8oz Burger Bar, El Ten Eleven @ Neumos - Capitol Hill

Celebration week rolled around meaning it was time for Country Girl and I to get it poppin'.  As luck would have it, a band I've been a fan of for some years was playing at Neumos that Friday and the venue is near a new fav burger restaurant of ours.  Nothing says celebration to City Boy like din din and a show so away we went!

We've been to 8oz Burger Bar a couple of times.  It's relatively new, a smallish place with lots of dark wood paneling and a usually impressive beer list.  We first went courtesy of an online coupon and I was fortunately to sample their short rib topped burger (!!).  Yes, it's just as amazing as it sounds.  This trip,  I decided to go with one of their specials which was a turkey-duck combo patty topped with duck confit as I'm crazy about duck.  Country Girl had a beef patty topped with gouda, a fried green onion and bbq sauce.  We also had the fried green tomato appetizer.  Her burger was quite good while mine disappointed.  While the turkey duck combo was ok, it pales mightily in comparison to the high standard set by the short rib burger.  Also worth noting their beer list that evening left much to be desired.  Slate of almost exclusively ambers, pale ales and IPAs which is unfortunately common in Emerald City.  

El Ten Eleven is a two piece instrumental alt-rock band out of LA.  While familiar with their music for several years, I first watched a video of them performing a few days before the concert to show Country Girl what she was in for.  It was only then that I started to get an idea of just how talented they are.  The guitarist/bassist plays a double necked guitar/bass and records short loops of himself playing.  While playing the loop, he plays another, different rift over it and records that. Rinse and repeat.  In the meantime, the drummer plays a mind numbing number of electric and acoustic drums.  The end result being an incredibly lush, multi-layered, melodic sound that is absolutely infectious track after track.  Seeing this live kept our minds exploding and heads bobbing through the night.  Not only was the music incredible, their interaction with and appreciation of the audience was impressive as well.  Easily one of the best shows I've seen.  They're on tour now and highly recommend you check them out if they come to a city near you!

St John's Bar and Eatery - Capitol Hill

True story:  don't much remember about the circumstances that led us to St. John's Bar and Eatery.  I recall we were on Capital Hill looking for someplace to eat.  Think it was a weekend night as the first couple of places we went to were quite full and wait times up the yazoo.  St. John's was the third or so place we considered and as it had no wait at the time, it won.

It was somewhat spacious with a high ceiling.  While I don't recall the food specifically, good or bad, we both found the artwork of varying sizes covering the walls to be quite interesting.  Other recollections include the pleasant but slow server we had and that the sangria was quite tasty!

Pesto and Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Paired with sauteed kale and squash.  Oh my was it delicious.  Country Girl's culinary skillz know no end

Fiona Apple @ Benaroya Hall, Wann

Thanks to an online coupon, I got word  a while back that Fiona Apple would be performing an acoustic show at Benaryoa Hall in October.  Both Country Girl and I are big fans of her voice, though hadn't heard anything by her in probably the last 5+ years.  After giving her latest CD a spin, we decided she still sounds great and to check it out.  Good choice. 

Benaroya is where the Seattle Symphony performs and, as you may imagine, has wonderful acoustics.  Fiona sounded amazing and her supporting band did as well.  Her mannerisms on stage and talks between songs lived up to her reputation as very...interesting!  All in all, great show. 

Afterwards, we headed to Wann, a Japanese small plate restaurant (izakaya) near downtown, to take advantage of their late happy hour.  We've been to Wann a number of times and it never fails to deliver loads of tasty treats and booze at very competitive prices.  Banner night all the way around.

Bumbershoot 2013

Bumbershoot rocks all Labor Day weekend long in the Emerald City.  I've attended earlier editions a couple of times and had great times.  While there were only three bands playing there that I wanted to see this year, they luckily all played on the same day.  Country Girl, because she's awesome, was down from the jump even though she wasn't familiar with two of the groups.  Though we only ended up seeing two of the bands, had to deal with a nonsensical in/out policy and an even more nonsensical beer garden entrance policy (wrist bands, you say?  Oh no, you'll need to stand in line and show your ID every time you'd like to enter), we both had a blast.

Both Mates of States and The Breeders brought the heat and put on great sets.  The weather was stellar and we even got to eat at one our fav Japanese places for dinner between bands.  An added bonus was seeing Beats Antique put on quite the spectacle on our way out.

Ruby Trout

Stopped by our local fishmonger with hopes of getting a whole fish to grill a couple of weeks back, only to be told there were no whole varieties available that day.  As a consolation with left with some ruby trout and it ended up a great choice.  A little salt and pepper, some olive oil and it was ready to go.  Grilled up great in a few minutes and paired lovely with cous cous and brussels sprouts.

Maui

Omg, so much fun!  Can't wait to go back. 

Yes, that is in fact a goat on a leash!

Beach Wedding Achievement? Unlocked!

Lost Pelican, Sarajevo Lounge - Belltown

A few weeks back, Country Girl and I hit two new firsts for us in Belltown.  We had an online coupon to the Lost Pelican and sauntered over to nearby Sarajevo Lounge afterwards.

The Lost Pelican is a newish, small plate southern themed restaurant.  Not sure how long it's been open but the growing pains were abundant during our visit.  They were woefully understaffed and service took quite a while.  Our server was friendly enough when she was around but the wait for service as well our order was slow, slow, slow.  Once the food arrived, it was mostly pretty good.  We had the friend green tomatoes, some sort of pasta dish and duck breast.  The duck was excellent as was the pasta.  The tomatoes were ok though not crispy enough for my liking.

After our meal, we crossed the street to check out Sarajevo Lounge for a pint.  We were fortunate enough to stop by on a day they had live music.  The band was lots of fun and played with loads of energy. Killing it song after song playing lots of  favorites (presumably) from the old country.  Unfortunately, the old country beers didn't deliver as well as the band.  One was decent, the other not so much.  Despite this, Sarajevo Lounge was a lot of fun and we'll likely go back again to cheer on the band.

Country Son Rocking Out

Country Son has played percussion in his school band the past couple of years.  He's recently taking more a liking to it and diligently practices daily.  The clip is from his spring concert where he's killing it on the snare.

Country Daughter Swim Meet

Country Daughter showed off her swim skills at a recent meet.  She collected several ribbons and was very pleased with her performance.  Meanwhile, Country Girl beamed with pride.  The video is from her leg of the 100 IM where she swam the butterfly.

Country Girl Rocks

and Rolls, it's true!  She did so recently at the Rock n' Roll half marathon.  Couldn't be prouder this guy. 

CSS Show - Columbia City Theater

CSS, my fav Brazilian indie electro-pop band, was in town recently and ripped it crazy nice.  They were originally scheduled to play at a larger venue and were shifted to the Columbia City Theater after tickets didn't go like hot cakes.  Although Columbia City is home to my fav taco bus (Tacos El Asadero), it's deep in the south end and and I don't get there often.  Accordingly, I hadn't previously been to its theater.  First times a charm as I came away impressed.  It's small at a 300 person capacity and laid out very well.  More long than wide, the GA area is in front of and below the stage.  Raised up a few steps behind just GA is the bar area.  Being about the same height as the stage, this area provides unobstructed views of the stage and works out very well.  

The show, you ask?  Loads of fun, high energy songs and dancing all around was the end result.  Country Girl, who hadn't previously heard of them, also gave the show high marks.  Highly recommend you check them out if they're in your town. 

Magnuson Picnic

On a recent Sunday, Country Girl, I and the fam took advantage of the sun and headed to Magnuson park on the scenic shores of Lake Washington for some outside fun.  After packing a picnic with a strong assist from Country Daughter, off we went.  

Tennis was played, kites were flown and most importantly, sandwiches were eaten.  High jinks ensued and everyone had a ball.

One-Dish Rockfish

A while back, I took advantage of a buy one, get one free coupon for rockfish at our neighborhood, leafy suburban market.  The internet yielded a "One Dish Rockfish Recipe" that looked intriguing (and most importantly, easy enough for City Boy to handle). 

Overall, I thought it turned out well.  Fish was very tender, flavorful and the dish turned out looking quite nice.  I read in some of the recipe comments that the using the recommended amount of broth results in a soup-like finish.  I halved it and still encountered the same problem. Other than upping the garlic (obviously), I followed the recipe.  Next time, would further reduce the broth and add chili pepper flakes.

After

Before

Patty's Eggnest and Turkey House, Kubota Gardens, El Malecon

Country Girl and I had a fine Sunday a couple weekends back visiting a new breakfast place in the neighborhood, made a trip to the south end to visit a Japanese garden and topped it off with a margarita pit stop downtown.

Patty's Eggnest is a local chain of breakfast spots and one opened near our neck of the 'burbs recently.  We stopped by to give it a look see and mostly liked what we saw.  It's quite spacious and full of natural light.  The prior tenant was a bar and grill of sorts and while the bar is still there, no booze was available on our visit (boo).  The food, however, delivered heat.  Country Girl had a fruit waffle with their fancy devonshire cream and she had high praise for it.  I had their Irish eggs benedict which comes with corned beef under poached eggs with hollandaise.  Never had anything like it and will certainly try it again.

After breakfast, it was off to the Kubota Gardens in Ranier Beach.  It was the first visit there for both of us and we came away impressed.  It's a 4 1/2 acre garden over varying elevation complete with a stream, a couple of bridges and a couple of ponds.  Lots of colorful plants and flowers and very well manicured.  There's also a stone garden that's pretty neat.  Despite being pretty far south, well worth the trip. 

After the garden, we headed downtown to walk along the waterfront.  While getting on stroll on there, a tout was kind enough to let us know about inexpensive margaritas at a Mexican place not too far away.  We decided to check it out and sure enough, margaritas were available in abundance.  Turns out it was Cinco de Mayo and it was a lively affair at El Malecon.  In addition to lots of revelers, there was also a couple doing some traditional Mexican dancing from time to time.  Though a bit inattentive at times, the bartender was quite friendly when around.  After a couple margaritas and a brief chat with the most interesting man in the world, it was time to head home.  Another exciting outing with Country Girl in the books.