February 3, 2005
Wasabi wallow
Rant: Sunday night at Wasabi Bistro. Live jazz. Three guitars, a pan flute. Fairly crowded, several groups of 6 and 8 diners and drinkers. Standing room only at the bar.
Closest to the band, a vacant table, four chairs, covered with detritus: dirty plates, napkins, glassware. You’d think, wouldn’t you, that someone would at the very least clear the table. The hostess, surveying the floor, picks up a napkin. A cocktailer and a dinner server pass by, carrying orders to customers at a neighboring table, and ignore the mess completely. Another cocktailer swoops down on the table … and removes one glass. After half an hour a busser shows up, loads dirty dishes and silverware onto a tray and disappears. Glassware and napkins remain behind. No one seems to be in charge, no one cares, and after 45 minutes, the table is still not reset. The band plays on, tunelessly.
February 2, 2005
Cascadia's Ultimate Distinction
Kudos to Cascadia, one of only three Seattle winners of the accolade “Restaurant of Ultimate Distinction” awarded by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. (The fancy wine mags have truly bizarre designations, don't they?) The wine list offers 450 selections, with some 6,000 bottles in inventory, presided over by Jeffrey Dorgan.
After 19 years as a waiter at the Space Needle and a stint as operations manager at Jitterbug, Dorgan landed at Cascadia, put himself through an introductory Master Sommelier course, and was promoted to wine & spirits director shortly thereafter. He';ll be keeping a closer eye on all those bottles now that he's moved into the McGuire. "Love living in Belltown," he says.
February 1, 2005
Barocho mojito
Time now for our bartender-of-the-month citation. Kudos to Sarah Forbes at Barocho for her carefully made mojito. Baccardi rum, muddles limes, sweet & sour mix, soda, and a large handful of fresh mint leaves.
It's a friendly space, that bar at bARoChO [their spelling]. Relaxed, unhassled.
Glamor chef Rachel Ray was on one TV, making arugula salad, while the Sonics were dribbling away on another. In a waiting area adjacent to the bar, on a red leather banquette, sat a Weimaraner named Jack. Jack's owner was at the bar, drinking a Stella.
The house dog is a chocolate Labrador retriever named Mocha whose countenance graces the cover of the ambitious wine list: 18 vintages of Grgich Hills, for example, and several magnums of Stag's Leap cabernet.
The same owners have the wine & gourmet shop next door called Epicure West. Nice.