March 19, 2005
Ooh-la-la at Canlis
Lunch a couple of days ago at Canlis. Straightforward menu: a salad, a small steak, "apple pie." The genius was in the execution: the salad was garnished with toast points spread with tapenade and white anchovies. The steak was an unbelievably flavorful filet from Misty Isle Farms on Vashion Island [Black Angus, aged 21 days]. And the dessert was a clever tarte tatin paired with vanilla ice cream.
Credit goes to the French Government Tourist Office for hosting this delightful event, which showcased wines from Provence and, by its very nature, promoted French joie de vivre.
March 17, 2005
Irish martini
You know the date. Go back a year, I was complaining about green beer. This year, I know what to do: Happy Hour at Whisky Bar. The martini may not be green, but the olives are. And, hey, it's three only bucks!
March 15, 2005
A new Nexxus
Taking over the space of the unlamented, truly dreary Second Avenue Pizza is Nexxus, a café with a dozen networked Sony Playstations in the infamous back room; in place of giant speakers for tuneless punk-rock bands, there's a bank of 27-inch plasma screens.
Out front, to attract opening-day customers, Breanne Montoya and Gina Weishaar carried free coffee around Belltown's sidewalks. Hey, give these girls some logo t-shirts!
March 14, 2005
Getting In Touch
After a nine-month gestattion, the much-awaited In Touch Travel has come into the world. Developed by my former colleague Andrea Nims, it's a program designed for experienced travelers who want to meet "real people" on their vacations.
Cultural tourism isn't a new phenomenon, though it gets much less attention than it deserves from local tourist boards [funded by suppliers of commercial services]. Non-profit organizations like People-to-People and Servas International have been around for decades, but In Touch may be the first to offer an upscale version of "cultural immersion" to the general public.
Andrea is starting with a roster of about 30 hosts, most in France, many of them experts in gastronomy, wine, art or history. You can book a day of a host's "in depth" expertise, or spend a couple of days "up close," just hanging out with your host. Either way, you'll get to know a real person living a real life in another culture ... someone who doesn't carry your bags or have his hand out ... and that's priceless.