There won't be lines for sandwiches and ice cream at The Bair
for a few months -- and possibly evermore.

TNT reporter Brent Champaco reports that The Bair, the restaurant, catering and ice cream parlor that operates out of Steilacoom’s historic Bair Drug & Hardware building, may not reopen. A weak and sagging roof is at issue.

Martha Lintott, who operates the restaurant with her husband, Ed, said the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association, which owns the 1895 building, hasn't kept up with structural problems. According to a note on the restaurant's web site, The Bair closed for repairs July 15.

“We’re just assuming they’re not going to finish the work in the amount of time they say,” Lintott said. “If they don’t get it done in 180 days, then they have to release us.”

Robert Edington, president of the historical society, confirmed that the nonprofit group is in negotiations to terminate the lease. The association wants to make the building safe, he said.

The Lintotts have operated the restaurant for seven years. They pay $1,775 a month to lease the building. Their lease runs out in 2010.

“It’s a 100-year-old building,” said Brant Shalikashvili, chairman of the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association’s committee that oversees the Bair building. “It was put in in a way that would not support the load of repairs that are being planned.”

Before the business can reopen, Steilacoom’s preservation and review board and its building officials must approve the proposed $50,000 in roof improvements. The board meets once a month.

Read more in Wednesday’s News Tribune.

Read my 2005 review of The Bair here.

I met two people on The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train. They were nice. I was tired of lying.

"I'm a restaurant critic," I said, when pressed for details about my work.

(He works for Boeing, she's a stay-at-home missionary. There wasn't a waiter in sight when I said it.)

With the couple under the impression that I worked for Haliburton, I had spent the Renton-to-Woodinville half of the trip mostly listening to them talk about disappointing food and views.

(About the food: stale rolls, wilted lettuce, gristly prime rib. About the views: some lovely views of Lake Washington and Chateau Ste. Michelle, but lots of old tires and industrial walls of graffiti.)

It was just before dessert on our return trip. The stop at the Columbia Winery seemed brief, and I regretted not following another couple across the road to the Hollywood Tavern for Redhooks and pull-tabs. Back on board, I could no longer stomach lying to the nice people with whom I had broken stale bread.

=> Read more!

I wrote the local story last week. The New York Times wrote the national version yesterday, in two pieces: epicurean jerky and jerky's renaissance.

Here's what the Times said about Seattle's Oberto:

Oberto original-style jerky had "classic truck stop beef jerky nose," not surprising since it’s a mass-market stalwart. But it had fans, one of whom called it "chewy, smoky and not too sweet or too salty.” Detractors commented that it went spongy with extended chewing.

Here's what I say to Oberto: Thanks for those free bags of jerky.

They arrived unsolicited after I blogged that I was researching jerky.

As Oberto's national-brand products didn't quite fit into the artisan jerky story, they went straight into the newsroom swag heap, where they await an auction whose proceeds will benefit charity.

Marketing mavens, you done good this time.

And because I've finally learned to use some of the nifty features of the TNT's blog software, here's a replay of the video I produced on artisan jerky:

I'm working on a story about coffeehouses and entertainment (and food) and discovered something cool: You don't have to leave your house to enjoy the shows.

Every Friday night at The Mocha Moo in Lakewood, singer-songwriters take the stage for an open mic and featured performer series.

The shows are recorded digitally. Later, video clips of some performances are posted on The Mocha Moo's MySpace and YouTube pages.

Recently, I caught a live show featuring Barfield, my favorite band from Lake Tapps. Later, I caught Barfield's video.

I also enjoyed a hero sandwich and a "veggie" sandwich stuffed with cheese. But more on that in the Aug. 3 GO section.

Until then, here's Barfield:

Here's another cool coffeehouse thing: A six-ounce pour of Sandeman's port is $6 at Northern Pacific Coffee in Parkland near Pacific Lutheran University, where I sipped a glass of grapey nectar during an acoustic open mic (Wednesday nights, and Saturday mornings). The same port, at half the size, costs $6 at Doyle's. Ah, the perks of college hangouts.

Winfield's Twisted Cue, the restaurant and billiards parlor in the mansion formerly known as David's on Broadway, is closed. Signs on the building say it won't reopen.

(Thanks to Diner regulars who tipped me off in another post.)

UPDATED Building owner Leah Caruthers told the News Tribune:
“We are disappointed in Tacoma’s support. We were hoping for better outcomes.”

Some of us were just plain disappointed in Winfield's.

Yes, Virginia, there is Christmas in July this year. I just got my calender confused.

(Sorry about that, The Swiss and Parkway Tavern. I missed your holiday beer bashes last week. By the way: Hotrod-A-Rama happens outside The Swiss Aug. 3-4. Parkway Tavern's IPA Fest is Aug. 4, 2 p.m.-2 a.m., with about two dozen hoppy hits planned, plus some cask ales.)

On Wednesday -- 153 drinking days until Christmas -- Engine House No. 9 and Doyle's Public House will dust off last year's holiday beers. On Thursday, The Ale House taps its held-over holiday kegs.

At Engine House No. 9, 4-ounce pours of E9's winter ale, Deschutes' Jubileale, Pyramid's Snow Cap Avalanche, Redhook's Winterhook and Maritime Pacific's Jolly Roger, among others, will sell for $1, from 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

On Wednesday, Doyle's will pour Belgian seasonal ales: Delrium Noel, Chouffe N’Ice, Grimbergen, Scaldis Noel and Bad Elf. Sample pours are $3 each or five for $12. A tasting/sampling is schedule from 5 p.m.-8 p.m., with raffle prizes.

On Thursday, Christmas in July at The Ale House, owned by the people who own E9, happens the day after Christmas in July at E9, with the same prices and a similar selection.

Meanwhile at E9, Centennial ale, brewer Doug Tiede's sudsy salute to the old engine house's 100th anniversary, is selling for $2 a pint all week. Every pint you buy makes you eligible for a drawing for a one-week trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. E9 manager Craig Dickens said he's planning some family-friendly weekend carnival fun (face-painting, three-legged races, dunk tank, etc.). Firefighters can enjoy 10 percent off all week, Dickens said.

Engine House No. 9: 609 Pine St. N, Tacoma; 253-383-7707.

Doyle's Public House: 208 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma; 253-272-7468.

The Ale House, 2122 Mildred St. W, Tacoma; 253-565-9367.

Farrelli's opened today in Parkland, in the shopping plaza at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Garfield Street. It's the South Sound pizza restaurant chain's fifth location.

Other opening news:

Giggling Greek opened at 109 S. Meridian in downtown Puyallup on Monday, serving a serious sit-down menu of Greek home-cooking. Lunch and dinner. 253-770-3256.

The electronic sign in front of Bella Vita says the Italian "ultra lounge" and restaurant (kitchen helmed by former Blue Olive chef Roman Aguillon) will open at 4 p.m. July 27 on Sixth Avenue, just west of Pearl. Its previously announced opening date was Aug. 1.

Next door to Bella Vita, Opa!, a Greek restaurant, is in the home stretch of building and decorating. I'm told Opa! will open in two weeks.

More later.

There once was a newsroom colleague who liked to smell other people's food. Not in a get-a-yummy-whiff way, but in the way that she buried her snooty snout in co-workers' food and uttered pretentious clap-trap about communing with one's cuisine.

So I wasn't too annoyed when EJ peered over our cubicle wall and said, "Dude, whatever you're eating stinks."

It must have been the pickled radishes on the bahn mi sandwiches I'd brought back to the office. They smelled and tasted a touch funky, but within the limits of edibility and enjoyment.

Self-consciously, I stopped eating. I balled up the sandwich in a plastic bag, looked for a trash can in another part of the newsroom, and threw it away, along with the wrapped but uneaten sandwich that I might have enjoyed if my lunch hadn't encroached on my colleague's air space.

Which leads to a simmering question:

What is it about smells and food that turn us on and turn us off?

Harbor Inn, or just "The Inn" as it's called in Gig Harbor, closed Sunday after 32 years in business.

"I'm 75 years old," said Bob Drohan, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Gail. "It's just that time."

The Peninsula Gateway reports that The Inn's three cooks walked off the job on July 4. The restaurant has been for sale for three years, the newspaper said.

The restaurant's unused food will bne donated to the FISH food bank, the Gateway said.

The Harmon's Otterberry wheat beer, on my deck.

Two hundred bucks, per person, gets you "unlimited dining" from "60 of the most delectable restaurants and beverage retailers" in the South Sound Friday night at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's Zoobilee black-tie fund-raiser.

Reading between the FAQ lines -- "For safety's sake please designate an alcohol-free driver" -- I guess aquarium dwellers won't be the only ones drinking like fishes.

Seeing as how I've got a view to pay for, I spent $11 instead and got a half gallon of Otterberry. That's four pints of wheat beer infused with marionberries and cherries.

Mike Davis, brewmaster at The Harmon, made Otterberry special for Zoobilee. It's also on tap at The Harmon as a seasonal, by the pint or by the growler.

At 3.8 percent ABV, it's an easy-drinking brew that looks great in a glass. Tastes great, too, with a dry undercurrent of fruit supporting an astringent wave of straw.

The Harmon Brewery and Restaurant, 1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; 253-383-2739

Jerky: The other artisan meat

I told my editors that jerky fell into my lap. Actually, it fell into Ed's Diner by way of my e-mail.

An Ed's Diner regular asked if I've ever made jerky. I asked you on Ed's Diner. A bunch of you weighed in.

I was off to story land.

I even produced a video of my blog-driven South Sound jerky odyssey.

So, thanks!

Here's one of those times when my reviewer's anonymity conflicts with my reporter's need for access: I'm writing a story about the artesian wells from which a couple of Olympia restaurants draw their water.

Do you drink the water at The Spar or King Solomon's Reef?

I like it. But I'd like to know what those restaurants' customers think, and I can't interview diners in person.

So, who drinks the water at The Spar or King Solomon's Reef?

Did you know that fancy restaurants in San Francisco and New York have stopped serving bottled water and are serving filtered tap water? Wouldn't they just love to be sitting atop the clean, cool artesian wells in Olympia?

Talk to me by Monday, people. Thank you.

Corina Bakery doesn't look like this anymore.

Corina Bakery closed for remodeling June 16. It re-opened today.

Wow.

The former 650-square-foot bakery is now a 1,300-square-foot bakery. The biggest changes: seating -- four retro chrome tables and 16 chairs, plus a chocolate sofa and two vanilla chairs in a draped-off lounge-like seating area.

To accomodate the expansion (including a spiffy new handicapped-accessible toilet), Cornia's kitchen moved up stairs. I spotted Corina's KitchenAid and Hobart mixers through the second-story window. Co-owner Walter Gaya said you can see his wife, Jessica, and baker Casey Coen doing their thing late at night.

Now that there's more space to sit and eat, red velvet and orange dreamcicle cakes will be twice as good.

Meanwhile, around the corner at the former Kickstand Cafe, One Heart Cafe coffeehouse prepares to open its second location. Bright red Adirondack chairs are lined up out front, awaiting the "coming soon" opening.

Corina Bakery: 510 6th Ave., Tacoma; 253-627-5070.

Twenty-five percent of “leisure travelers” surveyed said food is central to their travel destination choices.

Sixty-three percent like to experience a range of local cuisines.

Sixty percent are inclined to spend more on food and beverages.

Forty-six percent seek out regional wine and spirits.

For “deliberate culinary travelers” – the words of the surveyors, the National Restaurant Association and the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development – the percentages are 51, 85, 81 and 79.

The survey ranked Washington in the top 10 states for wine travelers.

Which leads me to a simmering question:

What food travel experiences are you hungry for?

I've got a hankering for the the Chinese-Portguese amalgam cuisine on Macau (the Special Administrative Region of China, not the casino in Lakewood).

Sushi just pulled into Freighthouse Square.

If you've got tickets for "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience" (seven shows, today through Sunday at the Tacoma Dome), you might work up a pre-theater appetite. Direct your snarls, snaps and sharp teeth toward Freighthouse Square, if you will.

Freighthouse Square isn't the fossil I've been led to believe. Nor did I absorb the collective aroma of stir-fry, fish and chips and fried falafel in the food court. I can't seem to get the smell of Subway's baking bread out of left nostril, but that's another blog post for another day.

Some tasty new food stands have pulled into Freighthouse Square. Here they are:

T&D Sushi opened Monday in a sliver of a stand next to Subway. Spicy tuna rolls had it going on -- 8 of them for $4.99. Other rolls, from 12-piece cucumber to the deluxe combo roll with five kinds of tuna, are $3.49 to $8.49. When I cruised by Tuesday morning, day-old rolls were half price. Nigiri sushi are $1.20 (snapper, shrimp, octopus) and $1.40 (tuna, smoked salmon, smelt roe, freshwater eel) per piece. Party trays are $22-$41.

Craving a Bronto Burger? While the patties at this three-month-old burger stand are a bit thin (and extra meat is $2.50), Burgers and Frites serves attractive plates at attractive prices. Burgers, with fries, salad and canned Pepsi product, are $6.95-$7.95. Choose your patty: beef, lamb, buffalo, chicken, fish, shrimp or veggie. Choose your cheese: brie, gorgonzol, Swiss, Havarti, Munster, provolone, pepper jack. Choose your Bun: Seeded, wheat, ciabatta. For your fries (long, golden rods, Belgian style) choose your sauce: curry, roasted tomato, jalapeño-ranch and .... a lot more tasty choices.

At Freighthouse Square, no less.

What else impressed me? Mini pizzas (8 inches, 1 topping, $3.99) at Gratzi Italian Bistro & Market. Thin, pliable and toasty crust. Dusted with grated Parm. Mmm.

And, as always, ample samples of rainbow-colored tea cakes at Celebrity Cake Studio -- pre-packaged for sanitary and convenient snacking. And they've got Red Velvet Cupcakes, for God's sake.

Meanwhile, not far from Freighthouse Square, at the corner of 24th Street and Puyallup Avenue, Alfred's Cafe endures as street construction eases. The biggest change, aside from the building (not the business) being for sale? Alfred's entrance is now about a half step below sidewalk level.

A recent breakfast of sirloin and eggs ($7.95) was an eye-opener: beautifully grilled and perfectly tasty without A-1. I didn't much care for pulled-pork pizza. The meat was greasy and the crust was under-baked.

Unless you like detours, cross Johnny's Dock off your apres-Dome list. Overpass and other construction has cut paved access to Johnny's to Tideflats routes. Still, those who appreciate the best urban-waterfront view in Tacoma will make it to Johnny's. There were plenty of cars in the parking lot just before Sunday's sunset.

On Friday, I wrote this about 45-year-old Faith Dairy in Friday's GO section:

The dairy’s drive-through qualifies as a restaurant amenity in my book, wherein this note also resides: “Best darned airy ice cream I’ve ever eaten.” I normally prefer dense ice cream, but Faith’s had luscious appeal: light but creamy, lifted by air but not over-whipped with air. Great flavors: almond-praline, butter brickle, cherry-vanilla, orange-pineapple; $3.50 per quart.

Today I write that you'd better get to the drive-thru by this weekend. It, and the dairy, are closing for good.

The dairy's cows have been sold, and on Wednesday they'll move to Roy. I'd heard reports that milk-bottle customers were being asked if they wanted their deposits back.

Faith Dairy: 3509 72nd St. E, Tacoma; 253-531-3398.

First, a French winery named Fat Bastard forced a Silverdale brewery to trim the name of its magnificently malty Scotch ale from Fat Bastard to merely Fat. Now there's no more confusion between French rosé and merlot and Don Spencer's gold-medal ale.

Next, turning to a trademark tangle over "Firehouse," Florida firefighters who own a chain of sandwich shops turned their trademark hose on a Tacoma coffeehouse founded by a firefighter and his family and friends. The Tacoma coffeehouse will call itself Origin 23°.

Now I read about University of Maryland professors who are trying to build a better strawberry — a fruit tailored for gourmet markets and different tastes worldwide that also can be grown and harvested more cheaply and efficiently than current methods, as the Associated Press puts it.

Sounds a bit like the strawberry of the future happenings at Washington State University's research station in Puyallup.

Are we on the cutting edge here or what?

Tacoma-born Firehouse Coffee is changing its name because of a trademark conflict with a Florida sandwich chain called Firehouse Subs.

Starting next week, Firehouse Coffee will become Origin 23°, a reference to the latitude coordinates of the so-called “coffee belt” between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, whence beans come.

Craig Westphal, an owner of the year-and-a-half old Firehouse on Sixth Avenue, said most of the firehouse logos and décor will go, but a wall of firefighter patches will remain at the Sixth Avenue store.

The name change comes ahead of Firehouse/ Origin 23°’s next shop, which will open in September near Pacific Lutheran University.

Paired with my SoundLife story today, here are some video clips of Angi Unger, owner of Bacchante Wine & Essentials in Tacoma, discussing barbecue wines.

• Let's talk about barbecue wines.

•Let's talk about white wines.

•Let's talk about red wines.

When the air conditioner popped another circuit breaker this afternoon, the chef decided to close his restaurant this evening.

Tonight's reservation, a party of four, wasn't happy. Let's just say it sounded like the customer needed to choke down a giant chill pill.

"I was just trying to tell him that the restaurant would be too hot for anyone in his party to enjoy their dinners," the chef said. "My job is to provide food and atmospherics. I don't want to make people sweat."

And yet customers get all hot and bothered over ... well, just about anything.

As someone who scribbles commentary about what is served and how well it is served, I'm guiltier than any paying customer when it comes to griping about bad service.

But you know what really cheesed me off lately?

Bad customers. Or at least one dude at a new Lakewood casino.

Get this scene, at Macau a couple of Saturday nights back. To say the bartender and the servers lacked cleavage would be like saying the casino lacked advantage. As I ate middling Mongolian beef and drank Miller High Life at the bar, the guy to my right drank Bud and played the long odds.

"You haven't seen me around lately because I've been working a lot," he said to a server. "It's all about the money for the honey. Too bad I don't got no one to spend it on."

Next, he said to the bartender:

"Yeah, a hot tub sure'll feel good tonight."

I don't gamble, but I'll wager this: bartenders and servers -- no matter what kind of uniforms they're made to wear -- don't enjoy being treated like strippers.

Anyone else got good tales about bad customers?

Il Fiasco is temporarily closed for remodeling.

“We’re going to flip-flip the dining room to the front of the restaurant now that Sixth Avenue has become quite the hot spot,” owner Mark Gaimster said. “We remodeled the cellar side during Memorial Day weekend. We’re doing the same thing on this side this holiday weekend.”

Gaimster said Il Fiasco should re-open on Thursday. In addition to moving the bar from front to back, Gaimster said the re-model with add a more rustic feeling, including a refinished concrete floor painted Portofino yellow.

Meanwhile, expansion at Corina Bakery continues and remodeling at Le-Le on Hilltop has begun.

monkeybob writes in response to the post below:

Ed I think a better question to send the blog would have been not to imply that you are wanting to talk about the bad service in Tacoma. You should ask or start a blog about the good service in Tacoma. That way those people that read it can flock to the good service places and maybe the others will learn a lesson.

monkeybob, you've read my mind. Last week, I blogged about a server who rescued me and herself from a bad day.

Also last week, I ran into a waiter at Capers Downtown who was previously a bartender at Meconi's and The Swiss. You know, that tall guy with the beret and the mustache. Some might say he's eccentric. I say he's a first-rate server who does his job with entertaining aplomb. I was glad to see him in an apron again.

It's your turn, monkeybob and others. I'll continue working anonymously, but here's the spotlight: Shine it on your favorite servers. The praise lines are now open ...

Have you done a story on restaurant workers in Tacoma? To me, it just seems like place after place has below-par staff working there. I am a pretty easy-going guy. I usually don’t bitch at people. Don’t send food back. Have complained after a meal just to let the place know something was not good. But it seems time after time I go to places in this town the wait staff sucks! Is it me? Is it Tacoma? Or is it everywhere?

To answer the reader's questions:

1. Is it me? Don't think so.

2. Is it Tacoma? Good bet.

3. Or is it everywhere? That too.

Here are the reader's service complaints. I've fuzzed up the names of the Tacoma restaurants to protect the allegedly innocent.

Expensive steakhouse: Attitude. Kissing boyfriend while working and guest can see.

Tex-Mex tequilaria: Manager seats group. No one comes to table for 10-15 minutes as several waitresses walk by, even making eye contact. I had finally stop one to ask if there were blind eyes working tonight. Not the first time this has happened there.

Waterfront brewpub: Waitress yells at cooks very loudly and everyone can hear.

Downtown Irish pub: Had to almost yell and wave for waitress to greet us at our table, offer water, etc. Multiple staff made eye contact but nobody came over. Then I think I scared the girl because I yelled for her.

I can add a few to that:

The San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic just returned from Los Angeles. "I was surprised how much more emphasis was placed on the front of the house than in the Bay Area," Michael Bauer blogged today. "Some of the food was good, but clearly the emphasis was on service. In the Bay Area, it's often the reverse: food reigns while service languishes. The pedigree of the chef is supreme, while many of the people manning the host stations seem to be there based on style, not experience."

I've had a few conversations and e-mail exchanges with South Sound chefs on the topic of service and staffing. We usually end up agreeing thusly: Lacking dining history, Tacoma's talent pool couldn't fill a squirt gun.

"The Parkway Tavern is STILL seeking the right daytime person," the pub's craigslist job ad says. "Previous applicants need not re-apply."

Tacoma rests its case.