Happy Hour | The patio at Le Grand Bistro Americain on Lake Washington, with a view of the Olympics and the Seattle skyline, is the place to spend the waning days of summer.

A mixed after-work crowd gathers at this bistro at Carillon Point in Kirkland to take in one of the area's best happy-hour views. On one visit, there was a woman with bubbly in hand, looking all Grace Kellyesque in scarf and sunglasses. A table away, a guy in cargo shorts and sandals threw down a cold one.

The view ranks up there with Ray's Café, Salty's on Alki Beach and Six Seven inside the Edgewater Hotel, only less of a madhouse, and a little better bar food.

The fat, juicy pork sausage and the golden fries are safe bets. Happy hour features some staples of a French bistro — steak tartare and a plate of charcuterie, the former drowning in Worcestershire sauce, the latter much better; some pâtés and an excellent chicken-liver mousse whose remains you should mop up with the house-made bread; a salty, crispy chunk of pork belly that a beer would cut nicely into.

Walk it off by the path along the marina, preferably at sunset on an evening with a gentle breeze, enjoying all that remains of this short summer.

Le Grand Bistro Americain, 2220 Carillon Point, Kirkland, offers happy hour weekdays 3-6 p.m. with $1-$9 bar-food menu and drink specials from $2-$6; 428-828-7778 www.bistrolegrand.com.

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