Tiki of the Weeki
I am not The Dude, and I have not had a White Russian for decades, so the bowling alley is not on my short list for Best Places to Get a Cocktail. But when my friends and I made a plan to bowl on a recent Friday night, I was pleased as (rum) punch to discover there is a tiki bar adjacent to West Seattle Bowl creating elaborately garnished drinks, in delightfully kitschy drinkware. Three 9 Lounge is technically a separate business from the bowling alley, a fact I was surprised to learn since you can seamlessly walk from one right into the other without the barrier of a door.
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Admittedly, I’m not usually a big cocktail gal; most drinks are either too boozy or too sweet for my beer-loving palate but, to quote Goldilocks, the ones I tried at Three 9 Lounge were just right.
A tiki drink is as much about the show as it is the slurp, and the dramatic-looking Troubled Waters (Tequila Blanco, house-made ginger syrup, pineapple, lemon, blue curacao and bubbles) garnered many ooohs and ahhhs when it hit the table. The Smurf-blue cocktail arrived in a fish bowl; inside, three gummy sharks circled a plastic mermaid, kept afloat by a raft of fresh pineapple, the whole scene illuminated by a light-up ice cube. A large, leafy sprig of fragrant mint completed the sensory experience.
My friend’s Bucc...Off!, a tipple featuring not one, but two types of rum, amaro, honey-turmeric chai tea, lemon and bitters, was garnished with a flaming cinnamon stick, a smoky cigar the grizzly pirate represented on the tiki mug would happily puff on.
The cocktail menu is vast: classic tiki drinks, boozy slushies, n/a drinks and big tiki bowls for three or more, if you’re good and ready to stick a few straws into a shared drink (Covid who???). Soak up the spirits with a snack from the pupu menu featuring Hawaiian, Japanese and Filipino favorites, like lumpia, karaage chicken, mahi mahi tacos and loco moco sliders.
Grape sounds Nuts!
I spent much of my childhood begging for, and being denied, sugary cereals. But by the time I reached adulthood, and was free to eat Trix or Fruity Pebbles three meals a day, seven days a week, I had already developed an unwavering taste for “boring” cereals. Cheerios! Crispix! Grape-Nuts! If it’s beige and claims to lower your cholesterol, I’ll happily pour milk on it.
A few years ago, I learned about Grape-Nuts Pudding, a beloved New England dessert that’s been enjoyed since at least 1901, from my friend Isaac Kaplan-Woolner (occasional Your Last Meal fill-in producer!), who grew up eating it in Massachusetts. Grape-Nuts are steeped in a classic eggy, milky custard, and when it’s baked in a casserole dish the cereal sinks to the bottom, creating a soggy crust. It’s nutty and creamy and oh so good!
This month is Salt & Straw’s annual Cereal-sly Delicious series, featuring five cereal-studded flavors, and I was intrigued by their new Concord Grape-Nut Crumble: Concord grape juice frozen yogurt swirled with rich Grape Nut pudding, studded with a toasted pecan and Grape Nut crumble.
I instantly thought of Isaac, but when I texted him the good news, he wrote back:
Sounds almost good, but of course they had to Salt & Straw it with the grape :/
Was he right? Were they compromising flavor in favor of a clever name? Luckily Salt & Straw gives out unlimited tastes, so I was intent to find out!
Turns out, I loved it! It was not too grape-y, in the way that Concord grape can sometimes conjure up the smell of purple, smelly markers. And it was an unexpectedly wonderful pairing with what is, perhaps, my favorite Salt & Straw flavor of all time, Peanut Butter Brownie Cereal Puffs: double-baked, Reese’s-coated peanut butter brownie puffs folded into peanut butter-marbled, milk chocolate ice cream. I love both flavors so much, I need to make it back for another scoop (or a pint!) before the end of March!
Check out last season’s episode of The Nosh, where I visit Salt & Straw’s Portland test kitchen, and create an improvised, zero-waste ice cream flavor with co-founder and head of innovation Tyler Malek. And listen to the episode of Your Last Meal featuring cousins and co-founders Kim and Tyler Malek, to learn the unlikely way the company got its start and the most disgusting flavor Tyler’s ever created.
Challlahhh Chhhoagie!
If you know me well, or you’ve listened to my podcast, you’ve probably heard me wax on my lifelong obsession with cartoon food. There is no real-life pancake that could ever taste as delicious as a tall, mouthwatering stack of golden, cartoon pancakes, with the melting pat of butter and the syrup cascading down its sides. I love the way Wimpy bites into a hamburger on Popeye, the way Yogi Bear munches a white bread sandwich from his pic-a-nic basket, and I’ve spent decades thinking about the scene in Disney’s 1947 Mickey and the Beanstalk where a slice of bread and a single pinto bean are carved into translucent, tissue-paper-thin slices.
But one of my biggest fixations is a gimmicky food that looks just as tasty in a cartoon (Scooby Doo) as it does in real life (The Cosby Show, Super Bowl commercials): the extremely long sub sandwich! A 6-foot-long hoagie, a horizontal Dagwood, stacked high with folded deli meats and cheeses; ruffly, shredded lettuce and ruby red slices of tomato. Big bonus points for green olives speared into the top of the sandwich with frilly toothpicks.
My friend Bryan and I have talked for years about making a challah choagie, because we love alliteration (the “ch” pronounced in the guttural, phlegmy Hebrew style), we want to live out our long-held, Long Sandwich Dreams ™ and because the challah recipe I use makes three loaves of bread, which is one too many, and puts the extra loaf to good use!
Readers: I’m excited to report that last weekend, our dream became a reality!
In reality, our sandwich may have only been a foot-and-a-half long, but because it scratched that cartoonish itch and was so delicious, it mentally and spiritually felt like six!
First of all, I’d like to share a fantastic challah recipe, the only one I use, by prolific recipe developer and cookbook author, Adeena Sussman. The braided loaves are impossibly tender inside, with a feathery pull-apart crumb and a hint of sweetness from honey. I top mine with everything but the bagel seasoning and keep a close eye on them in the oven, because the tops darken fast (tent them with foil if they are perfectly browned but not done baking) and are always done before the recipe says they will be. P.S. I just learned that you can stick a baking thermometer into a loaf of bread and know that it’s done when it hits 212°F, the temperature that water boils!
We stuffed our challah choagies (or sacrilege Jewtalian sandwiches) with Italian meats and cheese (mortadella, capicola, salami and sharp provolone), shredded lettuce dressed in olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and lots of sliced pepperoncini.
Challalujah!
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XO
Rachel Belle
