Thursday, March 19, 2009

Spur Gastropub touted by Food & Wine magazine in their April issue


The editors at Food & Wine picked their favorite “Where to Go Next” wine bars and beer halls in the April issue. Included in the list of the six best gastropubs across the nation to visit is Spur.

“America’s liveliest places to drink are also some of its best new places to eat,” Food & Wine writes. We couldn’t agree more.

Congratulations to our team at Spur!

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Monday, March 16, 2009

April's "O List" by Oprah features Rosanna Inc Eco Chic Glasses!


With a green feature for April, Oprah's coveted O List features our client Rosanna Bowles' gorgeous green glass recycled treasures. Look for it in the April issue of Oprah's O magazine or buy them online at Rosanna's website http://www.rosannainc.com/ Yahoo!


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Sunday, March 15, 2009

try Spur's salmon with what Food & Wine magazine writer Anya von Bremzen calls the "ultimate silkiness"


Utilizing the sous vide method to turn out an exquisite cold smoked salmon, Spur Gastropub's Chefs, Brian McCracken and Dana Tough received the ultimate accolades in the April 09 issue from food writer and author von Bremzen.


Von Bremzen, author of such books as The New Spanish Table and contributing editor to magazines like Travel & Leisure, has written the F&W article “Should Fine Dining Die”.

In it she discusses, “Now that chefs are busy opening burger joints and dumpling houses, the days seem numbered for fancy dining rooms. Von Bremzen makes a case for why we need haute places more than ever.”

After a chat in the article with chefs like Laurent Gras and Ferran AdriĆ , von Bremzen gives a shout-out to Spur’s salmon. “The salmon on the crostini at Spur Gastropub in Seattle is cooked sous vide for ultimate silkiness.”

Congratulations Chefs!
And for the advanced home cook with great kitchen equipment, email me if you'd like the recipe for this dish which the Chefs have very kindly shared.
photo for Spur by Kristin Zwiers

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Pins & Needles Here: South by Southwest Picks Trusera as Award Finalist


Woohoo! Fab clients and inspiring friends Trusera, the nationally recognized online health network where people find and share experiences and insights with others "who've been there", has been tapped by SXSW as a finalist in the Best Community award. (Happy dance.)

The SXSW Web Awards honor sites new or relaunched this year and recognizes sites that have “quickly developed an extraordinarily active multi-user community and an exceptional following of users who assist with content development.” The winner will be announced in Austin at the SXSW Interactive Web Awards March 15.

As a Web Award finalist, Trusera's also up for the much-coveted People’s Choice Award. People’s Choice Award voting ends March 6. (Ahem.. vote now.)

"We’re thrilled to be honored as a finalist," says Keith Schorsch, Trusera Founder and CEO , former Amazon executive, and all-around smart and inspiring guy. “To receive such industry recognition in our first year of business is tremendous. It is a real tribute to our engaged and committed community, whose sharing improves the lives of others.”

The SXSW Awards have grown from a tiny festival in 1987 to a prestigious, trend-setting event celebrating music, film and the web. Today, SXSW is broadly acknowledged as a forum that reflects and showcases cultural and media trends while also creating them. According to SXSW, “the web awards celebrate the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology.”

Schorsch’s story and the birth of Trusera was told last month in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. (Thank you Cecelia!) Additionally, the company was recently selected as a top Health 2.0 site and Innovator by BusinessWeek, and described by the New York Times as providing “Facebook-like social connectivity for patients, along with the ability to share their stories.” Trusera boasts visitors from 119 countries connecting on a breadth of topics from a woman battling Stage IV Breast Cancer to a parent of a child with Asperger’s.

About Trusera
Seattle-based Trusera launched in the summer of 2008. The company vision is inspired by Keith’s own struggle with Lyme disease. After meeting with eleven doctors, it was one phone call from a friend that finally led to his diagnosis and saved his life. The company is made up of experienced technology pioneers who share a passion for helping consumers take control of their health. Trusera is backed by a group of notable angel investors with executive-level experience at companies like Kaiser-Group Health, Expedia, Amazon and Microsoft.

Food Writer Maureen Clancy Writes about Her Favorite David Nelson Bourbon Cocktail at Spur


Clancy was through town again and, in addition to dining at Tavolata, Art at the Four Seasons, and Vessel, spent an evening at Spur. In recent travels, Clancy’s been seeing an increase in interest in bourbon cocktails. In her article, she mentions some great ones including an old fashioned at NYC's East Village hot spot PDT, a fig-infused one at City Bar in Boston, and a new twist on the Manhattan at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill.

And after hearing of those recent bourbon adventures, what a treat it was to have her cite Spur’s Kentucky Tuxedo cocktail, created by David Nelson, as her very favorite bourbon drink of late. Wow.

She said,

“But nothing I’ve tasted – and I do try to get around the trendy bars of any city I find myself in -- can beat the "Kentucky Tuxedo" concocted by bartender David Nelson at Spur Gastropub in Seattle. This marriage of Bulleit Bourbon, Sherry, lavender syrup and homemade orange bitters, is smooth and elegant, with a come-hither aroma and layers of flavor.

(Bulleit Bourbon was developed by Tom Bulleit in 1987 using the “recipe” of his ancestors who journeyed from new Orleans to Kentucky in 1830. It’s made from “soft limestone water” that’s supposedly found only in the Bluegrass region of the state, corn, barley, malt and rye.)

Bartender Nelson who’s been working in restaurants since he started flipping burgers at the age of 15, is a real presence at Spur. Folks gather around the bar to watch him work and talk about his art (which includes hand-making his own bitters and syrups).

His cocktail menu includes such temptations as the Lover’s Lock (Aperol, grapefruit juice and Absinthe), Gentleman’s Lemonade (Gentleman Jack, lemon and honey) and the Cara Carina (Cara Cara (orange-scented) bourbon, Punt e Mes, Chartreuse and blood orange bitters).

Nelson’s passion is part and parcel of the artisanal mixology craze that prizes fresh squeezed seasonal fruit juices, homemade infusions, even housemade mixers like tonic water. And versatile bourbon, a constant presence behind the bar for a couple hundred years, is an ideal fit in drinks that balance classic tastes with newfangled presentations.

By the way, there’s great stuff to eat at Spur, too. The menu’s Pork Belly Sliders with heirloom apples, mustard and bourbon, are famed in Seattle. The slow-cooked butterfish with fennel and brown butter is very special, too. And I wrote an earlier post about the Sockeye Salmon Crostini that leaves every diner wide-eyed and at a loss for words."

For the full article visit Maureen Clancy’s Matter of Taste blog at http://www.maureenclancy.com/

Thank you Maureen!

Photo by Kristin Zwiers for Spur.

Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. Richard Baxter Featured in Spa Magazine on the Power of Vinotherapy


Words like polyphenol and resveratrol may not roll off the tip of your tongue, but if you’re into saving face, read on. According to Seattle's Dr. Richard Baxter, it’s only a matter of time before resveratrol replaces vitamin C as the antioxidant of choice for keeping skin beautiful. In the April issue of Spa magazine, writer Amy Westervely wrote a piece featuring Dr. Baxter- "Focus on Vinotherapy: Off the Vine". To read the entire story, visit Spa magazine online in the blog title link above.

And in the meantime, for some quaffable tidbits from the story:

“…One particular polyphenol-resveratrol-has garnered the bulk of the attention with respect to the external anti-aging capabilities of the grape.

Resveratrol is many, many times more potent than vitamin-based anti-oxidants like C and E that we’ve used for years in skincare, says Dr. Richard A. Baxter, M.D., author of a ground-breaking paper on the benefits of resveratrol in skincare products published in the March 2008 issue of the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology…

…The jury’s still out on whether there is a difference between the topical benefits of grapes versus wine…However, some polyphenols increase in concentration in the course of fermentation, so Baxter says a product or treatment with actual wine in it may be better than one with just grapes…

…According to Baxter, it’s only a matter of time before resveratrol replaces vitamin C as the antioxidant of choice for keeping skin beautiful. Cheers to that!...”

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Choral Arts Concert in Laurelhurst This Friday


If you’ve never experienced Choral Arts, head to St. Stephen’s in Laurelhurst at 7pm this Friday. The power of beautiful voices can and will transport you to your own personal “happy place”, and don’t we all need that right now? Small arts organizations such as these really are the heart and soul of our community, and just like us they’re struggling. These folks are a group of passionate volunteers who are dedicated to creating pure sound.

Read the book This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin? Stimulating your brain is a good thing. Go for it!

The details:

Choral Arts “Pierced to the Heart: Fathers, Sons, Mothers, Daughters”
Compelling music and texts explore the relationships of parents to their children. The program’s centerpiece is the premiere of John David Earnest’s My Papa’s Waltz and a complete performance of Carissimi’s moving oratorio Jephte. Other pieces include Motherless Child by Craig Hella Johnson, Josquin’s Stabat Mater, and When David Heard by Eric Whitacre.

Friday, March 6 at 7pm, St. Stephen’s Episcopal, 4805 NE 45th St, Seattle, 98105
Tickets: $23 in advance/ $25 at door. Seniors: $18 in advance/ $20 at door. Students free. http://www.choral-arts.org/ or 877.404.2269

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6129336879

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Broken Patella Brings On New Learnings for Teacher of the Alexander Technique, Jeanne Barrett


Jeanne Barrett is an expert teacher in the Alexander Technique. And nowadays, Barrett’s a gal with a shattered knee cap held together with a whole lot of titanium.

Ouch.

Her new blog, Active Stillness, follows Barrett on a journey of healing and learning which any of us who have faced a major health challenge will surely appreciate. The benefit to Barrett’s readers? Her discoveries along the way about how to incorporate the Technique into her thoughtful movements during this time of painful and awkward movement can teach us all.