Fortunate we are, in Seattle, to have lounges for serious drinkers of cocktails, connoisseurs of the art (as opposed to cocktail lounges for "serious drinkers," another category entirely). The best cocktail bars, the ones that care, cluster downtown, in or close to hotels. ZigZag, for one (a cocktail called the Toronto), Suite 410 (that's their Pisco Sour), Oliver's, Vessel. They're not flashy (Milk & Honey in New York is almost anonymous). They hire experts......

MUSIC: A Northwest Tribute to Ray Charles. No, Jamie Foxx will not be in attendance. 7:30pm // the Triple Door // $25. DOMESTIC SPYING: Dig out the old hat and big sunglasses and go under-cover for Seattlest at Seattle Met-blog's happy hour event. 6pm // Zig Zag Cafe // Cost of drinks. Additional cost of hat and big sunglasses if you don't already have them. SAVE THE DAY, OR NOT: Got traction tires? All-wheel drive?......

Seattle chefs are making national news: here's a roundup of the latest. More attention should have been paid to the James Beard awards this year. After three nominations, Scott Carsberg of Lampreia finally won as"Best Chef, Northwest." Backhanded compliment for this modest craftsman: they misspelled the restaurant's name on the website. Sheesh! Then again, most winners have, at some point, cooked a benefit dinner at James Beard House; not Scott. Nor did he attend the......