I dine out more than the average person. So, by my estimate, I’m going to have more bad restaurant experiences than the average diner.

Case in point: A couple of weeks ago, while sucking down strawberry lemonade at a Gig Harbor waterfront restaurant, I sucked a shard of glass through my straw. At first I thought it was ice, but when I spit it out and pressed it between my fingers, I drew a small bead of blood.

I debated whether I should tell my server. I didn’t want any compensation or apology. I just thought the restaurant

Read more »

“I really don’t like going out. I don’t like restaurants because I don’t like the idea of someone, a waitress, being responsible for my evening. I like seconds, and more, and lots of conversation, and I’ve always hated the idea that in a restaurant an evening just ends. I find that incredibly depressing.”

That’s a quote from actress Amy Sedaris (“Strangers with Candy“) in The New York Times.

Here are some left-over tidbits from my interview with food crusader/nutritionist Marion Nestle, who’s quoted in my food fright commentary. In addition to super-sizing, she’s bothered by the number of places in which we encounter food.

“Creating a social environment in which it’s OK to eat all day long also encourages people to eat. When did food get into bookstores, for example? Or libraries, where you used to be restricted from eating. Vending machines in schools. Barnes and Nobles has cafes. All bookstores have cafes. It used to be that they would stand at the door and

Read more »

Then the e-mailer who had read my food fright commentary added: “Just kidding! Thanks for writing this piece.” Here’s the rest of what he had to say:

I’ve gained 45 pounds over the last couple of years. I gained this weight because 1) I am sedentary due to quadriplegia [I am paralyzed and in a wheelchair] and 2) I turned 40 at the end of 2002 [in other words, over the past few years my already slow metabolism has slowed even more]. Now, I could stop here to justify my gain in weight,

Read more »

Until I get my dogs certified as assistance animals, this is the best chance I’ll have to take my dogs to Sea Grill.

On July 9, the downtown Tacoma restaurant is hosting a pooch-friendly cocktail reception on its patio. It’s also mooch-friendly, with complimentary beer and wine.

It’s in honor of Woofstock, the Dugan Foundation’s animal adoption concert in August.

For info and RSVPs, contact the Dugan Foundation at 253-572-7700.

My invite said cocktail attire requested. Do I have to wash my dogs, too?

I like making these kinds of mistakes. Clucking up, if you will.

I thought I’d grabbed an $8 bottle of Bogel Zinfandel. It turned out I had just plucked a 2004 Robert Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel, which sells in restaurants for $80, if you can find it.

Black Chicken took me back to California and everything that’s great about Zinfandel: big and jammy, with peppery undertones. I finished the bottle about a week after I’d

Read more »

Want a beach taco? They’re free, as part of Taco Del Mar’s “Taco the Town” promotion. Freebies start at 2 p.m. Wednesday at 80 Washington locations and continue until closing.

Here’s the promotional language:

Served on a 4-1/2″ corn tortilla, choose from fish, or stewed and shredded pork, beef, or chicken (or beans for the vegetarians out there), cilantro, chopped onions, juiced with a squeeze of lime and pepped up with Pico de Gallo.

Construction in the Carlton building (named after a Tacoma brewer’s son, at 1552 Jefferson St.) brings a Japanese restaurant and sake bar to downtown Tacoma.

TwoKoi calls itself “a cross between upscale and polished casual.” The menu will be “more than just sushi.”

“A great sake collection” is promised.

Opening is targeted for mid-July.