Along with Cafe Ladro & Stumptown, Vivace is one of my favorite local roastery/coffee shops. My default at Vivace is a Macchiato which is a shot of espresso with a dolop of steamed milk. Maia, not looking for a caffeine fix, tried the Almond Steamed Milk. The last picture is of Vivace's sidewalk espresso stand just two blocks down the street.
Another amazing dinner at one of my favorite Seattle restaurants, Poppy.
The following my 4 star Yelp review for Tavern Law on opening night.
After months of buzz & hype, Tavern Law finally opened and I decided to check it out with my friends. The place is straight up awesome; great vibe! The décor is really cool- great bookshelf, a TV hidden behind a mirror and super-cool secret upstairs lunge (accessible only by picking up the phone and getting buzzed in). I can go on and on about the space- but you should just check out these professional photos available here to get the idea.
Onto the food! We decided to try each dish on the menu; there are eight, ranging in price from $7 to $15, making Tavern Law great for a little snack or a full dinner (on a empty stomach, I'd probably need 3-4 dishes). The food gets full stars for creativity, originality, presentation & taste. Simply put, the food is amazing.
Photo Desctiptions:
Ok- so at this point you might be wondering why I didn't give all 5 stars given my RAVE review: the mixology was really lacking, I was VERY disappointed with the drinks. My first drink was at the bar while I was waiting for my friends to arrive. Before I browsed the comprehensive list of cocktails, I first looked at their liquor list: a bad gin selection could be a dealbreaker for me. I was pretty excited to see that the gin selection was awesome (more gins than vodka- take that vodka drinkers!), they even had my favorite Martin Miller's (including the hard-to-find, Westbourne strength edition). So to start, I order a gin martini up with a twist. Yep- they did twist right, but FUCK- I think the bartender put more vermouth than gin. Normally, I would have said something- but the bar had just opened for the first time and they were already quite busy, so I was nice.
For the rest of the evening, I ordered drinks from the cocktail menu and and sampled some of my friends'. Tavern Law is one of only about 4 places in Seattle to have a Kold Draft Ice machine (http://www.kold-draft....). The menu is comprehensive with a table of contents & glossary! Drinks divided into the following categories:
Most of the drinks were underwhelming. The "Bourbon Swizzle" (bourbon, lemon, falernum, yellow chartreuse) tasted like straight bourbon on ice in a Collins glass. The "Dover Tea" was a hot drink, but arrived at room temperature. One drink, the name escapes my memory, was supposed to have gin, rosemary, mint- the drink came with no rosemary, and I'm convinced it was made with rum, it tasted like a mojito (yuk!). One of my friends ordered the "Boston Milk Punch" (rum, bourbon, nutmeg, milk)- the waitress came back a few minutes later and told us they were out of milk. Weird- the bar had been open no longer than an hour, why not just have one of the staff members run a block away and pick up a gallon! Due to the so-so drinks, I remove 1 star.
Under normal circumstances I would have knocked off another star (making it a 3-star review) for a few quirks and annoyances (bathroom locked with nobody inside it for half hour, slow service, forgotten drink orders, etc...) But I truly believe that these were just symptomatic of it being opening night- I have no doubt that Tavern Law will strike it's groove. This bar has full 5-star potential I just really hope they nail the drinks!
