Enjoyed: Thursday, June 23, 2022.

Listed on the menu: No, not on the brunch menu, but I later found the drink on the “Evening Cocktail” menu as “House Old Fashioned”.

Ingredients:  Four Roses bourbon with vanilla and saffron, demerara sugar, bitters. (Our charming and attentive server told me the bourbon was from Portland, Oregon, and I immediately corrected him. Four Roses is a Kentucky bourbon, I explained, and we had visited the actual distillery just several months prior. Perhaps he was confused because the official nickname of Portland is “The City of Roses”?)

The occasion: We had returned to Seattle from our eight day visit to Alaska the previous day. Our flight home didn’t depart until midnight, so Daughter had a whole day to show us even more of the local sights. She selected a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, so we could see the Seattle skyline as we crossed the pretty waters of Puget Sound. Soon after we left pier 52, we saw majestic Mount Rainier rising above the horizon. “The mountain is out!” as the locals say. Oh, happy day! No low-level clouds to obscure the view! And Bainbridge Island was delightful, full of cute shops and lovely landscaping. We enjoyed a tasty lunch: I had the Tuna Salad Tartine, with albacore fresh from the Neah Bay area on the Pacific Ocean.

My rating: **** out of 5. I was hoping for a stronger note of saffron, as in the description, but I smelled and tasted mostly vanilla.

Final thoughts: The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is a gorgeous corner of our country. It warmed my heart to see Daughter so enthralled by Rainier, the skyline, the open water, and the city in general. I think she’s landed in the right place for her.

Enjoyed: Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

Listed on the menu: No, but other cocktails with “Alaska whiskey” were, so I requested an Old Fashioned specifically containing made-in-Alaska whiskey.

Ingredients:  Anchorage Distillery Whiskey (made from glacier fresh water and Alaskan grain), sugar (dissolved in the whiskey, said the bartender), angostura bitters, orange bitters, orange slice and cherry for garnish.

The occasion: We left Anchorage early in the morning on the Alaska Railroad, bound for Denali National Park. We splurged on the Gold Star (i.e. first class) service, so we sat at the very front and top of a two-level train car, with windows above and around us. Wow, just wow. Alaska is beautiful–forests of spruce, craggy mountains, rapidly flowing rivers, and meadows with bright green grass and late spring flowers. We were served cocktails and two lovely meals in the dining area on the car’s lower level–with real silverware, plates, and cloth napkins, even. As we neared Talkeetna on this sunny day, we were able to see Denali, the tallest mountain in North America! She loomed like a white cloud over the horizon, and she made us gasp with delight, especially since she is visible only 20-30 percent of the time. After about eight hours, the train entered Denali National Park, and the scenery grew even more dramatic. Once we arrived at the station, a bus whisked us to our hotel on the side of a mountain.

My rating: **** out of 5. I was hoping for more unique flavors (birch syrup, perhaps?), but the whiskey was satisfactory, with some creamy vanilla to start and a bit of pepper to finish.

Final thoughts: Needless to say, the views from the bar and restaurant were unforgettable (you can faintly see the mountains and river bed in my photo above). We enjoyed sockeye salmon and snow crab cakes for supper, then wandered outdoors to enjoy the patio and even more unobstructed views of the Nenana River and Denali National Park just beyond. So gorgeous! Although it was 9:30 PM when we finished our meal, the sun was still shining brightly. I checked my weather app–sunset in the park was at 12:18 AM, and sunrise at 3:51 AM. I suspect we could have stayed on the patio for hours, if it weren’t for our need for sleep and for the largest, most voracious mosquitoes we have ever encountered.

Enjoyed: Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Rare & Fancy Old Fashioned”.

Ingredients: Hudson Whiskey NY Bright Lights Big Bourbon, Combier Orange Liqueur, Liber & Co. Demerara Syrup, housemade coffee bitters.

The occasion: We had finally made it to Alaska! One more item checked off the bucket list! This restaurant was an easy walk from our hotel and required reservations. We started with cocktails in the bar area, and were enthralled by the views from the windows. Those were mountains topped with snow out there, just beyond the shimmering waters of the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet. I took the photo at 7:16 PM, and the sun was nowhere near ready to set. Welcome to the Land of the Midnight Sun!

My rating: **** out of 5. I was not familiar with the bourbon or the orange liqueur, so the “Rare & Fancy” in the cocktail’s name was an accurate description, in my case. The drink was beautifully crafted, but a tad too orange-y for me. The bourbon’s mash bill is 95% corn (whoa!), so the addition of the coffee bitters helped round out the sweetness.

Final thoughts: We moved from the bar to the dining area for our supper. Wow! We were seated by another table right by the window, so we continued to enjoy the amazing view. And the food was excellent, too. I opted for the pan-seared Alaskan halibut cheeks with asiago and panko crust. Yes, apparently the best parts of the halibut are the cheeks, the actual flesh from the cheeks of the fish’s big old head. Who knew?