouches (Agnolotti di Melanzane) House made organic egg pasta filled with roasted eggplant, ricotta salata, roasted garlic, and basil tossed in a spicy tomato ragu and topped with Sicilian pecorino pepato

Salads

Pork Jowls and Wild Mushrooms (Tagliolini con Guanciale e Funghi Selvatici) House made organic egg pasta tossed with house cured smoked pork jowls, locally harvested wild mushrooms, truffle butter and organic parmigiano reggiano

House Salad (Insalatina della Casa) Baby arugula, shaved fennel and Parmigiano Reg giano tossed in Chianti vinaigrette and sprinkled with fresh chives

Dungeness Crab Ravioli (Ravioli coi Granchi) House made organic egg pasta filled with Dungeness crab and mascarpone tossed in a light tomato cream topped with baby mache

Polenta and Wild Mushrooms (Polenta con Funghi) Fontina filled polenta custard with a truffle scented wild mushroom ragu

(Insalati)

Apple and Goat Cheese Salad (Insalata di Mela al Balsamico) Balsamic apple and tart cherries tossed with mixed greens and a fig honey vinaigrette topped with toasted pine nuts and goat cheese

Entrees

(Piatti Forti)

Crispy Herb Chicken (Pollo alla Diavola) Boneless organic half chicken marinated in fresh herbs and seared to a crispy golden

brown; served with Volterra mashed potatoes and seasonal market vegetables (Cook Time 25 Minutes) *Beef Tenderloin Medallion (Filetto di Manzo) Grilled natural beef tenderloin draped in housemade lardo, and topped with a rosemary, garlic, Chianti, and demi-glaze sauce; served with Volterra mashed potatoes, and seasonal market vegetables *Wild Boar Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Sauce (Cinghiale al Gorgonzola) Wild boar tenderloin roasted and served with a gorgonzola and mustard sauce, rosemary roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and seasonal market vegetables Braised Lamb Shank (Coscie d’ Agnello) Anderson Valley Lamb Shank braised with rosemary and green olives, served with creamy buckwheat polenta and dusted with olive caper gremolata Seafood Stew (Zuppa di Pesce) Manila clams, mussels, prawns and the day’s fresh fish in a saffron scented tomato broth with toasted almonds, fresh fennel; served with toasted Tuscan bread and saffron aioli Herb Marinated Pork Ribeye (Costoletto di Maiale) Grilled pork ribeye with Cranberry beans, cauliflower, smoked tomatoes, and topped with goat cheese cream sauce

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VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE

Restaurant Key 37 33 20 13 43 9 49 29 13 31 20 47 29 9 11 43 29 7 9 47 13 21 20 7 43 9 9 49 11 43 49 21 37 45 21 33 7 20 7 39 37 21 49 43 11 45 29 43 31 31 37 19 13 21 33 43 29 33 29 39 49 47 19 13 33 35 11 39 21 21 35 43 20 35 45 20 35 35 45 24 24 31 45 33 19 29 39 49 37 33 24 24 11 19 7 47 47 24 39 19 33

Al Boccalino The Alibi Room Ba Bar Bengal Tiger Ben Thanh Black Pearl Blazing Bagels Blind Pig Bistro The Boar’s Nest Brave Horse Tavern B&O Espresso Budapest Bistro Café de Lion Café Javasti Cafe Munir Cajun Crawfish Canlis Chiang’s Gourmet Coa Mexican Eatery & Tequileria The Crab Cracker Delancey Dom Polski Dot’s Delicatessen El Norte El Paisano Rosticeria Y Cocina Fiddler’s Inn Flying Squirrel Pizza Co. Gabriel’s Fire Gainsbourg Geraldine’s Counter Grinder’s Hot Sands Hana Henry’s Taiwan Plus Hitchcock The Honey Hole Il Corvo Indo Cafe Joule Kaffeeklatsch Katsu Burger Kau Kau Kingfish Cafe La Boucherie La Medusa Latona Pub Little Sheep LloydMartin Locöl Barley & Vine Macrina Bakery Madison Park Conservatory Maekawa Mamma Melina Marcello Ristorante Marination Matt’s in the Market Meander’s Kitchen The Melting Pot The Metropolitan Grill Mezcaleria Oaxaca Mike’s Noodle House Naan -n- Curry Noodle Boat Nook Ocho Okinawa Teriyaki Oriental Mart Phinney Market Pub & Eatery Pho So 1 Plum Bistro Poquitos Piroshky Piroshky Queen’s Deli Revel RN74 Roxbury Lanes Roxy’s Diner Salumi Seatown Seattle Roll Bakery 611 Supreme Skillet Sky City Spiced Spur Staple & Fancy Sushi Kappo Tamura Tai Tung Taster’s Wok Tat’s Deli Tavolàta Taylor Shellfish Terra Plata Than Brothers Totem House Toyoda Sushi Trellis Udupi Cafe and Chaat Corner Via Tribunali Viengthong The Walrus and the Carpenter Where Ya At Matt

COVER BY INVISIBLE CREATURE

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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kayley kirmse

Toyoda Sushi

L ak e C it y Don’t judge a book by its cover: Step in off this gritty stretch of Lake City Way into the aquamarine-painted, candlelit oasis eL Norte. The tiny kitchen cranks out just a handful of taqueriastyle food items, but there’s sweet and tangy ceviche, chunky guacamole, tacos in housemade tortillas, and baskets of thin, just-fried tortilla chips. The nachos alone are worth a stop. Crisp chips are slathered in creamy refried beans, topped with melted jack cheese, jalapeños, guacamole, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. Come for the food, stay for the drinks: Several premium tequilas are available, plus Negra Modelo from Mexico and Veltins from Germany on draft.

SONJA GROSET 13717 Lake City Way N.E..

954-1349. elnorteloungeseattle.com $ The darling of downtown Lake City, kaffeekLatsCh is a bright spot in a strip of uninspired businesses, banks, and empty storefronts. The bustling cafe is fast embodying its namesake—a conversational gathering spot—in a neighborhood where a social hub is more than welcome. Owned by former Columbia City Bakery manager Annette Heide-Jessen and baker Brian Hensley, German pastries are scratch-made daily. Some universally loved baked goods— like fat cinnamon buns, breakfast biscuits with egg and sausage, and banana bread— star on the menu. Other staples include perfectly chewy pretzels and Blechkuchen, a traditional German pastry with bursts of fresh raspberry folded into layered dough.

The coffee’s from True North roasters.

SARA BILLUPS 12513 Lake City Way N.E., 462-1059, kaffeeklatschseattle.com $ The only Lake City restaurant with a wait on Friday and Saturday nights, toyoda sushi does not disappoint.

Its rice-paper-covered windows and traditional Japanese fare rival the looks and tastes of the best spots in the ID. The mackerel maki wrapped with fresh ginger and scallions shines with clean and vibrant flavors, and pescephobes

will relish classic avocado rolls and a warming udon with tempura veggies and fried egg that remedies Seattle’s rainy season. Toyoda’s prices are on the high end, but you’re paying for filling portions and total quality here. SARA BILLUPS 12543 Lake City Way N.E., 367-7972 $$

N o r t h g at e Housed in an honest-to-goodness strip mall—complete with a Supercuts and a doughnut shop—iNdo Cafe serves amazing Indonesian food, specifically fried chicken. Asian fried chicken has become a thing thanks to places like Portland’s Pok Pok and West Seattle’s Ma’Ono, but at Indo Cafe it’s not a gimmick, it’s just delicious: extra-crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and best topped with fiery chili paste and paired with cooling, slightly sweet coconut rice. There are other things on the menu, and everything is as authentic as it comes, but once you’ve had that chicken, the rest won’t really matter.

CHELSEA LIN 543 N.E. Northgate Way, 361-0699, myindocafe.com $$

Map L e L e af Handmade noodles are the star of the show at ChiaNg’s gourMet, a family-run restaurant tucked into the corner of I-5 and Lake City Way. The noodles can be found in some form on each of the three menus: the Americanized Chinese, filled with classics like General Tso’s Chicken; the Vegetarian; and the Chinese, pages full of authentic, expertly cooked specialties from Szechuan and nearby provinces.

Despite the dingy exterior and slight lack of ambience, a byproduct of being housed in a former A&W, the meat and vegetables are bright and fresh, prepared in ways that showcase their taste.

A quick conversation with the friendly, spiky-haired hostess will always yield a few suggestions for what’s best that day.

NAOMI BISHOP 7845 Lake City Way N.E., 527-8888, chiangsgourmet.com $

Best RestauRants

happy hour bites Seattle Met Magazine

38 essential RestauRants 2012 eater Seattle

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VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm • Fri & Sat 11am-midnight : Happy Hours: Everyday 3pm-6pm • Fri & Sat 10pm-midnight

When the Mexican-inspired Coa MexiCan eatery & tequileria opened in 2011, it filled a niche in the hood that badly needed to be. Taking its name from a device used in agave harvesting, Coa presents artful riffs on south-of-theborder classics. Be forewarned: If you’re craving slop Mexican, keep walking; Coa’s mole is served sans tortillas with crispy kale and fragrant rice and beans.

Enchiladas verde are stuffed with chicken, cauliflower, and cheese, then smothered in a cream sauce that hits the right balance of rich and verdant. Expect little touches, like salsa speckled with hominy and gluten-free tostones filled with green plantains. And with Coa’s tarty $5 house margaritas coming in at less than 100 calories, ordering a second round is a nobrainer. SARA BILLUPS 7919 Roosevelt Way N.E., 522-6179, coatequileria.com $$ Joining its siblings in Seward Park and Ballard, Flying Squirrel Pizza Co.’s Maple Leaf location is a welcome addition to northeast Seattle. Expect inventive toppings, like housemade sausage and local-when-possible veggies, all without trying too hard. Owned by former Visqueen bassist Bill Coury, the longtime Seattle resident’s rock roots come through in custom pies like the Eartha Kitt, topped with spinach, garlic, ricotta, marinated portos, and cracked pepper. Or build your own, with toppings including fresh pineapple, Mama Lil’s peppers, and Salumi’s coppa. And don’t forget the cheese bread, a nostalgic gut bomb reminiscent of the best East Coast hole-in-the-wall varieties.

SARA BILLUPS 8310 Fifth Ave. N.E., 524-6345, flyingsquirrelpizza.com $

W e d gWo o d BlaCk Pearl , a narrow sliver of a dining room tucked inside a Wedgwood strip-mall block, isn’t much to look at, and some of the food is admittedly Americanized—I’m pretty sure neither the Sichuans nor the Hunans put cranberries

in their chicken or balsamic vinaigrette on their fish—but a majority of the menu is authentic and delicious. The General Tso’s Chicken is made with fat chunks of white meat and is appropriately spiced; the mu shu pork is studded with fresh sautéed veggies and wood ear mushrooms; and, best of all, the hand-rolled chow mein noodles are satisfyingly thick, starchy, and filling. ERIN K. THOMPSON 7347 35th Ave. N.E., 526-5115, blackpearlchinese cuisine.com $$ Off the maps of both coffee geeks and tourists, CaFé JavaSti is not pushing the coffee industry into the fifth wave, but it is offering a thoughtful alternative to Starbucks in ’burby Wedgwood, which may be just as important.

Recently remodeled and expanded, Javasti delivers well-prepared espresso drinks with beans supplied by Olympia’s Batdorf & Bronson. Lines form on the weekends for Javasti’s freshly baked pastries and sweet and savory crepes.

The Nutella, banana, and almond crepe is a discovery of tastes and textures, and the mushroom, pesto, tomato, and mozzarella crepe is filling enough to share. SARA BILLUPS 8617 35th Ave. N.E., 204-0255, javasti.com $ That shingled wooden shack you’ve driven by on 35th isn’t someone’s tool shed; it’s the Fiddler’S inn. And despite being tucked away in the northern reaches of Wedgwood, it’s usually not as quiet as it looks from the outside, either: By evening, a crowd of easygoing regulars pack the place. The beer selection here—which is sometimes literally scrawled on the back of some scrap paper, wrinkly from being passed around the room all night—is aces, boasting up to 15 local brews. The kitchen does just as well by its towering mound of Firehouse #40 nachos and crusty, handtossed pizzas, which, appropriately for pub fare, are wonderfully messy, gooey, and oozing with melted cheese. ERIN K. THOMPSON 9219 35th Ave. N.E., 525-0752, 3pubs.com/Fiddler $

“MORE AUTHENTIC THAN SOME PIZZERIAS IN NAPLES.” SUNSET MAGAZINE

Café Javasti

PRIVATE PARTIES • SPECIAL EVENTS • MOBILE CATERING

CAPITOL HILL•QUEEN ANNE Sy Bean

GEORGETOWN•FREMONT VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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10

LOYAL H E I G H T S Tucked away in a far corner north of Ballard, serving a cuisine that’s not too common in Seattle, it’s a hard road for CAFE MUNIR. But even those who can’t find Lebanon on a map will find beauty in its simple Mediterranean cuisine. From hummus (in three varieties) to more complicated dishes like Egyptian koshary, Cafe Munir stays true to its roots while establishing itself as an excellent neighborhood restaurant. The early seating flows noisily with family dining, yet in the late evening the atmosphere grows quietly romantic under the intricately beautiful light fixtures. NAOMI BISHOP 2408 N.W. 80th St., 783-4190, cafemunir. blogspot.com $

G R E E N WO O D Imagine if Marion Cotillard had been your French 101 teacher. It would have most likely changed from a subject you’d have been reluctant to study to an attractive, seductive presentation from which you’d walk away with a lifelong curiosity for all things French. So goes dinner at GAINSBOURG, which makes what could be an overwhelming introduction to French cuisine simple, appealing, and affordable. With items like the $3 happy-hour escargots and the poulet confit (chicken poached in duck fat) for a mere $9, Gainsbourg promotes sensible sampling—not to mention the house’s nine varieties of absinthe, which will leave you feeling as giddy and lightheaded as an afternoon with Cotillard herself. MA’CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR 8550 Greenwood Ave. N., 783-4004, gainsbourglounge.com $$

G R E E N L AK E The LATONA PUB is not another hipster bar, thank you very much. Owned by the team behind Wedgwood’s Fiddler’s Inn and Capitol Hill’s Hopvine, the Latona churns out seriously tasty com-

fort food from a well-loved, closet-sized kitchen. Crispy green-chile quesadillas, colossal helpings of mac and cheese, duck confit with fig and chevre, and momstyle Painted Hills meatloaf and mashed potatoes will satisfy even the hungriest beer bellies. The revolving wine and beer selection showcases Northwest varietals and microbrews, and the no-nonsense staff is the right mix of efficient and friendly. Live jazz on Fridays. SARA BILLUPS 6423 Latona Ave. N.E., 525-2238, 3pubs. com/latona.html $ Since the first location opened on Aurora in 1996, the THAN BROTHERS chain has been growing in the greater Seattle area at a rate nearly equivalent to a store a year. The recently opened Kirkland joint is #14, and should have included the chain’s ceremonial crowning as the undisputed kings of Emerald City pho. The two keys to its success: the broth, flavorful enough to stand on its own and lending itself to numerous “pho-cessories” and a tabletop assortment of squeezable sauces, and the legendary cream puffs (three for $1.50)— light, fluffy, and consistently delicious.

MA’CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR 7714 Aurora Ave. N. and other locations, 527-5973, than brothers.com $

PHINNEY RIDGE A Northwest-inspired restaurant located in a former neighborhood grocery, PHINNEY MARKET PUB & EATERY’s fresh interiors are polished up with Tolix chairs, a communal table crafted from Alaskan reclaimed wood, and trendy wallpaper that makes everybody look a little cooler. A self-proclaimed family restaurant, Phinney Market is big enough to accommodate children on one side of the room near a builtin play corner and kid-free diners near the bar. Tuck into pork loin topped with mango-apple chutney, polenta-crusted vegetable tarts cozied up to a mound of greens, or juicy jerk chicken on thick challah. SARA BILLUPS 5918 Phinney Ave. N., 219-9105, phinneymarketpub.com $

2011 Seattle Weekly Winner, Best Greek.

2009 Evening Magazine Winner, Best Mediterranean 2012 Named Best Ballard Restaurant by the Ballard Restaurant Project Featured in Food Lover’s Guide to Seattle

Plaka Estiatorio brings authentic Athenian Greek cuisine to Ballard!

Than Brothers

WWW . PLaKaBaLLaRD . COM KAYLEY KIRMSE

FOR MORE INFORMATION GOOGLE PLAKA ESTIATORIO

5407 20TH AVE NW • 206-829-8934 VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

R o o s e ve lt Among the many local Indian restaurants offering cheap lunch buffets and serviceable delivery options, just one place (this side of Lake Washington, anyway) serves the sort of Indian food worthy of a reservation and a cloth napkin: Bengal tigeR . The Roosevelt eatery, bereft of the usual kitschy crap typical of Indian restaurants everywhere, is casual enough to be family-friendly, yet nice enough to be a suitable date-night destination (assuming your companion won’t mind curry breath later). Call ahead to order the Kashmiri chicken for two or the Kurzi lamb, meant to serve up to six.

And for last-minute diners, there’s the requisite lunch buffet, too. CHELSEA LIN 6510 Roosevelt Way N.E., 985-0041, bengaltigerwa.com $$ Diners come to MaRcello RistoRante for the brawny Bolognese and delicate penne ai gamberi, saturated with a garlicky, Madeira-spiked tomato cream sauce and garnished with pancetta, artichokes, and plump shrimp. But mostly they come to this genteel restaurant for love. On weekend nights, nearly every table is set for two, since brothers Marcello and Dario Magaletti’s legendary patience doesn’t extend to the fashion for waxing ironic about candlelight, Chianti, and deferential service. To keep the mood in the evocatively rustic dining room romantic, the kitchen finds room in many of its excellent dishes for a splash of white wine or Madeira. HANNA RASkIN 7115 Roosevelt Way N.E., 527-4778, marcelloseattle.com $$

B al l aR d Ballard is in the midst of a barbecue boom, but the BoaR’s nest separates itself from the pack in a variety of ways, not least of which is its name, a reference to the watering hole in The Dukes of Hazzard. The owners hail from Tennessee and

South Carolina, and their Southern roots show, especially when it comes to the way they do ’cue. The brisket sandwich (an absolute steal at $7) is served on two toasted slices of plain white bread, piled with steaming hunks of juicy, slow-cooked beef as tender as a Tammy Wynette ballad. The dry-rubbed ribs are served with sauce on the side (with a half-dozen regional varieties from which to choose), and the meat just barely clings to the bone. Even the salad is carnivorous: The “Pig in the Garden” is a mound of greens topped with pulled pork. kEEGAN HAMILTON 2008 N.W. 56th St., 973-1970, ballardbbq.com $ It’s been more than two years since blogger/author Molly “Orangette” Wizenberg and her husband/pizzaiolo Brandon Pettit opened delancey, their muchapplauded pizzeria on an otherwise sleepy stretch of north Ballard. Though the hype has died down, the wait for a table on a Saturday evening still usually tops an hour, due largely to the chewy perfection of the pizza crust that blisters ever so gently in Pettit’s oven—though Wizenberg’s chocolate-chip cookies topped with gray sea salt are certainly worth a visit of their own accord.

CHELSEA LIN 1415 N.W. 70th St., 838-1960, delanceyseattle.com $$ A tiny Market Street tapas spot, ocho isn’t singlehandedly responsible for the classing-up of Ballard, but it sure deserves props. Ocho showcases premium cocktails like the Sagrada Familia, as well as small plates like prosciuttowrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese and drizzled with a balsamic reduction and the Huevo del Diablo—a perfectly devilled egg with salmon roe, fried capers, and tomato dust. With plates ranging from $2.50 to $9, Ocho can accommodate any budget, and its impressively opulent yet fairly priced delicacies insure repeated patronage. MA’CHELL DuMA LAVASSAR 2325 N.W. Market St., 784-0699, ochoballard.com $$

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925 Stewart Street | Downtown Seattle 206-682-8811 | www.lalotseattle.com VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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Staple & Fancy

Kevin P. Casey

Chef Ethan Stowell’s Ballard outpost, Staple & Fancy, flawlessly cranks out everything from pork cheeks and gnocchi to whole grilled fish and fried oysters. Stowell knows diners will have a hard time narrowing their choices, so there is a $45 “fancy” menu available, which puts the decision in the kitchen’s hands. Your entire table has to participate in the family-style fourcourse feast, but your participation will be rewarded. Each course includes anywhere from two to four dishes, depending on your party’s size. Let the staff know if there’s anything you don’t or can’t eat, and sit back and let the feasting begin. SONJA GROSET 4739 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-1200, ethan stowellrestaurants.com/stapleandfancy $$$ The fear that Ballard’s totem HouSe, a lodge-shaped landmark that opened in 1939 as a Native American curio shop, would vanish from the neighborhood landscape after its resident fish-and-chips restaurant closed in 2010 was matched only by the fear that whomever inherited the structure wouldn’t honor its legacy. Those worries were allayed last year by Jim and Babe Shepherd of the hyper-successful Red Mill Burgers, who spent six months renovating the building. And for all the thought that went into decisions involving cedar and linoleum, the brother/sister pair didn’t neglect the cod: Red Mill Totem House makes a mean plate of fish and chips, perfectly seasoned and cleanly fried. HANNA RASkiN 3058 N.W. 54th St., 784-1400, red millburgers.com/redmilltotemhouse.htm $ New York has Carnegie Deli, Los Angeles has Pink’s, and Seattle has tHe WalruS and tHe carpenter, a restaurant that reveals its location as surely as a sextant. Chef Renee Erickson of Boat Street Cafe meant to summon French elegance with her Ballard oyster bar, but the smallplates, no-reservations retreat instead beautifully evokes the neighborhood’s flinty maritime past and the current conscientious mind-set responsible for rooftop honey hives and farmers-market queues for line-caught salmon biked in from Port Townsend. The Walrus’ raw

oysters are incredible and plentiful, but the kitchen excels at bitter and brine, reliably wrenching magic from radishes, watercress, pickles, sardines, and smelt.

HANNA RASkiN 4743 Ballard Ave. N.W., 395-9227, thewalrusbar.com $$$

u diStrict Like many of its neighbors on the everchanging Ave., nook isn’t refined. But why would you want it to be? The biscuit shop is a shining example of how a simple, well-executed concept can be a success.

Fluffy and crispy, the egg, cheese, bacon, and tomato jam breakfast sandwich is easily enough to fill the average stomach until dinner. Try savory toppings like hearty sausage gravy, or the not-too-sweet homemade apple butter. Or you can pre-order biscuits by the dozen for a measly buck apiece. If you time it wrong, you might find a sign on the door that reads “Full. Please come back later.” But there’s something about the chase. SARA BiLLUPS 4754 University Way N.E., 268-0154, nook206.com $

u n ive r S it y vi l l ag e mamma melina anchors the corner of a block-long building of modern condos and retail space near University Village.

On sunny days, with the restaurant’s large glass doors open onto the expansive patio, it looks more like L.A. than the U District.

Inside, tables are topped with white linens and surrounded by sleek, modern moldedplastic chairs. A wood-fired oven glows from the kitchen, turning out Neapolitanstyle pizzas with charred edges and slightly soggy centers. The pasta is made in-house, the steaks are from Painted Hills, and the portions are sizable. But as UW professors and grad students know, the bar offers one of the best—and tastiest—happy hours around: Select pizzas are $6, house wine is $14 a bottle, and the entire bar menu is slashed in half. SONJA GROSET 5101 25th Ave. N.E., 632-2271, mammamelina.com $$

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

19

JOSHUA HUSTON

Revel

WAL LI N G FO R D With all the well-deserved raves for Revel, let’s not forget the restaurant that really started it all for super-chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi: JOULE. It’s East meets West as you jump about the menu, with shared small plates the way to go. Expect a symphony of bold flavors, starting with any soup (recommended: the spicy beef ) and moving on to intriguing salads, innovative kimchi, and expertly grilled fish, meats, and vegetables. JAY FRIEDMAN 1913 N. 45th St., 632-1913, joulerestaurant.com $$

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Happy Hour Food & Drink Specials 5 - 7pm Daily 5449 Ballard Ave NW | Seattle 98107 | 206.297.0500 | www.thebalmar.com 20

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

In the era of Meatless Mondays, food lovers are supposed to reserve their enthusiasm for fruits and vegetables. Ooh, kale. Aah, quince. But Robin Short and Miles James, who previously ran a West Seattle sausage cart, are determined to make it very hard for gourmands to be stylish by serving an array of extraordinary meats at DOT’S DELICATESSEN, their cozy counterservice shop. James’ experimental bent has produced beef jerky, chicharrónes, pickled-pig-feet terrine, and red-wine paté, all elevated by James’ commitment to prying memorable succulence from cows and pigs. HANNA RASKIN 4262 Fremont Ave. N., 687-7446, dotsdelicatessen.com $ The most compelling restaurant category in Seattle right now—and perhaps the one most in need of a catchy name—is the youthful, urbane, Pacific Rim–influenced cuisine on display at Marination Station, Katsu Burger, Ma’Ono, and REVEL , Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi’s thoughtfully casual Fremont eatery. People who like food tend to really like Korean food, which is often funky and bold. But Revel isn’t just drifting on gourmands’ goodwill: The kitchen plays with chancy flavor combinations, demonstrating something like genius by sandwiching chili ice cream between chocolate-chip cookies, and tempers its daredevilry with delicacy, folding thinskinned dumplings around ricotta scented

with Earl Grey tea. HANNA RASKIN 403 N. 36th St., 547-2040, revelseattle.com $S

ROXY’S DINER employs one of the city’s most enjoyable waitstaffs, a team of hard-as-nails, tatted-up babes who have no qualms about serving you a shot of whiskey and then slapping you in the face after you drink it. (Request a Restraining Order. See what happens.) If you’re nice, the girls will do a fine job of hustling your food out of the kitchen—the East Coast–style diner is best known for its stacked-high pastrami sandwich—but it’s also one of the best breakfast joints around, with crispy latke sandwiches and something called the breakfast Monte Cristo: ham, egg, and cheese sandwiched between two slices of challah French toast and topped with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Finish it all off with a mimosa— they’re $2 on weekends, and no one will hit you for drinking it. ERIN K. THOMPSON 462 N. 36th St., 632-3963, pastramisandwich.com $

C AP ITO L H I L L Here’s a restaurant-selection secret: Ask your server where he eats. In Seattle, the answer’s bound to be BA BAR, a very now Vietnamese bistro that’s endeared itself to local practitioners of the food-andbeverage trade by keeping ridiculous hours and offering unassailable versions of dishes familiar from joints that don’t bother with Draper Valley chicken, Painted Hills brisket, and organic tofu. Ba Bar serves a fantastic, flavorful pho, restorative and nuanced through the last slurp, and a mi vit tiem that resounds with duckiness. The bar is as skilled as the kitchen, mixing gorgeously balanced cocktails that rival drinks served anywhere in the city—which may also help explain why the restaurant’s so popular with off-duty servers. HANNA RASKIN 550 12th Ave., 328-2030, babarseattle.com $$ There’s only one item listed on the specials chalkboard at B&O ESPRESSO: “Landlord gives B&O one more year . . . ” (Insert a collective sigh from all Capitol Hill residents here.) The building in which the

neighborhood’s first-ever espresso coffeehouse was born more than three decades ago is scheduled for demolition this year.

It’s heartbreaking, because B&O is a truly unique beast. Charming and unpretentious, it’s the sort of place where people can cozy up and converse for hours after their plates have been cleared. Best of all, the American and Mediterranean-inspired menu offers enough variety to meet the most bizarre brunch craving: chocolate pancakes, brie/ Moroccan olive omelets, and roasted eggplant sandwiches, to name a few. If you’ve never been to B&O, do yourself a favor and go this weekend. It’s a Seattle establishment you’ll want to pay your respects to before it disappears. ERIKA HOBART 204 Belmont Ave. E., 322-5028, b-oespresso.com $

STREET FARE

Here’s an unadvertised tip: THe Honey Hole always has a draft-beer special, usually something like a sweet, lovely pint of Manny’s for $3. It’s a smart move on their part, since a cold beer happens to be the perfect accompaniment to their savory, melty-hot sandwiches. There isn’t a miss among all the creatively named options—the tangy Corleone is stuffed with house-cured pastrami and sauerkraut; the Bandit is your basic favorite barbecued-beef brisket topped with coleslaw and cheddar; its counterpart, the Buford T. Justice, is a spicier variety with pulled pork and pepper jack. If the promise of cheap beer doesn’t draw you, the tantalizing aroma of all that smoked meat definitely will. ERIN K. THOMPSON 703 E. Pike St., 709-1399, thehoneyhole.com $

3pm-6pm mon-frI DIM SUM

Hana will not disappoint even the pickiest sushi eater. Despite its relatively small menu, there’s something for everyone. The chef’s choice is the sashimi combo: five kinds of sashimi with miso soup, salad, and rice. But if you’re looking for something more savory, go for the chicken teriyaki: boneless, broiled chicken in a soft and tasty sauce. If you’re a vegetarian, sample an appetizer such as edamame or the agadashi sushi, and pair it with miso soup and rice; it will be just as filling as one of the entrées your carnivorous friends will be enjoying.

Overall, unlike its Capitol Hill counterparts, Hana offers quality sushi that avoids being overly Americanized. You can’t go wrong here. KATIE GILBERT 219 Broadway E., 328-1187 $

marinaTion owners Kamala Saxton and Roz Edison recently won the Seacrest Park food concession, returning the team’s sassy Korean-Hawaiian tacos and sliders to their beachy roots. But fans of the food know it doesn’t much matter where it’s served, since breathtaking flavors have a knack for transcending surroundings. Still, last year’s opening of a permanent Marination location was worth celebrating since it meant a) new occasional items, including gravy-blanketed loco moco and spam musubi, and b) beer. Even better, the menu mainstays haven’t suffered from settling down: The soy-soaked short ribs are always tender, the tofu vibrates with flavor, and the Nunya sauce is so good it’s now sold by the jar. HANNA RASKIN 1412 Harvard Ave., marinationmobile.com $

DRINKS

On Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, the community center–cum–restaurant known as Dom Polski opens its doors to anyone with a hankering for excellent Polish food who’s willing to pay a $1 “temporary membership” fee. The bar serves a variety of Polish alcohol—try the bisongrass vodka, served with apple juice—while the menu is peppered with Polish pickings like pickle soup and pierogies. Orders are taken by traditional costumed staff, who do their best to explain dishes and specialties, making it easy to navigate the menu of hearty meats, dumplings, and side dishes.

Just make sure you stop at the ATM on the way—this informal clubhouse is cash only.

NAOMI BISHOP 1714 18th Ave., 322-3020, polishhome.org $

If you know only one thing about the kingfisH Cafe, it’s to always save room for dessert. The gargantuan slices of scratch-made red velvet cake, seasonal fresh strawberry shortcake, and fluffy sweet-potato pie are not affected by the law of diminishing returns. Somehow each bite tastes better until the sweet, sweet end. The same goes for the Kingfish’s beloved fried chicken, melty collard greens, and fried green tomatoes. Owned by sisters Laurel and Leslie Coaston, the Southern-cooking mecca on northeast Capitol Hill celebrates its 15th year in 2012. With its wrought-iron gates and creaky wood floors, the Kingfish could easily thrive in Savannah or Montgomery.

Lucky Seattle. SARA BILLUPS 602 19th Ave. E., 320-8757, thekingfishcafe.com $$

Vegan food isn’t the same as chomping into seared flesh, but it can be just as delicious, and Plum BisTro has solidified itself as one of Seattle’s best vegan restaurants by proving it. Owner Makini Howell, who admits she’s never even tasted meat, opened Plum almost three years ago because, being raised in a vegan household, she never had an upscale place to dine. “Most of our customers are not vegan or vegetarian at all,” says Howell, who explains that her carnivorous clientele has realized the flavor capabilities of vegan food. Dishes on the bistro’s menu include spicy Cajun mac and yease, quinoa and BBQ burgers, raw lasagna with walnut pesto, and hearty salads. And for brunch, the Stumptown pancakes with vegan cream sauce and chocolate is something everyone should eat at least once in their lives. JULIEN PERRY 1429 12th Ave., 838-5333, plumbistro.com $$ Bastille detractors shook their heads when news came that the design-focused team behind the French hotspot in Ballard planned to open a massive Mexican cantina in Capitol Hill. Fine: There’s no place here for humorless mossbacks anyhow.

PoquiTos is an unending Mexican beach vacation, with top-shelf margs, freshly made guacamole, surprisingly elegant elotes, and a plate of chipotle garlic prawns that deserves to be mentioned in any discussion of the city’s best shrimp dishes. In a restaurant that’s a perpetual

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beneficiary of foresight—Deming Maclise and James Weimann traveled to Mexico to collect decor elements—there are, of course, housemade corn tortillas for sopping up the delectable vestigial sauce.

What fun. Hanna Raskin 1000 E. Pike St., 453-4216, vivapoquitos.com $$ From its humble beginnings as a small crêperie, 611 Supreme has been serving spectacular food on Capitol Hill since 1997.

If your schedule allows, visit for weekday brunch: You’ll be met with an attentive waitstaff and (weather permitting) a lovely flood of natural light. Daytime eats include the signature crêpes, quiche, and a plat du fromage: Build your own cheese plate for $3 an ounce. At night this spot transforms to an upscale eatery, where you’ll indulge in French fare for around $20 an entrée.

Ma’CHell DuMa laVassaR 611 E. Pine St., 328-0292, 611supreme.com $$ The wheels came off Skillet last year, when the popular food truck settled into a permanent location. Although the namesake mobile unit is still rolling around Seattle, it doesn’t offer well-made cocktails, comfortable seating, or a roof in rainy weather, which may account for the instant popularity of the polished restaurant. But if the surroundings have changed, the classic menu of finely tuned diner fare, awash in swine and cream, is holding steady: Skillet isn’t shy about serving a chicken-fried pork chop smothered in bacon gravy or a fleecy cornmeal waffle paired with pork belly sweating maple syrup and chicken stock. Still, the winning carry-over from the operation’s road-tripping days may be the customer-focused service and playful attitude. Hanna Raskin 1400 E. Union St., 512-2000, skilletstreetfood.com $

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Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

taylor ShellfiSh has long been a presence on local menus as a supplier of the region’s finest oysters, clams, and mussels, but last year it expanded its Seattle footprint with a Melrose Market retail store that’s emerged as a worthy

JOSHUA HUSTON

Terra Plata

counterpart to the specialists already plying their trades there. Taylor stocks the supremely fresh shellfish prized by home cooks, but it also functions as a strippeddown raw bar, serving shucked-to-order oysters, baguettes, and chilled white wine at its high-top tables. For chilly days, there are crocks of Xinh Dwelley’s geoduck chowder and oyster stew. Like the pristine bivalves in Taylor’s tanks, the experience of eating shellfish here is pure and true.

Hanna Raskin 1521 Melrose Ave., 501-4321, taylormelrose.com $ Tamara Murphy, who helped define contemporary Seattle dining at Brasa, last year reminded eaters that she intends to continue shaping the local food scene. Years in the making—thanks to unanticipated landlord tangles and renovation delays— terra plata acquired must-visit status the moment it opened, serving food that reinvigorates the farm-to-table idiom.

The high-spirited restaurant doesn’t shy away from ambitious preparations involving fresh shellfish and charcuterie, but is equally capable of astonishing with the most pedestrian-sounding dishes. Here are citrus-glanced beets and maple-glazed Brussels sprouts to woo veggie skeptics, and tightly knitted potato chips throbbing with ’tater flavor. The years spent waiting for to win a legal go-ahead did nothing to dim Murphy’s remarkable culinary skill.

Hanna Raskin 1501 Melrose Ave., 325-1501, terraplata.com $$$ Pizza is a highly competitive category in Seattle, a city freed from the constraints of traditions that force pizzaioli in other locales to apply their tomato sauce this way or roll their dough that way. Without expectations to fulfill, brilliant pizzerias such as Serious Pie, Delancey, and Bar del Corso can focus on producing beautifully blistered, chewy crusts topped with pristine ingredients. But it’s a mistake to get too precious about pies, and Via tribunali does a terrific job of straddling the line between craftsmanship and comfort. The stylish local

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NE 195TH S

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..

Bring this Map in to any establishment and

Discover what Treasures Await You! 144TH AVE NE

522

Italianissimo

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Woodinville Wine Country

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PL N Willow’s Lodge NE Sparkman Goose Ridge Brian Carter JM Cellars Long Shadows DeLille Cellars Purple Cafe William Church Lachini 202 Petit Terroir

Adams Bench

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BAER WINERY

19501 144th Ave. NE, Suite F-100 Sat & Sun 1-5p 425-483-7060 www.baerwinery.com

BARRAGE CELLARS

19501 144th Ave. NE, Suite E-800 Sat & Sun 1-5p 206-251-4326 www.barragecellars.com

COLUMBIA WINERY

14030 NE 145th Street Sun-Tue 11a-6p, Wed-Sat 11a-7p 425-482-7490 or 800-488-2347 www.columbiawinery.com

DELILLE CELLARS CARRIAGE HOUSE

LACHINI VINEYARDS

14455 ‘A’ Woodinville Redmond Rd NE Mon & Sun 12-5:30p,Thu- 12–6:30p Fri & Sat 12-7:30p, Tue & Wed by appt. www.lachinivineyards.com

LONG SHADOWS

14450 Woodinville-Redmond Road #105 Thu & Sun 12–5p, Fri 12–8p, Sat 12–6p 425-408-1608 www.thelibrarywines.com

MATTHEWS ESTATE

16116 140th Place NE Daily 12-6p (Fri until 9p) 425-487-9810 www.matthewsestate.com

NOVELTY HILL & JANUIK

14710 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE Daily from 11a–5p 425-481-5502 www.noveltyhilljanuik.com

PATTERSON CELLARS (2 locations) Woodinville Winery & Tasting Room 19501 144th Ave NE D600 Sat & Sun 12-5p 425.483.8600 Hollywood Hills Tasting Room 14505 148th Ave NE For tasting room hours, please visit www.pattersoncellars.com PONDERA WINERY

Woodinville Park N., Bld. B, Suite 400 Fri 2-6p, Sat & Sun 12-5p 425-486-8500 www.ponderawinery.com

ROBERY RAMSAY CELLARS

14421 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE Sun-Thu 12-4:30p, Fri 12–7p, Sat 11a–4:30p 425-877-9472 www.delillecellars.com

19495 144th Ave NE #235 Fri 3-7p, Sat 2-5p, Sun 1-4p 425-686-WINE www.robertramsaycellars.com

FLYING DREAMS

14810 NE 145th St. Thu-Mon 12 to 5p (6pm on Sat) 425-485-2720 www.rossandrewwinery.com

19501 144th Ave NE, F-300 Sat & Sun 1-5p and by appt.

206-271-0057 www.flyingdreamswine.com

GOOSE RIDGE ESTATE WINERY 14450 Woodinville Redmond Rd NE, Suite 108 Daily 11a-6p 425-488-0200 www.gooseridge.com

GUARDIAN CELLARS

19501 144th AVE NE Suite E-600 Sat & Sun 12-5p 206-661-6733 www.guardiancellars.com

JM CELLARS

14404 137th Place NE Fri, Sat & Sun 12-5p 206-522-4823 www.jmcellars.com

ROSS ANDREW

SPARKMAN CELLARS (2 locations) Hollywood Hills Wine District Tasting Room 14473 Woodinville Redmond Rd Thu -Mon 1-6p 425-398-1045 Warehouse District Winery and Tasting Room 19501 144th Ave. NE, #E-400 Sat & Sun 1-5p www.sparkmancellars.com

TEFFT CELLARS

16110 Woodinville Redmond Rd NE, Suite 5 Daily 11a-7p 425.481.4081 www.tefftcellars.com

WILLIAM CHURCH (2 locations) Hollywood Schoolhouse District 14455 Woodinville-Redmond Road Sun-Thu 12-6p, Fri & Sat 12-8p 425-482-2510 Warehouse District 19495 144th Ave NE, Suite A100 Sat 12-4p, Sun by appt ww.williamchurchwinery.com

FOOD / LODGING BARKING FROG

14580 Northeast 145th Street Daily 6a-2:30p & 5-10p 425-424-2999 www.willowslodge.com

ITALIANISSIMO RISTORANTE

15608 NE Woodinville-Duvall Pl Mon-Fri 11a-close, Sat-Sun 5p–close 425-485-6888 www.italianissimoristorante.com

LE PETIT TERROIR

14455 Woodinville Redmond Rd NE Fri & Sat 12-8p, Thu, Sun, Mon 12-6p 425-296-2525 www.lpterroir.com

PRESERVATION KITCHEN 17121 Bothell Way NE, Bothell Tue-Sun 4-9p, Tue-Fri 11a-2p, weekend brunch 9a-2p 425-408-1306 www.preservationkitchen.com

PURPLE CAFÉ AND WINE BAR 14459 Woodinville-Redmond Road NE Sun-Thu 11a-9p, Fri & Sat 11a-10p 425-483-7129 www.purplecafe.com

THE STATION PIZZERIA 14505 148th Ave NE Lunch and Dinner Daily Opens Spring 2012 www.thestationpizzeria.com

WILLOWS LODGE

14580 N.E. 145th Street 425-424-3900 www.willowslodge.com

RESOURCES ExploreBothell.com InWoodinville.com

CHICKEN & SAUSAGE ZITI

mini-chain, soon to open a New York City location, makes smart Neapolitan pies with seductively puffy crusts and bright tomato sauce. Hanna Raskin 913 E. Pike St. and other locations, 322-9234, viatribunali.net $$

E a s t l ak E The city’s most blessed culinary address may be 2238 Eastlake Avenue, the stripmall storefront which housed Sitka & Spruce and Nettletown before Charles Walpole painted the room’s walls red and christened it Blind Pig Bistro. Walpole, formerly of Anchovies & Olives, is relishing the freedom of self-employment: He serves what he wants when he wants, which means that even flawless dishes tend to fall off the ever-changing menu when he tires of making them. Fortunately for diners, Walpole’s culinary choices are impeccable. His dishes are so instinctively pleasing that it’s easy to forget how much skill is required to make mackerel, turnips, chorizo, and red onions work together.

Hanna Raskin 2238 Eastlake Ave. E., 3292744, blindpigbistro.com $$$ A sushi feast frequently comes with a side of self-loathing—those poor, tasty unagi are headed toward extinction—but not at sushi kaPPo tamura . The buzz surrounding this Eastlake gem comes in part from chef Taichi Kitamura’s dedication to using sustainable, guilt-free Pacific Northwest ingredients, and in part from the justifiably esteemed Kitamura himself, who first worked under Shiro Kashiba and then ran Fremont’s popular Chiso prior to opening Sushi Kappo Tamura in 2010.

Do dinner right by ordering the omakase, a chef’s-choice tour through the menu’s sushi and izakaya-style small-plate offerings, and expect specialty local ingredients like Skagit River Ranch eggs and spot prawns from Puget Sound to take top billing. CHELsEa Lin 2968 Eastlake Ave. E., 547-0937, sushikappotamura.com $$

Q u E E n an n E Daisuke and Tomoyo Miura named Café dE lion (pronounced like “Leon”) after their son. It’s cozy, with just a few tables, but you’ll want counter seats in front of Daisuke, who plays mad scientist at his chemistry lab–like coffee station. His water-dripped iced coffee is the best, and he’ll pair a cup with your choice of Tomoyo’s French-style sweets (not too sweet, which is part of the Japanese influence). Healthy and seasonal, these pastries and cakes are made with the finest ingredients. Look for green-tea cheesecake, purple-sweet-potato mont blanc, colorful berry tarts, and the like—all of which tend to sell out quickly. JaY FRiEDMan 1629 Queen Anne Ave. N., 913-2125, cafedelion.com $$ The rub with Canlis is that most people think either that they can’ t afford it or that it’s for special occasions only. But Canlis can be a casual weekday hangout bereft of white linens and formal wear if you

want it to be. Lose the tie but keep your expectations intact as you take a seat in the lounge, listen to pianist Walt Wagner kick out a tasteful rendition of “1979,” and order something to eat. The Canlis family (the restaurant, passed down through generations, is now run by brothers Mark and Brian, who are usually visiting tables and charming the pants off diners) is committed to constantly improving the restaurant, and takes nothing for granted. The service is always exceptional, no matter where you sit or who you are, and the food is top-notch, a balance of innovation and tradition. Chef Jason Franey has a talent for making even the ubiquitous foie gras torchons look more beautiful than anything you could ever imagine. JULiEn PERRY 2576 Aurora Ave. N., 283-3313, canlis.com $$$ Sam Crannell’s cooking is so accomplished that his new Queen Anne restaurant will surely sail through spring, but the cozy neighborhood eatery this winter blasted chilly weather like a gust of heat from a Reznor unit. lloydmartin, a thoroughly manly joint named for Crannell’s grandfathers, has a delicious talent for game meats and big red wines: Crannell’s elk-ragù fettucine, which should be permanently exempt from seasonal rules that forbid year-round menu items, is a bold, earthy example of near-perfection, and many of his other dishes don’t lag far behind. The dimly lit restaurant briefly switched to an all-reservations system when walk-in traffic proved inadequate, then permitted walk-ins again. As more diners catch on to what Crannell’s doing, reservations may again become necessary.

Hanna Raskin 1525 Queen Anne Ave. N., 420-7602, lloydmartinseattle.com $$$

Italian is more fun at Buca!

Delicious, family-style food and all the fun of an Italian gathering. It’s a recipe for good times.

LYNNWOOD

4301 Alderwood Mall Blvd.

425.744.7272

SEATTLE

701 9th Ave. North 206.244.2288

BUCADIBEPPO.COM

Granted, it’s a chain, but unless you invest in your very own fondue set (and are responsible for cleanup afterwards), thE mElting Pot is the best place in this city to break bread over a pot of bubbling cheese. Fondue is fantastic because it forces you to slow down. Diners must spear and dip foods into the pot carefully or risk drowning an innocent broccoli floret. The Melting Pot excels at providing an interactive dining experience as suitable for a romantic date as for a group outing.

Your evening is set up to be fun and unique, but never intimidating. Case in point: The friendly servers provide you with “search and rescue spoons” for items you lose in your sea of bubbling Swiss. And come dessert, if you find dipping strawberries in chocolate too suggestive, you can dunk Rice Krispies Treats instead.

ERika HOBaRT 14 Mercer St., 378-1208, meltingpot.com/seattle $$ Because bottom-shelf brands come with a shriveled worm in the bottle, mezcal’s image is not especially highbrow in the eyes of many American drinkers. But in actuality, “the smoky spirit of Oaxaca” is tequila’s more refined cousin. mEzCalEria oaxaCa stocks every brand of mezcal currently available in Washington, and offers a flight of three generous pours for $15 so novices can play the field before

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

29

... h s fi g n i v r e s w o N

Danube Bistro

GErMan & italian SpEcialtiES D O W N T O W N

B E L L E V U E

...the bacon of the sea!

PATIO DINING Seattle’s favorite burger takes over Ballard’s legendary Totem House at the Locks www.RedMillBurgers.com

30

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

206-784-1400

LUNCH M on -F ri 11 - 2:30 ; S at & S un 11:30-2:30 DINNER 5 - 9:30 11000 n.E. 10 th S t . • B EllEvuE , Wa 98004 (425) 452-8722 •

WWW . danuBEBiStro . coM

settling on a favorite variety. The food, meanwhile, is similar to the splendidly authentic Mexican fare served at its sister establishment, Ballard’s Carta de Oaxaca. Stellar additions to the menu include gringas oaxaqueñas, marinated, spit-roasted pork with little bits of seared pineapple, drizzled with melted Oaxacan cheese, and served as tacos in handmade corn tortillas; and barbacoa cabrito, a chili-marinated, slow-roasted goat accompanied by a queso-speckled mole negro. KEEGAN HAMILTON 2123 Queen Anne Ave. N., 216-4446, mezcaleriaoaxaca.com $$ The prices are sky-high at Sky City, the Space Needle’s revolving restaurant. But suck it up and plunk down some plastic, because there’s no more iconic landmark dining room in Seattle. Under chef Jeff Maxfield, the food’s actually worth the big bucks. For a little lighter check, go for lunch, when the crowd’s not all decked out for proms or Grandma’s 100th birthday. Order the flatbread topped with Quillisascut curado and Salumi guancale, then try some of the city’s best fish-and-chips.

(The crispy batter’s spiked with Alpine pilsner.) Speaking of getting a buzz while twirling in the air, SkyCity’s wine list is full of gems from Washington. and the prices are down-to-earth. Insider tip: Sign up online and SkyCity will treat you to a meal on your birthday or anniversary.

LEsLIE KELLy 400 Broad St., 905-2100, spaceneedle.com/restaurant $$$

South L ak e u n i o n The organizing principle at Brave horSe tavern, the most successful of the restaurants Tom Douglas debuted in 2011, is beer. If a dish screams for a brew, it’s probably incredibly well-made here.

Initial hoopla centered on the soft and doughy Bavarian pretzels, but the menu’s studded with successful, subtly Germanic dishes that answer a drinker’s call for salt and heft. Cheese curds are fried, a bratwurst shares a plate with mashed potatoes, and a juicy burger gets a lift from its

Dahlia Bakery bun. Best of all, “tavern” isn’t a throwaway term here: The dining room, with its picnic bench–style seating and shuffleboard tables, is always upbeat and noisy. HANNA RAsKIN 310 Terry Ave. N., 971-0717, bravehorsetavern.com $$

Mad i S o n Par k Cormac Mahoney’s MadiSon Park ConServatory is a paragon of civility, befitting the ultra-luxe neighborhood which surrounds it. But the young restaurant’s refined cocktails and bespoke dining room don’t signal stodginess. Mahoney, who gained local culinary notoriety by selling inventive tacos from a wooden crate outside 14 Carrot Cafe, brings a playful streak to his very pretty dishes. In the summer, there are leggy spot prawns with nuoc cham, best enjoyed on the waterfront deck. Winter finds the kitchen pickling, braising, and grilling beef tongues—which would probably make a fine taco filling.

HANNA RAsKIN 1927 43rd Ave. E., 324-9701, madisonparkconservatory.com $$$

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Seattle’s early risers can perhaps find more refined pastries at Café Besalu or Honore Artisan Bakery, and more sugary starters at any of the upscale doughnut shops, but nothing better steels a busy eater for the day ahead than MaCrina Bakery’s morning-glory muffin, a wholesome, rough-hewn handful of carrots, raisins, walnuts, apples, pineapple, and coconut.

The 20-year-old bakery, the sweet-smelling manifestation of a philosophy heavy on whole grains and community connections, is like an all-grown-up 1970s cooperative, its handsome display cases crowded with consistently splendid plum rolls, monkey-bread twists, and savory scones.

Beyond breakfast, Macrina makes a terrific baguette that frequently turns up in restaurant baskets. HANNA RAsKIN 2408 First Ave. and other locations, macrinabakery.com $

1974

WWW.GAMEWORKS.COM

Join us for lunch and dinner

Happy Hour Monday-Friday from 3pm–7pm Family 4-pack Every Sunday Pizza and Four 1-Hour Time Cards*

Brave Horse Tavern

JOSHUA HUSTON

*Must be 18 and older after 10pm. Additional $2 activation fee required on new card purchases. Time play offer valid for video game play only - does not include photo, prize games or special attractions. Cannot be combined with other offers including in store bonus offers. Offers subject to change with or without notice.

WWW.GAMEWORKS.COM • 1511 7TH AVE • SEATTLE • 206.521.0952 VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

31

GORGEOUS GEORGE’S GORGEOUS

Always the consummate beacon of classy dining in Belltown since its opening in July 2008, Spur has maintained a seasoned menu of high-quality ingredients and some of the most fun food you’ll ever want to not eat because you’d rather play with it. Thanks to a knack for molecular gastronomy, proprietors Brian McCracken and Dana Tough take familiar ingredients and punch them up with a wow factor, turning ice cream into powder with liquid nitrogen or sticking an egg in the sous vide machine to create a softness you can’t get with regular poaching. Spur’s serious cocktail program has spawned rock-star bartenders like David Nelson, Nathan Weber, and Ian Cargill, to name only three. JULIEN PERRY 113 Blanchard St., 728-6706, spurseattle.com $$$

TavolàTa doesn’t need to be the new kid on the block to be sexy. What makes this Belltown restaurant all sorts of seductive is the fact that it’s been around for five years and is better than ever. The Italiandriven cuisine is helmed by chef Brandon Kirksey, the big salt in the kitchen, who at 27 is manning his crew with the fortitude of an old pro. Dishes like rigatoni, gnocchi alla romana, and the 16-ounce rib-eye steak will probably never leave the menu, but it’s Kirksey’s latest contributions that you really need to dig your fork into: the grilled cuttlefish salad, the whole branzino, or a simple side of rapini with garlic, chili, and lemon. The George Clooney of Seattle restaurants, Tavolàta really has gotten better with age. JULIEN PERRY 2323 Second Ave., 838-8008, ethanstowellrestaurants.com/ tavolata $$$

Mediterranean Kitchen SGORGEOUS ’EGROEG SUGEORGE’S OEGROG

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size that is well worth your $5, especially when washed down with a $3 pint of microbrew. The location makes it an ideal pre- or post-concert stop during a night out at the nearby Showbox, and it’s not uncommon to spot musicians sneaking away from the venue to warm up or wind down at the Alibi Room’s candlelit bar.

KEEGAN HAMILTON 85 Pike St. #410 (in Post Alley), 623-3180, seattlealibi.com $–$$

Mediterranean Kitchen

While waiting in line to place an order for agnolotti, tagliatelle, or any of the other hand-crafted pastas on the daily-changing menu of noodle dishes at il Corvo, flour virtuoso Mike Easton’s cash-only weekday lunch spot, a glass of wine might seem an unnecessary midday indulgence. But Easton’s extraordinary pastas and soulful sauces, wrought from whatever ingredients strike his current fancy, are too sensuous to pair with water. Easton’s creations, incongruously sold from behind the counter at a gelato shop abutting a bug museum, are vivid reminders that authenticity is a matter not only of provisions and technique, but honest appreciation. Order a glass of chianti or pinot grigio, sit, and savor. Repeat tomorrow. HANNA RASKIN 1501 Western Ave., Suite 300, 622-4280, ilcorvopasta.com $

Mediterranean Kitchen

GORGEOUS GEO

Mediterranean Kitc

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The most gracious host in town is ready to please your palate...

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Lunch: Wed–Sat 12-2:30pm; Dinner Sun–Thur 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm

GG 111011 please 1_3s.pdf fdp.s3_1 esaelp 110111 GG MaTT’S in The MarkeT’s newly 7719 Greenwood Avenue North Lunch: Wed–Sat 12-2:30pm; Dinner Sun–Thur 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm reconfigured kitchen gives chef Chet Gerl 206-783-0116 • www.gorgeousgeorges.com and his crack crew room to work their creative juices, and the dishes coming off that 7719 Greenwood Avenue North line lately have never tasted better. Let’s start • www.gorgeousgeorges.com with the stellar headcheese, nothing like that 206-783-0116 GG 111011 please 1_3s.pdf nasty stuff Oscar Mayer puts out. This version includes succulent chunks of meat mus-GG 111011 please 1_3s.pdf cled into one neat cake sautéed to a crispy Arriving with the first wave of food trucks, gold. It’s a damn smart choice for a starter, Dinner Sun–Thur 5-9pm, Fri-Sat206-783-0116 5-9:30pm• www.gorgeousgeorges.com and also one of the first to bringLunch: the true Wed–Sat as are the12-2:30pm; spectacular grilled octopus, the 7719 Greenwood Avenue North food of New Orleans to the streets of Seatpiquant Dungeness crab ceviche, and, hell Avenue NorthLunch: Wed–Sat 12-2:30pm; Dinner Sun–Thur 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm tle, Matt Lewis’ Where Ya aT MaTT yeah, don’t7719 you dareGreenwood miss the deviled eggs. cemented its spot in Seattle’s culinary Mains are outstanding, too. Added bonus: 206-783-0116 • www.gorgeousgeorges.com scene with the festive food of Lewis’ flamMatt’s mixmasters make amazing cocktails.

The most gracious host in town is ready to please your palate... boyant hometown. Keeping up with what’s And then there’s that view. Hello, beautiful fresh, both in Seattle and New Orleans, Pike Place Market. LESLIE KELLY 94 Pike St., 467-7909, mattsinthemarket.com $$$ the menu rotates nearly as often as the location, with King Cake for Mardi Gras, The dry-aged, exquisitely marbled steaks crawfish in season, the occasional pop-up at The MeTropoliTan Grill are gospel brunch, and the city’s best po’ boys the stuff of meat-eaters’ dreams. These all the time. There might be more trucks perfectly grilled hunks of flesh are one of on the road and a few other places to find the rare instances in which “melt-in-youryour shrimp and grits now, but nobody mouth tender” is not an overworked clibrings Southern charm and flavor to their ché. But for those of us not on an expense cuisine quite like Matt and his staff. NAOMI BISHOP Mondays at First Avenue and Cedar account, a tab at The Met can induce a Street; see whereyaatmatt.com for other heart attack. That’s why happy hour at the locations. $ old-school bar is so sweet. Go surf-andturf with a trio of oyster shooters and the roast-beef dip for just $6. Or get that juicy burger. With all the money you’re saving, splurge on a high-end glass of something— Tucked beneath Pike Place Market and and be nice, as the bartender might top you accessible only through an easy-to-miss off. LESLIE KELLY 820 Second Ave., 624-3287, themetropolitangrill.com $$$ door in Post Alley, The alibi rooM The most gracious host in town is ready to please your palate... is one of the better-kept secrets in downFor the vast majority of American eaters, town dining. The wood-fired pizzas stand Lunch: Wed–Sat 12-2:30pm; Dinner Sun–Thur 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm the word “ramen” implies a pale brick of up to those served by Tom Douglas a few Lunch: Wed–Sat 12-2:30pm; Dinner Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm noodles wrapped in plastic and packaged blocks away at Serious Pie, largely owing 7719 Sun–Thur Greenwood 5-9pm, Avenue North with a silver packet of “Oriental Flavor” to fresh ingredients often sourced from 206-783-0116 • www.gorgeousgeorges.com 7719 Greenwood Avenue North the market above. During happy hour (3–6 bouillon. For those accustomed to instant ramen, the soup they dish up at okinaWa p.m. Mon.–Thurs., noon–6 p.m. Fri.–Sun.), 206-783-0116 • www.gorgeousgeorges.com TeriYaki is a revelation. It is a thing of those pies are scaled down to a personal

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GORGEOUS GEORGE’S

The most gracious host in town is ready to please your palate...DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly VORACIOUS GG 111011 please 1_3s.pdf

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Lunch: Wed–Sat 12-2:30pm; Dinner Sun–Thur 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm

33

BAKEMAN’S

2011 SW Best Of Winner: Lunch Counter

Restaurant & Catering

Fresh Roasted Turkey Homemade Bread & Soups Complete Catering Services

Real FONDA food, that tastes just like it does in Mexico Breakfast: Everyday 8am-3pm Dinner: Sunday-ursday 5pm-9pm / Friday-Saturday 5pm-10pm 5242 Leary Way NW • Seattle, WA 98107 (206) 784 - 5568 • www.senormoose.com

122 Cherry St. • 206-622-3375 bakemanscatering.com

Gaspare

Ristorante and Bar

HAPPY HOUR 5 - 7

Sign up for Cooking Classes

Half bottle wine nights on Tues & Wed

your neighborhood bakery cafe “Best Chicken Matzoh Ball Soup“

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6705 Greenwood Ave N

“Best Ice Cream Sandwiches“

206-297-3600

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Southern Italian Comfort Food

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Brunch | Lunch | Dinner | Bakery | Tuesday thru Sunday Westwood Village 2600 SW Barton Street | Seattle | 206.933.1200 www.eatsmarket.com

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Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

89 Pike St (left of pig) • Seattle WA 98101 • 360-379-0895 www.mttownsendcreamery.com

beauty served in an earthenware bowl, with a mound of grilled meat roughly the size of Mt. Fuji heaped atop the wavy, relatively thick noodles and a garden’s worth of fresh vegetables nestled beneath the cloudy, egg-infused broth. With prices ranging from $6.99 for veggie to $9.99 for tofu and shrimp, the ramen is slightly pricier than the ultra-cheap teriyaki and other (mostly deep-fried) options on Okinawa’s menu, but it’s still one of the best bangfor-your-buck lunches downtown. KEEGAN HAMILTON 1100 Western Ave., 447-2648 $

Oriental Mart had its star turn this year, when a fan persuaded Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern to deviate from his planned Pike Place itinerary for Leila Rosas’ sinigang. The soup, made with mustard greens and salmon collar, inspired Zimmern to deliver a soliloquy about fresh ingredients and simple cooking, the very attributes that for decades have drawn customers to this lunch counter in a Filipino dry-goods shop. Rosas works alongside her mother, sister, and daughter—“it’s a threegeneration restaurant run by women,” says Rosas’ mother—to produce exemplary adobos, noodles, and beef spare ribs. HANNA RAsKIN 1506 Pike Place, 622-8488 $ Open since 1992, PirOshky PirOshky is easily one of Pike Place Market’s most popular shops. But don’t let the long line that wraps around and beyond its premises discourage you: The Russian bakery’s skilled workers knead dough at a steady pace and dole out their in-demand pastries in a friendly but efficient manner. Piroshky Piroshky specializes in warm buns filled with blissful bites of apple and cinnamon, cabbage and onion, and smoked salmon paté.

It’s impossible to go wrong whatever your choice. Still skeptical? Check out the store’s guest book, full of handwritten love notes from travelers from as far as Argentina, Japan, and, yes, even Russia. Anthony Bourdain is also a fan. ERIKA HOBART 1908 Pike Place, 441-6068, piroshkybakery.com $ When New Yorker writer and professional intellectual Adam Gopnik last visited Seat-

JOSHUA HUSTON

RN74

tle, he mused that what’s needed for the eating-out experience to flourish is wine, to beckon diners away from their everyday cares, and coffee, to refocus them when the meal’s concluded. Seattle excels at both ends, but there’s perhaps no better place to explore the wine side of the equation than rn74, the new downtown restaurant from Michael Mina. The French-leaning menu is terrific—and affordable at happy hour—but wine is what defines RN74, named for the road which winds through Burgundy. A giant train departure board flips to signal when significant bottles are sold, and the impeccably trained staff is ready to help customers plot their wine adventures.

HANNA RAsKIN 1433 Fourth Ave., 456-7474, michaelmina.net $$$ Even in the pouring rain, saluMi is worth waiting in line for. That’s because once you’re inside, the greeting’s so warm from the seasoned pros on the sandwichmaking line. While it’s hard to pass up those swell signature sammies, it’s worth exploring under-the-radar goodies such as the hot meat plate, an assortment of carnivorous delights. Or carve out a little more time and dine in courses, starting with the fantastic soup before moving onto the daily pasta. Wanna beat the rush?

Call it “linner” (lunch + dinner) and go at 3 p.m. And no, dear tourists: You’re not going to see Mario Batali at Salumi. But you will see his sister, Gina, and maybe his mom and pop, Marilyn and Armandino.

LEsLIE KELLy 309 Third Ave S., 621-8772, salumicuredmeats.com $ Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for fishermen, and Tom Douglas has made sure that eaters not equipped with poles—or a knack for waking before dawn—don’t miss out on the waterfront tradition. At seatOwn, his newest restaurant in the Pike Place neighborhood, Douglas serves a fabulous breakfast menu that runs through the start of happy hour.

There’s a dense congee (simmered in pork broth, crowned with a poached egg, and accompanied by the requisite Chinese doughnut), omelets folded over Beecher’s

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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the

Flagship cheese, and spine-straightening Bloody Marys goosed with pickle juice.

But the real find is the kitchen’s coastal riff on an Egg McMuffin, featuring sweet Dungeness crab and avocado. Hanna Raskin 2010 Western Ave., 436-0390, tomdouglas.com $

whole thing and use that lunch break for a much-needed siesta. kEEGan HaMiLTOn 159 Yesler Way, 264-8287, tatsdeli.com $

P i o n e e r S q uar e

Other Taiwanese places may try, but Henry’S Taiwan PluS has got it nailed. Henry’s new menu makes up for what the original lacked in catering to the tastes of the inexperienced. The “Plus” in its new name is perhaps an indication that this is the food owner Henry Ku has wanted to serve the whole time, the food he misses from home—authentic dishes, minus the pussyfooting. He proudly serves a corpse-reviving Sun Spring Noodle and features a Taiwanese breakfast sold daily. Other Taiwanese restaurants may want to follow suit, but until then, you’ll still have Henry’s.

TiFFanY Ran 522 S. King St., 682-0389 $$

Pioneer Square is known more for its appeal to suburban 20-somethings looking to get blind drunk than as a dynamic neighborhood where people actually live. But explore it comprehensively, and you’ll see an area well equipped to mimic a historic European town center on a sunny afternoon. Luigi DeNunzio has long seen this potential, opening, closing, and reopening a slew of Italian restaurants over the past quarter-century in an area he’s long proclaimed to be Seattle’s Little Italy.

Even if that boot has never quite fit the way DeNunzio has dreamed it would, his al Boccalino is a gorgeous, friendly space in which to enjoy a surprisingly affordable two-hour lunch (accompanied by wine, naturally) a block from the sea, just like in Vernazza. MikE sEELY 1 Yesler Way, 622-7688 $$ The Cheez Whiz–slathered Philly cheesesteaks at TaT’S Deli are so tasty, cheap, and authentic that lunch-hour lines regularly stretch out the door. The restaurant’s website even has a “line cam” so customers will know how long they should expect to wait. But to beat the crowd, skip lunch altogether and try Tat’s breakfast sandwiches instead. Served on the same hefty hoagies, these gut-busters come oozing melted cheese, and are stuffed with a fried egg, grilled onions and peppers, and your choice of meat. The steak option features the same finely shredded beef that overflows from their Phillies, but the best filling might be the Italian-Copa, a thin-sliced Italian cold cut that glistens with grease after a stint in the oven. The servings are large enough that you can eat half for breakfast and save the rest for an afternoon snack—or eat the

blue glass

i n T e r naTi o nal DiSTricT

restaurant & bar

Seattle’s trying valiantly to get a handle on Southern-style smoked meat, but it’s an old hand at char siu, or Chinese pork barbecue. The best examples of the genre are served at Kau Kau, where the roasted pig makes a stunning case for salt and fat.

The mahogany-hued, crisped-skin pork is juicy and fresh, and while it’s terrifically delectable served plain, it also provides the foundation for exemplary fried rices and noodle soups. The meat’s also ridiculously cheap. In addition to pork, Kau Kau roasts chickens and ducks, and will do the same for turkey on Thanksgiving by special request. Hanna Raskin 656 S. King St., 682-4006, kaukaubbq.com $ Nestled upstairs above a video-rental corner and a travel agency, MaeKawa is a counterpart of neighborhood bars in Japan, serving late-night izakaya to work-weary men in business suits. In Seattle, the crowd is different and the space is one of the International District’s best-known secrets.

A constantly rotating specials board tempts loyal customers from their usual takoyaki, but regular staples keep them coming back: a warm bowl of ramen on a cold night or a

“casual and cozy… offering global comfort food” New Happy Hour menu and drink specials 4:30-6 pm

Check our website

Sunday Brunch @ 10 am

LYNNAES GOURMET PICKLES com for local retailers and online order options

704 NW 65th St 206.420.1631 www.theblueglass.net

prima a northwest bistro

A Northwest Bistro inspired by French Classics Locally sourced Seasonal Menu Stunning Views and Deck Seating Live Music Thursday Nights 360-221-4060 www.primabistro.com in historic langley on whidbey island

Alexa’s Garden Cafe Fresh Healthy Fare

Delicious Breakfasts

All day Saturday & Sunday

Dine Green!

JOSHUA HUSTON

Tat’s Deli

Inside Swanson’s Nursery 9701 15th Ave NW | Seattle, WA 98117

www.alexascafe.com open daily from 9am-5pm

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Farm Fresh

Ingredients

French

Techniques

By the Farmer’s Market on Bainbridge

coffee roasting company

Walking Distance from the Ferry

.

.

Island

Open Lunch & Dinner Tuesday - Saturday

an italian café bar Distinct espresso and coffee drinks plus a selection of wine, beer, and light fare.

Reservations

320 Occidental Avenue South Seattle, Washington 98104 (206) 624-5847 www.caffeumbria.com

(206) 842-1633

RestaurantmMarcheBainbridge.com

.

150 Madrone Lane Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

JAPANESE/HAWAIIAN SUSHI BAR & GRILL FEATURING

Brunch

Sat & Sun 9AM-3PM

“Best Bloody Marys in Ballard”

Ballard’s Best Happy Hour

Everyday twice a day 3-7PM & 10PM-Midnight

Enjoy 50% OFF Up to two entrées, burgers or sandwiches Limit one per table per visit.

Beverages not included.

Valid Sunday-Thursday 3-10pm until 3/31/2013

Da Best Sushi & Bento in Seattle with Curbside Pickup

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loco moco, kalua pork, katsu, chili n’ rice, yaki soba, nori wrapped mahi mahi, fish & chips, and pork curry n’ rice

EAT | DRINK | MUSIC | DANCE Indulge in an authentic Hawaiian and Japanese food experience

$3 HAPPY HOUR STRAWBERRY SAKE MARGARITAS | HAWAIIAN LUNCH PLATES + DJ’S | BANDS | KARAOKE WITH HUGE PRIZES! SERVING ONO GRINDS AND TROPICAL COCKTAILS 11:30AM TO LATE NIGHT EVERY NIGHT! HAPPY HOUR & LATE NIGHT HAPPY HOUR MONDAY & TUESDAY 5:00PM-11:30PM WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY 5:00PM-7:00PM & 9:00PM-11:30PM FRIDAY 5:00PM-7:00PM • SUNDAY 9:00PM-11:30PM

*Kid Friendly until 9pm!

5321 BALLARD AVE NW 206.784.0175 www.hatties-hat.com 38

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

2207 1ST AVE BELLTOWN 206.956.9329 OHANABELLTOWN.COM

La Casa Azul Authentic Oaxaca Cuisine

Katsu Burger

2 LOCATIONS IN SEATTLE 14419 Greenwood Ave N 1715 N 45th St www.lacasaazulrestaurant.com

JOSHUA HUSTON

filling donburi rice bowl paired with a cold Sapporo. The only thing left to say is Kanpai! TIFFANY RAN 601 S. King St., Suite 206, 622-0634 $$ Before visiting Mike’s Noodle House, I had a children’s-book conception of what I’d find in the snug International District restaurant. I imagined Mike, in a soda-jerk paper hat, ladling out long strands of stretchy wheat-flour noodles. As the joint’s many fans know, my contrived image was completely off-base. Waitresses take the orders here, and noodle service is conducted behind the scenes. And while the noodles, imported from Vancouver, B.C., are emblems of texture and flavor, it’s the congee that deserves title billing. The salty rice porridge, a canvas for ginger, soy, and green onions, is lulling and light. The varieties showcase all kinds of animals and their parts, but the dried-oyster-and-pork version is a standout. HANNA RAskIN 418 Maynard Ave. S., 389-7099 $ When I moved to Seattle and confronted the sheer number of pho joints, I secretly wished the city was served by a giant broth warehouse, supplying all the restaurants with the same soup and saving me the trouble of acquainting myself with the quirks of every pho house’s signature dish.

But as Bagel Bites and Hot Pockets prove, there are serious culinary trade-offs for efficiency: Pho homogeneity would deny eaters the chance to marvel at the stupendously fresh broth at PHo so 1, a balanced soup with a beefiness that soars in the basso profondo register. From whence does this flavor come? Pho So 1 answers the question by fishing long-simmering beef shanks out of their pho pots and plopping them on customer tables. HANNA RAskIN 1207 S. Jackson St., #107, 860-2824 $ There are restaurants within walking distance of Tai TuNg that serve smarter, braver Cantonese food, yet Tai Tung will probably outlast them all. Dining at the 77-year-old restaurant is like training a spyglass on the early 20th century, when

American-born eaters were still puzzling out chop suey and chow mein. The extraordinary alchemy of soy, garlic, and ginger that thrust Chinese restaurants into the mainstream is on display in nearly every dish on Tai Tung’s very lengthy menu, which surely includes your first Chinesefood crush. For the quintessential Tai Tung experience, have your egg rolls, egg drop soup, mu shu chicken, and Peking duck at the white formica counter. HANNA RAskIN 655 S. King St., 622-7372 $

g eo r g e Tow N The most astonishing menu item at kaTsu Burger is the Mt. Fuji, a ziggurat of bacon, cheese, chicken, beef, and tonkatsu, the familiar breaded pork cutlet that provided inspiration for Hajime Sato’s new Georgetown burger joint. But if the sandwich is big, Sato’s ambitions are bigger: He intends to make the single-patty version of his spectacular fried burger a signature Seattle dish. Sato, who famously transitioned his West Seattle sushi bar, Mashiko, to an all-sustainable lineup, has smartly melded fresh ingredients, Japanese traditions, and American sensibilities in his breaded concoction. He reports that Japanese-born eaters are skittish about the bun and American-born eaters flinch at the frying, but Sato’s instincts are terrific. The juicy burgers are best enjoyed with nori-flecked fries and a green-tea milkshake. HANNA RAskIN 6538 Fourth Ave. S., 762-0752 $

FIVE FISH BISTRO

fish, chips & more

Seasonal Fresh Fish Selection 410 Broadway East 206-325-7000 Capitol Hill

www.FIVEFISHBISTRO.com R i d g e C af e y e n P h i n am S h o pp e s ’ e M a I c e C re Serving “Moo-velous” breakfast a-1-1 day.

Shake & Eggs our specialty.

8am-2pm M-F 8am-3pm Sa & Su

206-782-1222

Breakfast served all day 65th & Phinney Seattle,USA

Check out our MOOVELICIOUS MENU! Visit us at: www.maescafe.com

It’s time for SEattle’s Favorite FROZEN CUSTARD STYLE ICE CREAM

M o u N T B ak e r It’s easy enough to gravitate toward familiar Thai dishes—pad thai, tom yum, etc.—at VieNgTHoNg, but if you’re a fan of the familiar, chances are you wouldn’t find yourself here in the first place. So live a little: The menu’s Thai dishes aren’t nearly as notable as its Lao ones, where sour, sweet, and (potentially atomic) heat play off each other in dishes like nam khao: a “salad” of sorts with crispy fried rice, ground peanuts, chili paste,

100’s of Flavors Served 4 at a time!

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Check it out at www.peaksfrozencustard.com

1026 NE 65th St. #A101, Seattle 206-588-2701 Like us on Facebook to get in on our Deals

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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STOPS Chuckanut Brewery

THE FINEST LOCAL BREWS. ON TAP.

1556 NW 56TH ST.

BALLARD 206.783.0131 AMBERDENSEATTLE.COM

Award Winning Ales & Lagers

National Great American Beer Festival Small Brewing Co of the Year 2011.

National Great American Beer Festival Small Brewpub of the Year 2009.

601 W Holly St, Bellingham, WA 360-75-BEERS (360-752-3377)

www.chuckanutbreweryandkitchen.com

Great Beer Selection • Outdoor Seating 1825 72nd Ave SE Mercer Island • WA 98040 • 206-232-0800

2

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2011

for

HOPS

8564 Greenwood Ave. N.

www.NakedCityBrewing.com

206-838-6299

Enjoy a pint with us

Tours & Tasting every Friday & 3rd Saturday of the month 3-7pm Dick’s Beer available 6 days a week at NW Sausage & Deli, Dick’s Brewery retail location.

www.DicksBeer.com “Aurora’s Finest”

24 Taps

Tuesday Trivia Night - Taco Wednesday - Shuffleboard & Pinball $2 beer of the month - NHL Center Ice HAPPY HOUR • 3-6pm Daily • Food and Drink Specials 7317 Aurora Ave N (next door to Beth’s Cafe) duckislandalehouse.blogspot.com

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2011

3

STOPS HOPS for

Bob’s Homebrew Supply We have beer, wine, Draft systems and mead and soda custom stainless making supplies brewing equipment. & equipment.

2821 N.E. 55th St. / Seattle, Wa 98105 / 206-527-9283 Hours: Wed - Fri 11-7 Sat 10-6 Sun 11-4

America Flavor Pale Ale pairs well with most classic American foods.

Here are some pairings to try: Grilled Copper River salmon with Pale Ale glaze and grilled summer vegetables.

Pale Ale brined roasted cornish game hens.

Pale Ale honey mustard new potato salad.

Beecher’s Cheese flagship reserve cheddar.

4

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2011

coconut flakes, and fermented pork wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves. Unlike Thai food, Lao dishes are meant to be eaten entirely with your hands (and almost always with sticky rice), so wash up first. CHELSEA LIN 2820 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., 725-3884 $$

Co lu m b ia C it y Geraldine’s Counter serves an array of scrumptious dishes, and the place is always packed. There’s beautifully puffed French toast, and plentiful scrambles make their way to other people’s tables. But this sunny, upscale diner has earned a place in our heart for one reason: its unparalleled BLT. Actually, make that a BAAT, because you’re offered the option of adding avocado (which you absolutely should), and instead of lettuce there’s arugula, adding a slight sharpness that contrasts perfectly with the bacon. And did we mention that the bacon is especially meaty and crispy?

NINA SHAPIRO 4872 Rainier Ave. S., 723-2080, geraldinescounter.com $ Adored for its diversity and community cheer, the Columbia City Farmers Market is out of reach for many market shoppers, who can’t manage a weekday afternoon trip to the south Seattle neighborhood. la medusa’s got those unlucky eaters covered with its Wednesday-night suppers, made from whatever its chefs deemed most striking when they ambled down the block to shop. While the market menu is tremendously popular, freshness isn’t an occasional event at this homey bistro, which specializes in “Sicilian soul food.” In the summer, look for vibrant pestos and justplucked tomatoes; winter brings pork belly, kale, and superior gnocchi. HANNA RASkIN 4857 Rainier Ave. S., 723-2192, lamedusa restaurant.com $$

W e s t s e at t l e loCöl barley & Vine made a lot of residents happy when it opened, not in The Junction where the cool stuff usually resides, but rather just off 35th in a former tanning salon. It’s got everything a neighborhood bar needs: a fireplace for when it’s cold, a patio for when it’s warm, cozy tables with pillows when you don’t want to sit on a stool, and really cool salvagedlooking light fixtures that keep you from looking salvaged when you’ve tied on one too many. The wine and beer list is 95 percent Washington and Oregon and the food is 100 percent creative, mainly because there isn’t really a kitchen at all.

The tiny four-by-five-foot space, which boasts a whopping two burners and a teeny oven, is (luckily) run by chef Charlie Worden, whose resume includes Skillet.

He manages to pump out fresh salads, sandwiches, soups, and some of the best pork tacos this side of Elliott Bay. In addition to its weekday happy hours, Locöl offers wine discounts from noon to 6 p.m. on weekends. Talk about a good neighbor.

JULIEN PERRY 7902 35th Ave. S.W., 708-7725, locolseattle.com $$

Sometimes you crave home cookin’—from Grandma’s kitchen, not your own. Oneyear-old meander’s KitChen doesn’t shy away from grease or the time required to give you that delightfully familial experience. Everything is cooked to order and prepared with love . . . and butter. Late night on weekends is a great time to check it out, as breakfast requires you to show up before the door’s unlocked should you wish to avoid waiting in a line as long as the West Seattle Bridge. MA’CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR 6032 California Ave. S.W., 932-9840 $

WWW.OMABAP.COM OPEN DAILY 11AM - 9PM “Korean is America's next big cuisine!" Tanya Steel, Epicurious.com

120 Bellevue Way NE / Bellevue, WA 98004 (2 blocks South of the mall) / 425-467-7000

r ai n i e r Val l e y In a town awash in Vietnamese food of all stripes, from high-end to the tiniest holein-the-wall pho joint, ben thanh offers the best of all worlds: a pleasant setting, authentic food, good service, and prices that can’t be beat. Sports might play silently on the televisions as tables full of Vietnamese men drink beer. The servers coming to your table are always happy to make suggestions—there’s more to the menu than what’s printed, so it pays to ask. The food is always fresh, and it tastes pretty darn close to what you’d get at its namesake, the central market of Saigon. NAOMI BISHOP 2815 S. Hanford St., 760-9263 $ Perhaps the best-traveled concept in Seattle, the Cajun CraWfish specializes in the spicy mudbugs innovated by Vietnamese fishermen who settled on the Gulf Coast after fleeing their homeland.

The cuisine was standardized in California, where restaurants like the Boiling Crab draw huge crowds with their butter-slicked crawfish sporting thick coats of lemon pepper and Cajun seasoning. The Cajun Crawfish does right by the young tradition, serving up bags of sloppy crawfish, potatoes, and corn. But what makes its rendition worth seeking out is the soft, crusty baguette, essential for sopping up the garlicky sauce, that typifies the Vietnamese mastery of bread. HANNA RASkIN 6951 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Suite 103, 432-9488, thecajuncrawfish.com $

100+ Washington Wines 20+ Unique specialty pastas 8 Washington microbrews on tap plus 22oz and limited edition selections 5 Vintage Italian Motorcycles

W h it e C e n t e r The benefits of owning an adjacent butchery are not lost on White Center’s el Paisano rostiCeria y CoCina , where the tacos come with an array of proteins: tripe, cheek, barbecued pork, fish, or shrimp. A dish of birria (braised goat) falls apart in a chili sauce still flecked with bits of slowly dissolving tendon. For customers on the go, there are $1 tamales served at the butchery and market next door, where dark chorizo hanging from a rod points downward at a bin of chicharrónes the size of a child’s torso. TIFFANY RAN 9615 15th Ave. S.W., 763-0368 $ The authentic Cambodian flavors you’ll find at Queen’s deli are strong and occasionally stinky, in the best way. A form of fish sauce constitutes the base of many

Vintage Motorcycle Memorabilia

W W W. C A F E V E L O C E . C O M

12514 120th Ave NE, Kirkland • 425-814-2972 VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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™

small cakes packed with personality

9003 35th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98126 orders@stuffedcakes.com • 206-428-8581

-NORM’S SIGNATURE ITEMSGRILLED MEATLOAF SANDWICH: bacon, pepperjack, crispy onions, BBQ chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato BEATRICE: oven roasted turkey piled high, homemade russian dressing, kraut, swiss cheese, chips & slaw

NORM’S PASTRAMI: beer & mustard soaked pastrami, grilled onion on rye, chips & slaw RADICAL MAC N' CHEESE: pasta, garden veggies, fontina cheese sauce, sage & crispy panko chip topping SLIDERS: five to choose from - beef, turkey, salmon, veggie, and sloppy-bacon joes NORM'S THREE PEPPER BURGER: peppercorn coated, roasted red pepper, poblano mayo, provolone

206-547-1417 • 460 North 36th Street In the Heart of Fremont Late Night Happy Hour 11pm - 1am

LIVE MUSIC • PIZZA • COCKTAILS

I ’S NORM

HAPPY HOUR

EVERYDAY IN THE RUM BAR! Specials on Appetizers, Handcrafted Cocktails, Beer & Wine PROUDLY SERVING

50% OFF PIZZA SPECIAL UP TO 3 PIES / SUNDAY - THURSDAY 5PM - 9PM $3 WELLS & MICRO BEERS

DI NE I N ON L Y A N D N O T T O B E C O MB IN E D W IT H OT HE R OF F E R S. O N L Y V A LID A T B A LL A R D L OC AT ION

KIDS WELCOME 5-8PM 5433 BALLARD AVE. NW • 206-784-4880 • WWW.SUNSETTAVERN.COM 44

Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

4869 Rainier Ave S • Seattle, WA 98118 (206) 329-1202 • islandsoulrestaurant.net

soups and dishes. The staff is helpful in sorting out what might work for you, going over the menu (which goes beyond the buffet line), from spring rolls and crepes to noodles and salads. For milder palatepleasers, the desserts here may not be familiar, but they are wonderful homemade treasures. NAOMI BISHOP 9808 14th Ave. S.W., 767-8363 $ You know you’ve found a great neighborhood bar when the strangers there decide to reseat themselves according to team loyalties. RoxbuRy Lanes is such a bar, but it’s also a bowling alley and a Chinese diner, serving fried dry chicken wings that could go tip-to-tip with any wing in the International District. Sweet with fresh garlic, the wings are meaty and crisp, and pair wonderfully with cheap Bloody Marys on Sunday afternoons.

Roxbury’s kitchen stays open until 4 a.m., serving such fine-tuned plates as a plush fried rice, scattered with peas, carrots, and stones of roast pork. HANNA RASkIN 2823 S.W. Roxbury St., 935-7400, roxburylanes.com $ When seeking the best, go to the source.

When it comes to bánh mì—Vietnamese sandwiches—in Seattle, that motto will lead you to seattLe RoLL bakeRy, where you’ll also find some of the best baked goods around. This small White Center bakery creates the bread used in most of the bánh mì in the city. Here at their own counter, they serve sandwiches on that same crispy bread, straight out of the oven, along with Vietnamese coffee and a daily variety of authentic savory and sweet baked goods. English isn’t the dominant language, so if your Vietnamese is rusty, you can’t always be sure what’s inside the flaky puff pastry, but the good news is that everything is fantastic. There’s not much seating (only a few stools against the window), but standing up just means the flaky pastry and breadcrumbs fall straight to the floor. NAOMI BISHOP 9828 16th Ave. S.W., 763-6435 $

b ai n b R i d g e i s L an d On the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, an imaginary line is crossed. The short walk from the terminal to the restaurant means that you can leave your car and the hustle and bustle of the city back on the mainland. Stepping into HitcHcock only amplifies the feeling of serenity, with its cool, sparse decor. The food is similarly unadorned, designed to show off the simplicity of the ingredients. Specialties demonstrate the bounty of Bainbridge and the locals who forage and farm in the area, each dish executed with skill by chef Brendan McGill in the restaurant named for his wife’s family, longtime island residents.

NAOMI BISHOP 133 Winslow Way E., 2013789, hitchcockrestaurant.com $$

beLLevue Sometimes likened to the Applebee’s of China, the Little Sheep Hot Pot chain is so renowned in its home country that a gutsy Bellevue entrepreneur in 2009 took advantage of a copyright law quirk to open a fraudulent Little Sheep. The real restaurant strutted in two years later, confident its broth would persuade patrons of its authenticity. Although LittLe sHeep is also fighting the pretender in court, the broth seems to be working its intended magic. The 200-seat restaurant is routinely packed with families anxious to swipe lamb shoulder and mushrooms through garlicky broth strengthened with hambones, lotus seeds, dried lychees, goji berries, and oodles of cumin. Side dishes are equally excellent: Don’t miss the vinegar peanuts and lamb pies. HANNA RASkIN 1411 156th Ave. N.E., Suite A, 425-653-1625, littlesheep hotpot.com $$

Over 12 Incredible Flavors of Individual Serving Cheesecakes Parties • Weddings • Gifts • Just You Capitol Hill • Pike Place Market • www.theconfectional.com

Call it blasphemy, but spiced can keep Szechuan food lovers happily dining on the Eastside without wanting for Seattle’s

Little Sheep

JOSHUA HUSTON

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

45

Specializing in fresh, handcrafted rotating kebab meats.

Marinated chicken and leg of lamb roasts are thinly sliced and served on locally baked Turkish-German style flatbread and topped with house made sauces and fresh produce.

goods. Thinly sliced gizzards with a smattering of chilies, and the chili-infested dry-pot lamb, inspire head-to-toe tingles.

Those not up for the heat can cool down with shredded potatoes, pig ears, tongue, and more. Though as hard as they push the chilies, it’s the vegetable dishes which offer the most welcome reprieve for a mouth-tingling meal. TIFFANY RAN 1299 156th Ave. N.E., 425-644-8888 $$ A newcomer to the Eastside’s oft-overlooked Overlake Square Mall, UdUpi Café and Chaat Corner serves vegetarian South Indian dishes with unexpected indulgences to satisfy any hunger. Soft lentil donuts, architectural dosas, and crisply fried batura bread make the fork and spoon seem like weapons of oppression. The neighboring Chaat Corner serves street food–inspired bites and desserts with effervescent textures and a no-holds-barred spice factor. TIFFANY RAN 14625 N.E. 24th St., Suite 3, 425-401-2009, udupicafewa.com $$

i s s aq Uah In a town of 10,000 Thai restaurants (or so it seems), the best is actually a short drive away: Issaquah’s noodle Boat. Three reasons: 1) There are many unique dishes.

2) Prices are great, with most plates at $10 or less. 3) Noodle Boat doesn’t dial down the spice. Pay special attention to the third, as Noodle Boat closes for six weeks each winter for a working family vacation in Thailand to make chili paste for the restaurant. Start with mieng kum: roasted coconut, peanuts, red onion, Thai chili, ginger, lime, palm sugar sauce, and dried shrimp that you wrap in a cha-pu leaf. The explosion of flavors previews a menu full of fantastic food. JAY FRIEDMAN 700 N.W. Gilman Blvd., 425-391-8096, noodleboat.com $$

K i r K l an d It’s easy to drive by the CraB CraCKer without a second glance, given the array of more attractive restaurants that populate downtown Kirkland. But make no mistake: If your appetite for crab is insatiable, this restaurant is a sure bet. The tasty crustacean dominates the menu; lunchtime favorites include the crab salad Monte Cristo and the housemade crab bisque, while dinner offers fancier fare like baked Dungeness Crab au gratin and broiled bacon-wrapped prawns stuffed with crab.

The only place you won’t find crab is on the dessert menu. But if you have a bizarre hankering, the kitchen could probably swing that, too. ERIKA HOBART 452 Central Way, 425-827-8700, crabcracker.com $$

trellis, in Kirkland’s Heathman Hotel, offers a fine farm-to-table dining experience that celebrates the Pacific Northwest.

It may well be the most underrated restaurant in the Seattle area. In charge is chef Brian Scheehser, an organic farmer with 10 acres just minutes away; his harvest helps determine the evening’s menu. You may be carnivorous, but no one will need to tell you to eat your vegetables here. Besides, no worries: Scheehser also has a way with meat and fish. On Sundays and Mondays, the three-course meal for $29 is a steal—plus, 29 wines are available at half-price. The lemonsage flan is a must-end for your meal. JAY FRIEDMAN 220 Kirkland Ave., 425-284-5900, heathmankirkland.com/trellis $$$

Now Ope n Sa turd ay!

www.berlinerseattle.com PIONEER SQUARE 221 1ST AVE S MON-TUES • 11AM-4PM WED-SUN 11AM-7PM • 206.838.0339 SOUTH LAKE UNION 428 WESTLAKE AVE • MON-SAT 10AM-9PM • 206.838.5032

A small and Excellent destination for Greek Specialties Signature Specials Daily “Their food is well suited for a night out with the family: It’s likable, piling big, simple flavors on top of each other...courses are affordable and gigantic.”

-Jonathan Kauffman, Seattle Weekly Great Gyros and Excellent Mediterranean Cuisine

Ta ke O u t / D i n e I n

6400½ California Ave SW, West Seattle • Located at Morgans Junction 206.913.0041 • www.kokorasgreekgrill.com • Mon-Fri 4-9, Sat 1-9, Sun 1-8

ly n n wo o d If asked, BUdapest Bistro owner Elizabeth Muszka will tell you about her daily routine, which involves visiting the market every morning; spending 14 hours in the kitchen, baking tortes and stewing

1411 156TH AVE NE, SUITE A BELLEVUE, WA 98007 • (425) 653-1625

Budapest Bistro

JOSHUA HUSTON

WITH 36 SPICES AND INGREDIENTS IN OUR ORIGINAL SOUP BASE RECIPE, OUR FLAVORFUL BROTH IS SURE TO SATISFY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR TASTE BUDS. WWW.LITTLESHEEPHOTPOT.COM VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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A Seattle Tradition for over 15 years!

3 Menus: Traditional, Gluten-Free, & Vegan Much of our menu is locally sourced using natural & organic whole food ingredients 3 banquet rooms for parties and special occasions (no extra charge) Seasonal beers on tap, including root beer for kids FREE DELIVERY

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8523 Greenwood Ave N 206-782-9005

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• 100% FRESH GROUND CHUCK • • CHAR-BROILED • • HAND FORMED PATTIES • • SHAKES, MALTS, FLOATS & COLD BEER • • NIFTY SELECTION OF BOTTLED SODAS •

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Seattle Weekly • VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012

BEST HAPPY HOUR ON THE EASTSIDE EARLY AND LATE

pork; running the cash register during dinner service; and staying as late as 4 a.m. to hand-mix sausages. But diners don’t really have to ask: The food’s freshness and fidelity to age-old Hungarian cooking techniques are apparent on every plate. It’s no accident that the restaurant serves as a regular meeting venue for the state’s Austrian Club. Yet even eaters without ties to the old country will appreciate the brawn of Muszka’s sauerkraut stew and the richness of her mushroom soup. Hanna Raskin 12926 Mukilteo Speedway, 425-513-9846, budapestbistrofood.com $ Nicknamed “Tasty Wok” by its legions of adoring fans, TasTer’s Wok is one of the few Lynnwood restaurants you’ll regularly find packed to the gills with legions of Americanized Asian-food fans—and karaoke lovers. While the restaurant does offer more traditional versions of dishes ranging in influence from Chinese to Indian, its generous selection of faux meat dishes— crispy pot stickers, tangy mu shu “pork,” even spicy kung pao “chicken”—can inspire even the laziest vegetarian to brave I-5 traffic. Its best-known veggie dish is the $8.95 General’s Chicken: cubes of processed fake chicken steaming in a crunchy fried crust and lovingly enveloped in a sweet, tangy, otherworldly red sauce. ZiBBY WiLDER 15128 Hwy. 99, 425-787-6789 $

M o u n T l ak e T e r r ac e Brothers Gabe and Monty Slimp relocated their smoke shack, Gabriel’s Fire, from Ballard to Mountlake Terrace in the fall of 2011. Loyal fans followed the smell of whole log fires and smoking brisket, ribs, chicken, and more, creating an occasional wait at the diminutive restaurant. Ten different housemade sauce options are available: a tangy but traditional barbecue sauce, a Carolina sauce with more pepper and vinegar, teriyaki and Thai-inspired sauces, and several hotter sauces. Sandwiches range from $6–$10 and are served on warm sandwich rolls from Grand Central Bakery. You can get sides of fries, slaw, beans, greens, and mac ’n’ cheese for $2–$4. Local microbrews and sweet tea are available to wash it all down. sOnJa GROsET 5803 244th St. S.W., 425-697-4119, gabrielsfire.com $

redMond Complaining about Seattle’s lack of decent bagels is nearly as popular a local pastime as composting, which makes the existence of blazinG baGels horribly inconvenient. The good-humored Redmond shop, incongruously located in an industrial park, bakes bagels with the perfect ratio of crust to chew. Blazing produces snickerdoodle, blueberry, and bacon-cheddarchive “bagels,” but purists shouldn’t be put off by the deviant dough experiments: The poppy bagels are jacketed in fresh poppy seeds, and the pumpernickel are admirably robust. Hanna Raskin 6975 176th Ave. N.E., #365, 425-883-1550, blazingbagels.com $

r e n To n There is incredible variety to Southeast Asian cuisine, yet what most of us know comes from Indian restaurants that offer the same dozen or so dishes. Those who yearn for more can look to Madhur Jaffrey’s glorious cookbooks—or they can visit naan -n- curry, located in Renton and well worth the drive. This unpretentious establishment serves Pakistani food. According to its gregarious staff, the difference between this and Indian fare lies partly in fewer spices and more distinct flavors in each dish. You’ll get some unusual dishes here, such as lamb with bitter melon, an oblong green fruit that offers an intense, pungent flavor.

You’ll also find the familiar, including naan with just the right amount of charcoaled crust and homemade pistachio and almond ice creams. nina sHaPiRO 709 S. Third St., 425-271-6226, naanncurry.com $

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s h o r e li n e At Grinder’s hoT sands, the sandwiches aren’t cheap—most are between $10 and $12—but they’re enough for a hearty meal plus leftovers, or to share between two people. Try The Dipper, packed with roast beef made inhouse, with portobello mushrooms and caramelized onions on warm ciabatta bread spread with horseradish and melted cheese. Served with a side of jus, it’s a drippy, dippy, meaty mess, but worth every bite. The Gilbano is a highbrow cheesesteak (owner Mitch Gilbert is a Pennsylvania native): Thinly sliced steak is grilled with sweet and spicy peppers, garlic, and caramelized onions. The mixture mingles all the flavors, and is added to tangy gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese on an Italian roll. There’s wine on tap from Proletariat, imported beer in bottles like Chimay and Krušovice, and live music on Saturday nights. sOnJa GROsET 19811 Aurora Ave. N., 542-0627, grindershotsands.com $

Vas h o n i s l an d Farm-to-table is wildly en vogue these days, but no restaurant in Seattle exemplifies the phrase better than Vashon Island’s la boucherie, owned and operated by animal and dairy producers Sea Breeze Farm. The first thing diners see when they walk in is a glass butcher case full of the products—from porchetta to patés, chops to chorizo—on which they’ll be dining. And because few healthy people want to eat just a pile of meat, the dishes on the menu— which changes weekly—are artfully crafted with Sea Breeze cheeses and locally sourced fruits and veggies. A recent dinner consisted of chicken confit in a moat of sweet carrot purée, followed by a farm ricotta-andhazelnut cheesecake so fresh you could almost hear the cows mooing in the background. ERin k. THOMPsOn 17635 100th Ave. S.W., 567-4628, seabreezefarm.net $$$

LOCAL PASTRIES: Local pastries:

Mighty-O-Donuts (organic, vegan) Little Rae’s Bakery (nut free) Le Fournil French Bakery (authentic french pastries) Flying Apron Bakery (vegan, gluten free, organic) and Skydottir Epic Cookies (vegan, gluten free, organic)

MIGHTY-O-DONUTS (ORGANIC, VEGAN), LITTLE RAE’S BAKERY (NUT FREE), LE FOURNIL FRENCH BAKERY (AUTHENTIC FRENCH PASTRIES), FLYING APRON BAKERY (VEGAN, GLUTEN FREE, ORGANIC), AND SKYDOTTIR EPIC COOKIES (VEGAN, GLUTEN FREE, ORGANIC) Large outdoor seating Large outdoor patiopatio seating

and

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Schnitzel House

Warm European Hospitality Serving traditional Hungarian and German food “Kindness, good cheer, and faraway flavors…I'll be back more than once.”

– H R,  

  , ,   .. / ..  -   

VORACIOUS DINING GUIDE 2012 • Seattle Weekly

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lowell’s “Almost Classy Since 1957”

• Travel + Leisure Magazine, July 2011 - featured in “100+ Amazing Places to Eat Like a Local” & “Best Waterfront Seafood Shacks” • New York Times, July 2005 - Where to Eat in Washington State: “Lowell’s for the food and for the view” • Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2009 - “United Plates of America” in Washington: “Dungeness Crab Omelet at Lowell’s” • Mario Batali in GQ Magazine, March 2009 - “Go to Lowell’s for the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, Fresh Oyster-Bacon Scramble and Dungeness Crab Omelet!”

• Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis’ Weekend Getaways “...get breakfast from Lowell’s Restaurant & Bar serving dishes made only [from] foods from local vendors from the Pike Place Market.”

• Seattle Magazine, April 2006, “Best Unlikely Water-View Restaurant” • Coastal Living, May 2009 - “Washington’s Best Seafood Dives”

lowell’s restaurant & bar

open every day, 3 Floors oF panoramic waterFront views serving paciFic northwest & all-american meals opening at 7am daily 1519 PIKE PLACE, SEATTLE, WA 98101 • 206.622.2036 Visit all of our menus on our web site at www.eatatlowells.com