I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

So after a hiatus including getting married and having a baby, I now find myself in a position again to actually partake in one of my favorite things, HAPPY HOUR!!! I still remember being a kid going to Cucina Cucina and seeing a sign for 'happy hour.' What is this magical thing called Happy Hour I wondered??? It sounds amazing! It appears that even at 10 years old, I had an appreciation for food, drinks and discounts. So here we go again. The question will remain, can I keep up with this blogging thing??? Here goes nothing...I at least have 3 places to review. Stay tuned!

Friday = Happy Day

The Sexton. Sexy, Very Sexy. I've walked by it many times, always wondering what was inside the cool glass exterior. Friday we decided to check it out after a long week. Once you sit down at the distressed table and look around, it is just as cool as it looks from the outside. A mason jar chandler hangs from the ceiling, matching the glasses your drink is served in. The star of the night was the cocktail. One of the best I have ever had. Cucumber infused vodka, mint & ginger beer. Normally I stray away from ginger beer because it can be too overpowering, but this was not. It was refreshment in a glass, and it had me yearning for summer. Somehow I ended up drinking two straight away. Did I mention it was also a long week? For the last round I 'bet on the bartender.' Basically you give a few details to the server, and the bartender whips you up an original. This was a sparkly concoctions. The food here is Southern inspired, small plates. We opted for the mac n cheese, cheesy grits, sliders and fried chicken. The mac n cheese was tasty, nice and tangy with a few bits of bacon, crunch and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. The sliders were tasty too, a bit too much mayo for my liking. I love cheese, so the cheesy grits lacked in the cheese department for me, they weren't bad, just nothing spectacular. Lastly, the chicken was very juicy and flavorful. It looked as if it might be too dry when it came out, but looks can be deceiving. It also came with a ginger BBQ and jalapeño ranch to dip in. All in all we were HAPPY, and our weekend started on the right foot. I wouldn't say it was the best happy hour deals ever, but a very sexy place for a Friday. Details: $1 of dinner menu items & $2 off cocktails & $4 wells/beers EVERYDAY. We also got a different food menu with slightly cheaper ($1-3 less) items.

Putting the “happy” in Happy Hour

I think what I like most about Happy Hour (besides 1. a drink after a rough day and 2. good prices) is connecting with my friends. Happy Hour is the perfect forum to do just that. Enjoying those around you and not having to worry about spending a lot to do so.

Last week I ventured out for a little more rare Friday Happy Hour with my good friend from high school Caitlin. At Caitlin's suggestion, we checked out Ravish on Eastlake http://www.ravishoneastlake.com/. Ravish is the quaint little sister restaurant of Ravishing Radish Catering, which allows them to share their foods with the masses. The menu is comprised of small bites/tapas style. During Happy Hour select menu items are discounted (ranging from $3-$7 off the original price). They also have some specially priced libations, on this night there were 3 wines for $5 each, a few beers and then a cocktail on special for $6. We opted for the wine, actually, 3 glasses of wine each! Don’t judge. We selected the Cab blend, and it was great, obviously since we kept drinking it. I have also heard that they make some really great cocktails. But alas, 3 glasses of wine did us in, and we did not sample the cocktail menu.

Now to keep us satisfied, we needed some food. This night I deferred to my partner in crime. As our selection notes, we have a fondness for cheese. We shared the Baked Brie, Mac & Cheese, Bread Pudding and Cappuccino Gelato. The Baked Brie is pretty mammoth. You get a huge hunk of cheese delicately wrapped in a fluffy pastry, then warmed and drizzled with salted caramel. It comes with apples, fresh bread and great rosemary crackers to dip in the cheesy goodness. I’m not a huge caramel fan, but it actually was a nice compliment. The Mac and Cheese is a smaller sized portion, but it is a pretty rich, so you don’t need that much. It is filled with herbs and quite a bit of bread crumbs. Not the best I’ve ever had, but tasty. The Bread Pudding was pretty amazing. It came out warm with a caramel drizzle. Even with the caramel I liked it, this pudding was right up there with my mom’s. The Cappuccino gelato was average, nothing special. It had a nice flavor, but it was icier than the traditional smooth velvety texture that I love about gelato. What’s the damage you wonder?

Baked Brie-HH $8.25, normally $10.50
Mac & Cheese-$11 no HH special
Wine-$5 a glass (and generous pours)
Bread Pudding-$6.50
Cappaccino Gelato-$6.50 (really 2 scoops)

All in all, it was a great night. I would like to come back and sample some more nibbles and their cocktails, but I know it isn’t going to be the outstanding HH prices that many places offer.

Connecting with Old Friends in a Wine Shop

So I’ve learned I am NOT good about writing these reviews up right away, I must get better at that!

Sometimes the fun thing about getting older is when you reconnect with great friends from the past. Last Wednesday we met for a happy hour and to catch up at Greenlake Wines and Wine Bar http://www.greenlakewines.com.

This isn’t your typical wine bar, in fact, most people would think from the name it is just a wine store. BUT it is so much more. Every night of the week they host happy hour from 5-7. Thursday’s are especially happy, as they feature a winery, wine region or theme with free tastings! The owner, chef and server (Richard) is warm and personable. He also owns the Wine Outlet on Elliot and used to be a wine columnist for the Seattle PI.

On this particular evening, we were the main customers. Each night they offer 3 glasses for $4. On this night, we sampled: a cab, sangiovese and a red zin. To my and my friend’s surprise, the zin was our favorite! We ended up buying a bottle before we left. The wines they sell are those in which the company is switching distributors and thus must close out their current stock. That means that you get a pretty good savings. For example, the wine we bought was originally $25, and we got it for $15.

With 3 glasses of wine, we needed some food, all of which is cooked by the owner Richard. There are some happy hour specials as well as regular priced food. The food that we sampled was quite small and just average. The best item was the homemade hummus. We also tried the cremini panini (a little bland without enough cheese) and the cheese plate (very small, as in 3 small slivers of cheese). We eyed the Baconini but did not partake.

Bottom Line: This is a great neighborhood gem with lovely owners where you can taste some new wines and get a discount. There are some nibbles to fill your stomach; they just might not be the greatest!

Saturday Happy Hour, Say What?

So last week I had a great place with an outdoor patio AND wine all picked out. I go there to meet my friend only to discover that it was closed just that week. Well that put a damper on our plans. We ended up walking down the street to St. Cloud’s for dinner. http://www.stclouds.com/. The bonus was, we discovered that there were a few spots where you could get happy hour drinks! Your choice of 4 quaint spots at the bar, or one of 4 patio spots out front. We opted for the patio. Every drink was ½ off, that included their specialty cocktails or a glass of wine. We still paid regular price for our entrée (garlic fried chicken, amazing), but it came out pretty affordable.

Well I didn’t feel that it was the happy hour I set out for, so on Saturday my fiancé and I decided to try one of the rare Saturday Happy Hours. We were set on some Italian food, and we wanted to get out and do a little walking. We (well more like I) decided on Il Bistro which is located in the heart of the market. It is tucked away in the little alley beneath the famous flying fish stand. Happy Hour is EVERYDAY during the week starting at 5 and running until 6:30.

Pros: -They have a lot of food options for REALLY great prices. It is the same quality as the restaurant food and bigger than 2 bites.

-Fairly good sized room. There was a party of 11 in the corner, a party of 4, two other couples besides us and still plenty of room.

-Wine is on special for either 3 or 5 a glass. Pretty decent wine and a good size pour. You could choose between Pinot, Chardonnay and Cabernet.

-$37 (without tip) gave us: 4 glasses of wine, 2 salads, goat cheese appetizer, prawns and rigatoni

Cons: Slightly limited drink options and narrow time frame for those who want to come during the week

You can check it out yourself any day of the week! Here is a link to their website for a listing of all their food. http://www.ilbistro.net/bar/happyhour.html

This week, I’m planning on a happy hour night with a good friend from high school, that I recently reconnected with. Stay tuned!

So many happy hours, where to begin?

There are so many places with happy hour now, where to begin? At first I thought outdoor patios, places to enjoy summer. Those months, especially this year, are so far and few between, I thought to put that on the shelf for next summer…where I am hopeful that there will be plenty of sun-filled days where everyone is longing for an outdoor spot with a view to sip the stress away.

In the meantime, I thought there’s nothing more relaxing than a glass of wine after a LONG day. I used to dislike wine, but I have come to appreciate it and more importantly its calming effects. Now many places offer wine as a happy hour option, but I decided to focus on those places that are wine bars or have a wine focus. Of course there will be those that everyone knows of, but I thought I would include some places more off the beaten path and those places that I have wanted to try, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.

So I’ve picked Wednesday, otherwise known as Hump Day, (get your minds out of the gutter) to be the happy hour day. In part because I needed to make this a consistent routine, but also “Wine Wednesday” has such a nice ring to it. Today will be the inaugural day at a quintessential Seattle spot...Ivar's Salmon House. In part because we are having a big work going away party here. Next week Wine Wednesday will commence.

I'm Back!!!

So as you can tell I attempted to start a blog way back in December 2009. Well there was a small hiccup in the plan. A few weeks after my first blog, I had suffered 2 strokes and underwent emergency brain surgery. Well that resulted in some pretty heavy medication and needless to say, no drinking! It's a bit tricky to review happy hour if you can't even partake in the sampling!

After a series of stable tests, I can in fact have a few drinks every now and then. At the urging of fellow friends who always ask me for suggestions for happy hour and the lack of reliable happy hour resources, I have decided to reserect the Happy Hour blog. We all need a little time to celebrate life and do so without breaking the bank!