#1079 #S636 - Canlis, Seattle - 4/21/2010

While recently reading my copy of Bourbon Dandy, I realized that, while I'd eaten there a few times over the years, this list still lacked an entry for the bar at Canlis, and I'd never sampled their new cocktail menu.  With the stalwart aid of a couple thirsty friends, this was rectified last night.

Frankly, I'd love Canlis regardless of the food and drinks, as long as it preserved that great Pacifica-style cantilevered structure, the fine stone and cedar decor, and the excellent view.  But of course Canlis joints are renowned for their fine (and fairly pricey) food, and if that were not good enough, they've recently decided to put a renewed focus on upgrading their cocktail menu, under James Mac Williams.  Even the ice has been thoroughly upgraded, filtered multiple times, frozen with a Cryovac process to minimize gases, thawed, and refrozen, and arriving in your Old Fashioned in a magnificent tiny ice berg lodged to the bottom of your chilled glass.  I myself had an Our lady of Thermidor (strawberry infused vodka en sous vide, bitter lemon elixer, Champagne & a dash of Campari) which was good, and the l'Abbatoir d'Amour, which was excellent.  My friends were just as much impressed with their Manhattan and Old Fashioned.

If you're ready to drop some significant cash for dinner, you can count on Canlis to get it right, and you'll appreciate the famous extra touches -- the servers ironing the table cloths, the valets having your car waiting when you leave without ever taking your name or number, and the other small things that have made them the James Beard runner up for best service in the country a couple times. And I was pleased to see the Canlis family still not only operating, but taking a very active role -- a few questions to my server about some of the more tiki elements of the old days prompted a nice visit from Mark Canlis.

But even if you're on a tight budget you can still enjoy the decor -- you can do as we did this visit and just drop into the lounge for a couple cocktails.  They are a bit pricey ($12 to $18 for our choices), and you'll want to be a at least moderately dressy, even in the lounge.  But if you're in the mood for an upscale experience, Canlis delivers.

2576 Aurora Ave N., Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 283-3313                 
canlis.com - tiki central - seattle times - seattle pi - yelp -
(Props to Russell at Bourbon Dandy, and Mimi and her extensive collection of tiki menus and history.  Second image is a scan from "Chub" at TikiCentral.com, from the 1966 publication "Great Restaurants of the United States and their Recipes.")

#1078 #S635 - Flying Fish, Seattle - 4/21/2010

Update: In 2010 Flying Fish moved to a new location in South Lake Union. This space was subsequently occupied by Local 360.

As with most upscale restaurants, the bar at Flying Fish serves mostly the basics.  But they do feature a small list of more original cocktails, and I had a very fine "First And Bell" (Ransom Old Tom Gin, Vya Sweet Vermouth, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur).

Historical notes:  This location has housed bars since the 19th century, and the current building, constructed in 1930, housed the Liberty Tavern from the 40s into the 80s.

2234 1st Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 728-8595
Est. 1995 - Moved out: 2010 - Building constructed: 1930

flyingfishrestaurant.com - facebook - seattle times - seattle pi -  yelp

The Ditto (AKA Writer Boy's Ditto Tavern), Seattle - 9/6/1986

This is an entry on bar already counted in the starting list for this project.

For a good period and particularly in 1986 and several years following, Richard Pauletti's hole in the wall under the monorail, the Writer Boy's Ditto tavern, was the most dependable venue in Seattle for interesting, alternative live music.  Such venues were rare in Seattle in the 80s.  Most bars featured cover bands playing Beatles medleys, while more original, cutting edge music had two mainstays in the Central Tavern and The Vogue (on weekdays), were temporarily joined by a churn of less consistent and/or shorter lived venues like Scoundrel's Lair, Squid Row, Gorilla Gardens, Club Fiasco, The Boom Boom Room, etc. etc.)  In the mid 80s, the prevailing punk and art band ethic at the Ditto and alternative bands like Pure Joy and Chemistry Set started to make way for what we would later call "grunge."  (I distinctly remember the first time I saw a band with hippy-like long hair at the Ditto -- though I can't remember which one it was -- and wondering how in the hell they even got in.)

I started seeing bands like Green River, Skinyard, Sound Garden and later Nirvana, playing the Ditto along with a huge assortment of alternative groups like Vexed, Melting Fish, Handful of Dust, Bundle of Hiss, and Weather Theater.  While I confess to seeing little of this myself, the Ditto also catered to a poetry crowd.  In additions to readings and slams there were a few typewriters in the place, including one bolted to the ceiling.  For a small, divey place, the Ditto had a wide selection of beers on tap, well before the craft beer heyday.  If the bands were playing, it was easy to find, but visually it had little hint of it's existence beyond the neon " sign in the window.  The Ditto lasted from 1986 to 1998.

Richard Pauletti