Buster Benson

A new cafe from the owners of Le Pichet looks very promising. They want it to be more of a conversational hang out than the dinner house that they believe Le Pichet has become. Here’s an excerpt from an article:

“In Seattle, when you get together with someone and want a drink, you say, ‘I know a great bar,’ but in Paris there’s the corner spot. The place you go for coffee and croissants in the morning, a drink or light lunch in the afternoon” and a bite to eat at night. That, he says, is what they’re aiming for at Café Presse. “We’ll have one menu all day long, so if you want steak frites at 9 in the morning or at 1 a.m., you can have it.” They’ll also sell magazines and newspapers (hence the “presse”), keep menu prices modest, offer his much beloved poulet rôti (whole roast chicken for two) to eat in or take-out, and stay open from early morning till the wee hours.

He and Herron hope that customers on Capitol Hill will use their new 70-seat cafe as they would the working-class neighborhood cafes in Paris. “We want to make it a comfortable space that will have a broad appeal to a lot of people,” he says, describing an “industrial” 2,200-square-foot space whose architectural features will including open beams and skylights.

From Café Presse to bring Parisian “corner spot” to Capitol Hill

This is only a couple of blocks from the Robot Co-op office, so I’m really looking forward to this place opening up.

This place is on the verge of opening. I just called Lark and they’ve informed me that Licorous is opening tonight at 6pm. Let’s go!

This is the Japanese ocean that replaces the Korean ocean that was here previously (Bada Lounge). The two places are hardly recognizeable as having occupied the same space. It’s amazing that the same owner created both. Here are my tips:

Get there a little early for dinner with a group of 5 or 6 people and take over the tatami-like bamboo room. Order some cold sake based on the server’s recommendation. Then, ask people how much sushi they want and simply place an order for the number of rolls you want and the number of pieces of sushi you want… let the chefs decide which rolls and which sushi. Finally, use your hands to describe a scale between conservative sushi adventure and outrageous sushi adventure (indicating, of course, that you want outrageous sushi adventure), and wait patiently, sipping cold sake and talking about the last time you cried. The following hour and a half will be truly tasty.

BAD americanos.

I never would’ve guessed that this hidden little place in the Broadway Market would prove so delicious! I had a wonderful rice hot pot with vegetables, beef, and an egg in a stone pot. Eric had an octopus plate, more octopus than I’ve seen outside of an aquarium since Tom’s Breakfast at Lola.

I’m going to add this to our Favorite Places To Eat Lunch list.

I love this little place.

I love it.

This little canyon was a short 20 minute drive from Irvine and was a favorite little hiking spot for me and a couple friends during highschool. It had a little creek and a path alongside it… nothing special other than that it was close and it was a bit of a weird little hide out. Beer cans were under bushes, little caves had evidence of poorly made fires and possibly recent sleeping inhabitants, and once I think a car was broken into in the parking lot while we were hiking. One of my favorite memories here was inviting Leanne out for the first time under the premise of searching for newts (even though I knew there were no newts) and which we called Enises without explanation. I have no idea why she agreed to come out with us under such sketchy circumstances, but she did, and not only that but while walking down the creek she somehow slipped on a rock and kicked me in the head. Silverado!

Unfortunately, last I heard it was being developed with houses. Poor Enises and bums and highschool hippies who want to hide out in the hills and drink beer!

At the Crow, you get seated by the window and when you are done complimenting the shells of their delicious oysters the waiter will suggest a second plate: “Do you want another?” “Yes, but please don’t bring us one.” When I tried the theory of ordering the first wine on the wine list (I bet it gets neglected) and over-pronounced the name he said, “It’s big for a Sangiovese,” and I couldn’t wait to agree. I gorged myself on lasagna, smashed potato cakes, and rhubarb, and walked out asking if Maggie liked this place or Restaurant Zoe better. She liked the food here better, but the atmosphere at Zoe better. Since then my brain has also included Palace Kitchen in the bundle of places to compare it to. Comfortable for slightly fancy.

And this place makes good cheese. Maggie and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to try their expensive but most likely good grilled cheese sandwich and macaroni… and today turned out to be the day.

It was a bit on the pricey side ($5 for a small sandwich or an 8ox cup of macaroni & cheese) but it definitely was tasty. However, I think I’m going to have to revert back to my cheaper walk-by-and-eat-the-samples approach to enjoying Beecher’s. It did make me look forward to the upcoming Cheese Festival in the market.

All the tables were taken when we got there but one soon opened up. There seem to be animals lurking everywhere: glowing owls above the bar, a black crow in a lantern near the jukebox. I especially liked the horse paint-by-numbers-esque paintings on the tables, and I like the animal paintings in the bathroom.