FoodTrek: Happy (Hour) Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! If you don't have a colorful incendiary device in one hand and a beer in the other -- you should be! It's that time of year yet again when we celebrate our liberation from the evil alien horde that blew up every significant building before Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved the day with an Apple laptop. I know this isn't really what Independence Day is truly about, but it's certainly what America is all about, in all its fractured glory. So let's celebrate in the best way we know how... it's Happy Hour.

The most awesome faux celebrity photo, ever - Photo of photo by Wasabi Prime

I've been collecting some happy hour experiences over the last month or so, and thought they would make for a good virtual bar crawl post for everyone's day off. I used to go out after work like clockwork, but these blessed breaks have become far and few between, which just means I treasure the "Me with Friends" time even more. I was glad to finally head over to Pomegranate Bistro's new(ish) Pom Bar, a cocktail lounge on the other side of the restaurant, if you're familiar with the place. It's in the most innocuous spot, right in a business park. The first time people track it down, they look at the entrance with skepticism. Just think of it like a food-speakeasy, minus a secret handshake.

Classy bar snacks and a bar with a clearly-marked agenda - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Pomegranate been a favorite of mine for breakfast, I love their chicken and waffles, as well as their chilaquiles, but now owner and chef Lisa Dupar has spun her culinary web around my after-work hours, and Pom Bar is on the Happy Hour Haunt list. Their happy hour starts and ends early - 3:30 to 5:30pm; I got stuck in traffic, so I missed the special pricing ($3-5 for beer/wine and house cocktails; $7 firebreads), but the regular bar pricing for food is perfectly reasonable, just a few dollars more without happy hour, especially if you're sharing food with a friend. Their firebread, which is basically a flatbread pizza, is perfect sharing food -- we had their take on the Hawaiian pizza, with ham and maple glazed pineapple, with a delicious mixture of melted cheese. It wasn't just mozzarella, it had a mix of other cheese, I want to say fontina or something with a nicely aged salty bite. Their maple bacon caramel popcorn gets serious Crave Points, as it's the perfect balance of sweet-salty-spicy and is wack-like-crack, it's so addictive. For cocktails, you can do wine and beer, but follow the menu and ask what the bartender likes; their drinks are seasonal, and they do fresh, herbal and fruit-forward drinks without slinging slushies. I can embrace my inner Girl Drink Drunk without sacrificing balanced flavor.

My new Meat and Cheese Mecca, Koral - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Several friends either work or live right in downtown Bellevue, so it's an easy meetup if I'm already driving through or done with an assignment and want to wait out traffic. I was glad to see Koral open up in the old Twisted Cork location, in the Hyatt building. The same folks behind Pearl opened Koral, so it's got a nice nod to some local Pacific Northwest goodies like their charcuterie platter sourced from Salumi and fried cheese curds from Beechers -- both bar snacks I enjoy with dangerous abandon. I also like the fact they have bone marrow on the bar menu. They saw the bones lengthwise, so it's easier to scrape out the fatty goodness, avoiding the familiar mishap of a bone marrow log popping out like an oily finger. I think serving it this way is one way to get more people introduced to the Cool Kid ingredient that should go on all bar menus, it goes so well with wine and beer. The food is hearty and crowd-friendly, the drinks are strong and sophisticate-manly. It's a happy hour that guys can appreciate, and I like it too, because their bar specials includes a Manhattan made with Buffalo Trace. This puts the happy in my hour. 

With a menu like that, you know Lecosho is Some Pig - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Speaking of cozy comforts, I want to wrap myself in the warm, cozy blanket that is Lecosho. Right in the heart of downtown Seattle, in the Harbor Steps, it's a little food gem that's truly delicious. It's not far from the Mister's office, so I met him downtown for a nice early dinner. We sat in the bar and just picked what looked good on the bar menu, a little bit of everything -- braised beef short ribs topped  with pickled beets, buttery spaetzle sprinkled with pecorino romano and their steamed clams piri piri. I just want a soup bowl of the chile-beer broth they use to cook the clams in, and a large loaf of bread to sop it up with. The clams are wonderful and delicate in the broth, but that cooking liquid is flavor city in all the right ways -- the beer was a good, hop-heavy brew, you could taste it through all the seasoning and the natural brine of the clams. It was a bright, sunny day, but the food was a simple, rustic bear-hug of food love. The thing that brought me back into a summer frame of mind was their Jack Rose, a cocktail with applejack, lime, pomegranate and grenadine -- maybe too sour for some, but it was perfect for me, I loved how bright and refreshing it was. Brock had a classic Sazerac, which went nicely with all the rich food.


Sazerac to finish off the day - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I look forward to sharing more Happy Hour Capers, laundry lists of not just places, but specific things I've had and enjoyed. We're all creatures of habit, and the nice thing about places around here is that for the most part, a lot of restaurants change their menus, so you wait a few months and it's like going to a new place. And more often than not, we cling to our favorites, and there's no shame in finding variations of that dish at different restaurants. So, stay tuned, me and my iPhone are collecting more bites and sips -- until then, enjoy your Independence from aliens/work/British colonial oppressors! 

Happy Hour Haunt: Negronked at Naga

What? Reruns already?! Or maybe we just like the drinks at Chantanee's Naga, so damned much that we had to return, much like moths to a Flaming Moe.

J'adore martinis, j'adore L'Aurore - photo by Wasabi Prime

It was Friday night, we were feelin' all-right, and I was with my visiting bestie-best friend whom I lovingly call the Angry Peanut. We were recovering from a popcorn coma from seeing Julie & Julia, and wished to wash it down with a frosty beverage or two. Or three. OK, maybe just one more... Having had a lovely experience with Naga only days before, it was worth a second visit. We had the good fortune of being there to watch cocktail maestro Andrew Bohrer get down to business.

I cast Magic Missle on your drunk ass - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I love a place that has a sense of humor about themselves, even their drinks. The above photo is of an original beverage choice called the 4d6. I think the Spock-pointed ears of nerds are perking up. The menu description says, "If you know what this means, you are a nerd. ... No saving throws needed." I had no choice but to fly my freak flag and admit to knowing its reference so that I could get my hands on their wooden drink dice. I rolled the bones and came up with a combination, but ended up accepting an extra Singapore Sling they had made. What the runes foretold, the bar behold (beheld? Nah, doesn't rhyme), so who am I to question the Powers That Be?

Ice magic, a spicy Smash, the drink that almost was, and the drink that really was - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The Rogue's Gallery of our bartab included the previously enjoyed Kaffir Fling, several trips to the wild blue yonder via the Aviation, their delightfully ice-murdering Mojitos, a spicy number called a Thai Smash, and the seriously good L'Aurore. I particularly enjoyed the Smash, as it featured fresh cilantro; having never experienced it in a drink before, it was a refreshing introduction to find yet another place to use one of my favorite herbs. We were also lucky enough to watch Andrew Bohrer quickly and masterfully hand-carve a chunk of ice down to a perfect sphere for his own Ueno San cocktail, an homage to Hidetsugo Ueno of the Bar High Five in Tokyo. Apparently this is not unusual in high end bars in Tokyo, but as I had never seen this done before, I remain impressed by this practice of the Dō of ice.

Recipe Alert! For those wishing to get Negronked on fancified beverages, Andrew Bohrer was kind enough to serve our girl-drink-drunkard selves, as well as share this recipe for the Aviation:

The Aviation, a classic pre prohibition cocktail

1.5 gin

.5 maraschino

.5 lemon

.13 creme du violet*

Shake strain and garnish with cherry. Add a tiny whisper of simple syrup if people are freaked out by the musky dryness of maraschino.

* WP Note: I realize Creme du Violet isn't in most people's pantries, but if you wish to have a bottle for your very own, I found some available on Drink Up NY's site.

** Post Script - Thanks to Foodgrazing at Serious Eats for posting the L'Aurore photo!!

*** Post-Post Script - Another THANKS to Liqurious for posting the same L'Aurore pic!

** Regarding the wooden dice - the owners of Chantanee were kind enough to contact me and confirm that Andrew Bohrer himself carved the dice, so yet again, more of his signature handiwork graces the Naga bar.

Happy Hour Haunt: To Naga, With Love

Suffering Bastard, Corpse Reviver, Artillerymen's Punch, Coral Dove -- no, we didn't hit Emerald Downs to watch the ponies after work on a lazy summer evening. These are a small sample of the unique anthology of cocktails on Chantanee's drink menu. The Prime has covered the newly-relocated Bellevue Thai favorite in older blog entries, but the highly-touted bar area, Naga, had not yet been christened by the entity that is the Happy Hour Martini Mafia. The whole gang was unfortunately not able to convene, but we few, we happy few (yours truly, GGirl, and Mr. S), met for a short spell to sample this Eastside oasis and see if the buzz surrounding Naga was worth the hullabaloo. No need to wait for a dramatic pause, I believe we have reason to raise a glass in celebration, for we have a winner. Please pass the spiced nuts.

Jules from Pulp Fiction would agree, this is one tasty beverage - photo by Wasabi Prime

Naga's happy hour runs the standard 4pm to 6pm, and it offers a recession-friendly discount on its impressive menu of signature cocktails, so instead of going for a typical brewski after workski, give one of these refreshing little dittys a try. These aren't syrupy, overly-fruity affairs with oversugared rims in unnatural Crayola colors. I had the pleasure of experiencing the Kaffir Fling, a drink created by Canadian bartender David Wolowidnyk in ye olde year of 2007 -- they include the drink's provenance on the menu. Booze and a history lesson -- shazam! A mix of vodka and lime with a hint of sweetness, this simple sour is topped with a frothy head of egg white and a sprinkle of ginger spice, with a fresh kaffir lime leaf nestled in the cloudy foam. These are no mere drinks, they are libations.

Eat, drink, be merry, and then drink some more - Photos by Wasabi Prime

In the swirling sea of cosmo-poma-tini-whatevers that swarm most bar menus, it's a rare blessing to enjoy something made with such deliberate care, as they possess a nuance and layering of flavors that are as interesting to the palate as a gourmet meal. The bartender was extremely knowledgeable in the many glittering bottles of liqueurs, spirits, and other potables within the bar's liquid library. There were many drinks being sampled, from the more familiar mojito, to obscure variations on an herbaceous julep. Among the display of bottled bitters, there was one pear-shaped flagon of murky amber liquid that had a cobra, entwined with another small snake within the bottle's glass belly. Yes, for reals. We skipped a taste of that one, but we sampled a photo or two -- apologies for the seemingly drunken focus. A digital SLR, a digital SLR -- my kingdom for a DSLR!

Not to forget the solids to go with the liquids, the Martini Mafia sampled the nibble-worthy Sundried Pork and Beef and Thai Spiced Mixed Nuts from Naga's bar menu, and then indulged with the Crispy Garlic Chicken and some fried rice from their dining menu.

Yes, that's really a snake in a bottle. And yes, that's really chicken on the plate - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Chantanee was wise to bring in the wisdom of mixologist Andrew Bohrer to bless the Eastside with an amazing offering of drinks that I have never heard of, but want to get to know better. He also has an impressive blog, Caskstrength, which goes into great detail over the artistry and philosophy of life behind the bar. Cheers to Mr. Bohrer, Chantanee and Naga, as well as my Martini Mafiosos who could make it out for the night!