One of the big advantages of the holidays is that people are back to visit their families, so I can see my old classmate and co-worker Deren who flew in from Maui. We ended up talking until pretty late and I found out that a lot of the bars in my neighborhood close ridiculously early. 9PM for the Laurelwood and 12AM for most McMenamins, as always.

Another place I wonder about is the restaurant Roux. It had empty tables when I went by on Sunday but we were told that it would be a 45 minute wait. Another friend told me that he went in and got the same treatment when the place was empty except for one other couple. The were finally seated right next to the other couple and waited another 45 minutes for someone to come take their drink order. I’m curious as to how they stay in business. Perhaps the place is really supposed to be called “Roux’d”.