Sick Transit

The man was carried away by emergency services, with the toilet still attached to his arm. 

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7693386.stm

A Yom Kippur tradition I was not familiar with:

The ritual of Kaparot, in its traditional form, involves swinging a live chicken around one’s head, symbolically transferring one’s sins to it. Afterwards the chicken is slaughtered and donated as food to the poor.
…
Many Jews, as an alternative, place money in a handkerchief, swing it over their head, and then donate it to the poor.

My first thought was: “But that doesn’t make sense! How can you transfer your sins to money?”

But then I quickly recovered and realized that it makes as much sense as transferring your sins to a chicken.

I don’t think Jerry Traunfeld’s new restaurant needs any additional buzz (only 3 weeks open, and it was full tonight) but the waitress specifically asked us to spread the word, and they definitely deserve a plug, so here’s my take:

The structure of Poppy’s is similar to the Herbfarm in that the meal is a 10-part tasting menu. However, instead of being served in multiple courses, the entire tasting menu is brought out on a single plate, based on the Indian idea of thali. This adds an extra dimension to the meal by allowing you to taste the various combinations between the dishes, but it does also have the downside that the meal gets cold before it is finished.

Like the Herbfarm, the menu is Northwest cuisine, made up of local ingredients, and heavy on interesting herb and spice mixes and original flavor combinations. The ingredients are somewhat simpler and cheaper than at the Herbfarm, and the wines are not as good. I’m not sure if the portions are larger than at the Herbfarm, or it’s just a function of the meal being served at once, but I actually felt satiated at Poppy’s, unlike at the Herbfarm.

I’m not crazy about the large, noisy, and mostly unornamented open space at Poppy’s, and the service was dicey. (Despite having a reservation, we had to wait half an hour for a table, standing since there was no room at the bar. After twenty minutes, they offered to comp our first round of drinks, but then they forgot and we had to remind our waitress at the end. Even after we were seated, drinks and order-taking were very slow.) But I don’t like Herbfarm’s Victorian chintz and pretentiously formal service either, so that’s a wash.

Of course, the biggest difference is that at Poppy’s we paid $75 a head (including wine, dessert, tax and tip) whereas at Herbfarm we paid well over $200.

The bottom line is that Traunfeld’s reputation is completely deserved: Poppy’s is some of the best food you can get in Seattle. And at $32 for a thali, it’s a steal. If you live anywhere near Seattle, I recommend heading there ASAP.