Eat

The South Seattle Community College's Northwest Wine Academy threw its first of two free tasting parties of their student-made wines on campus.

It took place Friday night, June 12. The wines included Riesling, Rose, Viognier and Barbera. Academy students choose one of three tracks, sale and marketings, wine production, or wine and food paring.

"Barbera is a jucier, dark color grape, purply black," explained Reggie Daigneault, the wine academy's program coordinator and fulltime faculty member. "This is the first time we vinified it. The grapes were given to us from Stan Baty of Alder Ridge Vineyard."

The vineyard is located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area) within the Columbia Valley AVA. The grapes originated in Piedmont, Northwest Italy.

"Every bottle of wine has a story behind it," said Nancy Kedward, wine sales and marketing student at the academy. "What's neat about all our grapes is that they are donated to the college. Students pick the grapes we make wine right here."

The second tasting was Saturday, June 13, noon to 4 p.m.

Waterwheel Lounge
7034 15th Ave. N.W., 784-5701
Daily 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.

Tucked away on 15th Avenue Northwest between a pho restaurant and a vacant fencing business, behind a parking lot, the Waterwheel Lounge sits frozen in time.

This no-nonsense tavern serves a steady clientele and welcomes newcomers, too. A funky little joint, it was recently made famous by its inclusion in the Top 10 in Mike Seely's guidebook, Seattle's Best Dive Bars.

The bar's been under new ownership for the last few years, but it's still the down-home place everyone loved. A new barbecue menu has also been added, but the Waterwheel's popular burgers and fried chicken dinners are not going away.

Served with massive bronzed chunks of poultry, the chicken dinners ($11.95) appear large enough to feed the entire clientele, although customers appear to have little difficulty polishing off the affair. Friendly-appearing ribs join the chicken on the entree list ($12.95).

On Thursday, July 2 Peace Lutheran Church will host a potluck-presentation block party from 6 to 8 p.m. featuring the Tour de Revs, a trio of Lutheran pastors travelling cross country on a bamboo bicycle built for three to promote wellness and raise awareness and funds to end hunger. 

This will be stop 39 of 65 in their 13,000 mile journey traveling on their custom bamboo bicycle created by Craig Calfee from a design originally created for local production in the developing world.
 
The cycling Revs will share about their trip, the bike, and their mission to end hunger.  Cycling youth from Peace Lutheran, St. Luke's in Bellevue, and Our Savior's in Issaquah will be cycling in that evening from a local cycling and service trip and will also share about their experience.
 
West Seattle and White Center Food Banks along with other local charities and community agencies will be represented, the grills will be grilling and the people chilling.
 
Bring a non perishable food item for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks and something to share.
 
Ride your bike and end the evening with a sunset ride in beautiful West Seattle with the Revs.
 

This summer, through the efforts and contributions of the community and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Delridge Produce Cooperative will present a 16-part series of moving informational produce-collection-and-distribution centers.

The project was made possible, in part, due to a $15,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund grant.

At each of four locations along Delridge Way Southwest, a regular day will be chosen to host the project for all four consecutive weeks. For example, the Delridge P-Patch might host the 'Market' every Monday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., from August 17 to Sept. 7.

The 'Market' will serve as a collection point for donations of produce from backyard growers, P-Patchers, Washington farmers, and local contributing businesses. Produce will be given away as it is collected to demonstrate how a community can work together to ensure food resiliency, food security, food diversity and food prosperity.

I’m taking a multivitamin and a couple of other supplements, so I can eat whatever I want, right? Well, not exactly.

When patients are suffering from an illness that a therapeutic dose of a specific vitamin will help, I always recommend supplementation. However, it’s only part of the general treatment plan that I put together.

When they are looking to lower their risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases, I suggest starting to build a strong foundation with a healthy diet.

Sure, cod liver oil is great (and oh, so yummy) to take to improve depression, skin health, digestion and brain function. And since most mercury is found in flesh, not in liver tissue, there shouldn’t be a concern about mercury levels, especially if you buy a pharmaceutical-grade brand from your doctor rather than a store-bought one. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to eat two to three servings of fish each week.

Smokin' Pete's BBQ in Ballard was named the seventh-best barbecue joint on the west coast in the June issue of Sunset Magazine.

The restaurant was opened five years ago at the corner of 20th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 65th Street.

Owner Julie Reinhardt was raised in Ballard and attended Ballard High School. She said the location was perfect because the former butcher shop had a smoker in the back and there is a long tradition in Texas of barbeque restaurants opening in old butcher shops.

Sunset described Smokin' Pete's meat as "juicy with a subtle, almost haunting quality." Read the entire article here.

Reinhardt said Smokin' Pete's stands out from the rest of the barbecue pack because they use high quality meats, slice their brisket Texas-style, and make everything from scratch.

"We do some things differently," she said.

On top of co-owning Smoking Pete's with Eric Reinhardt, Julie recently wrote her own barbecue book, "She Smoke."

The Phinney Farmers Market is in full swing, and it wont be too long before there are strawberries, cherries and raspberries on the farm tables, said Chris Curtis director of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance.

The Alliance also operates the West Seattle, University District, Capitol Hill, Lake City, Columbia City and Magnolia markets.

Curtis said each week in June, there will be a "tasty selection of uber-fresh, healthy, and absolutely delicious greens and other spring veggies," at the Phinney Market, which operates Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 29 through Oct. 2 in the lower parking lot at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, at 67th and Phinney Ave. N.

The market has a line-up of weekly music and other events, including a special cooking demo by New Orleans chef Poppy Tooker.  Chef Poppy will show shoppers how to make a fabulous gumbo using what’s fresh on the market tables on Friday, June 19, 4 p.m. 
She is touring with her new cookbook, which shoppers will be able to purchase at the market on June 19. 

For a quick list of farmers and vendors at the market this year, click here.  

To many, the phrase “healthy chocolate” seems like an oxymoron, but a few local women are proving that chocolate can be more than a delicious treat.

Xoçai chocolate is a company that has developed various chocolate products with various health benefits. The company was started four years ago by Jeanette Brooks, a woman with a deep love for chocolate and whose diabetes kept her from enjoying her favorite treat.

So she developed a chocolate that she, and others with health concerns, could enjoy.

The chocolate is uniquely healthy because of how it is made. Xoçai has the patent on cold pressing chocolate which better maintains the antioxidants.

They use cocoa powder, açaí berry and blueberry as well as other healthy ingredients like flaxseed, plant based omega-3s.

As a result, three Xoçai chocolate squares, containing only 100 calories, has as much antioxidants as 1.91 pounds of spinach, two pounds of raspberries or 12 pounds of tomatoes.

The chocolate also combats free radicals, which cause disease and aging. It doesn’t have added caffeine, preservatives, fillers waxes, trans fats or processed sugar.

A “fresh” take on Northwest cuisine is coming to West Seattle thanks to Herban Feast’s latest culinary venture.

Fresh Bistro, a full-service restaurant located at 4725 42nd Ave. S.W. beneath the newly constructed Mural apartments, will hold it’s grand opening Friday, May 22 at 5 p.m.

Herban Feast has been catering creative Northwest events since 2003. They are committed to providing exceptional service along with delicious food crafted from fresh, regional ingredients. Owner BJ Duft described what guests could expect from their Fresh Bistro experience.

“Some of the things we are serving are bright, lively and fresh foods made from products you would find at the local farmers market. They’re not over the top eclectic; but are definitely unique, things like gooey duck and halibut cheeks,” he said.

OK, so we know that Theo Chocolate is technically located in Fremont, not Ballard, but if you’re a fan of chocolate you will certainly forgive us for making this one of our 101 Things to do in Ballard.

Just think of it as something to do FROM Ballard and make a visit to Theo even more of an adventure by walking or biking to get there (after all the chocolate samples, you’ll need some way to burn off the calories).

However you slice it, this melt-in-your-mouth opportunity located in the old Red Hook Brewery building is within close reach for any Seattleite, considering there are only 18 operating chocolate factories in the entire country—most of which are owned by the same mega-corporations.

But Theo is different—in almost every respect. The first and only organic and Fair Trade chocolate factory in the country, Theo Chocolate is “equal parts delicious and ethical” buying organic, Fair Trade certified cocoa beans direct from farmers and grower coops.