Premium burgers worth trying around Seattle

I was discussing burgers with some friends this weekend and promised them a summary of my favorites, so here it is!

First on the list is the Metropolitan Grill's Works Burger (or probably any other burger on their menu). It's Wagyu (American Kobe) beef and they will generally cook it to order (i.e. medium rare to rare for me). $14.

Close seconds: The Islander on Mercer Island, Sullivan's Steakhouse downtown Seattle (only $9 -- see previous post), JaK's Grill (Issaquah, Laurelhurst, West Seattle).

Also possibly worthwhile, though each of these had at the time I last tried them some spice that I didn't like: The Capital Grille and Von's (both downtown Seattle). CG's tasted oniony, Von's like a rusty nail (to me, anyway), but seemed otherwise good if you like those particular spices.

Bon apetit!

Steven Pinker

I first came across this gentleman via a video on swearing that I found on C-SPAN2. (This one is on YouTube also now.)

I read his book The Blank Slate (which was terrific!) after seeing this video.

Enjoy!

Dan Gilbert

I read Dr. Gilbert's book Stumbling on Happiness shortly after it came out in 2006 and have just come across this video of him discussing some of his research. I greatly enjoyed both! Check out the video for some amazing counterintuitive findings in happiness research.

Another downtown burger worth a try

Sullivan's Steakhouse is now in Seattle at the former location of the old Union Square Grill at 621 Union. I consider it my responsibility to society to try every steakhouse burger in the area, and this one was a pleasant surprise!

It's only $9 (versus $14 for the Metropolitan Grill's "Works Burger") but they (mostly) cook it the way I want (medium rare) without any wrangling, which has been difficult to find in the "toxic e. coli" era in which we live.

Anyway, it's been a pleasant surprise ... give it a try when you're downtown.

High-tech hookah: nicotine without tar!

If there's a smoker in your life that you want to keep alive, this may be the trick. A Stanford company called Ploom is selling a "clean vapor technology" smoking kit for what looks to be about the same price as cigarettes.

You may have to get this trans-shipped to some states; Washington State doesn't allow shipment of any tobacco products directly in to consumers.

Superwindows on the cheap

Our neighbor turned us on to these window inserts. Looks like a way to get superwindow-type energy savings for a fraction of the price. We'll probably try this soon but I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who's used these.