#3387 - Finca La Roja, Vinales, Cuba - 11/3/2017

After a few excellent days in Havanna, Trista and I and the other six friends on our Cuba trip piled into a huge, classic "taxi colectivo" and rode for three hours to Vinales in the province of Pinar del Rio, the westernmost and most rural province of Cuba and source of the finest tobacco in the world. Just outside of Vinales we spotted the "Finca la Roya" ("red farm") bar and restaurant, which seemed impossibly romantic, with its thatched roofed barns and homes amidst the rolling, lush landscape, limestone "mogote" mounds in distance, and a man plowing the rich red soil behind to oxen. We would be back.

So after settling down in our "casa particular" and spending the first evening in the town of Vinales, the following day we rented scooters and headed out for parts unknown, but not most definitely to include tracking back to Finca la Roya for a cocktail and lunch. We were the only customers and the open patio gave us some great views of the valley and, much to Trista's happiness, a menagerie of chickens, ducks, dogs and more critters.

The drinks and food were pretty good, but our favorite part of the visit was the setting and the family, including when 3rd generation tobacco farmer Don Alfredo, who spoke no English, led us down into the barn and demonstrated his artisan cigar rolling skills. But then again this is one of the places where nothing I could write could possibly add much meaningful description to the pictures.

Dan Afredo, rolling a cigar for us (Trista photo)

KM 24 Carretera a Vinales, Vinales 22400, Cuba - +53 48 69539

#3128 - Daphnes Bar, Edmonds, WA - 12/22/2016

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted about this lovely bar before now, but in the meantime it has only strengthened its position as probably my favorite bar in the greater Seattle area. As anyone who has ever been there will know, this is largely due to the tiny, intimate space, partially to the reliably fine cocktails produced, and in no small part due to the rollicking character of its star bartender Desmond "Dez" van Rensburg.

There is no pining about the "Seattle Freeze" in Daphnes. If you're one of the dozen or so people to get a seat in the tiny 250' square former barber shop tucked within the 1923 Edmonds Theater building, you're not only elbow to elbow with other patrons, you are quickly pulled into the conversation, likely introduced to the others, and perhaps given a nickname (I was "Big Dog"). At times it can feel like tiny local joint off a side street in Paris, and at other times like you are joining a rickety traveling carnival. And it certainly doesn't hurt that the cocktail menu always features a few of my favorites (Old Pal, Negroni, Corpse Reviver #2, Sazerac) and anything you order is well made.

If you're visiting or living in Seattle, it's easy to overlook Daphnes, some 15 to 20 miles or so out of town -- and that's fine with me as it keeps the frequently full space from being completely overrun. And I am certainly not beyond choosing a route home on our road trips that includes the Edmonds ferry, simply because it affords a stop there.

Daphnes was opened in 2006 by Brian Taylor and Louise Favier, who have also owned other restaurants in western Washington (Jack Murphy's, Daphnes Fairhaven) and in New York (Pencil Factory Bar). They moved back to New York in the summer of 2013, and sold all Washington businesses except Daphnes Edmonds. I fervently hope that the bar, and Dez, continue on for many, many years.

415 1/2 Main St, Edmonds, WA 98020                                             
Est. 2006 - Building constructed: 1923
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: heraldnet - komonews - heraldnet - seattlerealestatehelp - yelp - tripadvisor - culturetrip - myedmondsnews  

#3801 - Croke Park (Whitey's), Boston, MA - 6/24/2019

Danny and Danny at Whitey's / Croke Park, Boston MA

In preparing for a visit to Boston I'd read about at least three bars that were touted as the best dive bar in the city, and at Croke Park, AKA Whitey's, in Southie, I finally believed it.

The first "testimonial" cited on the bar's own web site begins this way:

"I don’t want to say this is the worst bar in the world because I’ve never been to places like Bangladesh, Rwanda, or Haiti. But I can say with 100% certainty that this place is, by far, the worst bar in Boston. I’ve been to crackhouses where I’ve felt safer. Also, that had less crack. Seriously, at no point did I feel like I wasn’t about to be stabbed by the locals."

I was not there at a time of day where I would enjoy that sort of scene, but it still impressed me as a welcome dive, with the sort of character accrued over time, and a few characters who provided lively conversation. In particular I met two fellows named Danny, both locals, both born in Ireland, and one of them the owner of the bar. Owner Danny had a very different worldview from mine, but that didn't stop us from having a quite enjoyable -- and fairly long -- bar conversation. Indeed, I went well beyond my planned one drink when customer Danny kept buying another round because he wanted to see the conversation continue.

As expected from a classic dive, the bartenders deliver generous pours for an inexpensive price, and while the exterior features a surprisingly fresh coat of paint, inside the walls are covered with the names of doodles of patrons over the years. I don't know if they like this or not, but Esquire named it one of the top bars in the country. If you like true dive bars with a rugged personality this is a must stop when you are in the area.

268 W Broadway, Boston, MA 02127 - (617) 606-5971                              
Web site: crokeparkwhiteys.com
Articles: onlyinyourstate - esquire - yelp - timeout - bostonherald - roadtrippers - universalhub - universalhub - lonelyplanet - eater - nytimes

#3041 - M T Saddle, Shoup, ID - 8/20/2016

Note: After a long time with blog posts lagging behind bar visits, I've recently gone about 9 months without posting a blog entry, and I am now 1,154 bars behind. I do plan to resume blog posts, but since I don't know when (or if) I will catch up on all bars, I'm going to take a different approach. Rather than always posting in the order I visited bars, I will now be posting which ever I feel like doing next, which should enable me to catch up on at least the most interesting (at least to me) bars. The order and dates I actually visited the bar will still be reflected in the titles.

First hint of the M.T. Saddle Saloon

With that said, I had to resume these posts with what may now be my very favorite bar,  the M-T Saddle Saloon, near, Shoup, Idaho. I was not sure we'd actually reach this one, as it is 13 miles down a single lane dirt road along a river, and my car is the furthest thing from an offroad vehicle. There were a few hints of this on the internet from hikers and hunters, including a photo from just the year before my trip, so we were optimistic as we turned off Highway 93 and headed west along the Salmon River. 18 miles later we arrived in the old mining town of Shoup, which actually had human residents and an active business the past few years, but that all ended when the Shoup Store, with its antique gas pumps and beer guzzling salmon sculpture, closed down last November. From Shoup the pavement ends, but the one-lane dirt road is fairly wide and in good shape. While not seeing any humans, we passed deer and ospreys, yellow cliffs and desert bighorn sheep. Approximately 13 miles down the dirt road to seemingly nowhere, we spotted a faded plywood sign for the M-T Saddle, and shortly thereafter, there, almost miraculously, it stood.

The saloon was opened by Mike Tibbits in the mid 70s (his initials forming half of the double entendre of the establishment's name). The presiding bartender was a perfectly grizzled character named "Oly." The taps were inoperable, but the refrigerator was stocked with cold, cheap beer and sodas. The saloon, with a couple other buildings on the lot, was crammed full of dusty photos, paintings, and artifacts. One of the locals told me that Tibbits had a plan to create an entire little ghost town block, but that plan seems to have been abandoned. There are few hints of the bar's existence from outside the lot itself, and we chatted with some semi-locals who had just stumbled upon it that day after deciding to just head down that road to see what's at the end of it. You might imagine their surprise. In my own search for "hidden gems" of bars around the northwest, it will be difficult to top this one.

Bartender Oly

A few road obstacles on the way

3431 Salmon River Rd, Shoup, Idaho                               
Est. 1970s
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook (unofficial)
Other: Idaho State Police Preliminary Order

#2688 - Raging River Cafe and Club, Fall City, WA - 1/11/2015

Located in a strip mall across the street from the Snoqualmie River, the Raging River Cafe and Club is known most for its old school diner style breakfasts. But it also has a bar section, with an almost fern-bar style, rectangular bar -- wines and spirits behind glass up top, and river rock below -- which caters to a lively, dive-bar sort of crowd.

33719 Redmond-Fall City Rd SE, Fall City, WA 98024 - (425) 222-6669
Est. year - Building constructed: 1956
Previous bars in this location: Sportsman's Cafe
Web site: theragingrivercafeclub.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor - beeradvocate - untappd 

#2687 #S1304 - Agave Cocina and Tequilas, Seattle - 1/6/2015

Sitting along with a number of other restaurants in a clutch of condos in the shadow of the Space Needle, Agave is a local mini-chain of modernized Mexican restaurants owned by Federico Ramos, with sister restaurants in Issaquah and Redmond. Frederico is said to have designed the fixtures and ironwork himself, and to accompany the food he built the largest selection of 100% agave tequilas in the Pacific Northwest.

I will have to be more adventurous in future visits, but in this one I was inclined toward the margarita with jalapeno and cilantro. I like both the food and drinks and a bonus was sassy bartender Katie K.

100 Republican Street #100, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 420-8195
Est. May 3, 2014 - Building constructed: 2012
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: agavecocina.com - facebook
Reviews: eater - worldsbestbars - thestranger - yelp - tripadvisor  

#2686 #S1303 - Bitter Raw, Seattle - 1/6/2015

After a working tour of Japan, New York, and San Francisco, John Sundstrom returned to Seattle and started collecting recognition from James Beard and others at places like Dahlia Lounge, Carmelita, and Earth & Ocean, before opening cozy Lark on Capitol Hill in 2003. Eleven years later he moved Lark to a much larger room to in a 1917 warehouse, which had enough room on the upper floor to create a comfortably dark second bar, Bitter/Raw. The focus is shellfish, chacuterie, and fancy, raw, small plates, and while oysters are a little too raw and bitter for my tastes, it's a quite nice location for light bites and fine cocktails.

952 E Seneca St, 2nd floor, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 323-5275
Est. Dec 4, 2014 - Building constructed: 1917
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: larkseattle.com - facebook
Reviews: seattlemet - yelp - seattleweekly - restaurantguru