Thoroughly Modern.

My good friend Elizabeth Tullis recently opened the Modern hotel in the pre-populated area of downtown knows as The Linen District. The Modern is a very straightforward project; Guest rooms and bar, mid-century theme, named after her grandmother's establishment of the same philosophy and name, 60 years later.
Among the project's many bragging rights is the Modern Bar, staffed by good bartenders and showing the promise of a good drink program. Newcomer to the Boise bar scene Michael Bowers, and bar veteran Kevin Baker (I think from the late Hanger bar on 6th & Main,) take the majority of shifts behind Modern's bar. On the night of my visit, Michael was working.

I know Micahel Bowers personally, and so when I sat down around 10 p.m. on a Monday night and asked him to just make whatever he'd been working on, he wasn't surprised. Among the several drinks I consumed at Modern that night was the drink in the photo above. Something with Grey Goose's new pear vodka (le peore or poire or some mouthful of vowels like that,) fresh sage, Galliano, and citrus juices. Pear and Sage are flavors in love, and this drink is a nice example of why. Way to go, Michael.

Check out the Modern's website or visit them in person on the corner of 14th and Grove, Linen District.

Diablogue.

I recently read a less-than-snappy restaurant review in the Idaho Statesman Scene section that inspired me to post about what I'm doing with this blog. Although I believe that catty commentary concerning just about anything is always appropriate, it's not totally the goal of this project. The blog exists to generate dialogue about drinking and dining in general, but specifically in my home of Downtown Boise.

Since criticism is generally subjective in nature, and since I don't consider myself any great expert on the subject, I hopefully write as the voice of the public; merely a bored watcher and tired reader, hoping to create a platform for some legitimate critical dialogue about the business of feeding and watering the citizens of our adolescent city. If the blog gains popularity, it will be driven by user feedback and comments. Eventually, I'd like the thread to read as a sort of loose conversation between all of us... one that generates improvement and non-defensive feedback for restaurateurs, bar owners, and industry workers. And remembering that this is a mission of SALVATION, I try to write about what I see that is quality-oriented, but also feel free to use a crappy Cable Car, for example, as means to bring the innocent barstander to the saving light of the properly made incarnation of the drink.

Dress it up!

The long-awaited Barbacoa has finally opened in East Boise and it is Haute! My iPhone could shave my face if I asked it to, but the camera sucks. So, this is all ya get. But take my word, this place is pretty nice. There's no cocktail menu as of yet, so we'll see if their bar prowess matches that of their decorating, but I suspect they'll go after some heavy-hitter, LA Barman and produce something pretty good... although it's rumoured that they're after my Markazark, and some eyes may have to be clawed from some heads if that's true.

Californian Owner Robert Castoro told me, (and like, everyone who walked through the door,) that his interests in local art and "antiquities" led him to open Barbacoa in the old Jaker's space and build what I describe as some of the most progressive restaurant decorating I've seen in this area. In the bar, anyway... The dining room is sort of an Aztec/Sun Valley/Victorian Group Sex nightmare with bright lighting. The food is okay, the service okay, the painted cow skulls above the urinal are okay... you know, the usual.

I like Barbacoa and I'm crossing my fingers for it to find its clientele in Boise. Check it out at www.barbacoa-boise.com or in person, off Park Center right next to Red Robin... you know, right on the "lake".