South Renton Spring

Two-toned Spring wonder right on Williams. This lovely Dogwood tree sports two colors of blooms, and some of the biggest that I have seen on any similar tree around. Just too pretty not to sit up and take notice of, don't you think?

Ah come, come quickly, spring!
come and lift us towards our culmination, we myriads;
we who have never flowered, like patient cactuses.
Come and lift us to our end, to blossom, bring us to our summer
we who are winter-weary in the winter of the of the world.
from Craving for Spring by DH Lawrence

Where to eat with your honey

Valentine's Day Jazz Brunch and a lovely Jazz Valentine's Day Dinner for two at A Terrible Beauty today. What a great way to tell your honey how you care by eating yummy food in a local haunt that has fast become my personal fav. Yum.

You may want to call first - you order off the menu for brunch which just opened at 9:00 am this morning and goes until 3pm. The classic Irish breakfast shown above is served without something called "spotted dick", but I think that you can handle not having that fried fat and blood on your plate in the morning, right?

The dinner tonight is filling up quickly - Couples dinner comes with choice of bottle of wine, champagne, or draft pitcher , soup or salad and an entree choice of prime rib, halibut or eggplant dinner with a decadent dessert for $50/per couple.

This place is open to you and the kidlets (or any of those who are under age) until 9pm when it becomes a hang for the adult crowd. Head on over - whether today with your honey or some other fine weekend. This is a place you don't want to miss!

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

Cake and Balloons in the DTR

What's a party without some cake and balloons? Just this week, Downtown Renton received a new addition in the holiday baking and celebrating arena - Go Deli's new specialty cake counter.

The cakes are all baked and decorated on site - and every flower and flourish is hand piped on and made of frosting. The only exception would be the tiny silk leaves and the toys. The cakes are lovely pieces of art. Light and fluffy cakes that are not your typical American cake fare.

Nope, you won't find a buttercream frosting in sight on these cakes that have a texture akin to that of an angel food cake. The frosting is whipped (non-dairy) and not a bit cloying or overly sweet. The cakes each have a flavorful filling - like chocolate or strawberry are two that I saw yesterday afternoon. There are cakes available for immediate pick-up with matching festive balloons for sale, or you may browse through the books and place an advance order. Weddings, birthdays - you name it.

The counter is right in the front as you enter the deli. You will also find that Dawn Hart, the manager, has been expanding her baking repertoire and there are now muffins, quick breads, pastries and lava cakes for those wanting a small portion of something for their sweet tooth. What I love are the great mylar balloons that we now can get so easily in the DTR for celebrating. Balloons always put such a nice touch on cake days, whatever the cause for celebration.


Go Deli
306 Williams Ave.S. Renton WA 98057
425-255-0620
www.Go-Deli.com
Open 7am til 7pm 7 days of the week

Best Rueben Around Renton - and beyond

Food envy is a terrible thing to be plagued by when it comes to family outings and restaurants of choice. The Rueben Sandwich at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub is served up on lovely marble rye, is so large and unruly that it took two of us to manage it and the large plate of freshly made fries from real spuds served with salt and pepper that was our choice of sides.

This is your sandwich alert. If you love a good Rueben, this spot should be on your immediate "go to" list for lunch or dinner. Don't miss it - it will blow your mind and your tastebuds.

PS Remember - until 9pm, this is a family joint - so you can take the kids - if you really want to share that is.

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

The Picaroon is aware that we love this restaurant - and we just want you to love it too!

Go Deli is baking it up fresh - daily

Go Deli, the latest eatery to open in Downtown Renton, has got a lot to offer in the sandwich and snacking department. Fresh bread is made from scratch on the premises daily for the traditional bahn mi Vietnamese 10" sandwiches served on french bread and the croissants for the traditional sandwiches of the more Western flavor. You can smell it in the air and see it in the lovely displayed loaves of bread behind the counter, this is a place that you can count on for tastiness and freshness.

With only local spots like Quiznos and Subway to get a quick and reasonable midday bite to eat, Go Deli is a great addition. For an extra two bucks, you can "make-it-a-meal" with a bag or chips or an eggroll and a 24 ounce soda. With the price of the sandwiches beginning at $2.69 -$4.29, with the bulk of them being below three bucks, this is a place that you must try at least once and then see if you are not hooked. Check daily to see what the fresh soup of the day is now that the season is bringing in the chill air.

Local bahn mi spots are not so easy to find in the greater Seattle area - and can be hole-in-the-wall joints that makes you wonder what the kitchen looks like. Here, you can see all the way through the entire cooking and baking area - and feel confident that you are getting authentic food in very clean environment where freshness is king.

The traditional beginner bahn mi sandwich would be the Grilled Chicken (pictured above) or the BBQ Pork. For the more adventurous and seeking an authentic flavor, try the Special Combo #2 or the Saigon Bacon. There is Vietnamese Coffee or Bubble Tea to go with it, as well as some other specialty drinks like fresh soybean and sugar cane juice, and as always, some Thai Iced Tea to round things out.

The good snacking comes in with the pastry, muffins and cookies that manager Dawn Hart (pictured above with owner John Lu) has been cooking up for Go Deli. There is a limited espresso coffee menu to accompany those treats and boxes of goodies to take on the go if you want to share something with coworkers or friends.

Go Deli will be having their Grand Opening on December 12th with live Jazz Music and a giveaway of an IPOD - so you should definitely go down and enter to win - no purchase necessary. But you will want to dive in and try something once inside the doors - you just won't be able to help yourself.

Go Deli
306 Williams Ave.S. Renton WA 98057
425-255-0620
www.Go-Deli.com
Open 7am til 7pm 7 days of the week

Eat Local and keep it all going

Here is the local restaurant news from Renton - Fin and Bone, Billy McHales and Calico Cheesecake/Lure Cafe/Tapestry Saloon closed all within the last few days. SOooo - here is the plan, people of Renton. Remember to eat and drink locally. Support the local places that we all love so that when we come out of this financially challenging time, and we will, there will be some place to go back to in the days ahead.

Pat and Jenna have put their heart and soul and flair for a great meal into A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub. It is open to the entire family seven days a week until 9pm, has an awesome brunch served on the weekend from 9am till 3pm, and has a host of wonderful specials to make each day different and interesting. For example - Fridays, all day for $10, gives you chowder and fish 'n chips. Tuesdays gives you a pint of Irish red ale brewed by Big Al and a Irish burger that has all the common trimmings plus Dubliner cheese and Rueben sauce for $9. Full bar plus 17 draft beers to choose from - with some lovely choices that include 9Lb Porter, Whistling Pig, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, O'Brien's Harvest at this moment.

Ask Jenna to receive text messages of the free cover music scene (as in good bands) that is a weekly plus occurrence at this hoppin' local hotspot. There is also Open Mike Night/Karaoke on Wednesday's with the beautiful Tara. That 's tonight folks, so you might wanna start making some plans.

Keep your eyes open for a new coupon to come out and for box lunches for people on the go who need a good meal from a kitchen that cares. This should be a welcome addition to the lunch options for working folks in and around downtown Renton. There will also be a special emailing of coupons for those who fill out a form with their email address, and if you use the one you receive, you will get another coupon as a reward and your server will get a bonus for having brought you back in once again. Family style business, here - where everyone comes out ahead.

Come out, eat enjoy and support, dear Renton

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396
Full Menu till 11pm, open til 2am
Happy Hour 3-6 Weekdays

Wedding Revelries at A Terrible Beauty in Renton

Wedding Revelries for Jenna and Pat, new owners of A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub were celebrated this past weekend - thanks for sharing your wedded bliss with us, happy couple! Just about the time when the opportunity to own the establishment on Williams Ave.S. was coming up for Jenna Shannon Garvey, so was the romance that had flitted and flirted in the back of these two fated friend's minds. Jenna and Pat Michael O'Brien have known one another for years, Pat an ace of a chef and Jenna the uber capable barkeep, etc. but never thought either was interested in the other "that way". But sometimes in life, when it rains, it pours. Love, life, new work and that ever illusive element of happiness seem to be showing up in the new pub owners lives in spades.

The crowd of well wishers gathered upstairs in the pub's upper floor that is rather like a large walkway suspended in air over the pub's main floor, repleted with stripper pole area that the little tykes took over that evening as their play domain( yep, kids are allowed now up until 9pm). The wedding couple, though married quietly with just family around them on Sept. 12th, donned their wedding attire for the festivities. Willie Dzul, chef and often the author of my favorite brunch edibles on weekends alongside owner Pat himself, made a huge spread replete with a watermelon shaped into a peacock with fruit spears as tail feathers. I finally got to try some of the pub's mac n' cheese - dangerously good.

After toasting with champagne and eating cake from The Picaroon's family's favorite bakery, Borracchini's on Rainier, the music started in. There were 4-6 music talents slated for the evening, and as with all the incredible talent that A Terrible Beauty has been booking lately (2-3 times a week featuring bands), the cover was FREE. While we were partying up above, the pub was running as usual just below us and things were starting to heat up.If you would like to get on the text message list with Jenna, she will hit you up at least twice a week with the music lineup.

For The Picaroon, this is still the best brunch happening in Renton ( the soda bread alongside the omelets and/or eggs benedict with the killer hollandaise sauce gets me every time!). Great place for an after work beer - the offering is not slouchy, and I love the fact that this is now officially a family hang as well.

If any of you were worried when this establishment changed hands, again, that it would be just "same old same old" on this corner of Williams and Second St. S., you were dead wrong. Jenna and Pat are part of the community already through actions and spirit, and they mean to make a play for your attention and participation. Give them some - it is well deserved.

ps thank god they had a professional photographer there that evening - cuz we did not do any great justice to the bride's awesome dress or her crystal clear converse shoes (read "glass slipper" here) with Irish green laces.

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. South
(424) 227-3396

Jazzy Brunch for Everyone

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub is the newest best place to take the family for brunch. That's right - their license has gone through, and now up until 9pm, the under aged are allowed on the premises and everyone can come together to enjoy the great restaurant vibe that owners Pat and Jenna are putting down

I have written about the brunch at A Terrible Beauty before, but since then it has gotten even better. Now you can go and listen to the mellow and melodic music of a pair of jazz guitarists while you sip your good cup of joe and enjoy an incredible collection of eggs benedict dishes and omelets, served with (my favorite choices) a scone or piece of Irish soda bread. Oh, and the bit about being able to bring in the younguns is important update news as well.

The breakfast/brunch begins at 9am and ends at 3pm. If you were partying at the pub the night before, bring in your receipt and get 20% off your breakfast until they stop serving it. Jenna and Pat have also been hitting the streets with a handy dandy coupon that entitles you to 50% off the second brunch, lunch or dinner entree when you purchase the first at equal or lesser value. Try to pick one up. Sundays feature the $3 Bloody Mary.

Be on the lookout for a lot of incredible music opportunities at A Terrible Beauty as well. They are promoting Alternative, Punk and Rock Music without cover charge and on a weekly basis. Sign up with Jenna to receive a biweekly update as to who is on the stage/docket and include it in your rooster for nights out and fun.

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396
Full Menu till 11pm, open til 2am
Happy Hour 3-6 Weekdays

Soon there will be sandwiches

Soon there will be hot, fresh sandwiches in Renton. Bahn Mi Vietnamese sandwiches and traditional American sandwiches on bread that is baked right on site and a coffee bar where you can get your caffeine hook-up to boot. Note the lovely and inviting fireplace as well. Hard to imagine it this week, but this will be a toasty destination once the wetness remembers to fall from the sky and our temperature numbers begin to drop in the Fall.

Photo by Su-Lin/Flickr

The project is moving quickly apace and next month is slated for the Grand Opening of Go Deli, which is owned by Pho Hoa Noodle Soup Restaurant on the corner. After a mere handful of months since opening my new favorite dessert spot, Yoggi Yogurt just around the corner, I am impressed that the owners were willing to move on this new investment so fast. However, with no bakery in the vicinity and no sandwich shop nearby to fight for our hungry stomachs attention, I feel certain that this will be a successful venture right from the start.

GO DELI 306 Williams Ave. S.