"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.