We want to provide you with the best our great city has to offer in entertainment, travel, food, lifestyle, and leisure. To do this, we are taking City Confidant to the next level in order to improve your daily subscription experience. During this process, we will be taking a brief summer hiatus and will not publish articles until after the Labor Day weekend.

We will, however, be updating our Facebook and Twitter feeds consistently, so be sure to friend and fan us.

We would love to hear what you would like to see in the new and improved City Confidant. Please e-mail us with any feedback or suggestions to Jordan@cityconfidant.com.

We are very excited to share with you the new and improved City Confidant.

Enjoy your summer!

The City Confidant Team

Don’t worry about having two left feet. We found dance studios for singles, couples, and groups that can teach you how to move around a dance floor. Classes, private lessons, drop-ins, and weekly events offer everything from ballroom dancing to kicking it with a tap routine. And let’s not forget the art of belly dancing or getting in shape with Zumba. Here are just a few of the many dance studios to check out in and around Seattle and the Eastside to find personalized and professional instruction.

Arthur Murray School of Dance has been around for years. Some of you may remember Arthur and his wife, Kathryn, cutting a rug on their TV show years ago (1950-1960). Arthur Murray studios are still going strong today and are located conveniently around the Puget Sound. Whatever dance style you want to learn, they probably know it. Check out their classes and private instruction in swing, tango, two step, waltz, country western, and more.
Web Site

Bellydancing By Zaphara, an entertainer and master instructor in the art of belly dancing who can show  you the way to fitness through dance. Belly dancing is one of the most difficult workouts of all the dance forms, one that strengthens your muscles, helps with coordination, tones your arms and shoulders, and is also a lot of fun. Get the workout you need with this low-impact dance.
Web Site

My World Dance & Fitness Studio is located in a new, state-of-the-art space with a suspended Marley floor, a full wall of mirrors, changing room, and awesome sound system. With dance and fitness classes from around the world, My World Dance has drop-in dance classes in salsa, swing, belly dance, and samba. Fitness classes include yoga, funk aerobics, tai chi, and Pilates Mat. They also offer ballet and jazz for ages 3-9, and Children and Youth Hip Hop! Try the 3rd Friday Salsa Dance Party. No partner necessary.
Web Site

Dance for Joy gives you the chance to dance creatively and playfully and, at the same time, learn to waltz, swing, and zydeco, so check out the weekly classes and events. Their Web site even has an online discography for practicing your new dancing skills. Look for workshops and live music with lots of waltz, swing, foxtrot, and polka .
Web site

Belltown Dance Studio provides an opportunity to meet new people and have fun at the same time!  Classes include salsa, Argentine tango, West African dance, and more.  All students are given individual attention and an optional rotating system so that a dance partner is not required.  Zumba, a fusion of hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow steps, is also available.
Web Site

The Century Ballroom has one of the largest dance floors in Seattle (2000 sq. feet), as well as a restaurant, The Tin Table, and a full bar. Learn to dance the salsa, lindy hop, East and West Coast swing, and more. With a calendar jam packed with nightly drop-in lessons and classes, live DJs and entertainment, you’ll find a party almost every night. No need for a partner to have fun.
Web Site

In case you find all the dance styles confusing, check out The History of Dance for a short history of each dance form, a description, and background information.

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market
Today | 3:30-7:30pm
The Seattle Farmers Market Association will host more than 30 of Washington’s top farmers, fishers, ranchers, food artisans, prepared food vendors, and artists at the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmer Market. Located on the grounds of the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park, the  market continues every Thursday through September 9.
Web Site

La Dolce Vita
Today | 5-7pm
Enjoy a nationwide ice cream social benefitting Dress for Success. Vintage Park Hotel, Hotel Monaco, and Alexis Hotel are participating in Kimpton’s nationwide Ice Cream Social evening and will serve unique gelato and ice creams in each of their hotel living room lobbies. Cost: $3 per scoop at each hotel; visit one, two or all three hotels, and pay as you go. Cash only. 100% of proceeds benefit Dress for Success.
Sweet Stop 1: Vintage Park Hotel, serving Italian Honey Gelato from Tulio Chef Walter Pisano
1100 Fifth Avenue (corner of Spring St and 5th Ave).
Sweet Stop 2: Hotel Monaco, serving Roasted Banana Blackstrap Rum Ice Cream from Sazerac Chef Jason McClure.
1101 4th Avenue (corner of Spring St and 4th Ave)
Sweet Stop 3: Alexis Hotel serving, Buttermilk Ice Cream from Library Bistro/Bookstore Bar Chef Tiffany Layco.
1007 First Avenue, Seattle (corner of Spring St and 1st Ave)

Gourmet Game Night
Tonight | 5:30-7pm
Seattle-based food writer and cookbook author Cynthia Nims discusses her book, Gourmet Game Night: Bite-Sized, Mess-Free Eating for Board-Game Parties, Bridge Clubs, Poker Nights, Book Groups, and More. Intended to be an author happy hour, Nims will share ideas on how to revamp old fashioned game night and will discuss her more than 80 game-friendly recipes.
Price: Free | RSVP to debra.seier@thewoodmark.com
The Woodmark Hotel (1200 Carillon Point | Kirkland)
Web Site

Bite of Seattle
Friday – Sunday | 11am-9pm
Fifty restaurants, thirty food product booths, five live music stages, a cooking demonstration stage, comedy club, multiple beer and wine gardens/tastings, hand-crafted artisan booths, commercial products, Family Fun Zone, and more. This is the ultimate Seattle foodie event.
Seattle Center
Web Site

Woodinville Winemaker’s / Brew Master Triathlon
Wednesday July 21 | 6pm
The Winemaker’s Triathlon participants are teams formed exclusively by the Woodinville wineries. The course includes a running, bicycling, and final padding stage (any non-motorized water craft) upstream on the Sammamish River (behind Redhook Ale Brewery). The final paddling stage will be done by the winemaker or brew master from each respective competing team. The goal of this event is to raise awareness about mitochondrial disease, raise money to support the efforts of the Mitochondrial Research Guild of Seattle Children’s Hospital and have a lot of fun while doing it.
Price: $125
Redhook Ale Brewery (14300 Northeast 145th St | Woodinville)
Web Site

In Theaters:
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | Rotten Tomatoes Review
Inception | Rotten Tomatoes Review

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

Less than five minutes by car from Seattle-Tacoma International airport, Cedarbrook Lodge offers guests a quiet and unexpectedly secluded hotel  ideal for a wide variety of business and leisure travel needs. Located on 18 lush acres of natural, restored wetlands, the lodge displays quintessential Northwest style, while their Copperleaf Restaurant offers you a truly memorable dining experience.

The restaurant’s interior touts a brand new 34-seat indoor dining room accented with 100% organic bamboo fabrics and hand-blown glass sculptures by renowned local artists. Best of all, you’ll have an opportunity to enjoy farm-to-table regional cuisine with fresh vegetables from Cedarbrook’s own garden and mushrooms grown in a wooded area just outside the lodge. The food is wholesome, organic, and made with all natural ingredients.

A few of the locally harvested vegetables include garnet yams, baby beets, cauliflower, salsify, and organic butter leaf lettuce. Also on the menu are truffles (white, brown, or black) from Oregon, Walla Walla sweet onions, Dungeness crabs, Victoria Island scallops, and all-natural Oregon grown and fed beef. Look for  same-day fresh albacore tuna caught in the waters of the North Pacific, and breads and rolls baked fresh daily and locally.

Copperleaf Terrace, a beautiful outdoor patio made cozy by the large wood-burning fireplace, is open from late spring to early fall.

The Copperleaf Restaurant – an easy commute from just abut anywhere in Puget Sound.

Web site

Copperleaf Recipe
Yakima Valley Asparagus Salad
Wynoochee River Blue Cheese, Champagne Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1 bunch green asparagus
2 each breakfast radish
2 ounces Estrella Family Wynoochee River Blue or suitable alternative
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 slices country bread
1/2 bunch fresh thyme
Butcher’s twine
Sea salt and cracked pepper
2 quarts boiling water, seasoned with salt

Preparation

Start by snapping off bottoms by holding asparagus with one hand just below the tip and the base in the other; lightly bend until it snaps. Next, peel off outside of asparagus leaving the tip fully intact. Securely tie the asparagus together in one bunch with the butcher’s twine. With your water at a steady boil, gently place asparagus bunch in water and set up a shocking bath using 1 1/2 quarts cold water and 3 cups ice. Remove asparagus from water when it is fork tender. Place directly into ice water. Leave in cold water until fully cool, approximately 5 minutes.

Presentation
Gently remove string from large asparagus and place all in a bowl with the vinegar and olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper and go directly to the plate with the blue cheese. Lightly chop the thyme and sprinkle over asparagus and cheese. Serve with the lightly toasted country bread, fresh radish and Dijon mustard.

Yield 4 – 6 servings.

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

With more than 30,000 acres of vineyards and 650 wineries, Washington State is one of the world’s top wine regions. Taste, learn about, and enjoy Washington wine at Kirkland Uncorked next weekend. The festival offers unique wine tasting for everyone, regardless of wine experience, along with many other scheduled events.

Kirkland Uncorked brings the world-class experience of expert vintners right to your wine glass and features top local wineries, including Airfield Estates, Five Star Cellars, Four Lakes Chelan Winery, Hollywood Hill Vineyards, Irlandés Limited Reserve Winery, Maison Bleue Winery, NHV (Naches Heights Vineyard), Northwest Cellars, Northwest Totem Cellars, O.S. Winery, Vin du Lac, and Whidbey Island Winery.

Be sure to check out the Boat Show, which showcases some of the hottest boats on the market and is brought to you by Seattle Water Sports. Boats will be located at the marina and are open for public tours.

On Sunday, unleash your dog’s inner supermodel at the annual CityDog Magazine Cover Dog Model Contest at Kirkland Uncorked. That’s right. Your pooch can take a turn on the catwalk in a contest to grace the cover, while raising money for a great cause at the same time. The contest takes place at Marina Park Beach, is open to the public, and benefits Pasado’s Safe Haven. For more details and to register, visit CityDog Magazine.

Kirkland Uncorked benefits the Hope Heart Institute that has a 50‐year history of revolutionary medical advances and educational curriculums making heart disease—America’s No. 1 cause of death—more treatable, beatable, and preventable.

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

Designer Dinner
Tonight | 6pm
Have a burning question about fashion design? Ask it over dinner with local designer Bri Seeley (from Olympia) who creates one-of-a-kind pieces for clients. Presented by Emerald City Fashion Week, the dinner features a special menu by bin on the lake’s Chef Scott Lents.
BIN on the Lake (1200 Carillon Point | Kirkland)
Tickets: $100 Here

Redmond Derby Days
Friday 6pm-10pm | Saturday 10am-10pm
Redmond Derby Days celebrates its 70th anniversary with its annual bicycle race, a summer tradition that came to life at the end of the Depression. Derby Days began as a drive to raise money for downtown holiday decorations and school athletic equipment. The Redmond Bicycle Derby was the outgrowth of a small town’s community spirit and is now the nation’s longest running bicycle race. Activities include the Friday night free concert, REI Friday Night Poker Ride, Derby Days Dash 5k Race/Walk, great food, beer and wine gardens, a carnival, and fireworks finale.
Redmond City Hall Campus (15670 NE 85th St. |Redmond)
Web Site

Mobile Chowdown
Saturday | 11am-4pm
Celebrate curbside cuisine from Seattle’s favorite food trucks: Anita’s Crepes, El Camion, Marination Mobile, Dante’s Inferno Dogs, Got Soup?, Maximus/Minimus, and Seahawk Golden Tate’s favorite Top Pot Doughnuts. A hefty appetite and elastic-waist pants suggested.
Seattle Center, adjacent to EMP (Experience Music Project)
Web Site

Bastille Day
Sunday | 10:30am-6pm
Commemorate France’s democratic beginnings at this annual celebration of French culture and presence in the Puget Sound area. The festival marks the French national holiday in memory of the liberation of the infamous Bastille Prison and the start of the French Revolution. Enjoy French wine and pastries, cooking demonstrations, children’s games, music, and more.
Seattle Center
Web Site

Choochokam Arts Festival
Saturday 10am-9:30pm | Sunday 10am-5pm
The 35th annual Choochokam Arts Festival in downtown Langley on Whidbey Island features more than 100 premier artists, music from up-and-coming local performers, and the Saturday night Street Dance.  Take the ferry, and make it a day trip with the whole family.
Web Site

Oil Spill Wildlife Rescue
Thursday July 15 | 6:30pm
Give a gift from the Northwest to help the innocent and unprotected wildlife affected by the worst oil spill in world history benefitting The Nature Conservancy (a leading charity helping in the Oil Spill Zone). Event includes hors d’oeuvres and great raffle prizes and a Flavor of Seattle local dining card (with more than $500 in savings).
Columbia Tower Club (701 5th Ave. 75th Fl |Seattle)
Tickets: $35 Here

In Theaters Friday:
Despicable Me | Rotten Tomatoes Review
Predators | Rotten Tomatoes Review

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

Even though the U.S. is no longer in the World Cup, we can’t seem to get enough of the action. We stream games online at the office, scream at the TV over a bad call, and text friends about a victory. And, without being too evil, we always have a favorite team and one we’re trying to jinx.

Great news! Hexing has turned digital. If you want to really show a team how you feel, try Soccer World Championship 2010 Voodoo. Here’s a way to give your team (whoever you’re rooting for now that the U.S. is out!) a little boost from afar. Stick a pin in virtual voodoo dolls—available for each team and upcoming matches—and leave a message with your hopes for the game.

We really enjoy sticking it to the other team with voodoo pins. It never hurts to wish the opposing team just a little bad luck.

Web Site

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

With a name like Bad Monkey Bistro, you might expect a lot of monkey business. Well, you’re almost right. Bad Monkey Bistro, not your ordinary sports bar, is sure to please any style or appetite with its delicious culinary creations and a rockin’ piano bar.

Pool tables, flat screen TVs, and a piano bar – literally, a glass top piano/bar you can sit around with your cocktail –  make Bad Monkey Bistro a great spot to catch a game or just have a drinks with friends.

But what takes this sports bar to the next level is their menu. Try appetizers of Whiskey River chicken skewers, Bourbon Street steak skewers, stuffed crab lollipops and, of course, Monkey wings. Or sandwiches like the Rueben Monkey style, the Toasted Monkey (white cheddar, provolone cheese, tomato, ham, balsamic aioli, toasted sour dough), and our favorite, the Mona Lisa- aloito (hot coppa salami, sopresatta salami, prosciutto, olive tapenade, roasted tomatoes, provolone cheese on a hoagie roll).

If you want to grab a bite during an evening game, dinner dishes of Monkey loaf, their house-made meat loaf, Chicken Marsalla, and Smoke’n Salmon pasta are guaranteed to fill you up.

No meal or sports bar is complete without a libation, and Bad Monkey Bistro’s got plenty of signature cocktails. Or ask the bartender to make you up something special.

All they ask is to be good, play nice, and leave the monkey business to them.

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.

Seattle International BeerFest
Friday – Sunday | Noon-10pm
Mural Amphitheatre becomes a beer paradise during BeerFest, the celebration of global brewing styles and the nations that made them famous. The event showcases more than 150 world-class beers from countries around the globe, particularly hard-to-find, rare, and exotic styles. The outdoor event is pet friendly and features live music, free pub games, and lots of food!
Seattle Center-Mural Amphitheatre (305 Harrison St. | Seattle)
Price: $20 advance tickets | $25 at gate
Web Site

Family 4th at Lake Union
Sunday | Noon – 11pm
Family 4^th is a “Celebration For The People, By The People” to honor how our community raised more than $500k on April 2, 2010 to save one of our cities most spectacular events. The festivities include pre- and post-fireworks performances by Seattle hometown band, The Presidents of the United States of America, Seattle jazz vocalist Greta Matassa singing the National Anthem, and family-friendly activities, games, and free entertainment.
Gas Works Park (2101 North Northlake Way | Seattle)
Web Site

Symetra Bellevue Family 4th
Sunday| 2-10:30pm
Live music, kids’ activities, a C-17 flyover, and a spectacular fireworks display synchronized to a live performance of patriotic standards by the Bellevue Philharmonic are part of the Eastside’s largest Independence Day celebration. Also look for a jam-packed afternoon line-up of live entertainment on the Main Stage and a full range of events in the Bellevue Parks Family Fun Zone.
Bellevue Downtown Park (10201 NE 4th St | Bellevue)
Web Site

Kirkland’s Red, White, and Blue Celebration
Sunday | 10am-11pm
Turn out for the fun in Kirkland, with an old fashioned downtown parade, kid’s activities, live music and entertainment, and a fireworks display over the marina. Catch the fireworks from most Kirkland waterfront locations. The parade route is available below.
Web Site

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, commemorates the Continental Congress’ adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Read the history of Independence Day, including articles, videos, and more on History.com.

Have a safe 4^th of July!

In Theaters:
Twilight Saga: Eclipse | Rotten Tomatoes Review
M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender | Rotten Tomatoes Review

© City Confidant 2010. All rights reserved. City Confidant is strictly editorial. There is no Pay to Play.