Belltown's prestigious Cascadia, where Al Gore's been seen to dine when he's in town, doesn't shy from controversy. This election season, it was a $25 "Race to the White House" dinner ... with a twist. Three courses, one vote. The Discerning Dem side of the menu featured Boston Clam Chowder and grilled salmon with Heinz ketchup; the Refined Republican column put Florida citrus dressing on the salad and Texas beef short ribs on the entree plate.

Dessert reflected a magnanimous display of bipartisanship with ribbons of red, white and blue sauces leading to a molded, white chocolate White House replica and a piece of dark chocolate cake inside. As a native Brit, Chef Kerry Sear was not an eligible candidate himself. Toward the end of October, he did reveal that the other Kerry was leading. He planned to announce final results on election night.

The Belltown was doing great biz with a new Happy Hour menu, promoted via a chalk-lettered sidewalk sign announcing $2 cosmopolitans. The bar filled up for the presidential debate and the menu included snacks like onion rings and fish and chips, all under $4. Owner Brooke Barnes was even on hand to cheer for Kerry. Whoops! Debate's over and The Belltown pulls the plug on cheap drinks. the sidewalk sign still touts Happy Hour menu, $1-off beer, but fails to mention that last week s cosmos are now $3.50. Bartenders plead ignorance, blame new GM for new policy. But is it fair not to tell customers? Personally, I feel Bushwhacked.

Photographs of unknown faces in the window of your neighborhood wine shop, a glowing tube suspended above some upright barrels promoting wines from obscure corners of Tuscany, hand-lettered signs extolling wines made by three sisters. You d expect merchandising like this from Budweiser or Gallo ... not from a new Seattle-based importer called Small Vineyards, LLC.

And how did this display end up at Belltown s Seattle Cellars?

Small Vineyards is almost evangelical in its commitment to the wineries it represents. And because it doesn't have huge volumes of wine to sell, it puts its marketing effort into selected locations.

Does it work? You bet it does, says Seattle Cellars owner Dave Woods. His sales of Small Vineyards bottles have tripled, up to $350 a week. And that's a huge number for a neighborhood wine shop.

Over there, over here. Only a cynic would claim that Starbucks exports un-American values. But frothing up frappuccinos for the French? Mais oui, mon ami. One can now savor a bit of Seattle at four Starbucks stores in Paris. Immensely popular, especially with foreign students, the French Starbucks cafes thrive despite a ban on smoking, reports Belltown denizen Carole Pucik, who headed up the Starbucks PR team for the Paris opening.

But turnabout's fair play. Coming to Seattle shortly: an outpost of the Così chain, which grew out of a charming, hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop in Paris where you could get a sort of do-it-yourself pannini while listening to opera music. It's going in at the 3rd and Pine Bon Marche not to be confused with the original Bon Marché in Paris. Seattle's Bon, sadly, will shortly be known as mousy Macy's.

His name is Dieter Schafer and he s as close as you can find, here in Belltown, to a wine guru. Best part: he's not the least bit pretentious. Not even a business card.

Oh, sure, he wore his sommelier's regalia to the Seattle Beaujolais Nouveau Festival a couple of years ago, but only because he was named the event's Vigneron d Honneur. He's in shirtsleeves here in Belltown at the Art Institute of Seattle, where he teaches a series of wine appreciation classes, and at the Pike Place Market's Tasting Room, where he guides visitors through flights of seven new Washington wines on Monday afternoons.

And that's not all. He also teaches at South Seattle Community College, and, once a month, puts on a fine dining and etiquette seminar at Geneva Restaurant on First Hill. It takes a web site, www.hospitality-and-wine-education.com just to keep up with him.

Amazingly, Dieter claims to be retired. At least, that's what he told me when we first crossed paths some years ago. Retired from a career in hotel dining rooms around the world, retired from a stint as maitre d' at The Rainier Club and just helping out as sommelier at Mistral. Retired? Nope! Like a fine wine, he s just coming into his prime.

And hey, if you ask him nicely, he might even come to your house and pour wine for your guests. So ask him, already! Write to winedieter@cs.com.

A hearty cheer to mixologist Ryan Magarian who introduced those delicious lemondrops to barflies at Restaurant Zoe featured in Food and Wine magazine's current feature on 35 "tastemakers " under 35. Ryan s day job is with Kathy Casey Food Studios where he concocts ever-more-delicious cocktails.

Meanwhile, Belltown scores big on a Post-Intelligencer list of Peoples' Picks. Best place for a stiff drink with working stiffs: Lava Lounge. Really? The slackers who hang out at the Lava have jobs?? Now, the Five Point, on the short list, I can understand. Carnivores do well at El Gaucho and Buenos Aires Grill, which both score high. You have to cross Denny to get to the best places to pick up women: Tini Biggs, Peso s, BluWater. But the "Best $10 Martinis" category would keep me in the nabe: Axis, Bada, Viceroy. Except that none of them actually serves a $10 martini. So much for accurate journalism. You read it here, friends, and I thank you for your vote of confidence.

See Messenger restaurant critic Ronald Holden s blog for foodies at: www.cornichon.org