Overcoming "Barriers" In Search of a Great Rosé

Patty & Jimmy Barrier celebrating their birthdays
with Chris, our John Howie Steak server

Last night Ken and I hosted our friends, Patty & Jimmy Barrier at John Howie Steak as a belated celebration of their birthdays.  It was a beautiful evening and we were seated at a table next to the window overlooking the Barrier kingdom of Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo and Audi dealerships that are just across I-405.


Uwajimaya, recently moved to the old Larry's Market location, is visible from John Howie Steak due to a very large blue sign on the side of the building which Jimmy was enviously coveting for his dealership locations.  I think a call to the City of Bellevue is in order.

As we arrived, Ken asked Wine Director & Sommelier, Lisa Rongren, to please choose a good Rosé wine for us.  I am a Cabernet and Syrah fan, but not much of a white wine fan.  However, we have been finding Rosés over the past couple of years that I really do enjoy sipping on a hot and sunny day.  Rosés that we have recently tried and liked are Long Shadows new Juliette Dazzle, Isenhower Cellars 2010 Yakima Valley Pink Painbrush Rosé and the one that Lisa shared was a Novelty Hill Januik Stillwater Creek Vineyard Spring Run Rosé.  It was great!  Crisp and a beautiful pink hue.  Thank you, Lisa!

Chris, our server at John Howie Steak, did an outstanding job, making a delicious Caesar salad tableside and even promising to bring two sombreros and a gaggle of service staff to sing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish to Patty and Jimmy at the end of the dinner.  (Maybe he worked at Azteca in a previous life?)  Luckily, for all of us, he was only kidding and their desserts were presented with artfully, crooked candles but no singing!


A funny ending to the evening occurred when we went to retrieve our car at the valet stand.  First the back story.  Barrier Motors has an arrangement with The Bravern that any cars with a Barrier Motors license frame can be parked at no charge with the valet.  I was the designated driver and was driving my car, which is of course a Barrier Motors vehicle.


When we arrived, Jimmy instructed the valet to leave the car right in the turnaround and said he would handle the valet tip when we left.  The valets were very impressed that it was the "real Jimmy Barrier" and had the car parked in a conspicuous location waiting for us right at the foot of the escalator.


When we returned and were ready to leave, the valet handed Jimmy my keys.  The automatic opener would NOT open the car after numerous attempts by both Jimmy and the valet.  Jimmy kept asking me if they were really my keys (which they were).  Finally, we were able to open my trunk and then after that the automatic key worked again.  We weren't sure what caused the problem, but just when we were considering calling a taxi, it finally worked.  Jimmy was embarrassed and made me promise to write a letter to the manufacturer complaining about the key problem . . . which I will . . . eventually.