Today rolled in gray, making my earlier decision to attend the LUPEC Rum Class appear almost prescient. (Like many in Seattle, I dread boxing myself inside on a potentially sunny day!)

The event was held at Spur & our teacher was the talented Marley. We arrived to find a great spread of antipasti & a thick packet of information, all about rum. Marley led us through tasting many kinds before wrapping up class with two kinds of Mai Tais & the potent final: The Zombie. Sidebar: this was an excellent exercise in pacing. One must be on their marks, right out the gate.

In our state, an impromptu dumpling crawl in the International District sounded like an ace plan. First up, the Ping Lee Market to investigate future takeout. Excellent:

Then we wandered into the cave-like Fu Lin for our first delicious order of Shanghai Juicy (soup) Dumplings. They were solidly good & inexpensive.

Next, we visited Shanghai Garden for Shanghai Juicy Dumplings with ginger, pork & scallion, High Nutrition Barleygreen Noodles, and Spare Ribs.


The verdict at Shanghai Garden: wicked awesome.

Our final tasting stop was Uwajimaya’s Food Court for Beard Papa’s new Paris Brest and the Dulce de Leche Cream Puffs. Good, but I almost always want their cream puffs to be more than they are.

Sufficiently back down to earth, we wrapped up our late afternoon shopping the aisles of Uwajimaya.

Yeah, I’d say it was the perfect rainy Seattle Saturday.

We waited in line to get into Mike Daisey‘s show tonight at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. Seats were free, and we lined up an hour early, and strangely, the line thickened in front of us. Consequently, we found ourselves heading elsewhere for our evening’s entertainment. At least the company was delightful. We’ll try again when he comes back.

This was such a lovely evening, it nearly gave me writer’s block.

Tonight, I was lucky to have dinner with two friends, Eliza & Sara at Ray’s. Sara recently re-introduced me to this Shilshole gem over a sunny July lunch — we agreed we must take Eliza here during her upcoming visit. Eliza’s visiting the state from my hometown.

Ray’s is a classic seafood restaurant with high standards, but what I really love is the deck of Ray’s Cafe on a Summer evening. See above (top picture), the view from our table. We were in prime sunset hours.

We talked late. Can’t wait til we meet again.

Around 2 o’clock, my dog quickly and quietly ran to the front door, only to stop and glare at the weatherstrip. Thirty seconds later, I heard the postman thud. Inside — pictured above, my new note set. Thanks, mom!

We had abysmal service at a little pizza place in Ballard tonight. You know it. Memories fade when you don’t get into details, so I’ll say aside from the reserve-able big table with friends, I only ever want to sit at the bar in the future.

Today, sprizee & I had lunch with a talented photographer from Dunder Mifflin at The 35th Street Bistro.

My dining companions had a Croque Madame Brioche & a Farmer’s Lunch that included a grilled cheese on brioche plus a side salad and Watermelon, Cucumber and Honeydew Melon Soup. All bistro-lovely. I had the Salade de Crevette et de Romaine Grillée. There were only 3 prawns, grilling the romaine was unnecessary, and it benefited greatly from a healthy dash of salt — but I will still happy with it. Must be something to do with the bacon lardons included. I’d return. There are few places of this restaurant genre near “south Fremont.”

We caught up on this week’s Mad Men.

Note to broadcasters: I’d love to be able to buy an episode a la carte, on the night of! Someday.

We joined friends at Tilth for today’s installment Seattle Chef’s Table. Chefs were present from Rover’s, Lark, Cafe Juanita, Crush, Terra Plata, & Tilth. It made me want to swear never to visit their establishments without checking that they’re behind the stove. It makes such an immense difference.

My favorite dishes were Billy’s Tomatoes & Burrata and the Greek Yogurt Mousse. Oh, but that smoked blackcod’s memorable too…Ok, so I enjoyed every last dish. If you can go, do it.

Our menu, transcribed from above & with my opinions, behind the cut:

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