Drink of the Year: Alaskan Polar Bear Heater

That'd be the cocktail Jerry Lewis' Buddy Love favors in The Nutty Professor, proclaimed by Modern Drunkard to be one of the greatest stealth lush movies of all-time. Below, from the pages of MD, is a description of the drink. Don't try this at home. Try it at your friend's home, on New Year's Eve, with tarp on the carpet:

Many movies have featured hard-kicking cocktails, but the �Alaskan Polar Bear Heater� may be the most infamous. Below is the recipe taken verbatim from the film...�Two shots of vodka, a little rum, some bitters, and a smidgen of vinegar�a shot of vermouth, a shot of gin, a little brandy, lemon peel, orange peel, cherry, some more scotch. Now mix it nice, and pour it into a tall glass.� Why the recipe calls for �some more scotch� at a point when there is no scotch in the cocktail is a mystery to me. I can only assume that Jerry was ad libbing the recipe on the spot. By the way, I�ve never been brave enough to drink one myself — the vinegar is the deal breaker for me. However, a good friend of mine filmed himself mixing one up and downing it. He described the cocktail as tasting like �bitters-soaked ass.� When I commented that a lot would depend upon whose ass was soaked in bitters, he responded, �Ernest Borgnine�s ass.� You have been warned.

Topics: Boozamahol

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Gyros and Hookah Get Unionized

Chowhound had it (sort of) first, but it's true: Zaina, the Pioneer Square gyro purveyors, have opened a second location in the basement of the Labor Temple on First Ave. in Belltown. In so doing, the Cherry Street location will no longer double as a hookah loung — that function will be absorbed by the newer, more clandestine digs. If my memory serves, Zaina once had a satellite restaurant across from Macy's, which didn't work out so well. Let's hope this go-round proves more successful; their gyros are super-tasty, and the P. Square flagship caters to quite a large lunch crowd on most weekdays.

Topics: News

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Mae Phim Opening Second Location

Mae Phim, the perennially mobbed Thai restaurant on First Ave. and Columbia, is opening a second location in the old Coldstone Creamery space on Second Ave. and Pike.

"We are so crowded at First and Columbia," says owner Adirek "Ed" Bunyatipanon, "so we have to expend to the other one. Many of our customers come from Fifth Ave., Sixth Ave. — too far away, but they still come." Bunyatipanon says the new Mae Phim should open around the beginning of February. Location 2 isn't much bigger (if at all) than location 1, so it will mostly do takeout, catering, with some eat in, and the menu will be 90 percent the same. He's working on a website for the second restaurant so busy lunchers can order online there, too.

Topics: Restaurant Gossip

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Five Hours to Your Own Charcuterie

Image: salumi.com

One of the upcoming classes that I'm especially curious about is Culinary Communion's Charcuterie.

If the salami's hanging in Salumi's case make you salivate, and wonder if you, too, could dry your own savory sausages, you might ponder this five hour class in the ancient art of meat preservation. The menu includes a veritable pork-fest: bacon, three kinds of sausages (chorizo, Italian, and breakfast sausages), capicola, as well as pate (or perhaps or rillettes or smoked salmon). You'll learn how to judge a good product, what goes into the preservation technique, as well as how to make your own. Perhaps best of all, you'll go home with two servings of meat that you've cured yourself.

January 5, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Culinary Communion
2524 Beacon Ave S
Seattle, WA 98144

$109, includes a full meal.
206.284.8687

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Tamales and Other Mexican Favorites

Image source: http://www.wpclipart.com/food/meals/

If you're beginning to tire of traditional holiday fare, here's a culinary change of pace. Guest chef Mathew Lasof teaches a hands-on class in that humblest of all Mexican comfort foods, the tamale. Corn masa is prepared with green chile and cheese, or red chile and chicken, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. You'll also learn to concoct a tasty green salsa, two Mexican salads, and sangria, fruit-spiked red wine.

Sunday, December 30, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Cook's World
2900 N.E. Blakeley St.
Seattle, WA 98105
528-8192
(University District)
$55.

For more foodie events, visit here.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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First Call: Mahattan at the Whisky Bar

Photo by Chris Kornelis

Name: Brian Patrick Green
Location: The Whisky Bar
Occupation as listed on business card (pictured): Bartender, Psychiatrist, Priest

Photo by Chris Kornelis

Drink of choice: Manhattan with Sazerac (a rye whiskey)
Why this drink? "It surprises people — most don't know what it is, even though it's one of the oldest drinks there is."
Age at first tattoo: 14
First tattoo: Japanese character for "hate"
Regrets? "I hate it now."
Came to Seattle via: Oakland
Seattle vs. Nocal? "Seattle is like daycare compared to Oakland. It's just like a smaller San Francisco."
Distance of commute: "I live upstairs, so I basically fall out of my window down to work."
Best Belltown eats? "Ohana — we have a family dinner there every Monday night."
Top seller: "We move the most PBRs of anyone on the West Coast. I go through close to 100 in a shift." (They're a buck fifty from 3 to 9 pm!)
On the digital juke box: the newly re-installed selection of hip-hop. Highlights: Onyx and the Beastie Boys.
On the walls: In-your-face paintings by Ethan Jack Harrington of lady Whiskey regulars, pictured with props of liquor bottles and weapons. Hot. Click here for a slideshow.

Photo by Chris Kornelis

Tasting notes: From what I remember, the drink was delicious and not too sweet, with just enough orange zest. The winner here, though, is the magnetic Mr. Green and his crew of regulars, who ranged from professional mural artists to ornery homeless dudes (usually in search of the $1.50 PBR tallboys) — they make it worth posting up at the bar for a mid-day belly warmer. But then again, what isn't.

Topics: First Call

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Science on Tap: Today & Beyond

Twice a month, Science on Tap brings people together to talk about current topics and issues in the scientific community. I'm not one of those quiz night people, but this totally speaks to me. I mean, it's beer...with science!

Science on Tap meets the first Tuesday of the month at T.S. McHugh's on Lower Queen Anne and the last Monday of the month at Third Place Pub in Ravenna. Check their website, ScienceOnTap.org, for more information on upcoming topics. It looks like the group took a break for the holidays, back on January 28th at Ravenna's Third Place Pub with Bill McNeely talking about alternative fuels. Coool... Hey, how about an upcoming discussion on alternative hopping agents?

Today, on NPR station KUOW 94.9 at 2pm Sound Focus will discuss Science on Tap. (Listen Live from this link.)

Topics: Beer

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I Ate This: Vegan Chowder at Pike Place Chowder

What: Vegan Chowder

Where: Pike Place Chowder (1530 Post Alley in the Market)

When: Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.

Tasting Notes: The word "vegan" always catches my eye, but it really stood out when I spotted it on the "daily specials" chalkboard of Pike Place Chowder. I'm a fan of most things vegan, but never considered vegan as an option for chowder. I wasn't even remotely hungry, but when you see vegan as an option at a chowder house, you have to spend the money on it just to prove to the owners that it's worth keeping on the menu. I turned on my heels and walked up to the woman behind the counter and said: "Vegan chowder?" She said: "Yeah, it's good. Got a little coconut milk, some lime, some curry..." I hurried back to the office and dipped a little bread into it. She was right...the coconut milk, lime and curry are the creamy foundation. Also added are potato (of course), corn (of course), a little green onion and portobello mushroom. The best thing about this chowder is it doesn't try tasting anything like clam chowder, etc. It just tastes hearty and warm, like a chowder should.
"How often will you have vegan chowder as a special?" I asked the woman behind the counter.
"Well, we're gonna be having it a lot more now," she said. "It's been very popular."
Sounds like all you vegans were way ahead of me!

Topics: I Ate This

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All right, what restaurants does Seattle need?

So, here is this year's list of 10 restaurants I swear would be a bona-fide success in Seattle.

Two more from my personal wish list: a good Shanghai-style restaurant (good soup dumplings, eel with chives, red-cooked spare ribs...) and a great Persian restaurant. What's on yours?

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The News of Food: New Year's Things

December 26: time for annual roundups (like ours) and champagne stories:

Chow's second annual "Year in Food" feature hits all the high points in food journalism, from the death of the inventor of ramen to chocoholics who drop all their locavore pretentions when it comes to their crack.

If you're looking for sparkling wines for your Dec. 31 festivities, here are a few recommendations from the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, and the San Jose Mercury-News. This year, flout international branding laws and call your bubbly "champagne," even if it's from Sonoma or Chile. Go on. Be a rebel.

Bonus Link: Today's news of the weird. I was going to write "ewww," but then I remembered what I prefer farmers to spread on my food.

Topics: The Food Section

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$13: Sugar

What: Three cheese sammy ($7), chocolate truffle brioche ($3), and peppermint marshmallows ($2)

Where: Sugar Bakery + Cafe, 1014 Madison St., 749-4105, FIRST HILL.

When: 12:30 p.m. Thursday

Total Cost: $13.03

Official Tasting Notes:
Let�s call a spade a spade: Sugar is bad for you. Which is why when I heard a bakery called Sugar was opening on First Hill, my ears perked up, like when you hear someone someone say �sex� too loud in the grocery store. How can one not be interested?

I had the opportunity to taste Sugar's brioche cinnamon roll before they opened, so I knew how soft and sweet owner Stephanie Crocker's little pastry twirls could be. This meant that I had the superhuman strength required to order an actual lunch before digging into the calorie case. (Yes, they have a small lunch menu, too - just sandwiches and salads.)

I chose a vegetarian sandwich, a sliced Macrina baguette piled with hearty slabs of three good cheeses, crisp red pepper and cucumbers, lettuce, and a light herbed mayo. (Correction: The sandwich chose me, because it was the only one they had left, at 12:30 p.m. on a weekday. Okay, so they're still working out some inventory issues. They just opened a week ago.) It was clumsily constructed and awkward to eat, but hit the spot once I wrestled it into my mouth.

Then I dug into the chocolate truffle brioche, basically the lovechild of a menage a trois between a cinnamon roll, a brioche bun, and a chocolate croissant. Valentine's Day idea: Put 12 of these puppies on sticks, with their swirly tops, and offer them to your sweetie in lieu of a bouquet of roses. They'll get you much farther.

But I mustn�t leave out the most important part: $2 of my Sugar experience went to a package of peppermint marshmallows. Soft and magically pillowy, these were like Altoids made of air. Someone offered me a hot chocolate, but I ate them plain, and fell in love. No regular store-bought marshmallow disintegrates on the tongue like a (good) homemade one can.

They also brought me my first peppermint marshmallow burp, which was actually almost as pleasant as the marshmallow itself. If only every meal had such a sweet ending.

Warning: Sugar is very pink inside: Pink stripes, pink clothing, pink art, pink Christmas tree. I happen to find it adorable, but if pink makes you uncomfortable, consider bringing your sunglasses.

Topics: 13 Dollars

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One Less Tavern in Seattle

Targy's, a longtime Queen Anne institution with a horseshoe bar and very few windows, is now serving hard booze. Good for Targy's, bad for purists who lament the ongoing demise of the true blue tavern, which is truly an endangered species in our cocktail-crazed metropolis.

Topics: Boozamahol

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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Author Kathleen Flinn Visits Elliot Bay Books on Saturday

Photo credit: www.cordonbleu.net

A tale of cookery and romance, Kathleen Flinn's book tells the story of a foodie (herself) who takes the plunge and (in the mode of Julia Child) heads to Paris to enroll in that most famous, most French of cooking schools, Le Cordon Bleu.

More about Flinn's book, The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, as well as a link to her blog, and recipes, here.

Flinn visits Elliott Bay Books for an informal book signing tomorrow (11 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, December 22), promising to provide a few foodstuffs from the book, including quiche (perhaps this one?) and cava. Cava? I had to look it up. According to Wiki, it's sparkling wine, from Spain.

Free drinks amidst a store full of books—including of course, the visiting author's—at this pre-Christmas event. Sounds dangerous to me.

Topics: Events

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New Year's Eve 2007 Dinners, Batch III

Being a compendium of New Year's Eve dinners around Seattle. For more NYE07 dinners, check out this post and this one.

Crave is serving a family-style five-course dinner for $50, centered around oranges. Courses include duck rillettes with kumquat-onion marmalade and Cointreau-soaked pistachio cakes with blood oranges and ginger gelato.

The Palace Ballroom is hosting a big-band swing evening, including a four-course dinner from Chef Tom Douglas, for $295 per couple (includes wine and champagne toast, but not tax or tip). For reservations, contact 448-2001.

Both the Salty's on Alki and the Salty's on Redondo Beach are throwing New Year's Eve dinners. The Seattle Salty's will be a four-course dinner with dishes like dueling East-West crab cakes and a two-pound Maine lobster. Meal price is determined by the entree. Here's the full menu (PDF).

Tilth has a $85, four-course meal (includes wine pairings but not tax and tip) that, like everything Chef Maria Hines does, features organic, local ingredients. Look for deliciousness like steak tartare, heirloom squash risotto, and almond brown-butter cake with Gala apples.

Topics: Events

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Looky-Look Loki

New to the heart of Wallingford is Loki Cafe, a neighborhood joint serving breakfast and lunch, with a global menu inspired by what owner Michael Degginger calls "the flavors of all the people that have moved to Seattle." (Read: Latino, Asian, and Southern (American) influences, to start.)

When I asked him what he envisions for his place, now four weeks old, he told me what he didn�t want: He doesn�t want to show off anything new. He doesn�t want to do anything too fancy. He doesn�t want to be a big-shot chef. He just wants a normal, comfortable neighborhood restaurant, with a menu dictated by what customers want.

Good luck, Mike. What with all that stuff you got going on your breakfast menu (that Bourbon Street Waffle, with plantains, smoked bacon, and pecans, or the chilaquiles, topped with fried eggs) you might see people from the other side of I-5.

The martini on the cafe�s sign isn�t quite applicable yet, though. Loki Cafe doesn�t open for dinner until mid-winter, pending a liquor license. But Loki is the Norse god of mischief (and some say evil), which bodes well, I'd say.

Loki Cafe, 2114 N. 45th St., 327-9153, WALLINGFORD.
Open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, for breakfast and lunch

Topics: News

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