Happy Hour | Jerry Traunfeld's Poppy, on Capitol Hill, offers exotic fare starring fresh herbs

Partake in a happy-hour bar crawl in any neighborhood, along any street, and you'll likely find that the happy-hour grub doesn't differ much from one place to another. But you wouldn't say that about Jerry Traunfeld's happy hour.

Poppy in Capitol Hill is chef Traunfeld's riff on Indian cuisine and cooking methods, complete with edible flowers, exotic herbs and spices. His happy hour doesn't deviate from that. Even the cocktails showcase herbs grown from a small garden behind his restaurant — a concept that the James Beard awarding-winning chef no doubt picked up during his 17 years at The Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville.

Poppy's evening happy hour features $5 appetizer "thali" — essentially five different Indian small bites served on a tray. Think of it as five small tapas plates.

The happy-hour snacks change daily. Recently the thali featured a flaky duck turnover with a rich walnut sauce and pickled and salted rhubarb, and an aromatic roasted cauliflower sesame spread to go with naan sprinkled with black onion seeds.

It's one of the city's most exotic and refreshing takes on happy-hour food.

Poppy, 622 Broadway E., on Capitol Hill, has happy hour 5-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and Sundays, and late night from 9 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and 9-10 p.m. Sundays. The early happy hour features the $5 Indian-style thali; late night has $6 "naanwiches." Both happy hours serve selected cocktails for $5, beer $3 and wine by the glass for $5 (206-324-1108 or www.poppyseattle.com).

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com