I was just interviewed by a woman writing a travel piece about Seattle and her final question for me was this: Where would I get a drink tonight if I was 1. in Seattle (I'm not) and 2. needed a drink (I do). Without question: Barnacle, a tiny—and hidden—Italian apertivo bar tucked away next to The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard. And here's why I would be biking to Barnacle tonight if I was at home:

That drink? That's a No Tree, No Shade—a cocktail created in honor of Seattle's own Ben "Miss Congeniality" DeLaCreme (she wuz robbed)—and it is fucking delicious: vodka, cassis, Sicilian blood orange liquor, and prosecco. I could drink five of them. I have drank (drunk? drinked? quaffed? queefed?) five of them. And that red stuff on the plate is venison carpaccio with pickled fiddlehead ferns. Also fucking delicious. And best of all—and such a wonderful compliment to a No Tree, No Shade—that's a bowl of potato chips in the upper left hand corner of the pic. Chips are free at Barnacle and free chips have no carbs and no calories—it's true.

Being asked where I would get a drink in Seattle tonight made me want a No Tree, No Shade so badly that it's kind of killing me that I can't have one. Chips I can get in Chicago, that drink I can't. But you can get one, Sloggers, and a bowl of chips too.