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The Poco Wine Room is a place that thankfully does not live up to one's expectations of a snooty wine bar. In fact, any preconceived notions of this place being a "high-fallutin" establishment are quickly reversed upon sitting down.

Yes, the space is small and the design is modern/sparse, but the place still manages to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere.  The service is very friendly and helpful. I recently brought a friend in who is most decidedly not a wine drinker and never once did the waitstaff or bartender sniff or condescend to him.

Being a wine bar, it is of course wine-only. They have a nice selection - half of which are Pacific Northwest - that ranges in price to reasonable to very expensive. And as mentioned, the staff are happy to tell you about any of them in as much (or as little) detail that you're comfortable with. In addition, the small food menu is filled with delicious sounding and tasting bites to accompany your beverage.

Nestled up on Capitol Hill, the Poco Wine Room's best and maybe only advertising is through word of mouth and yet it is not hurting for business.  I highly recommended it for dates or just as a place to sip a nice glass of wine to unwind.

Since the resurgence of the vintage cocktail, several new cocktail-focused establishments have opened their doors in Seattle.

Vessel, located on 5th between University and Union and neighboring the 5th Avenue Theater, is one of the standouts.  Originally opened with bartending superstar, Jamie Boudreau, at the helm, the menu has long-lost vintage cocktails as well as spectacular Boudreau-original creations.  The cocktails themselves are a little pricey at $11 a drink, but since these are libations you're most likely not going to get anywhere else, they are worth a splurge.  Happy hours are between 4 p.m. and 6 .m. and feature a wine and beer discount only.

Earlier this year, Boudreau and Vessel went their separate ways, but the cocktail haunt is still definitely worth going to.  The remaining 'tenders were trained well by Boudreau and can shake up a drink as well or even better than others around town.

The space itself is interesting as well. If one chooses not to sit at the very small bar, the spartan downstairs is contrasted with the more comfortable couch-y seating located upstairs.  The service is good and the music usually runs into jazz.  Drop in for a drink and a small plate of spiced nuts.  You won't be sorry.

Donuts and coffee shops have been around for ages without much in the way of fluctuating popularity. During the past several years, though, other single type dessert places seem to have become all the rage. In Seattle it started with a slew of competing cupcake places that had people debating the relative merits of one's butter cream icing and cake moistness.  While this hubbub was going on, however, another superior dessert was mulling its delicious comeback.

The Shoofly Pie Company, located near the California / Alaska Junction in West Seattle, is a no miss for lovers of both savory and sweet pies. There is no factory made, frozen and flown pie located here. All pies are made in-house from the crust up. All ranges of sweet pie from basic fruit to cream to the namesake shoofly can be enjoyed by the slice or are available to take home in whole pie format.  Savory pies include quiche, individual pot pies, galettes, and tarts.

In addition to the yummy food offerings, one can purchase the usual coffee, tea and assorted beverages, but most notable is the cold milk in a jar.  A must if you're eating up a slice of their deepest chocolate tart in their bright, sunny storefront.

Hours are Wed-Thurs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday-Sat 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Having been established in 1892, the Central Saloon is one of the (if not THE) oldest running bars in Seattle. With over 100 years under its belt, the Central has been through quite a bit of history and is in fact only 4 years younger than the state of Washington. This of course also means the saloon has seen its share of wear and tear. As a result, The Central Saloon is indeed a dive.  

There are patio seats out front, but if you dare to brave the interior, you will find a dark cavernous room that extends back to a stage where bands will play nightly.  The customers range from bicyclists, old crusty fellows, nerds from the office across the street, and well, just about anyone who is curious enough to try it.

And one should be curious. There is of course the aforementioned history, but there are other perks as well. The location is great, right in the middle of historic Pioneer Square, thus easily accessible from downtown. The food, while mostly of the bar variety, is surprisingly good and includes some healthy choices, like wraps or salads. The drinks are appropriately strong and there are many delicious beers on tap. Bob, the strikingly attractive (female) bartender, holds court in the afternoons and early evening and will make sure you do not leave without a good dose of booze.

For connoisseurs of dive bars, or for those merely thirsty after their Underground tour or Mariners game, The Central is a must see.

Red Hook Brewery is one of Seattle's most known craft breweries outside of the state, which probably has something to do with the fact that they have a distribution partnership with Anheiser Busch. It might also have something to do with their great tasting beers.

Red Hook began operations in 1982 in the old trolley barn in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. After much success, ten years later they moved their headquarters to Woodinville on the Eastside (aka Microsoft land) and have been there ever since.

Even though they are not quite as close as they used to be, it is still worthwhile to get out there and do a tour.  The tour does not involve much walking, but it does involve a lot of beer tasting.  For $2, you can see the operations from above whilst sipping on samples from all of their current brews. If you are both a beer AND wine lover, the brewery is conveniently located adjacent to both the Columbia and Chateau Ste. Michele wineries.

During the summer, there are tours at 1, 3, and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and on the hour between noon and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  Also during the summer, the brewery hosts "Movies on the Lawn" for $5. 

You might not know it, but great food is one of Seattle's best attractions. Any day of the week, you can fall into almost any local restaurant and have a good meal. If you're after chefs with name recognition, we have those, too.  Because of our great eating options, Seattle also has some interesting events that showcase its food and chefs quite well. One of the more unusual programs is the FareStart Guest Chef Night.

FareStart is a restaurant that is manned by homeless and disadvantaged people who are receiving on-the-job-training in the food-service industry. And every Thursday night is the aforementioned Guest Chef Night, where a local chef will come in, work with the students, and prepare a three-course meal to serve to as many as 200 guests. Indeed almost all of Seattle's superstar chefs has done at least one stint at the FareStart kitchen.

Not only is it a great program, but it is one of the best food deals in the city at only $24.99 - all of which goes directly back into the program.  Thus, it is not surprising that reservations ("strongly suggested") fill up fast.  Visit OpenTable or link through from their on-line calendar.

If you can't get reservations to dinner, stop by for lunch. They serve (and provide carry out) from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Can Can is one of those places in town that really captures the true flavor and nature of Seattle. They claim to invoke Paris at the turn of the 20th century, but seeing as I wasn't alive at the turn of the century, I'm going to insist it's more like Seattle.  That is to say a little dark, super quirky, and cool.

The place is hidden in plain sight.  It is located behind the Left Bank books and the 1st and Pike flower shop directly in front of Pike Place Market.  And I do believe it is technically part of the underground, as part of the ceiling has glass blocks that are a part of the sidewalk above.

There are burlesque shows almost every night around 9 p.m., but the real prize of the place is it's amazing bar and its tenders.  The Scotch selection in particular is quite extensive if you're interested.  The signature drinks are also very delicious. Belly up to the tiny little bar and ask for Zach's own Ringmaster.  This might be my favorite drink in all of Seattle.

The daily (well, Tuesday through Sunday) Happy Hour (4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.) features drink and appetizer specials, so a couple of cocktails and snacks are very affordable. I can recommend the flat breads as well as the three cheese macaroni and cheese.  Yum.