Ice-Cream Sodas At F&N Too Cool To Let Die

I 's not only Frango mints that are endangered. If no one comes along to rescue Frederick & Nelson, where will the locals go for ice-cream sodas?

There are several hundred espresso carts in downtown Seattle. But Frederick's Arcade Cafe (once known as the Paul Bunyan Room) is one of the few places that still serve an authentic ice-cream soda.

(The Arcade isn't the only place to go for a soda. At the Woolworth's at Third and Pike, aproned waitresses sell passable vanilla, pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sodas for $1.75. But Woolworth's no longer has a lunch counter, just booths, and there's something magic about having a soda while sitting on a swivel stool.)

This past week, I hied myself down to the Arcade to have a soda just in case F&N's days are numbered.

Talk about nostalgia. You still wait for the hostess to seat you at the counter. The menu looks familiar, even if prices have risen. There are four flavors of ice-cream sodas: Frango chocolate mint, hot fudge, strawberry and chocolate, priced at $2.75. Decisions. Which should I order?

Fortunately, two grade-schoolers were sitting near me, sipping sodas. They gave me their names (Sophie and Nessie), explained they're visiting from London and recommended the Frango chocolate mint. "Delicious," smiled Sophie.

Wow. The soda was yummier than a tall mocha. Tastier than a cappuccino. Richer than a latte made with half-and-half.

I've had a change of heart. Why stop at raising $125 million to retain the Seattle Mariners?

Why not a civic effort to rescue Frederick's and the ice-cream soda? Then we could field the Seattle Frangos, sweetest little team in baseball.

PROMISES: Michael Campbell, Republican candidate for the 8th District congressional seat, concluded coffee-hour remarks by reading a speech his 9-year-old daughter Mary Campbell wrote for her third-grade class at Issaquah's Challenger Elementary School.

Mary had six reasons why "I wuld like to be class reprezentuve." She wrote, "I am a good listener, I like to work with ourthers, I am responcbell, I am a hard worker, I am honust and I am not shellfish." (P. S. Mary got the job.)

TIME WARP: KING reporter Carl Dombek points out that "Accuracy in Media," a conservative outfit dedicated to keeping the media honest, issued a bulletin last week that contained several, er, inaccuracies.

Among the booboos: The bulletin, sent on Tuesday, reported that "Roots" author Alex Haley "passed away last week." (Haley was stricken in Seattle Sunday and died early Monday.) There also was the matter of time. The bulletin, stamped "12:46 p.m.," was actually sent at 11:46 a.m., Eastern time. Alas. Time flies in the accuracy business.

PRIME TIME: Sandy Bradley, host of "Potluck," the Saturday morning variety show, told listeners that the Tampa-St. Pete chamber of commerce is trying to buy up her franchise with KUOW-FM. She explains, "The only catch is that I have to change my name to `Sunny.' "

FILM NOIR: Few full-blown movie reviews sum up Steven Soderbergh's "Kafka" any better than a capsule review in "The Stranger," a lively publication found in Fremont District coffee shops and other watering holes. In a nutshell: "The Third Man meets 1984."

TAXING MATTER: KPLU's Greg Coe reports spotting a white Mazda with the vanity license plate: IRS8BMW.

Jean Godden's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Northwest section of The Times. Her phone is 464-8300.