Depending on which way you count it, this Saturday will be either the 4th or 9th annual Barleywine festival at the Parkway Tavern.

It’s year four if you count in barleywine years. It’s nine if you count in Parkway years. The mismatch comes from the festival’s organizers jokingly calling the first festival the "fifth" in a snarky attempt to give it some inflated credibility.

And how did it get organized? The way all good events involving spirits get organized: a bunch of people sitting around a bar talking big.

But it started small.

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Ann and Kevin Bell of Olympia stop in for glasses of wine at the Water Street Cafe and Bar in Olympia. Peter Haley/The News Tribune

By Craig Sailor
craig.sailor@thenewstribune.com

The scene: Water Street Cafe and Bar is a warmly lit and inviting space in the American Legion Building, near Heritage Park and Capitol Lake in downtown Olympia. The dining room is small enough to feel intimate, but three private dining rooms can accommodate groups of up to 60 people.

People in the kitchen: Jeff Taylor is the chef-owner of the seven-year-old establishment. Taylor formerly owned Olympia’s Capitale and Tumwater’s Luisa restaurants.

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Mama Stortini’s Restaurant and Bar will be the newest addition to the Kent Station shopping center, which already is home to a Pizzeria Fondi, Duke’s and other restaurants.

The Kent Mama Stortini’s – an outpost of the popular family style Italian restaurant in Puyallup – will open in May.

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TNT nightlife columnist Ernest Jasmin has been reporting on his Tacoma Rock City blog the details of the opening of Sax, a new Sixth Avenue nightclub that its owners are touting as a high-end dinner jazz club.

Depending on inspections and final details, owners Jenny and Andy Yee – who also own neighboring North China Garden restaurant – are aiming for an April 27 soft opening, with a grand opening to follow. The club will offer lunch and dinner daily, with happy hour daily from 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

They e-mailed us a first look at their menu.

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I had to do a double take. Was this Capers Downtown? Or the new restaurant Seven-Oh-One? It seems the answer is – both. Sort of.

The same: The pastry display case that doubles as an ordering counter. The chef, as well as a lunchtime menu of interesting salads and sandwiches. Pretty, modern looking decor. The view of the old Tacoma City Hall from the window seats.

Different: The name, and the owner. Dinner service Wednesday through Saturday nights. And cocktails. $3 martinis, to be exact. Oh, and $8 bottles of wine with dinner on Wednesday nights. Did I mention the half-price menu on Thursday nights?

Pictured here: The Chinese chicken salad at Seven-Oh-One. Photo by Craig Sailor/The News Tribune

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The brushetta, brie with onion relish, and chicken pesto panini are noshes available at Harbor Greens wine bar in Gig Harbor. Photo by Lui Kit Wong/The News Tribune.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Drop-In Dining is a restaurant dining report where reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on TNT’s dime, then report what the scene and the food were like. Have a suggestion for a Drop-In Dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com.

By Sue Kidd
sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com

With dwindling dining dollars and more people searching for value, I took to two new South Sound wine bars in search of affordable splurges. My goal: a few glasses of wine and a few nibbles for around $40 or less.

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Update: The opening day for the Sunrise Village market has been moved to May 30 to avoid a conflict with the Memorial Day weekend holiday.

A new farmers market is coming to South Hill Puyallup this spring. Beginning May 30, the Sunrise Village Farmers Market will operate every Saturday in the upscale Sunrise Village shopping center off of Meridian East and 156th.

The shopping center – home to a Target, Staples, Pet Smart, LA Fitness and restaurants that include the RAM, Pizzeria Fondi and Qdoba Grill – will host the market at the rear of the mall where a big box retailer formerly was to anchor that portion of the 65-acre site.

Janie Morris, former manager of the downtown Puyallup Farmers Market and past president of the Washington State Farmers Market Association, will manage the market on behalf of Investco, the company that manages the property.

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I headed to Freighthouse Square today in search of lunch on the cheap. In the last month, three new restaurants have opened at Freighthouse and signs indicate two more restaurants will open soon. Freighthouse always seems a revolving door of restaurants. Sometimes disappointing, sometimes hidden gems – what you get at Freighthouse always is a mixed bag.

My dining partner and I stopped in at the newly opened Cyber Pasta, located just off the main food court at the mall. It’s an order-at-the-counter place with a pasta concept merged with coffee (serving Pura Vida free trade coffee) and free wifi. The restaurant offers mix-and-match pasta and sauces. Diners can pair penne, spaghetti, fettuccine, tortellini or linguine with seven sauces that range from marina to alfredo to a sesame ginger. Any pairing is $4.99.

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