Divine Guidance

Winner of “Best Entrée” at this weekend's Bite of Seattle was Divine, a “modern Greek” restaurant out on Roosevelt Way with a delicious, bite-sized Spanakopita: phyllo puff pastry filled with spinach and feta, served on a base of fondue made from kasseri and ouzo, the whole thing drizzled with balsamic reduction.

At $3.75, it was also one of the tastiest morsels at this year's Bite. Didn't care as much for their baklava (too sweet for my taste, but named "Best Dessert" nonetheless).

Bite benefited from decent weather, compared to last year's rain. Generally good-natured and patient crowds put up with overstuffed dogs, strollers, Jesus-freaks, conspiracy theorists, sidewalk vendors, health-food pamphleteers, the aromas of outdoor cooking facilities for dozens of restaurants (not a single one from Belltown!) and the cacophony of half a dozen music stages.

Divine, 7918 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, 206-526-7919

Remember to Curtsey When You Meet the Queen

Your Highness, may we present Mr. Schultz from Starbucks?

The world we thought we knew is upside down and backwards, wouldn't you agree? Food is more expensive because we're turning corn into fuel, but gas is still $4 a gallon. A study published today by Research and Markets reports, breathlessly, that 71 percent of Americans are now cooking more at home. (And cooking "gourmet" food at that.)

Meanwhile Starbucks has identified the 600 stores it intends to close. Many of them, it turns out, are in minority neighborhoods. The enthusiastic welcome given Starbucks in these communities--a sort of "we've arrived!"--is turning bitter.

In Chicago, the closings include stores in largely minority areas in the south suburbs as well as neighborhoods on Chicago's South and West Sides. "Starbucks became symbolic of a community that was changing and in transition," says the director of the Near West Side Community Development Corp. "To take that away, it's a blow to a community."

Meantime, Dairy Queen is testing new stores in urban markets, opening six stores in (of all places), Chicago. Yes, Dairy Queen and her ever-present Sancho Panza, Orange Julius. (Make that "Julius, Prince of Orange.")

The DQ brand has long been a brand associated with small towns and suburbs, while Orange Julius joints have rarely ventured outside shopping malls. What's their product strategy? Why, smoothies, of course. DQ wants to become known as a "treat center."

Vivanno and Frappuccino, you're in the treat business, right? Meet Blizzard and Triple Chocolate Utopia. You should have a lot in common.

Then again, "plays well with others" probably isn't going to be the deciding factor.

Moon Over Magnolia

Tis the season: fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, full flavors, full moon. If it gets any better, we'll explode.

Is it gilding the lilly when the cooks at Palisade put a chopped cherry-tomato dressing atop a slice of heirloom tomato? Not the classic Caprese, but why quibble. Are we turning the kitchen into a science lab when chef de cuisine Robin Uyeda uses liquid nitrogen to freeze basil oil and balsamic vinegar into pea-sized pellets? Nah, it actually works.

Even better, the moon rises on cue. Don't know what parent company RUI pays for this prime Magnolia real estate, but it's worth every penny.

Children of the Revolution: Let Them Eat Duck

A moonlit evening of liberté, égalité and, I guess, fraternité at Seattle's Pike Place Market. Campagne continues its traditional bi-level celebration of Bastille Day with high-priced dinner upstairs for Royalists, street fare in Post Alley for Revolutionaries.

Time warp since last post three years ago (gulp!): Nikki Schiebel still cooking like a demon, Daisely Gordon still watching like a hawk. Scallops with risotto and duck breast with cherries anchor a five-course, $80 menu. In the dining room, wine director Cyril Fréchier offers two flights of five wines ($40 and $75).

The alley, for its part, is jammed, Le Pichet is jammed. Maximilien is jammed. Place Pigalle is jammed. Down by the Dumpsters on Pike Place, a couple of plump, tatooed gals on a smoke break wonder what's going on. "Bastyr Day, I think," one says to the other. "The French Revolution."

"Oh, yeah? So tell me, what'd the French Revolution ever do for lesbians?"

Starbucks Invents Banana Platform

Cast a pitying glance at Howard Schultz, if you must. The oft-admired, much-maligned head of Starbucks faces ever-greater challenges, now that the Sonics are out of his hair for good.

He's closing hundreds of stores, but the trade press is still complaining that there are too many Starbucks (except, of course, for the one on your block). The new blend, Pike Place Roast, that Schultz introduced to shush folks who complained that Starbucks was "over-roasted," is getting poor reviews from diehard coffee fans. Duncan Donuts is selling coffee drinks you can order "in English, not Fritalian." (Tell me again, what language is "latte"?) Even Mickey D is selling espresso.

So what's next for Howard? Two things. First, a new dessert concoction, described in breathless prose by Condé Naste Portfolio: it's affogato. Idiots, I can hear millions of Italians muttering..Affogato ("drowned," in Italian) is no more than a shot of espresso poured over gelato. Local coffee outfit called Torrefazione used to serve it, until they were bought out and shut down by...um, Starbucks.

Which brings us to the present day. The latest step down the garden path is to be called Vivanno, a fruit smoothie. (Sounds Fritalian to me.) Not just any fruit but...banana! And not just banana, but banana with added protein powder for the health-counscious and added fiber for the geriatric set. Says Rob Grady, Starbucks' beverage vice president. "It's a new platform for us."

It's a slippery slope, no? Let's hope the banana platform is more stable than the banana hammock. And that the forgotten fog of affogato past doesn't spoil our sunny summer.

Seattle's UrbanSpoon Shakes Up iPhone

Confluence of Apple and local tech talent: Seattle startup UrbanSpoon (a nifty restaurant review site with Yelp-like feedback features, but for serious and knowledgeable foodies) has written a free app for the new iPhone.

Says co-founder Ethan Lowry: "When Apple announced that they were going to allow thirrd parties to write apps for the iPhone, we applied, and they accepted." How does it work? Part magic eight ball, part slot machine: you shake the phone, and it randomly displays the name of a nearby restaurant, using the iPhone's motion sensor and GPS.

Hundreds of downloads already this morning, and the new phone doesn't even go on sale until tomorrow. Since the app is free, Lowry and business partner Adam Doppelt won't earn royalties as such, but it's safe to say that their ad-supported website, with restaurant listings in over 50 cities, will benefit handsomely from the additional traffic.

Cornichon's not a completely disinterested observer, we should point out, since we're in the top ten of UrbanSpoon's blogging contributors.