A search for parking turned me on to a really cheap $3 lunch today. I was intending to eat at Vien Dong, home to tasty, inexpensive Vietnamese soup. I turned right off 38th, looking for parking and found a surprise – a second Cafe La Vie tucked into a refurbished house in a residential street. It's an outpost of the other Cafe La Vie on 38th.

The second Cafe La Vie has been open for about seven months and, like its sister restaurant around the corner, the menu is micro focused on Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches and Vietnamese coffee. The second location, however, is far more clean and spacious than its original counterpart.

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Our sister paper The Olympian reported today about The Mark restaurant in Olympia receiving organic certification last month by the state Department of Agriculture. Read the story here. The Mark, a restaurant serving Spanish, Italian and Basque style rustic cuisine with a Northwest sensibility, is the only restaurant in the state currently certified by the program (another restaurant, Seattle's Sterling Cafe, participated, but dropped out).

I spoke with restaurant owner Lisa Owen recently about the certification process. She said about 70 percent of what's on her menu is organic, and she alerts diners of organic menu choices with a system of asterisks explaining the extent to which each dish is organically sourced. "It doesn’t mean that every single item I’m selling is organic, but it says that everything I’m saying is organic, really is organic," explained Owen.

She takes organic sourcing to the extreme – even using organic oils and offering organic wine, not to mention organic herbs in cocktails and organic dairy in coffee drinks. It's much easier now to source organic ingredients than ever before, but she still has difficulty sourcing some products, such as pancetta.

Serving organic is a mantra she takes to a basic level: "My rationale is I can’t serve people things I wouldn’t eat or drink."

The Mark
Where: 407 S.W. Columbia St., Olympia
Contact: 360-754-4414
Hours: Dinner served 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; Tapas served until 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday.
Website: http://www.themarkolympia.com/restaurant/

The cocktail lounge 1022 South opened last night and our music and nightlife columnist Ernest Jasmin stopped by to check out the cocktail menu. Here's what he had to say about the new lounge, which opened in the spot formerly occupied by the Monsoon Room.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Drop-In Dining is a restaurant dining report where reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on TNT’s dime, then report what the scene and the food were like. Have a suggestion for a Drop-In Dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

By Sue Kidd
sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com

Twelve cheeseburgers in two weeks. It’s not anything I’d recommend to anyone who has any concern for their arteries, or who wants to live to be, say, 40.

But in a burger quest, it must be done.

The impending invasion of Sonic and Burgerville launched my burger mission. The Sonic Drive-In chain is scheduled to open its first South Sound location in late April on Puyallup’s South Hill. Burgerville, announced plans to come to the Tacoma market this year.

My assignment: test the pulse of our smaller, independently operated burger joints. I hit pavement and visited eight burger joints. I also detoured to three high-end restaurants with decadent interpretations of the classic American burger. Finally, I pointed the car eastward to mull a restaurant with a commanding view and 50 burgers on the menu.

Did I miss your favorite? Want me to write about it? Comment here or e-mail to tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

I might need some time to purge my arteries, but I’ll be back on the burger trail soon enough.

Pictured here: The El Gaucho burger. Photo by Peter Haley/The News Tribune

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Sea Grill serves up its last meal this weekend. Read about it here.

This is disappointing news for the Tacoma dining community. Sea Grill was one of the anchor restaurants in the revitalized Pacific Avenue "restaurant row."

I just finished writing a burger report for this Friday's GO section and TNT Diner, and I devoted ink to Sea Grill's prosciutto and Gorgonzola burger, and I had plans to write about their Happy Hour menu in April.

I rewrote the burger entry to read as an homage to what is (soon to be was) one of the best burgers in town. But you do still have until this weekend to enjoy the Sea Grill burger, so long as the restaurant keeps the regular menu until they close. I also give high marks for the bar's Happy Hour specials. It really is (was) one of the best deals in town.

What I had written about the burger (pre-homage):

Sea Grill Burger: The half pound, juicy burger was sandwiched between two of my most favorite things — a big portion of Gorgonzola cheese and two salty slices of prosciutto. The patty came just as requested – medium. I let the burger sit for a moment while I enjoyed a few of the crispy golden fries, and the Gorgonzola cheese melted into a delicious, pungent cheese bath over the fat, juicy patty. Each bite was a salty-smokey treat. I can’t say enough about what a great value this burger is during the happy hour discount. ($7 during Happy Hour. Priced $9 on the regular menu).

Sea Grill: 1498 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-5656, www.the-seagrill.com.

Click "read more" to see the press release from the owners of Sea Grill about the closure.

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Jeff Mayor ad I visited with Nita Bariekman for a while last week. She was great! You would never guess her age after visiting with her. She still get's to her shop at 7:30 a.m. every weekday to make soups ad pies for the lunch crowd. I tried the lemon meringue pie and it was fantastic.
You can read Jeff's story here and I have added the video to this post.
Enjoy,
Joe

Mongolian Grill chef John Kim will stir fry your choice of vegetables and tofu at the River Road restaurant in Puyallup. Photo by Janet Jensen/The News Tribune.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Drop-In Dining is a restaurant dining report where reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on TNT’s dime, then report what the scene and the food were like. Have a suggestion for a Drop-In Dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

By Debbie Cafazzo
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com

As a vegetarian, I know I can always make special requests when dining out. But I love it when I don’t have to.

There’s nothing that excites me more than when I open a menu and see a section tailored to vegetarians. And it’s an even bigger thrill when the vegetarian selections are creative and offer something more for the diner, instead of a meat-oriented dish with something subtracted.

Here, I write about three of my long-time favorite veg-friendly restaurants, and a couple of new discoveries.

Note to readers: Share your opinion here if you know of a great South Sound restaurant that caters to vegetarians or vegans. Jut comment here and share your experiences with other TNT Diner readers.

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A few weeks ago, A&E editor Craig Sailor assigned me a burger story for the GO section that will publish later this month. His directive: eat at 10 burger joints. Report back who has the juiciest burgers and tastiest fries.

So I trekked to Wally's in Buckley, Friesenburgers by the Tacoma Dome, Mary's Burger Bistro on Pacific and a few others. I don't know if I'll get to 10 by early next week, but I'm hoping to get to at least seven (clogged arteries and all).

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I got an e-mail from Gordon Naccarato, owner of Pacific Grill, announcing he's hired Ian Thompson, formerly of Asado and El Gaucho, to be the newest executive chef at Pacific Grill.

Naccarato told TNT Diner readers a few weeks ago that Jason Moses would replace Aaron Valimont, who left to work at Oceanaire in Seattle. Moses, who was the sous chef at Pacific Grill before briefly becoming executive chef a few weeks ago, has left the restaurant for personal reasons.

Ian Thompson, former chef at Asado and El Gaucho, will join the kitchen at Pacific Grill.

To sum up Thompson's resume: he is a Gig Harbor native who started his restaurant career washing dishes at Spiro's in Gig Harbor. He attended South Seattle Community College's culinary program and worked line cook jobs at Coastal Kitchen and Primo Grill. He was a member of the opening team for El Gaucho's Tacoma location before taking over catering operations at the Garden Cafe at Windmill Gardens in Sumner. He then went to work at Asado before going back to SSCC to attend the hospitality management program. He graduates from the program this June.

Pictured here are Pat and Kim Nicholl, owners of Amici in Graham. Photo by Joe Barrentine/The News Tribune

EDITOR’S NOTE: Drop-In Dining is a restaurant dining report where reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on TNT’s dime, then report what the scene and the food were like. Have a suggestion for a Drop-In Dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

Amici Italian Eatery
Where: 9807 224th St. E., No. 100, Graham
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays
Price range: $-$$ Entrees up to $24
Contact: 253-847-1500, www.iloveamici.com

By Craig Hill
craig.hill@thenewstribune.com

It’s probably a safe bet that Graham is one of the few places in the Northwest where you can find Italian cuisine with a taste of Alaska.

At Amici Italian Eatery, tucked away in the Graham Town Center shopping plaza, you’ll find everything from brick oven pizza to pasta to prime rib to fish and chips.

That’s right, fish and chips.

“I know, fish and chips isn’t Italian,” owner Pat Nicholl said. “But there’s a reason we serve it.”

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My post from Tuesday about Chef William Mueller's Guinness ice cream just wasn't enough Guinness for the week, I don't think. Now I've got a recipe for a Guinness-based Irish Stew that will be served at Primo Grill and Crown Bar for St. Patrick's Day events Tuesday at both venues.

At Crown and Primo, both owned by Charlie McManus, a beef and potato stew powered by Guinness will be featured on the menu -- his mother's recipe. Click "read more" to learn how to make it at home.

At Crown, which McManus says was inspired by the Crown Bar in his hometown of Belfast, McManus will serve shepherd's pie, oysters on the half shell, pints of Guinness and a selection of top-shelf whiskey, including Powers, Jameson and Redbreast 12. At his restaurant Primo, McManus will serve Guinness braised lamb shanks, his mother's Irish stew, and more.

WHERE:
Primo Grill: 601 S. Pine St., Tacoma; 253-383-7000
Crown Bar: 2705 6th Ave., Tacoma; 253-272-4177

Know of any other restaurants hosting St. Patrick's Day events? Please comment here, or e-mail me at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com. Send recipes, too, I'll post them if I get them.

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The new World Café in Puyallup’s South Hill is a dual-purpose food destination. For the drive-by eater, it’s a fast, casual café with a limited menu of wraps, soups, salads, a few grain-based entrees, and a small breakfast menu of oatmeal, paninis and nutritious pastries. For the time-pressed cook (aka my fellow Puyallup moms), the cafe is a pickup place for Day By Day Gourmet, a meals ready business where frozen dinners can be picked up and stashed in a freezer until dinner is needed.

The company’s mantra is healthy food – nutritious ingredients, prepared with a nod to ethnic flavors. And the concept is helped along by a Northwest healthy eats pioneer – former public television cooking host Graham Kerr, who helped develop the menu (other credentialed culinary professionals also helped with the concept, check the website for details).

Shown here: A Thai chicken wrap, called a trumpette, comes on a sundried tomato tortilla with a smear of garlic scented bean spread, coconut, curry and cilantro marinated chicken and fresh greens inside, and on the side.

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Chef William Mueller's Guinness ice cream combines the stout beer with cream, sugar and vanilla. Photo by Jeremy Harrison/The News Tribune

You have to be a gutsy chef to serve your diners something like Guinness ice cream. Gutsy is a good description for Chef William Mueller, who owns Babblin’ Babs Bistro in Proctor with wife Shannon.

Mueller is the chef who last year gave chocolate covered bacon a shot, after all. Last St. Patrick’s Day, he served the Guinness ice cream.

I could see how an ice cream made with a stout beer like Guinness could work. A bitter beer, mixed with rich cream and sweetened with sugar, is akin to a popular ice cream that also employs a bitter ingredient as a foundation – coffee ice cream. But a problem with using a bitter flavor base is achieving balance between bitter and sweet. Ice cream with a bitter bite doesn’t suit most palates.

I asked Mueller for a recipe, and I tested it over the weekend.

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Lim Po An and Jurirut Krong Krajonsuk, from left, the owners of Oriental Noodle and Grill Thai Cuisine hold a bowl of Tom Yum Noodles one of many Thai dishes available at the Tacoma restaurant. Janet Jensen/The News Tribune.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Drop-In Dining is a restaurant dining report where reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on TNT’s dime, then report what the scene and the food were like. Have a suggestion for a Drop-In Dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

Oriental Noodle & Grill
Where: 1620 S. Mildred St., Tacoma
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Phone: 253-565-1921
Price Range: $-$$ (prices under $30)

By Sue Kidd
sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com

Just when you thought Tacoma couldn’t support one more strip mall Thai restaurant ... surprise! And welcome to Oriental Noodle & Grill.

But what sets this Southeast Asian eatery apart from its kin is a beautiful interior, although you might never guess from the generic strip-mall exterior.

The dark, wooden tables are dressed with linen napkins, handsome dishes and substantial flatware. The walls are layered with floor-to-ceiling, richly colored wood paneling accentuated by interesting artwork, bamboo floors and muted lighting.

Oriental Noodle & Grill caters to the same kind of diners who appreciate higher concept Thai cuisine found at South Sound bistro-style restaurants like Galanga Thai, East & West Café, Indochine and Wild Orchid.

If Oriental Noodle & Grill reminds diners of Wild Orchid, that’s because the restaurant’s owners are one and the same – Lim Po An and Jurirut Krong Krajonsuk. They opened Oriental Noodle & Grill Sept. 28.

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I found burger goodness at Flip-N-Out Burger, which opened today in the building that the 12th Street Diner once occupied (across the street from Mandolin Cafe).

Flip-N-Out is an independently owned restaurant that seems as if it could hold much burger promise. Along with Burgerville and Sonic, I can see Flip-N-Out Burger becoming one of my go-to burger places if my first impression holds steady. It might even join the burger ranks of locally revered burger places like Friesenburgers and Pick Quick and Little Holland.

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The co-owners of the Harbor Greens market in Gig Harbor are expanding their love of wine a few doors down from their upscale grocery store.

Chad Roy and Scott Teodoro will open the Harbor Greens Wine Bar at 3 p.m. today in the Forza Coffee Shop.

Roy and Teodoro opened Harbor Greens Market in June 2007. The store has an extensive wine selection, and selling wine at the market really is what set the duo on a path to opening a wine bar.

“Customers kept saying, ‘I wish I could try this before I buy it,’” said Teodoro. How convenient that customers will be able to sample the wine at the bar, then walk a few doors down to buy the bottle. Or at least that's what Roy and Teodoro hope will happen.

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Five bucks will buy you all the chili you can eat March 14 at Freighthouse Square. The Red & Green CASI Chili cook-off benefits My Sister's Pantry, a Tacoma food bank.

Ken Peach, the "great pepper" (aka president) of the Puget Pod Chili Appreciation Society International, said that entries are closed for the 20th annual cook-off, but anyone can come down and eat at the event, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Rainier Room at Freighthouse Square.

Of the red vs. green chili event, Peach said, "CASI style (the red chili) is Texas style chili, which means no beans or fillers! The green chili is anything goes, except it has to be green and you cannot use food coloring."

That means anything can be an ingredient in the green chili, so consider yourself warned. Peach has taken top honors at the Freighthouse cook-off in the past. His recipe for great chili: lots of cumin (the most important ingredient of chili, he says) and lean beef. He uses shoulder cuts trimmed of fat and gristle. It makes a delicious and healthy chili, he says.

More info here: www.pugetpodcasi.us