Seattle Times on 'Rambunctious' Brave Horse Tavern; Raskin on Raskin on Willows Inn

Providence Cicero bestows an individual review, and 2.5 stars, on Brave Horse Tavern, part of the new Tom Douglas triumvirate. The Seattle Times headline describes the beer-focused pub as "South Lake Union's rumpus room," a term perhaps unfamiliar to the legions of tech-toting young Amazon employees who produce a "rambunctious clamor" in the space. "So many personal communication devices are parked on tables, the condiment caddies look like docking stations."

Cicero of course samples the "sinuous pretzels" for which Brave Horse is known:

The glossy brown, salt- studded twists are as supple and chewy as a New York bagel, with a pronounced malt flavor. They are as good plain as they are dunked into the oniony, lager-laced liquid bathing oven-roasted Penn Cove clams. Had Elvis tasted one of these dipped into creamy peanut butter gritty with bacon, he never would have left the building.

However sizing on the $4 pretzels wasn't always uniform. A nearby diner's "clam-dipper" was twice as big. Other favorites included the wings, pastrami sandwich, smoked pork belly, roasted turkey chop salad and cannibal crostini (steak tartare). Burgers are solid but "the Dahlia Workshop bun fell apart short of the finish line." [Seattle Times]

In reviewing her Willows Inn review, Hanna Raskin ponders the relative youth of its much-heralded chef Blaine Wetzel. What, she asks, is the prime age for a chef? The top Beard awards are usually bestowed on chefs in the 40-year-old range. "There's clear consensus that if a shortstop becomes a third-base coach, he's no longer playing baseball. Chefs, though, often abandon the grueling job of working on the line without giving up the title of chef. " [Seattle Weekly]