Miniburgers & Alpines: Growing Up

Cascadia's new Happy Hour opens at 5PM Wednesday. As they say on TV, "This is an early review."

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. "Two miniburgers and an Alpine, please"--Seattle's best Happy Hour treat for the grand total of $5.50 only two years ago--is no more.

Oh, how we have loved them, those bite-size, one-buck burgers! And they're not exactly gone, as in g-gone [sniff!] for good; they've just [sniff!] grown up, and they're gonna cost $2.50. For years, we have sipped them, those sweet, tangy Alpines, and they're not g-gone, either; but they've grown up, too, up from $3.50 to $4.50, now priced at $5.50 during happy hour, $11 after 7 PM.

Ahh, but in their place, but in their place!

Vodka-cured salmon, the vodka being saffron-infused, from Oregon's new craft distrillery, Sub Rosa. A lavish plate of market charcuterie. Alaska spot prawn sashimi. Bowls and baskets of olives, crackers, poppadoms and tapenade. A whole new line of classic cocktails (Side Car, El Diablo, Champs Élysées) not to mention Planet C (with Subrosa's tarragon vodka) and Brooklyn-to-Belltown (with Rittenhouse Rye--I'll pass, thanks, not being a fan of Peychaud bitters).

Yes, this is the revitalized Cascadia (pronounced "dead" lo this past weekend by a myopic observer of Seattle's restaurant scene). Some, no doubt, will miss the lobster topping on the miniburgers. In their place, make room at the bar for fans of Satan's Whiskers (Plymouth gin, vermouth, Grand Marnier).

Count us in.

Also making its debut today: the full-color, print edition of Delicious City, yours truly as editorial director. And if you don't live in the downtown Seattle distribution area, you can read it online at DeliciousCity.com

Posted by Ronald Holden at September 26, 2007 10:56 AM

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