Roger Downey
Roger Downey is a Seattle writer interested in food, the arts, the sciences, and urban manners. He is currently working on a book about the birth of opera in 1630s Venice.
Latest work
Culture
Seattle spirits: Local booze to savor - and avoid
The closure of state liquor stores opened up a new world of locally-distilled alcohol. Some of it is even drinkable.
Cappella Romana: Getting down Gregorian style
Most Seattleites are familiar with the Sunday night 'compline' services at St. Mark's Cathedral, but Cappella Romana, a visiting Portland choir, will take things to a whole new ecstatic level.
Morlot shows his stuff in French repertoire
The Seattle Symphony's new conductor blows away the audience with his feeling for texture and the pure sensuality of sound.
Culture
The moral dilemma of a Seattle super chef
A visit to the ineffable Altura raises bigger questions about what it means to be both a lover of food and community and a successful chef.