alt.vday.events: Pike Chocofest on Thursday

Posted Feb. 11 at 10:30 am by Maggie Dutton

Reps from chocolatiers local and imported converge at Pike Pub tomorrow for a very fun, and CHEAP, Valentine's Day pre-funk. All chocolates will be matched with plenty of Pike beer and various other brews like Ommegang's Chocolate Indulgence (worst beer name ever — I still think that sounds like some sort of feminine laxative). For variety's sake, you'll be able to sample Northwest wines and Sky River mead, too. Who needs to drop a wad to get crammed into a two-top and treated like cattle when you can peruse sweets with your sweet?

Highlights: XXXXX Stout floats made with Gelatiamo gelato. Italian BruCo chocolates. Carter's Chocolates (who have made some truffles using Pike beer). Pike neighbor Fran's Chocolates. The Chocolate Box. Claudio Corallo (so hot right now). And Trevani pretzel truffles (be still my heart)

PIKE CHOCOFEST: Thursday, February 12, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., The Pike Pub's Museum Room, $25 per person. RSVP to Michael St. Clair, 206-812-6613.

Topics: Beer and Valentine's Eats

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Rose Prosecco: The Best Pink Drink

Posted Feb. 10 at 7:21 am by Maggie Dutton

I taste thousands of wines each year, and I always wait for something to stick its head above the crowd, especially when it involves bubbly. The price of rose Champagne is just plain stupid these days, and don't lecture me about the Euro because I don't care. I know what they taste like and I know what I'm willing to pay for them. At $85 and up, they're a colossal rip off.

This Bortolomiol Rose Prosecco is THE Champagne killa of the season—all bright and fresh with the aroma and flavor of tart strawberry, a creamy finish, and hot package. For $22-24. Four of these for the price of one bottle of champers? No brainer. At these prices, you can almost afford another valentine to share your bubbly booty. (Ask your local wine shop to order you a bottle if you want to check my math.)

Topics: Valentine's Eats and Wine

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Romantic Restaurants: A Cheat Sheet

Posted Feb. 5 at 7:00 am by Jonathan Kauffman

Seattleites are notorious for making reservations at the last minute, so consider this your official alarm clock: You have only 10 days left to score a table on Valentine's Day. I know the restaurant business is slow, but if you don't start calling around now you may find yourself next to the front door at 9:30.

In this week's food section and the next, we've devoted our Featured Eats listings to our picks for restaurants whose atmosphere can enhance your inner Don Juan. For your convenience, I'm also posting the full list here after the jump (thanks to intern Neil Estep for help with the links). Let me know if I've forgotten to list your favorite.

Continue reading "Romantic Restaurants: A Cheat Sheet"

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Last-Minute Valentine's Day Dinner

Posted Feb. 14, 2008 at 4:57 pm by Jonathan Kauffman

All right. It's five o'clock. No one's going to get naked if you can't come up with a Valentine's dinner in two hours. It's time for desperate measures.

And Pagliacci's is there for you. Free artichoke hearts. Free! On any pizza! For you! Of course, artichoke hearts look like this:

Not this:

But you'll have to improvise. If you really want something that looks more like this:

...then Papa Murphy's is selling heart-shaped pepperoni pizzas. Only today! A special-edition pizza has to count for something.

Good luck.

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Seattle's Cupcake Crawl

Posted Feb. 13, 2008 at 3:35 pm by Jess Thomson

View Larger Map

Oh, people, this is so embarrassing for Seattle. New York has one, of course. Chicago has one, too. But as far as I can tell, no one’s mapped our city’s cupcake crawl. (Yes, that's it. Pub crawl. With cupcakes.) And given the proliferation of cupcake shops in the area (there’s even one in downtown Tacoma!), I think it’s high time.

If your Valentine’s Day fantasies run more along the lines of reading cupcake porn over at CakeSpy and biting into a freshie (or if you’re just too young to drink), gather ‘round. Here’s how a cupcake crawl works:

First, find a group of people you can depend on to eat their weight in cake. Be sure to designate a driver. Because really, doesn’t someone need to remain responsible and alert after all that frosting?

Next, make a map. Any self-respecting cupcake lover could hit Trophy and Cupcake Royale and New York Cupcakes on their lunch hour, but there are more options than you might think. Places like Columbia City Bakery and Dahlia Bakery might also come up big. And c’mon. The Erotic Bakery? Now that I think about it, what two cupcakes don't look like boobs?

Plan your route according to neighborhood, adding in stops at less dedicated cupcake purveyors, those have crumbled under the benefits of the economies of scope (such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, etc.), so you have a better reason to appreciate why you pay more for a great cupcake. And to be sure to keep an open mind.

Then just buckle up.

Click here (or on the map above) for a good guide to places in Seattle that sell cupcakes. Let me know who I forgot (or if you know of an existing map), and come back to tell us where you went, and what you liked best.

(Full disclosure: Maggie Dutton, who writes for Seattle Weekly, also works for Trophy.)

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Bellying Up For Valentine's Day

Posted Feb. 13, 2008 at 3:16 pm by Maggie Dutton

If you don't have a reservation at your favorite restaurant, count yourself down but not out.

Have you ever considered sitting at the bar? Do you know how lonely we bartenders get on Valentine's Day? Maybe you don't care, but let me put it another way. All the servers are running like chickens with their heads cut off trying to make sure everyone has the Most. Special. Night. Ever! The bartender is only a pit stop. And this is what works to your advantage on February 14th. When you sit at a table, you are not in control. You are at the whim of the server. And on an amateur night like Valentine's Day, anything can happen. When you sit at the bar, you are in control, and you can stay as long as you want. Your server is right in front of you at all times.

The bartender will be too busy to interrupt any canoodling, but very appreciative you chose to sit with him. I used to style the hell out of people who sat at my bar on V-Day, Extra bonus: Bar food is usually sharable finger food, which is far sexier than single servings for all.

If I may air my own personal laundry, my hubbie and I have been carrying on the bar versus table argument for eight glorious years. Even if he is completely wrong, I see his point. If one is spending a good chunk of change, one wants to feel taken care of, special. Your own table feels more special than a bar stool. He likes his own space and doesn't want to sit next to anyone. Me, I'll ignore you. Sitting at a table eating the same set menu as every other two-top in the room, getting treated the same as every other two people in the room, has never felt special to me.

But best of all, sitting at the bar better let's you invade your date's personal space, no pesky table between you and yours. It promotes knee knocking, thigh squeezing, and leaning in reeeeeal close. Don't worry about the bartender, he won't eavesdrop....much.

For your clandestine consideration:

- The cramped (in a good way) boite of Sambar
- The pitch black "where are your hands!" room of El Gaucho
- Food that'll get you sharing and moaning at Carmine's
- Suggestive matrimonial backdrop of Betty

Topics: Boozamahol and Valentine's Eats

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Love, Tapas, and Ta-Ta's

Posted Feb. 11, 2008 at 5:34 pm by Rachel Shimp

As Adriana reported a few posts down, there are a multitude of kitchens offering special, romantic dinners this week—and my pick for Thursday's absolute best bet is below. If I wasn't stealing my girlfriend away from her boyfriend for the opening night of Mame, this is where I'd be:

Palace Kitchen (a Tom Douglas joint that to me, feels warm and not targeted to a particular demographic) is hosting "A Latin Love Feast," where the entertainment on offer is as caliente as the food. Sez the kitchen's press people:

"We'll be dishing up delicious flights of Spanish tapas for you to linger over (with a special sweet from Dahlia Pastry Chef Garrett Melkonian) while being entertained by the glitter, glamour and old fashioned naughty fun of a classic burlesque show. This evening of cabaret features the big beats of Symphonic Ka-Boom! Starring two internationally renowned burlesque dancers Miss Indigo Blue and Vienna La Rouge with Babette la Fave and the sweet ingénue Belle Cozette. The lush colorful costumes, vintage glitz and gritty jazz to melodious standards should help get you in the mood.

Show

Doors open at 7PM for cocktails and dinner
The performance runs from 8:30PM to 10:00PM.

Ticket price is a seductive $105 (plus gratuity and tax) per person and includes entertainment, 3 flights of tapas, dessert, and 1 drink. There will be a cash bar available all evening. Tickets are nonrefundable!" Tix available here.

Sez I:

Go, go, go! Tapas—bite-sized combinations of flavors and textures which must be eaten with your hands—are always sexy, and the evening's performers are the creme de la creme of the local burlesque scene. If you or your date are new to burlesque, this is glitziest, classiest, randiest introduction you could get. And whether you've had five glasses of bubbly or one, you'll go home inspired to try out a bump-and-grind of your own.

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Love to Drink: Bottoms Up!

Posted Feb. 11, 2008 at 10:28 am by Laura Onstot

Love it. Hate it. Valentine’s Day is for drinking and your friendly neighborhood multi-national liquor distributor knows it. Big booze has fired out various cocktail ‘o love recipes. But what should I—whether single and cynical or starry-eyed and smitten—be downing in honor of the patron saint of bad poetry, expensive sorry-I-cheated-on-you-at-the-company-holiday-party jewelry, and of course, lovers.

Here’s the breakdown:

You didn’t know love before you met him two months ago:
Courtesy of Elliot’s Oyster House, the French Kiss Classique.
1 ounce Pearl vodka
1 ounce Chambord raspberry liqueur
1/2 ounce white creme de cacao
1/2 oz. Cream
Whipped cream
It’s all creamy and smooth, with a hint of raspberry. Plus if you make it yourself, you’ll have that extra whipped cream to um, celebrate, after drinks.

Home taking care of your sweetie who picked up that bug that’s been going around:
Get your vitamins and get drunk enough to sleep through her stuffed up snoring. Nutrisoda (think fizzy vitamin water) has your Heart’s Delight.
2 parts Radiant Nutrisoda
2 parts vodka
1 part orange juice
1 part cranberry juice
Garnish with heart-shaped strawberry
Not sure where you can get yourself a guaranteed heart-shaped strawberry but the smart money says it won’t be organic so QFC's probably your best bet there.

Single and don’t care:
Friends arrive at 7 to decorate pink cupcakes and watch When Harry Met Sally. GranGala calls this one Cupid’s Potion, but with that much fruit and no chocolate, it’s more single and proud of it than cuddle up for some lovin’.
2 oz Stoli Ohranj Vodka
1/2 oz GranGala Triple Orange Liqueur
1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Fresh Blood Orange Juice
Blood Orange Slice for Garnish

Drowning your “I can’t believe he broke up with me on Feb. 13” sorrows:
Don Julio wants me to tell you that this is actually the single and fabulous drink (see above), but tequila has always made more a little more surly than festive so it seemed most appropriate for this category. And no PR firms sent a recipe in for getting a cheap bottle of whiskey, throwing away all the photos of the two of you together, and watching Fatal Attraction. So here’s the Mint Chocolate Tequila Martini.
1 ounce Tequila Don Julio Blanco
1 1/2 ounces white cacao (white cocoa)
Dash mint liqueur
Shredded coconut
Best served chilled—like the cold heart of the bastard that broke yours.

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Love of Eating Out: Valentine's Dinner Options

Posted Feb. 8, 2008 at 1:14 pm by Adriana Grant

Here at Seattle Weekly's Food Central, we're getting inundated with press releases boasting of romantic dinners.

If you've still got plans to make that night — and you better get on it, while the gettin's good — here are some of the no doubt the many more Valentine's-inspired foodie options about town.

O/8 Seafood Grill & Twisted Cork
Cellar 46
Cafe Flora
Crush
The Inn at El Gaucho has a crazy promotion (and crazy expensive)
How to Cook a Wolf ($65 set menu): call (206) 838-8090 for reservations
icon Grill
Kaspars
La Spiga
Maximilien
McCormick & Schmick's Harborside on Lake Union Fly and Dine Deal
Monsoon
Palace Ballroom
Pomegranate
Wine dinner at the Art Institute's Portfolio restaurant
His & Hers desserts at Purple Cafe
Rosebud
Rovers' has special lunch on Friday, Feb. 15
Sazerac Restaurant
Sorrentino
TASTE at SAM
Tavolata
Tilth
Troiani
Tulio Ristorante
Union
Waterfront Seafood Grill Sunday brunch

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Love oysters? Open up at home.

Posted Feb. 8, 2008 at 11:38 am by Jess Thomson

Tell me this: If February 14th is about showing your L-O-V-E, why do people make restaurant reservations so they can eat dinner next to fifteen other couples, all of whom are desperately trying to spend quality time together? Isn’t the whole point to be alone?

Oh, that’s right, I forgot. It’s capitalism. Hallmark’s corporate arrow, striking us from close range before we know how to read. And it works for some people, I guess, but I’ve always been a fan of the homespun Valentine’s dinner. I mean, good romance usually ends at home, right? So why add the gas money?

A suggestion, if all you're used to making for dinner is reservations: Take a cue from good ol’ J.T, king of courtship, and go for passion in a package.

I’m talking oysters, of course. Paired with a great champagne, they’re a classic aphrodisiac, and a fun DIY date project, provided you don’t maim yourself (or each other) getting them open. This year, Taylor Shellfish (you might recognize them from area farmers’ markets) is putting together their oyster lovers’ box again, which comes with oysters from around Puget Sound, an oyster knife, a guide to opening the things (hint: don’t put the knife through your hand), and northwest fish and shellfish guru Jon Rowley’s classic essay, “The Art of Eating an Oyster.”

But be careful. Last year Taylor reported that a couple out in Chicago that ordered a box fell in deep smit, and ended up hitched in September.

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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Welcome to Week of Love

Posted Feb. 7, 2008 at 6:00 am by Jonathan Kauffman

Columbus Day and Valentine's Day: America's two most guilt-laden holidays. The countdown to showing how much you love your lover or picking up a random stranger in a coffee shop in order to feel better about yourself is now set at seven days.

Here at Voracious, we want to foster a decrease in the tension and/or bitterness surrounding this day of joy. Over the next week look to us for restaurant ideas, food and wine tips, and other thoughtful writeups of the press releases that we've received this past month.

I personally want to launch Week of Love by reproducing a recipe from "Old-Fashion" and "New," the 1971 cookbook published by the Fairview Mennonite Church in Fairview, Michigan (my grandmother contributed recipes for sweet pickle relish and Rice Krispie-coated pork chops). This recipe is attributed to Mrs. Milo Miller of Shipshewana, Indiana, but has apparently been tested by Grace Bontrager and Margaret Hershberger, who both contributed it to the cookbook:

How to Preserve a Husband

Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young and take only such as have been reared in a good moral atmosphere. Some insist on keeping them in a pickle while others keep them in hot water. This only makes them sour, hard, and sometimes bitter. Even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender, and good by garnishing them with patience, well sweetened with smiles and flavored with kisses to taste. Then wrap them in a mantle of charity, keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion, and serve with peaches and cream. When thus prepared they will keep for years.

Topics: Valentine's Eats

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