Pat Nagle, left, the owner of Tacoma's Harmon Brewery and Restaurant, during construction of his Pacific Avenue pub in 1997.

The owners of Harmon Brewery and Restaurant in downtown Tacoma will purchase the business that was St. Helens Cafe and plan to open a "neighborhood restaurant" by March 15.

"That's my time line," Harmon owner Pat Nagle told me today. "The city and the state may have different time lines."

There's no name yet for the new place. Nagle said he plans to expand the bar, install a pizza oven and redecorate a bit.

"The consensus is that the place needs to be warmed up," Nagle said of the 6,000-square-foot restaurant. "It's a neighborhood restaurant. It's gonna have some flair."

Nagle said the Harmon's 15-barrel brewing system has the capacity to serve his new location. Nagle said he's interested in serving serious pizza -- a la Tom Douglas' Serious Pie in Seattle. He said some favorites from the Harmon's menu will turn up in the new location. He also said he'll do breakfast.

"It'll be full-service," Nagle said. "It¹s not gonna be order at the door when you walk in."

One thing Nagle won't be doing is a movie theater/restaurant in Tacoma's former Mecca porno theater.

"The Speakeasy is on the back burner," Nagle said, referring to the pizza-pub-theater concept he and partners at the Gintz Group developers have been working on on Broadway in downtown Tacoma. "I can't really comment any more."

Referring to the purchase of St. Helens Cafe and his own Harmon pub, Nagle said: "This just became an opportunity we really can't pass up. It boded well for expanding a business that we already sunk 11 years worth of effort and money into."

Nagle, who's also the real estate business, noted that building that will house his new venture is already home to Doyle's Public House, Stadium Bistro and an upcoming coffee shop.

"I hope we can create an identity for the whole building so it's kind of a destination," Nagle said.

Teppanyaki-style dining.

“When you open the doors, you will forget that you’re in Spanaway."

The owners of Samurai Japanese Steakhouse beckoned me with those words.

Indeed, the décor of the restaurant, which opened Jan. 17 on Highway 7 just past the Roy Y, transcends typical teriyaki joints. Fourteen teppanyaki grills meander through the 10,000-square-foot restaurant, designed to resemble an old-world Japanese village. The temple-like glowing red bar is bordered by a pond. The vibe is between charming and exotic, foreign but not fake.

But it didn’t take long for me and my dinner mates to declare, “There’s no place like Spanaway.”

When I decided to switch from soda to sake, the barmaid was flummoxed; she didn’t know what kind of sake Samurai serves. She ran to the back room to find out, screaming, “Mama-san” as she fled.

When we were finally seated for dinner after a 1-hour wait, we had to wait for our cook; he was busy pushing a taiko drum through the restaurant. Yeah: cooks and kitchen crew are also the boys in the band, trotted out periodically to entertain diners.

Early last week, I dropped by at lunchtime and was told the restaurant had turned away “500 people” on Saturday night. After dinner Thursday night, I could guess why: only half of the teppanyaki grills were staffed. The restaurant didn’t appear to have enough cooks.

I’ll admit I’m not a fan of restaurants with teppanyaki grills, where diners are seated in groups and everyone's food is cooked by guys who crack jokes (scallops are "Japanese marshmallows," according to our cook) and attempt to crack eggs by tossing them in the air and letting them land on the blades of cleavers. I enjoy dining with others, but not with strangers. Party of two? Meet your six new dinner mates. That’s how these restaurants work. Enjoy it if you like it.

My biggest beef, however, is with Samurai’s pacing and timing of cooking. I ordered scallops and lobster ($36.95). There were eight diners at my table; everyone else ordered chicken or steak. My scallops and lobster hit the grill first. Both were over-cooked. The scallops were like string cheese in the center. (It was Brazilian lobster, by the way; the cook didn’t know what kind it was, and the waitresses said, “I’ve never been asked that question," when I asked her what kind of lobster it was. My source at Johnny’s Seafood ID’d the crustacean.)

I finished my meal before my dinner companions -- the ones I’d brought with me –- were served. One dinner companion’s steak ($19.95) was cooked last. It was ordinary. My other dinner companion ordered chicken ($14.95). It, too, was ordinary. All of our meals came with over-seasoned vegetables that had been squirted with too much soy sauce.

Samurai’s cooks could use more seasoning. Sure, the restaurant just opened, but if the cooks are going to crack jokes, twirl knives and juggle ingredients, they should at least be entertaining. The guy who cooked my meal should be tutored on cooking scallops.

I might have briefly forgotten that I was in Spanaway, but I have this lingering feeling that I spent $83.89 (before tip) on what amounted to table-top teriyaki.

I'll be back ...

Samurai Japanese Steakhouse: 19321 Mountain Highway E., Spanaway; 253-846-5557.

Seoul? The South Sound? It's do-it-yourself barbecue in New York.

I was thinking about vacation: New York or Seoul? Then I surfed over to the New York Times on the Web. They'd already posted tomorrow's news yesterday -- a travel story about going Korean without leaving Manhattan.

I went to bed and dreamed about bi bim bop up the ying yang. It turned out not to be a dream. I'd never left the South Sound.

Visions of the Times' story danced in my head:

It is here that many New Yorkers and visitors first taste kimchi (spicy fermented vegetables), bulgogi (thinly sliced marinated beef) and bi bim bop (Google it), and here that Koreans and Korean-Americans gather for parties and social events.

Many will say you haven’t experienced Korean New York without a trip to Flushing, Queens, but you can easily fill a weekend without leaving Manhattan. Among the culinary choices on and near West 32nd Street, Kunjip is your standard Koreatown restaurant, offering generous portions of do-it-yourself barbecue, other traditional Korean dishes and several brands of soju, the clear Korean liquor. Across the street, Woorijip is an informal, by-the-pound Korean buffet that also stocks Korean snacks like spicy shrimp crackers and sweet rice drinks, good for a quick lunch or bargain dinner; Korean-style fried chicken -- with a full bar -- is available at the largely hidden, chic gathering place Bon Chon chicken.

The New York Times might describe South Sound cities like Lakewood and Federal Way as the Queens of Seattle, boroughs with established Korean and Korean-American communities.

Do-it-yourself table-top barbecue. Korean fried chicken. Steaming bowls of tofu or goat soup. Bottomless banchan, the sweet-hot-sour smorgasbord of radishes, seaweed, fish cakes, fermented cabbage and crabs. Here are some South Sound recommendations.

=> Read more!

Manager Joe Werth at St. Helens Cafe, in open times.

It's confirmed: St. Helens Cafe is out of business. A Tacoma restaurateur tells me he's in preliminary talks to purchase the building and open an eatery. More details as they emerge.

Cider: The other sparkling alcoholic dinner beverage.

Seattle chef Tamara Murphy and her restaurant, Brasa, host The Northwest Cider Society's 2008 cider dinner on Feb. 7. Tickets are $75 and available here.

Ciders include western Washington's Red Barn Cider, Eaglemount, Vashon Winery and Wescott Bay Cider, and Walla Walla's Blue Mountain. Oregon ciders include Wandering Aengus.

Murphy's menu features oysters with cider ice; mussels in cider; glazed pork belly with lentils and root vegetable; glazed sable fish, fennel gratin, thyme and cider butter.

I enjoyed the Cider Society's 2005 dinner in Portland, where Heathman Hotel chef Philippe Boulot stuffed pork chops with Oregon-grown Pitmaston pine apples, glazed the chops in cider-cream reduction and paired them with semi-dry and medium-sweet ciders. His salad featured Jonagold, Cortland and Honeycrisp belle apples paired paired with sparkling and dry ciders. Calvados apple tart tatin was paired with sweet pommeau, an apple brandy blended with fresh apple juice.

Then I went home and made orange Jell-O shooters with Red Barn's aged-in-whiskey-barrels cider.

Click below to read my cider story from 2005.

=> Read more!

I knew the building that houses Charlie Kempe's coffeehouse, Metro Coffee on the UWT campus, is undergoing some kind of surgery. I didn't know Charlie had surgery.

His friends are throwing a get-well benefit for Charlie. It happens Sunday at The Swiss, 3 p.m.-11 p.m. It's all ages. It's 7 bucks. There'll be music, snacks, prizes and a silent auction.

Metro Coffee: 1901 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma. The Swiss: 1904 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma.

Owner Jon Holt told my cryptically Monday that St. Helens Cafe is closed "temporarily." No one has answered the cafe's telephone since then.

For the record, I had the distinction of being St. Helens Cafe's first customer when it opened in February 2007. It just worked out that way.

Meantime, I'm told that St. Helens' wine is headed back to the distributor. Double meantime, the owner of nearby Kings Books posts in The You Plate Special:

johnschoppert
The word on the street, St. Helens Cafe, the fish and chips joint has closed. Yet, on the St. Helens St side next to Stadium Bistro, a coffee shop will open, there's a door punched into the wall on the side of the building. It looks like take-out only by the size of it.

UPDATE A trusted source tells me that Tacoma restaurateur is discussing purchasing the building. Stay tuned.

Having attempted to taste-test a kilo of coffee -- Commencement Bay to Batdorf and Bronson to Valhalla to Forza to Stumptown to whole bunch more beans that all seem to blend together after five or 10 cups -- my palate and my kidneys are stumped.

Coffee's a personal preference. The chasm between my definition of "room for cream" and Starbucks' definition of "room for cream" is about as wide as a set of hips with a three-Frappuccino-a-day habit.

Rich?

Flavorful?

Aromatic?

Nice words.

What the heck do they mean in your mouth?

And what is "coffee" anymore? The brew in the urn? Double-shot Americanos? Something with whipped cream on top?

Who roasts your favorite beans? Who brews your favorite cups?

Need room for cream?

A scene from the Washington Restaurant Association's 2002 trade show.

In response to some industry issues, I asked restaurateurs to tell me what they get from their membership in the Washington Restaurant Association. Here are three replies:

=> Read more!

FEED THE GLOVE Food-service workers are required to wear them. What about diners?

I've been eating at buffets for about a week. Somewhere between Old Country and Indian country, I caught a cold.

(I also ate some pretty good buffet grub. My reviews will publish Friday in GO. Here's a sneak: Little Creek and Muckleshoot casinos, despite the weekend waits. Super Buffet, DuPont.)

I saw a bottle of Purell hand sanitizer at Little Creek Casino. It was at the cash register. It was about three-quarters full. In a very unscientific study, I witnessed no one using the hand sanitizer as I waited in line to pay at the register.

My first thought: Hand sanitizer should be on every table at every buffet, salad bar or all-you-can-eat pizza parlor.

My second thought: Patrons who touch tongs, spoons or ladles while loading up at buffets should be made to we wear disposable gloves.

My third thought: Ain't gonna happen.

First of all, it's just a head cold. Second of all, I'm not that anal. Third of all, nothing will keep me from grabbing the Muckleshoot buffet's sauce-slathered-full-of-meat beef ribs between my questionably clean fingers.

Kids sneeze. Old men scratch. How many ladies who lunch at casino buffets wash their hands after playing the slots? Did I wash my hands after giving my dog her nightly bowl of raw poultry?

That's life, ladies and germs. Just one more thing to sneeze at.

I've got a couple more buffets to graze today. I'll be the guy with the hand sanitizer on my gloves.

Inside Doyle's Public House in Tacoma.

Yesterday, it was Charlie McManus in the New York Times. Today, it's Parkway Tavern and Doyle's Public House in Esquire. The Tacoma wateringholes are featured in the magazine's Best Bars in America guide.

Long considered Seattle’s ugly stepsister, Tacoma is now undergoing the nip and tuck of urban redevelopment. Cranes swing over the skyline, and century-old buildings are bandaged with Tyvek—courtesy of a massive gentrification campaign designed to buff the saltwater stains from this port town. But the Tacoma renewal works because it preserves the best parts of the city’s tracks-and-timber origins. ... And on the street out front, cars sport the popular bumper sticker, "Admit it, Tacoma. You're beautiful." After a few hours lifting pint glasses at the Parkway, you’ll get it. Tacoma may never be waxed and polished like Seattle, but this salty old broad cleans up well.

Way to go, Tacoma bars.

By the way: I'm lobbying Seattle restaurant critics to review Tacoma restaurants. Stay tuned...

Chef Charlie McManus prepares to roast a whole pig grown and slaughtered specially for Primo Grill.

My dream of reading my name in the New York Times remains unfulfilled, but I was pleased to see the name of a Tacoma chef in the paper of record today.

For those who can't get past celeb cook Jamie Oliver talking about killing his own chickens, here's what Charlie McManus, chef/owner of Primo Grill, says about what the Times calls chefs' "new intimacy with the animals they cook," and the "ewwww" factor that turns off some diners.

"For years, all I saw in kitchens was Cryovac steaks, chops, never anything to remind you that this was once an animal," said Mr. McManus. "It's our responsibility and our privilege to educate our customers. A lot of them don’t want to hear it, but that’s just sticking your head in the sand."

McManus is quoted not because he kills his own animals, but because of his relationship with Cheryl The Pig Lady, who raises pigs that McManus roasts.

McManus told me last year: "One of the most dramatic things that's happened at Primo Grill is bringing almost-warm pigs straight from the slaughterhouse. A lot of younger cooks have never seen a whole animal before. It's important that our staff understand that it's not just a piece of meat. It's a life that's given that day."

Thierry Rautureau, chef/owner of Rovers in Seattle, told me recently that he kills his own chickens at Rovers. If I ever get up to Seattle for dinner, I hope to watch him slaughter a bird before he watches me devour it.

Mmmmm, Brussels sprouts.

A while back a caller accused me of eating "weird" un-American food. To which I say: Thanks for reading my work, bubba.

Now read this: DeCaterina's Market Grill and Bar served me Brussels sprouts the other night. The night before, Woody's on the Water served celeriac.

As all-American Larry the Cable Guy might say: I don't care who you are, them's good eating right there, I tell you what.

Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables. Celeriac, a root vegetable cousin of celery, is now on the list, too.

At DeCaterina's, chef Matt Brandsey roasted and blackened the little cabbages. A little horseradish added appealing edge. (Look for my review of DeCaterina's in Friday's GO section.)

At Woody's on the Water, chef Chris Bangert roasted celeriac until it was tender, but still with some life. He served it atop mashed sweet potatoes. An earthy sweetness filled my mouth.

Chefs: Thank you for going beyond the standard broccolini-squash-carrots-green beans of most vegetable side dishes.

DeCaterina's Market Grill and Bar: 328 S. Meridian St., Puyallup; 253-848-1553. Woody's on the Water: 1715 Dock St., Tacoma; 253-272-1433.

Mudshark porter, on cask at Fishbowl in Olympia.

This year's Washington Beer Commission Cask Beer Festival promises to be less of a butt-cruncher than last year's. This year's affair will be held in Seattle Center's spacious Fisher Pavilion. If you remember last year's festival in the split-level Alki Room, you'll hoist some cheer. The festival happens March 22. Tickets ($35 advance, $40 at the door) go on sale in February.

I'm not sure if this is the dog wagging the tail or what, but: I'm looking for 2-for-1 specials, buy-one-get-something-free deals and the like. Eligible promotion dates: Feb. 29, 2008 through ... as long as you can afford to offer the deal. My request is tied to a Leap Year edition of the GO section. We get an extra day this year, so I'm looking for extra things. Promotions that start on Leap Day, Feb. 29. Not a day before, please.

Not the knocked-up-teenager-giving-it-away movie,
but the downtown Tacoma bar and grill.

There's a new sign in the window at 933 Market St. in downtown Tacoma -- the former location of the South Sound Garage, the short-lived nightclub and steakhouse-that-never-was. A liquor license notice taped to the door announces Juno Bar and Grill. More details as I get 'em....

Meantime, over by Tacoma Mall -- the place where all those downtown businesses fled oh so long ago -- chef/owner Bill Trudnowski and partner John Howie are "furiously working on our re-model schedule and will know in the next few days when our closure and re-opening dates will be," according to an e-mail from Trudnowski.

The closure Trudnowski refers to is of Cucina Cucina Italian Cafe, which he and Howie, veterans of Seattle's Consolidated Restaurants, purchased in June. The new place is called The Adriatic Grill. For those of us who aced third-grade geography, the Adriatic Sea borders Italy, the former Yugoslavia and other Mediterranean nations. Trudnowski and Howie's restaurant will be "Italian cuisine and wine bar."

"But, as the name states, we can pull from the entire region for ideas and food that we can have fun with," Trudnowski said. "Everything will be made fresh. We did a 35-item menu change and phase one of the wine list in September to help move us forward. Many staples will be on the re-opening menu but we will also have selections that will be leading edge on our fresh sheet. Pizza oven will stay and be used more. I will re-model our cooking line to better produce the level of food that we will do. Dining room and bar will be re-modeled. Outside already has a few changes and has been painted."

A note on craigslist says the changes will begin Jan. 25. If you want to buy any equipment or fixtures that won't make it into The Adriatic Grill, you can pick them up on craigslist.

You be the judge of change at Hotel Murano, the former Sheraton in downtown Tacoma. I called over there last week to see if the hotel's new restaurant, The Bite, had opened yet. It hadn't, but when I inquired whether the existing breakfast-lunch restaurant was expensive, I was told, "It's mediocre."

Coming soon: The Adriatic Grill, 4201 S. Steele St., Tacoma; 253-475-6000.

What's in store for restaurants in 2008?

The latest issue of the Washington Restaurant Association's trade journal lists trends that are likely to affect restaurants in 2008. The list is full of platitudes -- "let's start considering some commonsense solutions to help solve this problem," WRA president Anthony Anton writes in regard to nutrition and obesity -- and virtually devoid of actionable solutions.

I've got a few ideas, so I'll share them here. Whatever appears in italics is from the WRA's Anton; all other opinions are mine. Feel free to chime in. We are all restaurant customers, and as you know from another platitude, the customer is always right.

=> Read more!

Authentic Chinese food at Tacoma Szechuan on South Tacoma Way.

Last Sunday, nearly 150 of gourmand/politician Dennis Flannigan's friends dined for a cause: to help keep Tacoma Szechuan in business and in the South Sound.

"They're struggling," the Tacoma Democrat said. "They're determined not to let their food be Americanized. This is real and remarkable food."

Flannigan is such a fan of the Chinese restaurant (and so opposed to it possibly moving to Seattle) that he organized two dinners on Sunday: for $30 per person (plus tax and tip), diners in two sold-out seatings enjoyed 13-course meals.

I was there. I pretty much agree with Flannagan. But I'll let the politician have the floor:

"They have trumped Seattle with extraordinary Szechuan cuisine," Flannigan said. "I want them to succeed. I want them to prosper. I want them to be there when I want Chinese. There is something to a great restaurant that is beyond food and service quality. It is when a restaurant becomes a home, a soul center for friends, fans and even strangers."

So why is the restaurant struggling?

"They are in a primarily Korean food paradise," Flannigan said, noting its location in Tacoma's International (read: Korean) District. "People don't look for them there, and, today I learned while they have a land phone, you can't get their number by dialing 4-1-1. They didn't sign up for that service. Perhaps because they're unsure of getting orders correct over the phone, or knowing how to give directions. But one result is they don't get found in the phone book, or by calling Information. We both know that hurts business."

Tacoma Szechuan is owned by three sisters who emigrated from China two years ago: Min Xie, Min Qin Xie, Min Jie Xie. On Sunday, the sisters, backed by chef Wei Zhong, sous chef is Ge Li, impressed the house.

Here's what we ate: hot and sour and wonton soup; egg rolls; savory pork dumplings; steamed and fried crab; kung pao chicken that was tender and intensely spiced with peppercorns; mixed veggies; hand-cut flat noodles that were both tender and meaty; Mongloian beef that melted like butter in my mouth; crunchy nuggets of fried flounder with fried green beans; fried rice; spicy/smoky tofu in tomato sauce; and two desserts: sweet potato fritters and black sesame rice balls.

Taste for yourselves:

Tacoma Szechuan: 9601 South Tacoma Way, No. 102, Lakewood; 253-581-0102

Joel Mertens, at Tacoma's C.I. Shenanigans.

Joel Mertens, the chef at Tacoma waterfront restaurant C.I. Shenanigans, has been hired in the same role at X Group Restaurants, operators of Asado and Masa on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue. He'll start in mid-January, said X Group general manager Jeff Paradise, the former GM at Shenanigans who joined X Group in November.

This "Almond Roca Cake" contains no Almond Roca. But it's got loads of butter.

Did you ever have an existential conversation about butter? Looking at my notes from a telephone conversation with the candy wonks at Tacoma's Brown & Haley, I think I did have an existential conversation about butter.

"What is the meaning of Roca?" asked Pierson Clair, Brown & Haley's CEO. "Now that the brand is truly Roca and almond, cashew and candy cane are the flavor elements, the meaning of Roca is butter crunch toffee."

Roca, you see, is all about butter.

"Massive," Clair said. "Butter is truly the real carrier of the flavor."

Clair and COO John Melin were proprietarily discrete about how much butter goes into every pound of almond, cashew or candy cane Roca. But Clair said the company uses more than 2 million pounds of "American, salted, West Coast, usually WestFarm, butter, 80 percent milk fat" annually.

"We're very lavish," said Melin, who hails from "a butter family" from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "Butter gives you the bite. Butter plays a significant factor in the texture."

A crunchy candy that's like butter.

"Butter just makes everything more rich and real," said Gay Landry, who uses butter in her truffles, cakes and pastries at Affairs Bakery and Cafe in University Place. (Landry's two exceptions: Shortening gives her gingersnaps their snap and canola oil gives carrot cake luscious density.)

"It's a sensory issue," she said. "Artificial fats like Crisco have the consistency but they don't have the mouthfeel."

With butter, Landry said, "Everything comes out more flaky, richer, buttery. There really isn't another way to say it."