With a mid-twentieth century American feel, The Gerald opens tomorrow, March 23 in Ballard joining the row of restaurants and bars that make up the hopping Old Ballard Ave. scene.

Simple, American, comfort and booze is what you’ll get at the Gerald (located in the old Elephants Gerald T-shirt shop at 5210 Ballard Ave NW) which brings a modern-day twist on the Seattle of the 50s and 60s. The menu looks amazing and I for one can’t wait to try the mac & cheese – also featured are casseroles, truffle popcorn (yum), Swedish meatballs and a deconstructed home-made chicken pot pie. You can’t go wrong.

Even the drinks will transport you to a different era – The Gerald offers a 16-drink specialty cocktail list, mixing updated takes on highballs, gimlets, sidecars and vespers with newer creations.

I can’t decide if I want to eat or drink my dinner. No, really.

Personally, I think The Gerald and its owners have picked the perfect home – Ballard’s throw-back atmosphere provides the ideal back drop for a little time travel and “mid-century modern inspired” nightlife.

What do you say, Belles? Next meeting at The Gerald?

Did you know…

…Every Saturday the Century Ballroom puts on an indoor flea market (11am-3pm)?

According to the event’s Facebook page, the year-round market will happen every Saturday and feature Seattle’s designers with their clothing and artifacts, collectors and sellers of vintage wares and attire, and Century is large enough to host a weekly gathering for those who want to share and purchase these treasures.

The idea for the market is to give more exposure for small businesses, and to create a centralized area (like Parisian flea markets) where people know they will find anything and everything from baubles and trinkets to antiques and new designs.

However, don’t come for lunch, because Capitol Hill is filled with amazing restaurants there will be no food vendors at this market.

If you are interested in selling your own good reserve your space now, vendors will have the opportunity to reserve space up to three months in advance. Booth fees will run $30-$40/booth per week, depending on size.

More information on booth rental is available on the Facebook page.

Who doesn’t love a Top Pot doughnut? You’re crazy if you don’t.  – That’s all.

Top Pot co-founders and Seattle-based book author, Jess Thompson have co-written a book that will teach anyone, you, how to make your own famously hand-forged Top Pot doughnuts in your own kitchen.

The book is called Hand-Forged Doughnuts and is for sale on Amazon.

The Seattle PI reporter Amy Rolph said it best yesterday in her post:

“Step one: Buy Top Pot Doughnut’s new book about making ‘Hand-Forged Doughnuts.’

Step two: Do whatever the book tells you to do.”

And… watch this awesome video the co-founders put together. At the very least, it will make you want to make a doughnut run on your lunch hour.

Top Pot Doughnuts_Chronicle Books Trailer

- I  notice that I’m carrying on the sweet theme here from Belle Jeanine’s post yesterday… I have seen Top Pot Doughnuts as a wedding cake table before. Just sayin’

The Puget Sound Blood Center and its Young Professional Ambassadors (YPA) network are hosting a beer and wine tasting event and fundraiser to raise money and awareness. Taste for Life is taking place on Thursday, June 23 at the Paccar Pavilion, Olympic Sculpture Park.

The ‘taste’ part of Taste for Life will include samplings from these distilleries, wineries, and breweries: Chinook Wines, Effen Vodka, Fremont Brewing Company, Lazy River Vineyard, OS Winery, Pandora Cellars, Red Sky Winery and Widmer Brothers.

And the ‘life’ part comes in when you support the Puget Sound Blood Center with the $35 ticket to the event. The money supports blood research that makes cures possible. (And in case you didn’t know, every person that donates one pint of blood (every eight weeks) saves three lives.) You can register here.

For $5 you can also enter to participate in a wine toss game (throw a ring around the neck of a wine bottle) for a chance to go home with a bottle of wine.

When you drive (or ride) across the Lake Washington 520 bridge, have you ever spotted the eagle that hangs out on the light post near the west end? I’ve been keeping an eye on that darn bird for about three years now and that’s the extent of my bird watching.

But King 5 News broadcasts live web cam footage from a nest, far up in an old Douglas fir tree, along Lake Washington of a family of eagles. Surely the same one as far as I can tell

Check it out the eagle cam, it’s actually pretty impressive and the nest is not your ordinary back-yard-bird nest!

Here’s a shot of papa bird and the location of either newly hatched baby birds or mama bird. Because the clarity isn’t great, I can’t be sure.

But here you can watch for hours: http://www.king5.com/news/pets-and-animals/Seattle-Bald-Eagle-Cam-120984229.html

Courtesy of WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife, CritterZoom.com, and SMI WiFi. SMI WiFi is a company in California who, without their generous equipment donations, very little of this would be possible.

Be one of 1,500 people supporting Seattle Works, working together at volunteer projects throughout the city and then celebrating with a party at Seattle Center!

If you haven’t ever participated in Seattle Works Day or another Seattle Works project, you’re really missing out. This organization fosters volunteer participation in events from service projects to classes to conversations. And it’s a great community for young people to get involved and meet people with common interests: cleaning up and taking care of our community.

Volunteers will spend a small potion of their day either diggin’ in at parks, schools and community spaces all over the city from noon – 3.30.

Seattle Works involves young professionals interested in developing their networks, skills and leadership. In 2010, Seattle Works volunteers completed over 500 projects at 143 partner

Seattle Works is still accepting registrations from teams and individual volunteers. Visit seattleworks.org or contact Kathleen Weber at (206) 324-0808 or kathleen [at] seattleworks.org to learn how to get involved.

If you’ve let Seattle Restaurant Week pass you by this year and you’re still craving a reason to get out of your desk for lunch, or hit the town for dinner, you still have an opportunity next Thursday to participate in an event that encourages dining – breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night – at many of Seattle’s favorite restaurants. While you may not find a screaming deal from Canlis, you can really make a difference by filling your  bellies.

Dining Out For Life is next Thursday, April 28. when you dine at a participating restaurant, grocery store, cafe, or bakery on this day, a percentage of your purchase is donated to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and the fight against illness and hunger in our community.

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I’m the first person to admit that I do not find enjoyment in dining or entertaining in Capitol Hill – I always seem to get myself lost, I have poor luck finding street parking, not to mention I’m never really sure where Capitol Hill begins or ends – which causes me to feel like I’m in this strange euphoria of wine shops, novelty pet stores, eclectic restaurants and a random selection of car dealerships with no way out. BUT, I have found a new love: Bar Ferd’nand.

Photo courtesy of www.ferdinandthebar.com

Bar Ferd’nand is located inside the Melrose Market, a rustic indoor marketplace with barn-like high ceilings, carefully lined with vendors serving enticing eats, from cheeses and sandwiches, to delectable bites from Sitka and Spruce and a graphic display of meats from a full service butchery featuring all local meats and house-made charcutiere. The atmosphere of this building is just charming. The original buildings were once two automotive warehouses built back in the early 1920′s, respectively. Today, the market prides itself on serving some of the best locally-based, sustainable fare in the city.

While dining at Bar Ferd’nand, the people watching is at its best as shoppers and eaters swing in to pick up dinner’s main course from the meat counter, a quick sandwich on the run or a lesson on the perfect wine from Bar Ferd’nand’s wine shop.

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Photos courtesy of hopscotchtasting.com

This weekend, Friday night and Saturday afternoon/evening, the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is throwing the annual Hop Scotch Spring Beer and Scotch Festival at Fremont Studios. Enjoy beer, wine, and scotch tastings. Or attend the Scotch seminar with Master of Whiskey, Breck Taylor. Friday, April 1, 5:00pm-12:00am and Saturday, April 2, 1:00pm-12:00am.

Fremont Studios transforms into a swanky beverage tasting lounge featuring over 80 libations to swirl, sniff and sip. You’ll find everything from premier beers, Scotch, wine and spirit tastings all benefiting the SIFF. (more…)

Next weekend most of us will hunker down with our Oscar polls/ personal recommendations and watch as we replay the last five months of movie watching – on just a smaller screen. If you’re looking to jazz things up a little bit this year be sure to check out the Hotel 1000 Oscar Party: “An Evening With The Stars, the Swankiest Party of the Year”

Image courtesy of Hotel 1000

Your $75/per person ticket gives you heavy appetizers from the Hotel 1000 BOKA Kitchen + Bar, cocktail upon arrival, two drink tickets, a swag bag, legit red carpet photos, prizes for best celebrity look-alike and best outfit, entertainment and, of course, the telecast of the event. Buy tickets here. Hotel 1000, 1000 First Avenue, Downtown Seattle, 206-957-1000, www.hotel1000seattle.com.

Beginning at 4 p.m., guests will arrive on the red carpet featuring photo opportunities just like the Hollywood’s best celebrities. Guests will be welcomed with a glass of champagne and then escorted into Hotel 1000′s expansive event. At 5 p.m., a live telecast of the Oscars will begin featuring red carpet arrivals and this year’s Academy Awards hosted by James Franco and former Disney darling Anne Hathaway.

Proceeds from the event benefit Reel Grrls, an organization which offers a variety of hands-on workshops for teenage girls in specific skills including animation, cinematography, script writing and more. http://www.reelgrrls.org/

My Oscar picks:

• Best Picture: The King’s Speech
• Best Actress: Natalie Portman
• Best Actor: Colin Firth