Sighted: A Taco Truck Parks in Pioneer Square
My car just automatically followed this truck after spotting it on Jackson Street, followed it to it's Thursday through Saturday parking spot. Tacos El Campesino sets up on Occidental between Yesler and Washington and opens for business at 4:00 p.m., but the honking cars behind me precluded me from getting the closing time and more info. This truck usually produces a better than decent torta (carne asada over carnitas).
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Cheeseburgers, Sausage, and Meatloaf: Grillaxin' with Palace Kitchen's Brian Walczyk
Chef Brian Walczyk has worked within Tom Douglas' group of restaurants for several years, moving back and forth amid the Belltown restaurants (and working with some of the area's best chefs) along the way. Now chef at Palace Kitchen, Walczyk summarizes his journey like this: "I'm the chef at the Palace Kitchen, and I have been for four months. Before that I was chef at the Dahlia Lounge for the previous two years. Prior to the Dahlia, I helped open Lola as the sous chef and eventually was the chef for a brief stint until Mark Fuller left to open Spring Hill. Then I went across the street (to Dahlia)." Now from his post up the street and around the corner, Walczyk tells Voracious a little more about himself and his love of simple food, including a lifelong dedication to cheeseburgers. 
5-Spot's St. Lou Menu Has Port Steaks Too, and Throws a Sausage in the Slinger
Last week, I expressed extreme enthusiasm for the 5-Spot's latest regional menu, which features the cuisine of my onetime home, St. Louis. A couple amendments: (1) I neglected to mention that on the dinner menu is a pork steak, a backyard BBQ delicacy best accompanied by a half-rack of Busch; (2) the music—essentially a rotation of Wilco and Son Volt—is regional too; and (3) sausage is substituted for hamburger on the Soulard Slinger. Not a big, fat, fucking sausiiiij-uh, but a slender, healthy-ish patty. Which is sort of cheating. But it's still good.
"It's difficult for me to act like a heterosexual poonhound, but man did i nail this role."
A Preliminary Farewell From Jonathan Kauffman
I'm both sad and excited to announce that on January 1, 2010, I will be moving back to San Francisco to become the restaurant critic for the SF Weekly. For the past three and a half years, I've had the privilege of writing about food in Seattle at a time when this city's restaurant scene is exploding. Covering everything from the Korean suburbs to the newest crop of artisanal butchers has been a blast, and I'm sad to leave a paper that I think is producing some of the sharpest, most interesting writing in Seattle. At the same time, I'm excited to return to San Francisco. Not only is it another one of the nation's best restaurant cities, it's the place where I learned to cook, where I ordered my first bowl of pho, where I ate my first bowl of octopus-shrimp cocktail off the side of a taco truck in a grim Oakland parking lot. My roots there run deep.
Make Chocolate in the Chocolate Factory
Theo Chocolate is showing off some tricks of the trade just in time for your big plans to make homemade gifts this year. After three hours in the Fremont chocolate factory, you'll leave with the skills to temper chocolate, make ganache, and decorate your own confections—and take home the goods, too. 
Sat., Nov. 21, 2-5 p.m.
(Also Sat., Dec. 5 & 14).
Theo Chocolate, 3400 Phinney Ave. N. Reservations required; call 632-5100.
$125 plus tax.
Versus: Putting the Heat in Hot Chocolate
The season of apocalyptic darkness and perpetual dampness has settled upon Seattle, driving all sane people indoors and under blankets. Look out the window. It is indisputably the season for hot chocolate, seemingly the only beverage that can loosen the vise-like death grip that winter's frigid, wet hand has around the throat and heart. The range of hot chocolate drinks out there goes well beyond the sweet, including a few options laced with pepper and chiles to add an extra bit of heat. This week, Versus samples spicy hot chocolate from two spots, Mt. Baker's Sweet & Savory and Queen Anne's Chocolopolis. 
Sweet & Savory's chocolate chaud
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Openings & Closings: Thai Thai Closes Temporarily, Heavenly Pastry & Cake Hits West Seattle
According to the White Center Now, Thai Thai (11205 16th Ave. S.W.) will be closing temporarily, reports a customer who stopped in and chatted with the owner. The owner stated that her husband will be having cancer surgery in Bangkok and the closure should only last about two months.
After being tipped off by scoop mistress Julien Perry, The West Seattle blog reports that Heavenly Pastry has secured a spot at 2604 California Ave. S.W., and will be releasing some delightful smells in the neighborhood. Husband-wife team Allison Barnes and Michael Stein operate a stand at various local farmer's markets, and the store will offer more delicate pastry creations than they can stock at their outdoor stall. They'll be featuring such desserts as a raspberry-hazelnut yum bar (a fruit-jam bar topped with hazelnuts) and a "heckuva-job brownie" (adorned with chocolate ganache frosting).
The Heritage Meats Burger at Pike Brewing Co.
In the course of researching this week's food lead on the Puget Sound's new artisanal, sustainability-minded butchers, I learned that Tracy Smaciarz of Heritage Meats supplies local, grass-feed beef burgers to Pike Brewing Company. 
Continue reading "The Heritage Meats Burger at Pike Brewing Co."...
First Call: Rosebud's Great if You're a High Roller
Watering Hole: Capitol Hill's Rosebud Restaurant & Bar (719 E Pike), a narrow, dark bar adorned with modern art that seems a little awkward amidst the 1920s cabaret music.
Rosebud's two-month bartending newbie, Travis
Barkeep: Travis, a two-month newbie to the bartending life. Previously, he worked an office desk job before changing career paths. With an urge to "make money and meet people," Travis still looks like he's dressed to work on Wall Street.
Fancy a $10 neon drink?
The Booze: Blue Pacific. It's a martini that hasn't officially garnered a spot on the menu. Made with Coconut Pearl Vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, pineapple, and Blue Curacao, this drink makes one wish they were on a inflatable armchair in the middle of a pool. Although the color resembles blue Gatorade that seems to glow in the dark, it's delicious.
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Avila in Wallingford--Phase 1: Open, Phase 2: Lunch
Avila Restaurant (1711 N. 45th St.) had its soft opening last week. The space, which housed specialty food and deli joint Bella Cosa through the years not to mention a few owners, is a tricky one—long and narrow with two different levels. The remodel acknowledges this and embraces it, setting up the bar in the front, and a small dining area outside the kitchen, complete with chef's bar. For those diners who always complain about noise, there's a back dining room that overlooks a beautiful new, tree covered patio. ("Just wait for summer," chef Alex Pitts said.)
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Celebrate Mexican Independence: Eat Mole
Celebrating the bicentennial of Mexican independence, Seattle's Mexican Consulate has been hosting a Mexican Gastronomic Series. The fourth session focuses on the much-loved mole sauce and will be held at Galerías Restaurant & Bar (perhaps better known for its generous margaritas than its cuisine). 
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Nordic Heritage Museum Brews Its Own Beer
There's a beer-brewing team at the Nordic Heritage Museum, which seems reason enough to support this Pre-Yulefest Nordic Beer Tasting. Three Nordic-inspired beers will be poured: Pillager's Pilsner, Yuletide Amber, and Midnight Sun, brewed at Gallaghers' in Edmonds. Appetizers served too.
Fri., Nov. 20., 7-9 p.m.
Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 N.W. 67th St.
Reservations suggested; call 789-5707 x10.
$15.
Versus: Beaujolais Nouveau & Anything Else
Some Francopheliacs were very annoyed with my column last week, an op-ed about the the emperor's no clothedness of Beaujolais Nouveau. Well, OK, I bought a bottle of this year's wine to put it to the test, the George DuBoeuf Beaujolais Nouveau since that's what gets shoved in everyone's face at the grocery store. I pitted it against the fruity comfort of family holidays past. The results:
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Drink for the Kids at Sip's Grand Opening
Sip is the newest resident of a gleaming new residential building on Madison Street which looks across the street to the Koolhaas library. They carry more than 250 wines from around the world, including 70 by-the-glass options. But the best thing about this soon-to-open wine bar is its oasis of a patio, spotted weeks ago from the top of the Columbia Tower. You'll have to wait months to get full use of it, though. "Landscaping and fire pits are on the way," says Andrea Courtney of Randall PR, which represents the wine bar, "but construction is on hold for now, because of the weather." The restaurant doesn't open officially until this tomorrow, but today, a $20 entrance fee gets you into the grand opening (5-9 p.m.). Wine will be flowing, and the apps are free. Expect a crowd. All proceeds from the opening will benefit Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Date/Time: Thurs., Nov. 19, 5-9 p.m.
Location: Sip at the Wine Bar and Restaurant, 909 Fifth Ave., 682-2779.
Price: $20.
Post-Post: Newest Post Alley Haunt Reinvents
Post, the mostly bar that sneakily lives next to Kell's in Post Alley, has done a little cocooning. Post owner Patrick McAleese, whose family also owns Kell's, has tilted the joint more toward restaurant, bringing in former Wild Ginger operations director Steve Fantello to help with the redesign. The new menu will showcase everything it can from the market and focus on comfort food—cioppino, oysters Rockafeller, crab cakes and spaghetti. Post has a happy hour from 4:00-7:00 p.m. and features $4 to $5 food specials. (Post, 1914 Post Alley, open daily 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.)
