#2510 #S1243 - Red Cow, Seattle - 4/1/2014

Red Cow, Seattle, WA

Red Cow is the 9th restaurant in the mini empire of local chef Ethan Stowell, and this one focuses on steak frites: "Red Cow is Steak Frites in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood. A classic French brasserie featuring housemade charcuterie, local shellfish, a full bar, and a robust offering of steak to choose from." Of course they can emphasize the frites, but the price and the pleasure of the dishes is defined by your choice of meat cuts, from a hanger steak option ($24) to Wagyu ribeye ($60). And as you would expect from a Stowell joint, there are some finely made cocktails as well (though I have lost my notes on my drinks that night).

1423 34th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 454-7932                    
Est. Feb 10, 2014 - Building constructed: 1904
Previous bars in this location: June, Restaurant Bea
Web site: ethanstowellrestaurants.com - facebook 
Articles ranked: seattletimes - thestranger - seattlemag - seattleweekly - seattlemet - haveyoueaten - eater - eater - centraldistrictnews - yelp - tripadvisor - thrillist

#2509 #S1242 - Brimmer & Heeltap, Seattle - 4/25/2014

After popular Le Gourmand and Sambar eventually closed in this quirky Ballard location far from the center of gravity of Ballard eating and drinking, the neighbors did not have to wait long for it to once again host one of Seattle's top rated restaurants. Jen Doak  (Agrodolce, Tilth, Taste) and Mike Whisenhunt (Barking Frog, Lark, Joule, Revel) teamed up to provide inventive new dishes -- the kind that commonly include phrases like "topped with a walnut seaweed crumble and sherry-caramel glaze." (1) And they didn't ignore the cocktail side, bringing in first Jeff Steiner and later Brian Hibbard to provide the same sort of balanced inventiveness to the drink options. It's particularly attractive in the warmer months, since they inherited a nifty hidden patio, opened both sides to much more light, and recently added additional outdoor seating options.

Oh yes, and the name combines terms for a drink poured all the way to the brim, and the last little slurp at the bottom.

425 NW Market St, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 420-2534
Est. Jan 15, 2014 - Building constructed: 1926
Previous bars in this location: Sambar
Web site: brimmerandheeltap.com - facebook - blog
Articles ranked: seattlemet - hungrydogblog - eater - seattledining - seattlemag - eater - myballard - yelp - thestranger -

#2508 - Duvall Tavern, Duvall, WA - 4/24/2014

Duvall Tavern, Duvall, WA

About 15 miles northeast of Seattle as the crow flies sits the city of Duvall, homesteaded by loggers and Civil War veterans after the U.S. government filched the land from the ancestral Tulalip tribes. But the community really got going when the railroads moved the residents of the town of Cherry Valley here in 1909, to make way for a route through the original location half a mile to the south. Some of the buildings moved, including the Grange hall and Hix Market remain to this day. But perhaps the most famous event in Duvall history is the Great Piano Drop of 1968, when a standup piano was dropped from a helicopter before an outdoor concert featuring Country Joe and the Fish. The piano missed its target, but fortunately also missed the estimated 3,000 people attending. This event led to a series of multi-day, multi-band, Sky River Rock Festival outdoor concerts in nearby Sultan, featuring performers like the Grateful Dead, Santana, Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton and Richard Pryor, and which may have inspired the similar event at Woodstock.

Duvall Tavern, c.2012 - photo: Irwin Group

It is not known how many, if any, if the hippie concert attendees dropped by what was by then Duvall's oldest operating business, the Duval Tavern. The bar is said to have opened in 1934, shortly after prohibition ended, in a building constructed during prohibition next to the ramp to the old Stewart Street Bridge, although at that time was known as Myers Cafe and Tavern. I was attending shortly after the grand reopening June 27th under new ownership, after considerable spiffing up of the physical premises, beer choices, and menu.

While I personally may have prefered the divey biker's bar with its rock and fading wood exterior, the new, gentrified version appears to be doing a bustling business, accomodating a broad range of customers, and preserving artifacts of the old joint in everything from historic photos to hanging the old, heavily-carved table tops on the wall. My "Washington State Salad" was excellent, the burger was quite good, and the whole place was packed with happy locals of all ages.

The Great Duvall Piano Drop
Photo: Pat Dorpat

Duvall Tavern, Washington State Salad

15807 Main St NE, Duvall, WA 98019 - (425) 318-6277
Est. ? (1934 as Myers Cafe & Tavern) - Building constructed: 1931
Previous bars in this location: Myers Cafe & Tavern
Web site: duvalltavern.com - facebook
Reviews: heraldnet - roadtripreinvented - nwnews - yelp - tripadvisor - nwnews

#2507 #S1241 - Loulay, Seattle - 4/20/2014

Update: Already closed for a year due to COVID, Loulay announced their permanent closure Aug 9, 2021.

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I had only a light meal on this trip to Loulay, but it is owned and run by Seattle's trademarked "Chef in the Hat," Thierry Rautureau, who has a trail of awards from James Beard to Chevalier de l’Ordre Du Mérite Agricole to various Seattle restaurant/chef of the years blah-dy, blah-dy, blah, so you already know the food is good. This blog is here to tell you that it is also a fine stop in downtown Seattle for a good cocktail. Bartender Justin told us stories about lining up drinks at Rautureau's Luc, with bartenders contesting to make the cocktail menu of the new place.

Loulay, Seattle, WA

Rautureau apparently tired of the intimate locations on shady, neighborhoody streets, and moved into this huge, shiny space in a hotel in the middle of downtown, complete with massive mirrors to admire itself. It is named for his hometown in the Muscadet region of France. From there Thierry plied his trade in Normandy and the French Alps, before moving on to the quaint little American villages of Chicago and Los Angeles. Seattleites know him mostly for the highly regarded Rover's, which he closed a few years ago, and of course for the hat. There isn't a whole lot of bar here, but if you're waiting for a fine French meal or just nearby, it's one of your best options in the area for an interesting, nicely crafted cocktail.

Loulay, Seattle, 

600 Union St, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 402-4588
Est. Dec 4, 2013 - Closed Aug 9, 2021 - Building constructed: 1982
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: thechefinthehat.com - sheratonseattle.com - facebook 
Articles ranked: tastingbites - seattlemet - seattlemet - seattletimes - thestranger - edibleseattle - seattlemag - notesfromthenapkin - spoken-wheel - belltowninseattle - thestranger - eater - yelp - tripadvisor - thrillist

#2506 #S1240 - Always Happy Hour, Seattle - 4/19/2014

I gave this place 20% in my Probability of Making it Three Years (PMTY) estimate, and it appears to have closed sometime in 2015. The owner was quite a nice guy and they had cheap prices and free popcorn, which is always swell. But with a small number of beers, just 15 spirits, a rather hidden location and not much of a divey vibe, it was difficult to see many people coming here given all the choices in Fremont, even if there were several people here on this Saturday night.

3601 Fremont Ave N, Ste 207, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 634-3601
Est. 2014 - Building constructed: 1996 - Closed 2015?
Previous bars in this location: The Augustus, Rogue and Peasant
Reviews: yelp

#2505 #S1239 - The Blarney Stone, Seattle - 4/19/2014

In 2006 the Blarney Stone started out on the border between downtown and Belltown, seeming to fit into neither, but somehow managing to draw the sort of crowd you might expect in some place like Tukwila. Neither the down and out crowd that populated dives like Kelly's, nor the white collar patrons of a place like Suite 410, it seemed like a happy anomaly of a diverse, blue collar crowd in a suburban-feeling joint.

The new Blarney Stone fits much less surprisingly into its home. Totally rebuilding a long, narrow space formerly occupied by a 99 Cent store in a 1916 building, the newer version feels like it could have been here 100 years. A mix of regulars, tourists stumbling across the street from the Pike Place Market, and locals pre-funking for performances at The Showbox, this Blarney Stone is a tiny bit edgier, and would feel right at home on the streets of New York or Chicago. It's good for a beer or a whiskey, and if you must, you can order your  Corned Beef & Cabbage, Shepherd’s Pie, or Bangers & Mash.

Blarney Stone, Seattle, WA

1416 1st Ave, Seattle, Washington 98101 - (206) 448-8439
Est. March 17, 2014 - Building constructed: 1916
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: blarneystoneseattle.com - facebook
Reviews: seattleweekly - yelp - tripadvisor - thestranger

#2504 #S1238 - Dulces Bistro and Wine (Capitol Hill), Seattle - 4/15/2014

Update: This version of Dulces closed in August 2014.

After an 18-year run in Madrona, chef Julie Guerrero has had a series of shortlived attempts at restarting Dulces and her Latin spin on French and other European cuisines on the fringes of larger business districts. They were down in the original Wild Ginger location on Western, not quite on the beaten track for downtown, the waterfront, and the market. They had apparently been slated for the Joule building on Capitol Hill and then the space on Union were Restaurant Zoe has now faded to an event space. This space, at the base of a newish condo building not quite in Madrona and not quite in Capitol Hill seemed like another tough sell, a large space that seemed like it would have to generate a fairly substantial excitement for people to wander there, forgoing all the many other temptations just a few blocks east. The food was nice and different, the cocktails acceptable, and the wine list huge, but it seemed evident in my first visit that generating the necessary level of mindshare on the hill was unlikely (I put my Probability of Making it Three Years at 10% after this visit), and indeed they were closed four months after that. But here's hoping they find their niche again someday.


1818 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 557-7627
Est. Nov 8, 2013 (this location) - Closed Aug 2014 - Building constructed: 2012
Previous bars in this location: None - Subsequent bar: Thudsuan Kitchen and Bar
Reviews: capitolhillseattle - yelp - winemag