The one local bit I remember was the “Phantom Diner.” He’d go into restaurants and do the full top to bottom shake-down. Nobody knew he was (Except his editor, I guess) and as a result, no one could prepare for him. I always thought the idea of mystery shopping and the ilk would be… well, kinda keen.

Now, I’m of two minds when it comes to reviewing food. Personally, I could stand to loose a pound or two.. or…well maybe 10. But that having been said; I’d like to point out one place that you really need to try.

Hidden under the bridge and around the corner off Lake Union is a restaurant called Ivar’s Salmon House. Now, the real secret to Ivar’s is not merely it’s tricky to find location, but it’s amazing Happy Hour menu. With everything from Salmon Skewers to Salmon Tacos, this lakeside experience is worth every penny.

Those pennies are even more worthy when you learn that just about everything on the Happy Hour menu is only $2.95. We fed three people thoroughly on about $21 dollars. The menu will definitely please, the lakeside dining is zen-like and… well the decor… A touch of Native American with a surprise in the bar that will teach you once and for all that Walruses are not the best endowed of the mammals. (Remnants of whale form the corner “posts”)

Check them out at http://www.ivars.net

Happy dining.

It looks like I’ll be setting up shop in a little corner of the Seattle Metblog so I figure this would be a good place to give you an idea what my little workshop looks like and why I put it here.

I am a recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest. I move here by way of 5 years in Los Angeles, 2 in San Diego, 15 in Pittsburgh, 15 in Philadelphia, with just a touch of New York City, and 8 1/2 months where I was temporarily insane and felt Baton Rouge would be a good idea. Yup, mamma raised me to be on of them thar city fell’rs. (Please tell me I needn’t flavour with well placed ‘sic’ markers)

What this translates to is that this venue will be as much a learning process for me as I figure out everything from the mundane veterinarian all the way to the strangest underground dive. Oh, and you’re gonna get a look into the casinos of the Pacific Northwest. I’m no Wil Wheaton, but I think I could take him heads up. Yeah, we can consider this a challenge.

So, I start with a reflection on Snohomish’s (how does one apply possessive to a town ending in ‘ish’) Kla-Ha-Ya days. I will not dare to try to give the origin or history of this event. Google search has yielded very little. So, I have a new project. What I can tell you is that KHYd is a weekend transformation of the historic district of Snohomish into the street fair that you wish every town had. It’s the street fair you seen in the movies. The one where you watch twirlers flip, drop, and retrieve batons and it’s all okay.

Having moved to Snohomish only a few weeks ago, I learned quickly about this impending event. Since I live in the historic district, I knew it would effect me when the street outside my front door was marked no parking for parade setup. And when the 4H has 8 horses in front of your house Saturday morning, you take notice. Happily the street behind my house was on the parade route, so we had grandstand style seating.

KHYd comes complete with all the trimmings, A carnival in the park at the edge of town, soapbox races, street vendors, and of course, frog jumping competitions. Okay, even in L.A. and Pgh, I’d seen most of the trappings of a street fair/farmer’s market. Nothing, however, could prepare me for real, live, authentic frog jumping.

With four blocks of the front street shut down, two circles approximately 20 feet in diameter had been cordoned off. One gentleman would spray the area inside each circle assumably to keep it moist. Each circle had a cylindrical bin. This was frog storage. Kids would fill out a form, but a large foam frog on their head, and enter the ring. The rules were simple: No yelling, stomping, or making noise. You could use a feather (which just seems… well, wrong) or a squirt bottle of water. The frog would hopefully take a few jumps, and then volunteers would bring out the tape measure.

Of course your average hopper was a touch unstrung. Hopping several times and then even more to avoid being retrieved. One wart-magnet (yes, I know) effectively suffered from performance anxiety. No matter what the child tried it simply sat like a bump on a log. And happily a make a saving throw and do not reference puns about croaking.

All in all, a weekend more than worth the visit. Granted, I was lucky. I had a garage within a block of the fair. Many area were charging $5 for parking. For more info on the event and to get psyched for next year… See the website at: http://www.klahayadays.com

Next time… questing for the perfect NLHE game.

(93s)