Seattle Restaurant Week 2010

I'm usually pretty skeptical of restaurant week deals because in my experience, you usually get subpar food at a premium price. But being new to the area, it was a good excuse to check out some places on my ever-growing list. Plus, it's $25 for a 3-course dinner, which is cheaper than the RW in New York City. I'm glad I decided to give it another shot, because I was pleasantly surprised by my first Seattle restaurant week experience at Stumbling Goat Bistro in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood.  It's an unassuming place with a cozy, neighborhood joint kind of vibe, but the food is really top-notch. I'm not a huge meat eater, and even I was a big fan of the hanger steak entree. It was hard to take pictures in such low lighting, so I gave up early on, but the desserts were so pretty, I had to get in a few shots.

So the verdict? Pick carefully and you can have a great restaurant week experience in the Emerald City. I went to another dinner at Tilth later that week, and I felt like the selection was more limited (not to mention that the food was overall very heavily salted). But again, great excuse to get a group of people together for a fun dinner!

Clockwise from top left: Bailey's bread pudding, salted caramel pot de creme, rustic berry tart with homemade ice cream, and flourless chocolate cake

just a thought

Just a picture & a quote for today.

out of the shadows

I always get a bit of a rush when I discover a new neighborhood or area - it's like the thrill of bargain hunting without the wallet damage. 

I've been a frequent visitor to the Seattle Art Museum sculpture park next to my apartment, but I never explored much beyond the immediate waterfront. Wanting to get some sunshine & fresh air, I put on my sneakers one morning and started running, with only the vague idea that there was some sort of path that went through the park. What I found was a running trail that follows the Puget Sound coast with little surprises sprinkled along the way - a rose garden, a pebble beach, and other assorted finds.  I was so taken with what I saw that I actually went back to my apartment after my 3 mile run, got my camera and walked another 3 miles to take pictures. My legs weren't very happy with me the next day (and the day after that...), but I think it was worth it.

simpler times

The shorter days and crisp air have signaled the arrival of autumn, and it has put me in the mood for pumpkins, apple cider, and cozy fall sweaters.  Luckily, an afternoon drive to Snoqualmie Falls brought us in the vicinity of Fall City Farms, a rustic pick-your-own farm that brought back  memories of school field trips to the pumpkin patch. It's hard not to smile when you're surrounded by such wholesome scenery - little kids playing in the hay, doughnuts being served fresh out of the fryer and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, parents carting wheelbarrows full of pumpkins...sigh. If only life were always this simple!

I got myself a solid 13 pound pumpkin (lugging that thing around was my workout for the day), and picked up some locally grown apples while I was at it. There's nothing quite like the taste of a crisp apple straight from the orchard.

Of course, no weekend would be complete without a trip to a local coffee shop. This week's stop was at Stumptown Coffee in Capitol Hill. I have to admit, I ordered a cappuccino mostly because I wanted a photogenic subject to capture (sad, isn't it). My default order is an espresso or drip coffee (straight up, no cream or sugar) because I like the unadulterated taste of coffee beans. But the beautiful latte art I got was worth it :) I was a big fan of their cups & saucers as well - I like it when my dishes wish me good luck!

I feel like I'm going to need a good caffeine boost to get me through this week - my internal motivation has been failing me lately, so I need a good kick start to keep me energized. Maybe more coffee is the answer... 

kerry park, we meet again

I've gotten into the habit of going to Kerry Park when I have nothing else to do in the early evening. It seems a bit sad not to spend the last hour or so of sunlight outside, especially when I know the dark winter months will be here soon. Kerry Park is really just a small sliver of sidewalk, but the view it affords of the Seattle skyline and Puget Sound is incredibly scenic.

Apparently it's quite a popular spot for photographers - by the time the sun set and the city was lit up, I spotted 2 or 3 people there with hardcore tripods. I have a small Gorillapod, but without a shutter release cable, I'm finding it difficult to take good long exposure shots. Anyone have any tips/recommendations on taking night shots?

"are we in time for happy hour?"

Oh how life has changed since New York - before, the idea of making a 6 pm happy hour would have been laughable. Now, it's not only possible, it seems to be a fairly regular occurrence.  The roommate & I actually just barely made the 6 pm deadline, but that was mostly due to a few wrong turns (also a fairly regular occurrence when I am behind the wheel).

The happy hour at the Fremont location of Via Tribulani is an amazing deal - $5 for a top-notch quality neapolitan-style pizza, the kind that I have been sorely missing since leaving New York. I am happy to report that Seattle has some quality pizza as well - a thin crust with a good balance of crispy and bready, a flavorful sauce, and creamy mozzarella. Add in a cheap carafe of red wine, and it had all the makings of a great meal.

It was a strange feeling to be done with dinner at 7:30 and have the whole night ahead, so we headed across the street to Hunger, which was recommended by our waiter at Via Tribulani.  It's the kind of place that would probably be jam-packed in New York, but lines in Seattle seem to be pretty rare, so we headed right in and got prime seats at the bar. Everyone around us seemed to be digging into something delicious smelling, so I would love to go back and check out the food menu. I just looked online, and the menu seems to cover all the latest food fads - truffle popcorn, tapas, osso bucco, sliders...The drinks were good and the atmosphere was cozy, and with Via Tribulani across the street, I'm hoping there's a repeat visit in the future.

take comfort in rituals

Some weekends are great because they're new and exciting. Other weekends are great because they're comforting and familiar. This past weekend was a combination of the two - on one hand, I tried a few new things like oyster shucking (harder than it seems) and rock climbing (easier than I had imagined). But I also fell back on my tried & true weekend rituals of brunch & coffee, albeit in a slightly more unfamiliar part of town.

On the topic of familiarity, I'm trying to do at least one thing a week at work that's a little out of my comfort zone. It doesn't have to be big, but I think continually challenging myself helps me overcome my natural inhibitions & fears, and it also keeps me from stagnating. Sometimes the hardest part of change is just gathering enough momentum to overcome inertia. Like a worn-in pair of jeans or a PB&J sandwich, familiar things are soothing in their very banality and it's hard to give up that comfort. Pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone can be stressful, but I'm often surprised at how easy things can be once you get past the initial uncertainty. It's like breaking the ice with a stranger - the conversation might be awkward at first, but wouldn't you rather have a chance at making a great connection than never knowing what could have been? 

 

Terribly slow service, somewhat redeemed by great brunch food.

Coffee break at Victrola (great pour-over coffee). We also found a coffee table book on NYC storefronts that made us nostalgic...

Couldn't resist getting salted caramel & olive oil this time, but definitely want to return for balsamic strawberry.