Recent Stories in Bar

Time keeps ticking along, and that means that somehow, though it seems the cozy little bar on Madison just opened its doors, The Bottleneck Lounge is celebrating its third birthday. This past year has brought some changes to the bar, with their expansion into what used to be a barbershop next door, and their latest cocktail menu debuted just last week.  But that kind of change and renewal is all part of growing up.

Tonight's their big birthday party and everybody's invited.  Starting at 8 p.m., there'll be cocktails galore ($1 off everything on the Hair of the Dog Menu) and Skyy Vodka specials all night, not to mention $3 glasses of champagne for the first hour.  Come for the drinks and stay for the party favors--while you're there, be sure to entire to win prizes, including a night's stay at the Ace Hotel in Portland. 

And if you can't make it tonight, no worries; just stop by the Bottleneck tomorrow for the Oscars and wish them many returns.

You can almost smell the Fernet Branca.

I made it into Tavern Law for the first, belated time last night. The neo-speakeasy with an "encyclopedic drink menu" opened back in August 2009, but I get grouchy in crowds of sightseers, so I kept putting off a visit. That may have been a mistake. Their cocktail list makes for fine reading, and the talent behind the bar is first-rate.

I've been on a Fernet Branca jag for about a year and a half now--purely medicinal--so I asked barman David Nelson for a Kemper House cocktail to begin with. It's a lighter take on Fernet Branca--whose  secret ingredients Jamie Boudreau says include "myrrh, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, gentian, and peppermint [...] definitely saffron"--that in a solicitous way restrains rather than amplifies the crush of bitter flavor.

After a plate of roasted brussel sprouts and turnips (a vegetarian dish, in my mind, with the bacon just as a garnish), I asked David for something else in the Fernet Branca line, adding that I was a fan, by way of encouraging him to throw some high heat.

He delivered a drink in a highball glass, manly looking below (glaciers of ice in a dark, molasses-looking liquid) with a movable feast on top (two dark cherries and an orange twist). Ingredients: Fernet Branca, angostura bitters, rum (Blackstrap?), simple syrup. In theory we were in line for the clandestine upstairs bar, but after we had received our second round of drinks, we all agreed we were not leaving the downstairs bar while David was there.

I didn't recognize the concoction, but I knew I wanted to order it again. I called Zig Zag's Ben Dougherty later to pick his mind about its provenance. "Sounds like a rum version of the Toronto," was his near-instantaneous verdict. This means that I will have to try the Toronto (rye instead of rum) as well. Well, the work is never done.

+Russ brings us this portrait of a statue at Lake View Cemetery. Fresh from our Flickr pool--which is where your photos of Seattle should go, too. Join in!

Much in the way that Christians gather at church on Sunday morning to refresh their connection with God, our city's expatriates gather on Sunday mornings at bars to refresh their connection with their place of origin. The vehicle: Rooting on their hometown NFL team.

I arrived at Bill's Off Broadway around 10 a.m. to find a table of four Indianapolis Colts fans, two tables of Green Bay Packers fans, a Broncos fan, and a Bears fan. All were easily identifiable by their team-specific clothing.

There was also a guy watching the Baltimore/Detroit game. Didn't see what he was wearing, but as I didn't hear much cheering from him, and Baltimore won 48-3, I assume he's a Lions fan. (Poor Lions fans may actually have forgotten how to cheer at this point. When the team gets good again they'll probably shred their atrophied vocal cords attempting to elate.)

I was there to watch my Seahawks, and it soon became clear that these Seahawks are so irredeemably horrible that they can't even compete with the Houston Texans. A...

A wacky wordsmith had his or her way with the awning of Ballard's Bit Saloon :

I've heard a completely unsubstantiated rumor that Barrio--the upscale Mexican-meets-Northwest restaurant/bar from the same folks who run Purple--is not doing so well in this economy.  Don't know if it's true (hence the "unsubstantiated"), but it makes sense, in this economy.  (I'm betting that is the three-word phrase employed most in 2009...in this economy.)

Anyways, that might explain why the Capitol Hill and Bellevue Barrio locations have brought back their popular $5 margarita, as well as expanded their happy hour times and menu.  (Not to mention the other good deals: half-price bottles of wine on Sundays and half-price tequila on Mondays.)  Full list of happy hour eats and drinks after the jump....

Bartenders come and go, it's in their often footloose nature, but you expect a physical bar (not the building, but where you belly up) to stay put. The back bar at Tini Bigs made its home in a seafaring city, though, and it is a voyager. 100 years old, it was built in 1909 by Brunswick-Balke-Collender (you pool sharks may know them more briefly as simply Brunswick) in Dubuque, Iowa.

The reclaimed-wood and mirror bar first took up residence at the Watertown Tavern (at First and Bell). Tini Bigs founder Keith Robbins rescued it when Watertown closed, stashing it away until 1990. After he opened The Romper Room, the adjacent space became available, and he finally had a place to install his treasure: Tini Bigs Lounge.

If you're not of a nostalgic or historical bent, you can still profit from the centenary. Tonight from 6 p.m. until close, Tini Bigs is celebrating with drink specials and hoopla: Tini Bigs "10-ounce" Finlandia martinis are $4.50, the West Village Manhattan cocktail is $5.50, and Stella beers are a...

By "try," I mean, try it out and report back. All I have to go on is a seductively priced list of wines by the glass from a press release. Here are the relevant details: Twisted Cork's happy hour is daily from 3 to 6 p.m. Draft beers are just $4 a pint, but of course you came for the half-off glasses of wine. Well, and perhaps a $1.95 oyster shooter. The Angus white-cheddar cheeseburger ($5.95) might quell a more substantial appetite. (They're doing something right over there at Twisted Cork because they won a 2008 Award of Ultimate Distinction from Wine Enthusiast.)

Featured White ($4.5)
Gloria Ferrer ‘Va de Vi’ Extra Dry Sonoma, Calif. ($3.75)
2007 Cooper Mountain Pinot Gris Reserve Willamette, Ore. ($4.25)
2006 Cedergreen Sauvignon Blanc Columbia Valley, Wash. ($4.5)
2006 Chateau St. Michelle Cold Creek Chardonnay Columbia Valley, Wash. ($8)
2006 Jordan Chardonnay Russian River, Calif. ($9)

Featured Red ($4.5)
2006 Louis Latour ‘Valmoissine’ Pinot Noir Provence, France ($4.75)
2006 Mark...

Since getting introduced to it a couple weeks ago when a friend from out-of-town with a taste for elaborate cocktails dragged me to the Knee High Stocking Co. , Seattle's speakeasy-themed bar at Bellevue Ave. and Olive on Capitol Hill, it seems like Cynar (pronounced, apparently, with a ch sound at the beginning) is popping up everywhere. Either it's the hot new liqueur in town, or I've been operating with blinders on. It's on the  shelf at Cafe Presse and just got picked up at Solo Bar & Gallery in Lower Queen Anne, to name only two I can verify.

So the question is, what exactly is it and what do you do with it? The answer to the first is: it's an Italian liqueur in the same vein as Campari (which for many drinks it can be used as a substitute to different but functional effect) or St. Germain or any of a variety of other herbal liqueurs that have picked up a bit of cache of late. Cynar is made from 13 separate ingredients, but the one everyone always mentions is the artichoke. Fortunately, it does...

The BottleNeck Lounge has expanded, but it still remains cozy as ever. The always-friendly Central District bar has moved into the former barbershop space next door, and Thursday's their post-construction party from 8pm-midnight. (Don't worry; they kept the barbershop chairs for your sitting pleasure.) 

Check out the photos of the new digs and join the fun tomorrow night.

Come join us for The BottleNeck Expansion Bash!

Thursday, Sept. 3 from 8 PM–Midnight

No Cover (of course)

The dust has cleared, the paint has dried (well, almost) and The BottleNeck is celebrating its expansion into the Red Carpet Room, the barber shop right next door.  Kick back in the vintage Koken barber chairs and enjoy flutes of champagne for just $4 all night.  We’re the same great bar–excellent tunes, killer cocktails, local beers on tap–but now everyone can find a place to sit!