March 20th: Were he still alive, Ivar Haglund would be celebrating his 103rd birthday on Thursday, probably by strumming his guitar and singing some pun-filled ditty. To celebrate, the Ivar's restaurants are selling cups of birthday chowder for 103 cents.
Ivar's, the chain he founded (to feed visitors to the aquarium), has grown to encompass 3 full-service restaurants, 3 fish bars, 24 "fast casual" outlets and 20 stadium concessions. A line of chowders from Ivar's Soup & Sauce Company is sold all over the world. And on Thursday, you can buy a cup of the stuff (your choice of white, red or smoked salmon) for a buck and three pennies.
Gotta say, it's a guilty pleasure, but we're not alone. At a buffet tasting of fancy-schmancy plates painstakingly "crafted" by seafood chefs around Seattle last month, the most satisfying item was a cup of good old Ivar's chowder.
And while we're at it, another foodie event on the near horizon:
April 5th: "Food as Art" gathers 18 of Seattle's top African-American chefs and restaurateurs for a day of tastings and demonstrations. It's an all-you-can-eat affair at the Bell Harbor Conference Center, a benefit for the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas. We wrote about this worthy fundraiser a couple of years ago.
who has better chowder? dukes or ivars?