cascadian telegrams

restaurants: pair

we’ve been to pair a few times before and always really liked it.  Last night we went again with John, Jacki, Bea and Eric, and as I’m between gigs right now, restaurant outings are rare for us.  So I thought I’d quickly write down my thoughts.

pair is not a great restaurant; it is merely a very good neighborhood restaurant (as Susan described it last night).  We’ve been there 3-4 times and I’ve always come away impressed and satisfied.  The original plan was for lark (we’ve got a few coupons for lark), but their confusing website says ‘no rezzies’, you can go to rez.urbanspoon.com and indeed make a reservation, which I didn’t discover until Friday.  So rather than chance a 1.5 hour wait we made a reservation at pear instead.

The first thing I really like about pair is the space: Open with natural light and inviting, less cacophonous than Lark.  Last night they had the windows open and there was a lovely breeze blowing in which made the drapes billow, and a bright moon hanging in the sky.  As before the staff are attentive and friendly.

The next thing I like about it is the ‘small plates’ theme, where the food (although not tapas… I’d describe it more as “west coast nouvelle cuisine”) is served tapas-style on small plates to be shared around the table.  With three couples, you’re able to sample lots of dishes and it’s not too filling or overwhelming,  while still being enough food (we ordered five small plates per couple and shared everything) to satisfy.

We started with a round of French 75 cocktails, which I’d never tried before.  It was refreshing and a perfect start.

The menu itself gets a knock occasionally for not switching up the offerings, but really I haven’t noticed it.  The moules frites are delicious and a perennial there, as well as things you’d expect to remain the same such as the cheese plates.  But the scallops special were a first for me and delicious,  while the tempura-fried zucchini had a delicious cheese infused into the batter-coated zukes – that was probably my favorite dish of the night.  I can’t recall the exact name – ask for the special if you go :).

The total cost per couple was not too bad considering we drained a bottle of very nice wine (didn’t see the label as a tablemate ordered it, but it was delicious) with a glass of ruby port at the end.  To be clear:  pair is not inexpensive, but I think it’s reasonable for what they provide.

Finally I’d say the hallmark of a good restaurant evening is when you’re enjoying the food and company so much that nobody wants to leave; without noticing, we were the last table still seated, and we’d spent over three hours there.   We weren’t hurried along, and they thanked us on the way out.  Nice.  Of course, we’ll be back.

Pair

(206) 526-7655

University District
5501 30th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98105
www.pairseattle.com

camping

Just back from a nice weekend camping trip to Excelsior Campground which is in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.   I forgot to charge my camera battery before leaving,  which is a shame as it really is breathtakingly beautiful up there, esp. the views of Shuksan and Mt. Baker from Artist Point and the glacier-fed Nooksack Falls.  I’ll have to show other’s images instead (click image to go to original website):

 

 

It was our first camping trip in, like, eight years!  The last time we went, Malcolm was about six weeks old, and ironically it was also organized by our friends Andy & Tracy who invited us along on this one (Editor’s Note: Show a little more initiative, eh?).  Luckily we had a nice REI tent courtesy of my brother Dave, an unused backpacking stove and some sleeping bags, plus an air mattress that we use for guest visitors/overflow that we stuffed into our little tent. Suffice to say we are not expert at camping.

Luckily our friends were though:   Andy’s dad Steve and various relatives & friends had reserved the group site at Excelsior and our friend Marleen & her son Julian (Malcolm’s BFF, in actuality) came along too.  Steve Bauck and friends have been getting together for their annual camping trip for over 30 years.  There were over 20 adults and 7 or so kids at our site, so there was lots of hands and expertise, and the river bank location (the Nooksack River is glacier-fed from Shuksan/ Mt. Baker, and the crushed rock in the water gives the river a silvery grey color) is a great playground for kids.

It was an interesting group of people at our campsite.  Andy’s dad Steve is a great guy, and his friends and family were interesting, literate and fun to chat with.  Most of them were close to or at retirement age, so they had a relaxed air about them that those of us with a long way to go do not yet possess :).  Meeting new and interesting people definitely made the camping more social and fun for me, and having Marleen and Julian with us made it nice for Malcolm and Susan as well.

The weather was nice when we arrived on Friday but turned drizzly on Saturday.  The drizzle made hiking unattractive but the view from Artist Point (near the Mt. Baker ski area and summit) was incredible:  After the 10th-or-so “wow” I finally stopped saying “wow”.  It was freezing at the lookout turnaround – 10’ of snow remained and they’d only plowed the road a few days earlier, no alpine hikes this time – but it was quite spectacular anyway.

Being novice campers, we made some mistakes.  The air mattress deflated each night so the tent interior was like a kid’s “bouncy castle” at a birthday party after a while, making for hilarous attempts to move around and get comfortable, and I had to drag the air mattress out and refill it using power from the car, getting it wet and other tent contents wet in the process.  We also brought way too much food for the occasion.  But we can refine it next time (hopefully sooner than eight years) and try again.