JACK BERNARD'S TRAVELS

Posted by jdbernard743

· October 9, 2014

Marilynn’s Extended Birthday

It was a beautiful day for a birthday. 78° looking south over Lake Union from one of Adirondack chairs at Seattle’s Westward Restaurant. What a great place to hang out on a deliciously warm afternoon in October. She who must be obeyed was very happy.

Birthdays weren’t important celebrations when I was growing up. It wasn’t that my parents didn’t mark them. They did, but I was born a week before Christmas so my birthday was celebrated quietly. After all, the big event was looming just a week away.

Marilynn’s family, on the other hand, made a big deal out of them, and I’m coming around to that view. There aren’t that many left for us and I think they’re worth making some noise about. Here’s the birthday girl with her ritual glass of rose’. She learned to love it in Provence and it’s her drink of choice. She loves France.

We’ve been blessed with great weather this fall and it carried over to the birthday weekend. We took four different bike rides in four days and saw country from Arlington in the north to Green River in the south.

We ate outside at two different restaurants, visited a lovely art gallery and the Bellevue Art Museum, saw two films and finished with Happy Hour at Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

Happy Birthday, M. I love you.

More tomorrow…

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Posted by jdbernard743

· October 9, 2014

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A Local Art Walk

The local art walk looked like this yesterday:

This series by Sol Lewitt is currently on display at the Bellevue Arts Museum. It is part of an exhibit called Under Pressure, Contemporary Prints from the Collections of Jordan Schnitzer and his Family Foundation. Mr. Schnitzer, a Portland attorney, whose mother owned one of the first art galleries in Portland, began collecting as a teenager. Since 1988 he has amassed an astonishing collection of contemporary prints. Under the umbrella of the Jordan Schnitzer Foundation the entire collection, is housed at the University of Oregon museum bearing his name.

I’ve been interested in contemporary prints since the early 1960’s and purchased several at Tokyo’s famous Yoseido Gallery when I was flying there regularly. I’ve lived with them for over 50 years now and still find them interesting. This is my favorite – by Toko Shinoda. Ms. Shinoda, now 101 years old, is a designated Living National Treasure in Japan.

Bellevue can also boast having one of the best newer art galleries in the Pacific Northwest. The Hall Spassov Gallery, streetside on Bellevue Way in the Bellevue Place Complex, has a stable of exciting contemporary artists. Eric Hall and Amy Spassov are the owner operators and have recently extended their reach with a new gallery in the Pioneer Square area in Seattle. This is a monoprint by one of their artists, Sun Valley printmaker Abby Grosvenor.

More tomorrow…

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Tags : Contemporary Prints, Jordan Schnitzer, Toko Shinoda

Posted by jdbernard743

· October 6, 2014

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Capitol Hill, Elliott Bay Books, and Richard Hugo House

I mentioned in the first of these 30/30 posts (October 1) that they are my contributions to a project called the 30/30 Challenge. It’s a fundraising campaign to support Richard Hugo House in Seattle. I donated $50 to enter the Challenge and committed to write at least 30 minutes every day for 30 days through the month of October. Others participating in the Challenge are raising money by asking friends to support their participation, and while I support their effort I’m choosing to keep it personal and use the Challenge as a prompt for my own writing. I’m taking a yearlong manuscript course memoir and I’m using 30/30 as a way to exercise some of my writing muscles.

Hugo House is a non-profit literary community center named for Richard Hugo, a Seattle poet and creative writing teacher. It was founded in 1997 as a gathering place for established and aspiring writers. It offers an extensive catalog of classes in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry taught by established writers, including a writer-in-residence. Some of the classes are one day workshops led by visiting writers while others are yearlong manuscript classes intended for help writers polish works intended for publication.

Seattle has consistently been ranked America’s #2 most literate city, just behind Washington DC. The city has a great tradition as a home for writers, poets, and independent bookstores. In fact, Elliott Bay Book Company, one of America’s most famous independents is just two blocks away from Hugo House.

The Capitol Hill neighborhood that is home to both Hugo House and Elliott Bay has also become a mecca for interesting upscale restaurants in one of the country’s most food obsessed cities. Capitol Hill, it seems, has something to feed to both the literary and culinary interests of Seattle residents.

M and I love the neighborhood and scan the Weekend Section of the Seattle Times every Friday to see what writers are in town and who’s reading from their new work. There are several good venues, depending on the size of the intended audience. One or more of them – Town Hall, the Microsoft Auditorium at the main Seattle Library, the University Bookstore and Third Place Books – offer a reading almost every night.

Our favorite is Elliott Bay. The store is gigantic and the architecture welcoming. The readings are delivered in an intimate downstairs space. We often go to hear writers we don’t know but whose work sounds intriguing. Last week I went to hear a novelist named Peter Fromm read from his new novel, If Not For This. I didn’t know anything about the author or the book but it sounded interesting. It’s a love story with a nasty twist of fate as this adventurous outdoor loving couple finds themselves dealing with a new baby and a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

I am astounded at the number of excellent writers, artists, and musicians who are producing noteworthy work and who remain virtually unknown. Pete Fromm is one of them. He’s published 4 short story collections several novels and is the winner of several literary awards. He lives with his family in Missoula, which is one of my favorite places, and teaches at Pacific University, a small liberal arts college, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

I couldn’t have been more impressed with Pete’s reading of If Not For This. If I didn’t have 20 other books stacked beside my chair I’d finish reading what he started.

I’m told that as we get old we need to exercise our brains as well as our bodies. I tried crossword puzzles and though I like them I get discouraged when I can only finish Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the New York Times. Thursday through Sunday’s are too hard for me and I’m too competitive to admit defeat. I’m hoping that tennis, guitar, and writing are just as good for the brain. Maybe next week I’ll look at Thursday’s puzzle. In the meantime I’ll keep plugging away at 30/30 and the memoir manuscript.

More tomorrow…

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Posted by jdbernard743

· October 5, 2014

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Tale of Two Dinners

I love good food, and the older I get the more I don’t want to settle for less. It can be at home, take out or served in a restaurant, but wherever it is eaten good food is food made with high quality ingredients, attention to detail, concern for presentation, and a desire to please. It doesn’t have to be expensive but high quality ingredients can be surprisingly expensive. Kraft parmesan in the little green shaker box is not a substitute for Reggiano Parmesano. There is no substitute for Reggiano. You get the idea.

M and I like the “small plates” food revolution that kicked off about 10 or 15 years ago. It’s the way we like to eat, sharing several plates – what used to be called appetizers, and we often go to Happy Hours not only because it’s cheaper but because the Happy Hour menus feature a limited selection of small plates that go well with drinks.

Nevertheless, on special occasions we still go out and have a multi-course meal, and we are always on the lookout for restaurants with a little flare and a reputation for originality. Last year, for Christmas, one of our sons gave us a gift certificate for The Herbfarm, a legendary high end eatery in Woodinville that made its reputation serving meals made with locally sourced products and herbs from its own garden. It was a thoughtful gift and it came with an apology for not being able to underwrite the whole meal. The kid has good taste but a limited bank account.

I had been to The Herbfarm before but M had not and we were grateful for the gift and excited to try it again.

It’s definitely a special occasion place but we got off on the wrong foot right away when M called to make the reservation. The hostess provided a list of do’s and don’ts and asked for our credit card number. M told her we had a gift certificate and she would be happy to give her the number to hold the reservation. No – that wasn’t good enough; she needed the credit card and the $650 bill for the dinner (including gratuity) would be charged automatically on the night of the dinner. That’s right, dinner for two would be $650.

I’m highly suspicious of restaurants with attitude. Those that talk down to customers and treat them like ignorant peasants. “You couldn’t possibly understand how wonderful and complicated it is to prepare food the way WE do it.” My guard is always up when there is a hint of attitude, and my guard was up when we arrived for our dinner.

The Herbfarm has one seating at 7PM and it’s a fixed 9-course meal with paired wines. Guests are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes early for a guided tour of the herb garden and then seated all together at the same time. The meal lasts 4 hours. I have a 2.5 hour ass.

The interior of the restaurant is dark. Dark wood. Dark table settings. Antique silver pieces. Subdued lighting from old fashioned chandeliers. It was midsummer but there was no light from the outside. The feeling is medieval.

I won’t bore you with detailed descriptions of the 9 courses. The food was well prepared and nicely presented, but the falderal surrounding the meal was pretentious and unnecessary. The staff was introduced. The history of The Herbfarm was reviewed. The chef was introduced. The chef explained that everything served was sourced within 100 miles of the restaurant, including the mustard and pickles and blueberries ad nauseum. The owners were introduced and each course was described in detail. All of this before we had a bite of anything.

By the time the 7^th course, a wild blackberry soufflé with rose-geranium saffron sauce was served we were 3h 15min into the 4 hour ordeal and I was ready to bolt. I might have endured but for the fact that since coffee is not grown within 100 miles of the restaurant only herbal tea would be served. That didn’t do it for me so at the 3h 45min mark we left.

I know The Herbfarm does a quality job at every stage of the experience. In fact, one of the most impressive things about the evening was that as we were leaving the hostess, in the entry way was waiting to hand me my jacket and as we walked out the door the car was idling at the curb. How they did that I will never know. We hadn’t announced our departure. The bill was prepaid. We were leaving early. It’s still a mystery to me. Clearly they are paying attention.

Despite the fact that everything is well done, it’s not my kind of well done. I don’t like the pretension and the “big deal” attitude. I like my food straight up. Simple or elegant I like it straight up. Two weeks ago we ate lunch at Emeril’s in New Orleans. The three course lunch with two glasses of wine and 20% tip was less than $100. Now that was a meal I enjoyed – food, service, and ambience. The whole nine yards.

On Tuesday we rode our bikes to Woodinville for Happy Hour at the Hollywood Tavern. Talk about simple. I had a burger and a pint of amber. M had seared sirloin tips and a glass of Pinot Grigio. $35 round trip. And we sat outside at a picnic table next to the fire pit. The Hollywood is roughly 200 yards from The Herbfarm and we saved $615.

More tomorrow…

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Tags : The Herbfarm

Posted by jdbernard743

· October 4, 2014

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Living National Treasure

In 1950 the Japanese Diet formalized a tradition by enacting the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. The new law conferred a special appellation, “Living National Treasure,” on artists of unusual merit – those that had “attained a high mastery of an art or craft.” The status is awarded to individuals designated as masters of those special intangible skills and cultural properties worthy of preservation.

The US also recognizes its artists, but the Japanese honor draws attention to the ongoing artistry while the Kennedy Center Honors tend to be more of a “lifetime achievement award.” There’s a difference. Our way pales by comparison to the designation of a Living National Treasure.

I haven’t always been a dedicated fan and follower of The American Songbook. I’m more into folk-rock and blues, but a subscription to Sirius XM satellite radio and M’s love of the songbook and musical theater has helped me develop a real appreciation for the genre. All this is by way of saying I now believe Mr. Tony Bennett should be celebrated as a Living National Treasure. In 2005 he was honored by the Kennedy Center but it’s not the same.

Since 2002 I’ve been listening more closely. That was the year he released an album of duets with KD Lang. It was a unique collaboration, the American crooner and the androgynous Canadian country rocker. Very out of the box. Delicious.

Then in 2006, after the Kennedy Center honor, came the first of three more extraordinary collections – also duets. He just keeps getting, well… better. It’s a great body of work. The first Duets CD included singers as diverse as John Legend, the Dixie Chicks, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall and Michael Buble. It was as surprising in its execution as it was in its lineup. In 2011 he followed up with Duets II and the diversity continued featuring such un-Tony-like talents as Willie Nelson, Amy Winehouse, John Mayer and Queen Latifah.

But… the hands down best cut on the Duets II album is The Lady is a Tramp, a rocking jazzy version with Lady Gaga. Yes, that Lady Gaga. Check it out on YouTube. I promise you’ll be dancing within seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPAmDULCVrU They are sensational.

Tony and Gaga are magic, and after Duets Tony knew it knew it and wanted more magic. “Lady” was the first track on Duets II and last month (September 2014) the two of them released Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Cheek to Cheek. The 15 songs are all standards, but they seem fresh because of the give and take, back and forth of these two amazing jazz singers. And, at 88 he’s working harder than ever. You can hear the changes in his voice from the KD Lang collaboration to the Gaga CD, but with him it was never really about the voice. Like Sinatra and Mel Torme it is the impeccable timing and unique phrasing that makes him a great singer.

This is a screen shot from the YouTube video. You get the idea? I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

More tomorrow…

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Tags : Lady Gaga, Living National Treasure, Tony Bennett