Marta Vega, a native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, has long called Seattle home. Here, she's worked with El Centro de la Raza and for POCAAN (People of Color Against AIDS Network), and for nearly 30 years has lent her expertise at the stove at community events. Then, early this month, "abuela" Marta did what she says she's been wanting to do "forever." She opened El Pilon, adding her native cuisine to the wide world of flavors that make her South Seattle neighborhood such a delicious melting-pot.

Today, with the help of her son Luis Vega -- among other extended-family members -- the beloved matriarch is running a 35-seat cafe at 5303 Rainier Avenue South, offering homestyle Puerto Rican comfort-food at lunch and dinner.

Marta Vega, relaxing at the grand opening celebration of El Pinon. Seated next to her -- with fork in hand -- is Roberto Maestas, co-founder and executive director of El Centro de la Raza. [photo courtesy Luis Vega]

It's time to get your tickets for 2010 Food as Art, a fabulous fundraiser for the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas. On Saturday April 10, the CD Forum will again showcase the diversity of Seattle's black culinary community at the annual gala on the waterfront at Bell Harbor (ticket info here). Lending time and talent are some of the Seattle's most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs, among them Andaluca's Wayne Johnson (who curated the evening's menu) and Iron Chef-contestants Daisley Gordon (chef-exec at Campagne) and Sabrina Tinsley (owner-chef of Osteria La Spiga). Vegan? Plum Bistro's Makini Howell has you covered.

Splurge for VIP tickets ($175) and perks include early admission and a special reception -- with appetizers courtesy of Marjorie's Donna Moodie, plus cocktails via Tavern Law's master mixologist David Nelson. Later, bid for a good cause during the dessert auction, presided over by Sabrina's sister (and Wild Ginger's executive pastry-chef) Sachia Tinsley. During the gala you can bid on live-auction items, including a trip to NYC and tickets to the Broadway hit Fela!. Afterward, music and dancing up the ante.

Clockwise, from top left: Wayne Johnson, Daisley Gordon, Sabrina Tinsley, Makini Howell, Donna Moodie, David Nelson. For the full line-up, see here.

In keeping with my corned-beef-and-eggs theme this morning, my hat's off to Eater Ty Graham for sharing this bodacious breakfast with me. Brussels sprouts! Why didn't I think of that? If you've got photos of your corned beef-leftovers, feel free to hit me with your best shot, tell me what I'm looking at, and I'll add it to this post.

Corned beef hash with poached egg and Chicaoji -- sprouts on the side. [photo courtesy Ty Graham]

Top 'o the mornin' to you. Thought I'd get a little jump-start on the festivities with a proper breakfast -- made with a wee bit of leftover corned beef and cabbage from last night's dinner. (I'm going out tonight, for seafood.) Perhaps you'll be setting out this evening to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by lifting a pint with some friends at a proper Irish pub. If so, where are you headed? (Need some ideas? Try these.) And to those of you who'll be keeping the home-fires burning, cooking a bright pink slab 'o meat with some brine-soaked greens, I've got to ask: What do you do with the leftovers?

A meal so nice, I made it twice: corned beef and cabbage omelet.

It's been an interesting ride for Bellevue's 0/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork.

In 2006, chef and radio personality Dan Thiessen hooked up with Matthew Bomberger to open a splashy, dual-named restaurant and wine bar adjacent to the Hyatt Regency. July 2009 brought word of a second venture: Stir Martini + Raw Bar, just off the Hyatt's lobby. That announcement coincided -- not incidentally -- with a partnership shakeup that had Bomberger severing ties with Thiessen.

Cut to last month and another big shakeup: it was out with 0/8 and its fine-dining menu, in with Twisted Cork, rebranded as a Northwest bistro -- until last weekend, when the whole shebang was shut down. "The bottom line is that the revenues weren't there to support the restaurants," explains Bomberger, who shuttered Twisted Cork Saturday followed by the Sunday closure of Stir.

Closing a failed restaurant -- let alone two -- is never an easy task. "I'm trying to meet the obligations of the company and wind it down in an orderly manner," he said. Today he's dealing with details large and small: canceling existing reservations, attempting to resell unopened cases of toilet paper to his vendors, and figuring out the logistics of selling the content of two restaurants with "significant assets."

The Twisted Cork at 0/8, photographed shortly after it opened.
[Seattle Times photo/Mark Harrison (2007)]

When news broke this week about a Santa Monica restaurant accused of illegally serving meat from an endangered whale, an innocent and unrelated Northwest restaurant group got caught in the fray.

The local Typhoon! happens to have the same name as Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of The Hump, which is the accused restaurant in Santa Monica. That Typhoon and one of its sushi chefs have been charged with illegally selling meat from a sei whale, which is listed as endangered and protected by international treaty.

Since the story came to the nation's attention, managers at Typhoon! Thai restaurants in Oregon and Washington have been fielding phone calls and e-mails from an outraged public threatening to boycott. And that case of mistaken identity has become a whale of a problem for owners Bo and Steve Kline and their employees.

The parent-company of the (unfortunately named) Hump restaurant and its Santa Monica Airport sibling unfortunately share a name with an unrelated Northwest restaurant-group. [photo: Al Seig/LA Times]

Odessa, from Queen Anne, needs help. She writes:

"When I decided I wanted to invest in a new cookbook, I thought who better to seek out for advice than you! I'm hoping you might be able to help me with a recommendation or two. I'm just a home cook with no training, but I'm pretty decent at it and enjoy a little bit of a challenge, so would want something interesting. I'm not looking for an Italian cookbook, but want something that includes a decent section of pasta, as well as meats, poultry, veggies, soups, etc. I don't need it to include baked goods, but I'd take a look if it was included. It would be great if the book had good pictures, and maybe some recommended menu pairings, but it does not need to be organized that way. Any ideas come to mind?"

Ah, cookbooks. One of my favorite subjects. I've discussed it before with some of the city's top chefs, and have a "few" (cough) cookbooks of my own lining my shelves. As for being "just a home cook, with no training," well, welcome to the club, Odessa! I'd love to share some ideas, and I trust my Eatership has a few of their own to contribute. Have at it, gang, but let's cap the list at five cookbooks you find "interesting," "a little bit of a challenge," and not Italian. Brownie-points if the menu also has photos and menu-pairings. Here are my picks, in no particular order:

A quick shrimp stir-fry, from page 228 in "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper."

New York baker Jim Lahey's revolutionary no-knead bread recipe was made famous across the land after "The Minimalist" Mark Bittman introduced us to the Euro-style loaf in 2006. Cook's Illustrated later tinkered with that recipe, adding more salt and a hit of lager, renaming their version "almost no-knead bread." Since then, I've recreated the recipe umpteen times -- and encouraged you to do so (with how-to photos!) right here on the blog.

Today, I'm going to again insist that you try your hand at a no-knead recipe. This time I won't take "no" for an answer. Why? Because everyone kneads to know how to bake a great loaf of homemade bread. And thanks to Lahey's new cookbook "My Bread" (and its wide world of no-knead recipes), I've got another great recipe for you to try. Last weekend, in advance of Saint Patrick's Day, I delved into "My Bread" for the first time and found Jim's Irish Brown Bread. Just my luck, it's magically delicious!

My Bread: Now, there's a brown bread recipe that lives up to its name.