Bread & Bubbly Supper Club: Part 2

We hosted our 2nd Bread & Bubbly Supper Club last Friday, and invitations just may have been even more intriguing than the first event ---

(The invitation front)

(and back)

It started more delicately than raw steak. 20 guests sampled Julia Child's Moules a la Marinaire & our selected House Champagne (see previous post about Supper #1) & House Bread from Le Panier.

We fenced everyone outside on the front deck, near the champagne and freshly picked blackberries

with great music and a teaser of the menu to come.

Guests took numbers to mark & claim their meat, knowing that in a few minutes we were going to escort them down to the local organic butcher to select their meal.

Little did they know the table (set with butcher paper and dahlias) was ready for them in the back yard.

(Or maybe The Non-Scotsman knew, as he had helped set up the French lights)

Hugs were shared,

Expressions were outrageous,

and new friends were made.
A movie star even happened in for a moment to check out the scene...

AND THEN WE MARCHED....

STAGGERED...PARADED...

STROLLED...FROLICKED...

Our way down to the shop of Bill the Butcher.

The very-knowledgable Ross gave us a "Meat 101" lecture, convinced us all that Terus Major is a much under-appreciated cut of meat, and sold it us us by the pound.

Once back in the kitchen, Rebecca proceeded to make the most divine Summer Creamed Corn from Thomas Keller to go with our house-made truffle fries, Caesar salad, and big wines.

We found ourselves out back, Phil manning the grill, wine in our glasses, friends at our sides.

The lights grew brighter and we feasted like kings. Carnivorous kings.

Ampersands & Ampersands

The stewardess was giving me sharp, directed looks to turn off my iPod – but I was torn between disturbing her authority and finishing Ray LaMontagne’s new album. His music is an enchanted wood, but a dirty wood – maybe somewhere between Grangeville & Knoxville.

And the thing I couldn’t get over was the ampersand (&). The title is : God Willing & the Creek Don't Rise.

But this is not about the music. This is about the album title - the AMPERSAND.

Nothing says “I’m starting a cool business,” “opening a trendy restaurant,” or making stylin’ music” like an ampersand (&). It’s a ticket to the inside track.

Think about it, just here in Seattle:

- Needle & Thread (pre-prohibition upstairs room of Tavern Law that serves cocktails out of this vast array of bowl-style champagne glasses)

- Emmer & Rye

- Sway & Cake (Malibu-like boutique on 5^th)

- Anchovies & Olives (another of Ethan Stowell’s babies on Capitol Hill)

- Flora & Henri (magical children’s boutique with Pima cotton folded like cacoons on the displays)

- The Walrus & the Carpenter (new oyster bar in Ballard)

A majority of the new Melrose Market:

Sitka & Spruce (ok, their bar just uses the apostrophe: Bar Ferd’nand)

Marigold & Mint

Calf & Kid

Anyway, you get the idea.

The Ampersand (&) really is this swirling bit of magic - so much better looking that the word “and” all spelled out to be exposed to the next thought.

I like it because it implies that there’s a tension going on. It’s not all just black, or white – it’s Black & White. There’s more than one story; it’s multi-dimensional. I also like it because when I bought my grandma’s 1996 Forest Green GMC Jimmy for college, she gave me an Ampersand (&) keychain that I’ve kept ever sense. Grandma & Me.

A Dahlia named "Zorro"

I never imagined saying this, but "Thank God for the Puget Sound Dahlia Association!" I discovered their handiwork on a run through Volunteer Park a year ago, and have anticipated these blooms all year.

Like a multi-cultural festival, the Dahlia Garden celebrates an astonishing array of one species: every shape, color and size imaginable. The best part is, the Association names them all! There's even a "flower of the year" I wonder what they do with that fact? Bring it to the podium, rise in their chairs, and applaud it?

Last night I rushed to the park at dusk to take a few photos. 79 degrees outside, picnic'ers all around, and color everywhere.

The bees also found this garden.

And...perhaps my favorite name...

Can't you imagine them as creatures living deep in the bottom of the sea...