It’s not summer without a visit from my brother, Jens. who is a kindred spirit. We enjoy reading a book a day and dining at all levels at home and around town. People watching at the Seattle Center is always good. We took in two exciting exhibits at the Seattle Art Museum, Calder in Motion and Poke in the Eye. We took a brief stroll through the Pike Place Market to buy vegetables from our favorite vendor, Sosio. We had a few memorable meals out at Cafe Campagna, Atoma, and The Flint Creek Cattle Co. restaurants. Each venue delivered a good experience with service and food. I look forward to going back to all three of them.

Here’s an excerpt from The Seattle Times about the ceramic pool: “Arneson liked to mess around with the relationship between form and function, an ongoing debate within ceramics with its lineage of well-crafted, useful items. Funk artists pushed back against the assumption that ceramics had to have a utilitarian purpose in contrast with other sculptural mediums like marble or bronze. 

“Pool with Splash” sprawls across the floor as a glistening, nonfunctional swimming spot. Not only did Arneson create the whole thing out of ceramic tiles, a typical pool construction material, he could also have been joking about the minimalist movement’s penchant for taking prefabricated industrial materials and laying them directly on the floor of art spaces, eliminating pedestals and other fine art signifiers. 

Mostly we cooked at home. Good friends came over one night for my favorite summer rotisserie project, Pok Pok Chickens. The recipe is perfect for a crowd or creates leftovers essential to feeding houseguests. We served a fabulous green mango salad with the birds and plain brown rice. Another night we were happy with Sosocio’s heirloom tomatoes and corn. The Mediterranean platter of fruits and vegetables roasted for 10 minutes at 400 degrees (F) that I frequently make with Sockeye or Halibut, featured Black Cod.

Here are a few standout dishes from the current menus at Atoma and Flint Creek Cattle Co. When we arrived at Atoma in Wallingford, I said, “Wow. this is Maria Hines old place, Tilth.” Chef Hines was a stalwart on the restaurant scene for many years, at one time running three establishments I liked. She always did good work. The couple who own the space now are following in big footsteps and doing their own very good job.