Chowderheads, Unite!

Were he still alive, Ivar Haglund would be celebrating his 103rd birthday on today, probably by strumming his guitar and singing some pun-filled ditty. To celebrate, the Ivar's restaurants are selling cups of birthday chowder for 103 cents.

Ivar's Acres of Clams, the chain he founded (to feed visitors at the original Seattle aquarium), has grown to encompass 3 full-service restaurants, 3 fish bars, 24 "fast casual" outlets and 20 stadium concessions. A line of chowders from Ivar's Soup & Sauce Company is sold all over the world. And all day today, you can buy a cup of the stuff (your choice of white, red or smoked salmon) for a buck and three pennies.

Gotta say, it's a guilty pleasure, but we're not alone. At a buffet tasting of fancy-schmancy plates painstakingly "crafted" by seafood chefs around Seattle last month, the most satisfying item was still a cup of good old Ivar's.

Just the right balance of potatoes, clams and dairy, Ivar's chowder is that rare thing: a soup that you eat with pleasure even if you're not hungry, that warms your insides even if you haven't just come in from a storm, that restores the soul even if you haven't sinned.