Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/303828
40 w e s t w o r l d | s u m m e r 2 0 1 4 proud to share that "our native son, Dale Chi- huly, was the first to go and work with them in Murano." She points out exquisite pieces by internationally celebrated artists throughout the four-star property, such as the 158- kilogram Murano-glass chandelier in the lobby and the 25 mini galleries, each floor devoted to a different artist – though "where's the Chihuly?" is what she's asked most often. I gape at the museum-like showcase of glass – little wonder the hotel is on Condé Nast Trav- eler's Gold List of "Best Hotels in the World." Just outside the hotel, we continue on the trail of Chihuly-love by taking in some of his many public art pieces. There's a self-guided tour through the Museum District, from the Chinook Red Chandelier in the University of Washington (the campus itself a marvel of brick warehouses and factory buildings transformed into a modern-day collegiate vibe) to the Eight Venetians in e Swiss Pub (sitting atop a wall overlooking another kind of glass bottle). And, this being yin-and-yang Tacoma, it makes sense to order a pint of local brewery 7 Seas' Ballz Deep Double IPA while under the spell of the Venetians. We take a beer break and savour the IPA's bitter blast of flavour, courtesy of the sought-after hops from nearby Yakima Valley. Seems everything here gets an artistic twist. Another local brewery, Harmon, partnered with the Tacoma Art Museum to create the limited- edition Hop Art Ale alongside the exhibit of Warhol's flowers. It's the brewery's signature Point Defiance IPA aged with rosehips, hibiscus, lavender and chamomile in homage to Warhol's love of flora. Across Commencement Bay, Heri- tage Distilling Company is producing spirits with another twist: "soft gin" distilled from grapes. And in Tacoma's newfound creative mode, the distillery also offers the bespoke "My Batch," in which any wannabe whiskey distiller can cask his or her own version. e food-and-drink scene around the city (population 200,000-plus) is its own art form. Local mixology master Chris Keil started a craft-cocktail movement with his innovative botanical infusions and libations, written up in the New York Times as "some of the most fascinating apothecary cocktail work on the West Coast." He's now opened Hilltop Kitchen in Tacoma, where the bitters are house-made and ice spheres are hand-chipped. It's home to, as one patron gushes to us, "the best old- fashioned – ever." Back at Hotel Murano, we lounge in the art-filled lobby bar and sip on a robust rum concoction, Owen's Beach, named for a local sandy shoreline and a one-time regular who may just epitomize Tacoma's steeliness: a brawny "original Bourne" heartthrob, as the bartender describes. Post-tipple we dig into farm-to-fork fare in the hotel's Bite Restau- rant, which features local Dungeness crab, charcuterie, de rigueur wild salmon, even grilled tofu, as well as a daily farmers' market special. Each day, chef Matt Stickle creates a dish from produce sourced within a seven- minute radius of the hotel. He grew up on a local farm – part of another side of Tacoma's hands-on industrious past – and knows how to castrate and dehorn cattle. "My first word was cow," he says. It's why Stickle is so passionate about maintaining a tie to those who work the land here. One of those fellow farmers is Terry Carkner of Terry's Berries organic farm. "is is some of the best soil in the world, and it should be a crime to cover it up," says Carkner. Happily she's still digging here, just over three kilometres from downtown, and rolling out just-picked strawberries in a wheelbarrow. We barb sligl NEW HEATED SEAT p36-41_Tacoma.indd 40 14-04-11 2:43 PM