Marina "Efficiency" M.'s Profile

I almost want to write a fake review and tell you that Elemental Next Door is awful so you'll never go and I can always have a table to myself. But that would be horribly wrong and selfish of me.

I'd give E.N.D. six stars if I could. The atmosphere is cozy, the wine selection varied (and every bottle is $30), the staff is utterly fantastic and friendly, the food's delicious, and they have bacon truffles. It's hands-down my absolute favorite place in Seattle (and it's so close to both Tilth and Cantinetta that this distinction is not easily won).

No life can be complete without a glass of port and a bacon truffle here.

There are only four tables (plus a few seats up front), and they don't take reservations, but at the moment wait times -- even on Friday or Saturday night -- are impressively short, probably because they only market via word-of-mouth.

I love this place.

In my experience, most small corner stores carry a tiny sampling of brands no one's ever heard of at twice the cost of brand names at regular stores. Durn Good is NOT like this at all. Ben & Jerry's ice cream, an impressive selection of beer given the size of the store, Tropicana no-pulp orange juice ... everything I could ever want. He's even got espresso (ground and whole bean).

The guy who owns this place is incredibly friendly, always remembers me, and appears never to sleep.

Prices are a slight bit more expensive than, say, Fred Meyer, but for the convenience of being able to get almost anything I could need just by crossing the street, and supporting such a great local business, I happily pay. Most things (like milk and cereal) cost the same as at QFC.

I was under the distinct impression that I did not like sake until I discovered I loved all three sake samples I was offered on tasting night.

This store is run by a guy who is quite clearly passionate about sake and lived in Japan for seven years learning the sake ropes. Sake Nomi is the equivalent of me, a Type-A efficiency consultant, running a store of checklists/notepads -- I'd know every nook and cranny of every item and get a personal thrill out of helping customers find what works best for them.

Same here. He's got lots of great sake - not the warm, yucky stuff you'll find at sushi restaurants - and it's delicious.

Bonus points to Sake Nomi for having an AWESOME website. It takes you through pronunciation of various Japanese terms and explains everything you could possibly want to know about sake in an engaging way.

This is not an official bar, it's more like a sake store with a menu of sake drinks ... so stop by with a few friends and get your sake questions answered.

This review is for the clothing store inside DIA.

I was in Denver on a business trip, and instead of returning home to Seattle as planned I had to fly to Southern California for a *beach* funeral. I had absolutely nothing appropriate to wear and had such little time that shopping in the airport was my only choice.

After scouring all three terminals, I finally came upon Pizzazz, and the very friendly woman working listened to my predicament and helped me pull together exactly the right outfit. She even went in the back and found a beautiful black skirt in my size. Given that this was Denver in December, finding a beach-appropriate outfit was quite a stretch, and I'm very thankful Pizzazz was able to help me out. I highly suggest stopping in the next time you're in DIA!

I love Hampton Inns, and this is one of my favorites. The rooms are large and cozy, and they've got everything you might need right in the room - shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer (decent!), body gel, and even mouthwash. If you need anything else, they have damn near an entire store down in the lobby with snacks, shaving cream, etc. and the toiletries are complimentary for guests.

The staff here is particularly friendly and genuinely helpful, and breakfast is plentiful and filling. The dining area is casual with a large flat-screen TV playing the news and plenty of room to stretch out with a complimentary paper. There's also reliable, fast wi-fi throughout the entire hotel.

This is a very convenient location just four blocks from the 16th Street Mall, and Bus 20 two blocks away to take you elsewhere. I paid $179 for a Thursday night and $99 for a Friday night, plus tax. Looking forward to returning here each time I have business in Denver.

I want to throw stones at people who complain about "small portions" at nice restaurants. Try IHOP, proles.

Cozy atmosphere with a very attentive and knowledgeable staff. Our five-course meal was full of delightful gastronomic surprises, though I'm still not entirely sold on squid foam. The hangar steak was particularly memorable. Wine pairings were excellent and kept our group energized throughout the evening.

Bringing a group without reservations is not wise.

Extensive menu of American fare - fish, steak, burgers, and sandwiches.

Portion sizes varied. I had the salmon with rice pilaf with a side of vegetables, and it was exactly the right amount of food for one female. However, my friend got the club sandwich, and could only eat half. (Slightly ironic given that the salmon was twice as expensive.)

Ordering a burger seemed complicated, so I skipped that page. I'm the sort of person who could spend an hour picking the ingredients for a Subway sandwich.

The food was delicious - the vegetables crisp and salty, the saffron rice pilaf light and fluffy, and the salmon cooked exactly right with just a hint of dill.

There's live piano music, and I could swear someone was singing carols to the music, but I may be imagining that.

We showed up at 7pm on a Thursday night and there was a 20-minute wait for a party of two. Make a reservation. People voted this "good for groups" but it's not the first place I'd bring a group of more than four.

Subway refers to its employees as "sandwich artists" and we all laugh... but that term truly applies here at Leger's.

They have pads of paper on the counter where you check off your sandwich ingredients (type of bread [sourdough, rye, wheat...], meat, toppings) and hand it off.

However, I am notoriously indecisive when it comes to selecting ingredients. So I just asked them to make me whatever they like, so long as it didn't have tomatoes. My resulting turkey-cranberry-avocado-provolone sandwich was AMAZING. I scarfed it down.

The sandwiches here are truly huge. My companions told me to get a half-sandwich, and I figured they were exaggerating. They were not. A half-sandwich is easily larger then a normal sandwich.

All the breads here are healthy - freshly-baked with all-natural ingredients (said the woman behind the counter).

They also serve a variety of soups, along with a full fridge of bottled drinks, shelves of chips, and a soda machine. There are about eight tables inside that sit 2-4 people each.

Parking is kind of a bitch in this shopping center.

I've been going here for six years now, and whenever I'm back in Salt Lake City, Cafe Med remains one of my favorite places to eat.

Prices are extremely reasonable - about $10-15 per dinner - and the portions are HUGE. My favorite dish is Zereshk Polow, which is maybe eight cups of seasoned rice with dried cranberries and three chicken breasts, plus a small salad. Easily a full dinner + lunch the next day + a snack.

They've usually got a few tables open, and I've never had to wait. The wait staff is extremely friendly and they seem physically unable to let your water glass fall even a millimeter below full.

The staff here is the most attentive, informed, and caring group of people I've ever had the pleasure to know.

For the past month I have been trying to get a prescription from my doctor with no luck - they'd lose the form, not return my call, or then, finally, they faxed an unsigned prescription. (This Rx is for insulin pump supplies - I'm no druggie seeking more pain meds.)

The staff at Bellegrove (particularly Selma, who is awesome!) patiently faxed and re-faxed my doctor's office, and kept me in the loop the entire time. They even tracked down some samples for me to use until I could get a new doctor and a new prescription.

Bellegrove handles all your insurance concerns, they always answer the phone, they mail things promptly - and they'll even continually mail your prescriptions right to your house. I love this arrangement, because I get the convenience of mail order with the security of knowing I can also drive across the bridge and pick up a prescription if I need to.

I'm going to get ALL my prescriptions from Bellegrove from now on, and I encourage others to do the same.

As a sidenote, this is the only place in Seattle you can buy insulin pump supplies. (I called every endocrinologist in the area and they all pointed me to Bellegrove.) This is very handy to know if you're ever in a pinch and can't quite wait for Minimed or Dexcom to mail new supplies to you. I frequently travel for work on a moment's notice, so being able to walk in and get a new box is a huge convenience for me.