Fresh Today

Early warning! If you're planning to dine out in Seattle March 27-30, make reservations now. Up to 15,000 restaurateurs from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska will be in town to attend the Pacific Northwest Hospitality Show. And what do they do during breaks from this trade show, one of the five largest of its kind in North America? They eat. They check out what other members of their profession are doing.

John Gordon, vice president of the Restaurant Association of the State of Washington and convention manager, says hundreds of suppliers will exhibit and sell food and equipment in the Kingdome. Restaurant operators also will attend seminars. The show, not open to the public, alternates annually between Seattle and Portland.

POP PIES

Margaret Sage's wild huckleberry pie is so popular, Seattle residents have been known to telephone the Mineral Springs Resort off the Blewett Pass highway to reserve a serving before beginning their drive east. The resort's dessert maker for more than a year, Sage often was asked about how she bakes such delicious pies, cinnamon rolls, butterhorns and cookies. Enough to encourage her to gather 46 favorite old-fashioned recipes into a self-published cookbook, "Oh, Taste and See . . ." She sold 1,000 copies in less than eight weeks.

To get Sage's book, including her recipe for the all-time customer favorite, strawberry-rhubarb pie, mail a check for $12.95 to: Taste and See, HC 61, Box 1825, Cle Elum, WA 98922.

RESTAURANTOURING

-- King Kong had no trouble climbing Manhattan's Empire State Building. We'll see how a large, hairy, ferocious-looking spider does at Seattle's tallest building, the Columbia Seafirst Center. Tarantula Jack's should be a welcome tenant, serving chili in the food court near the Fourth Avenue entrance when it opens in six to eight weeks. Tarantula is the rough-and-tumble stage name assumed for chili cookoffs by mild-mannered Philip Walter. The Clark Kent of the local food scene, he's also a certified public accountant and a college instructor. His world championship winning recipe will be served at the downtown chili parlor, as it is now at his original Tarantula Jack's in the University District.

-- The Market Cafe at The Westin Hotel is ready for spring with its Asparagus Festival. Throughout this month the tender green stalks will be spotlighted in several preparations on lunch and dinner menus.

-- Caribbean food and drinks will be featured throughout this month at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers and the Seattle Art Museum Cafe, a promotion coordinated with the museum's new exhibit, "Caribbean Festival Arts." Lunch buffets are planned daily at Banners restaurant in the hotel and the museum cafe. Dinner buffets are Fridays at Banners.

MORSELS

Oroweat's Australian Toaster Biscuits, introduced in the Northwest a year ago, have been so popular that, beginning this week, two new varieties are being marketed, Corn Bread and Cinnamon & Raisin. The originals have become Oroweat's top-selling bread product.

David Sandman, formerly of the Hunt Club, is the new executive chef for Bonnie Appetit Catering.

Vitarich Ice Cream Company is packing its Polly Teel's Gourmet Ice Creams in recyclable plastic containers after installing new packaging machinery at its Seattle plant.