Another catchup

Seattle, Washington, June 12, 2014—

I SEE THERE'S CATCH-UP to play again. Two nights ago, Tuesday, we were in Idaho, having dinner with an childhood friend — well, I hardly knew here then; she was eight years younger, and I only saw her three or four times, but her parents were good friends of mine, and were important to me before Jean was even born.

That's beside the point of this blog, of course. We met in a local restaurant she'd picked as promising comfort and the possibility of conversation, and we lingered a long time over that. I had this "frenched" pork chop, brined in cider, served with sautéed vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes, and it was pretty good.

Pinot grigio

•Bardenay, 1710 W. Riverstone Drive, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; 208-765-1540

YESTERDAY WE DROVE ACROSS the state to spend a few days in Seattle, crashing with an old friend from my days at KQED back in the 1960s. We had supper around the corner and a Mexican place they like, and it suited us fine: Chile verde not New Mexico style but Washington state, a little reserved.

Margaritas

•La Palma, 3456 15th Street West, Seattle; (206) 284-1001

TODAY IT WAS lunch with another old friend, recently relocated from Berkeley to Seattle. We settled on a local favorite, a fish restaurant overlooking Elliott Bay and Bainbridge Island, sitting at a window side table where the marine view accompanied a simple meal: half a dozen oysters on the half shell and a cup of chorizo-garbanzo soup, followed by far too substantial a chocolate ganache cake.

Pinot grigio-Viognier blend

•Ray's Cafe, 6049 Seaview Avenue NW, Seattle; 206-782-0094


AND THEN IT WAS TIME for dinner following a maddening forty-minute drive across downtown traffic jams. We were quite late for our reservation, but then everyone else was too, and the host was very gracious. What a fine place this turned out to be! We had lovely pickled smelt, and a knowing platter of charcuterie, and asparagus with coral mushrooms anchovies and hard-cooked egg yolk, and then I had pork loin with house-made sausage, "Rockwell" beans whatever they are, onions, and pepper cress, with a purée of cress in delicious olive oil. I'm sure the desserts were wonderful, but I needed instead a drop of Fernet Branca.

Gavi, Ernesto Picollo "Rovereto" (Piemonte), 2012: authentic, crisp and refreshing

•Sitka and Spruce, 1531 Melrose Avenue, Seattle; (206) 324-0662