Loving Seattle

Seattle Breakfast Spots: Downtown

Over the past few months I have done some searching for great breakfast places in downtown Seattle.

I have found four that are truly delightful and don't break the bank.

My ultimate favorite is Le Pichet. http://www.lepichetseattle.com
The atmosphere is absolutely charming. The staff are extremely friendly and the food is out of this world. Their cafe lattes, hot chocolates and fresh squeezed orange juice ( literally they juice the oranges as soon as you order) are sensational.

Œufs plats, jambon et fromage for $8.00 is a great breakfast choice and if you wait for lunch/ brunch time
( 11:30 to be exact) you have to order the quiche (if it is the daily special). I have tried it on several occasions and I was impressed by the wonderful flavor and light fluffiness of the eggs. They have really perfected this dish.

My second favorite is the famous Macrina Bakery. http://www.macrinabakery.com
Anything on their brunch menu is fantastic. They really know how to pair lovely flavor combinations and fresh ingredients. The only catch is they don't take reservations and they are always packed. You will definitely want to get there early. I also have to say their lunch is even better than their brunch.

Next there is Lowell's. Lowell's is really known for your All American Breakfast combinations but they also have added well known Seattle flair to several dishes. Of course the all famous crab omelet.
http://www.eatatlowells.com/
Since Lowell's is located in the market, the views of the sound are truly spectacular.

Last but not least is Sister's. I stumbled upon this place just this weekend. I was searching for affordable breakfast food to go. This is much harder to find in downtown Seattle than you might think. Sister's is located in Pike's Place Market on Post Alley near Pine Street. ( their website is down right now but their phone number is 206-623-6723).

Their menu is limited but very tasty. They have a small dine in area but getting their food to go is a great idea.

They offer 4 egg sandwiches all under $6 and one omelet option. I had the Eggcellent: egg, prosciutto ham, and provolone cheese on grilled focaccia bread. It was fantastic.
All of their lunch items looked delicious as well. They offered a variety of grilled European Sandwiches, Soups, and Pasta Salads.

I hope that you enjoy these places as much as I do.

Valentine's Day in Seattle

Alright guys, here are some great options for Valentine's Day (February 14th, for those who don't know):

Campagne (limited reservations left, feature menu TBA)
Maximilien's is doing the prix-fixe thing: $80 for 5 courses, regular seating, credit card required for reservation slot.

Here's one you may not have thought of: Boka at 1st and Madison is doing a 3-course prix-fixe dinner on the 14th, 15th, and 16th, and their new litle "Lounge 1000" off the lobby is pretty darn coze and will feature live flamenco guitar.

Di and I are heading out to Kirkland where (being the early-bird I am) I booked a table back in December at the Market Street Cafe. Check out their special Valentine's Day menu here. Should be fun!

Welcome 2008! Now Put Down That Phone!

From our friends at (206) Life,

(206)Life would just like to remind everyone that Cell Phone Text Messaging is now illegal in the State of Washington (RCW46.61.668). It is a secondary offense (meaning they can't pull you over just for that), and carries a fine of $124.

See the full blog post here. Oh, and Happy 2008! :)

Sea-Tac Traffic Delays

A quick heads up to people departing out of Seattle Tacoma (Sea-Tac) airport over the next few days. Last night around 10pm there were long traffic delays getting to the terminal.

This will probably be typical of the airport over the next few days -- it added 30 minutes to our airport time, so I suggest you factor this into when you leave for your flight.

Cars, that I later learned were headed to the Arrivals level, were backed out all the way to the I-5 Southcenter exit.

If you are headed to Sea-Tac in the next few days, be sure to plan for at least an extra 30 minutes.

Safe travels!

Computer Glitch Shuts Down Bus Tunnels

Apparently Metro Transit had to close the downtown Seattle bus tunnel because of computer glitches. I spotted this as I tried to hop on the tunnel at Union Station at about 4pm (left work early because I have been feeling sick the last few days).

Here's the quote from the article on kirotv.com:

SEATTLE -- Metro Transit has closed the downtown Seattle bus tunnel because a computer that controls tunnel operations failed. Bus routes using the tunnel are operating on surface streets downtown. Congestions and delays are expected downtown during the evening commute, Metro said. Get details about which routes are affected at the Metro Web site. A computer system was installed during the tunnel's recent retrofit controls ventilation, lighting, signals and other operations. Metro said there is no estimate for when service will be restored.

From the Monorail to the Stumbling Monk - A Fun, Chill Evening

Having lived in Seattle for almost a year-and-a-half, and being right around the corner from the Westlake Center (where the Monorail picks up and drops off passengers), you would think we'd have ridden it at least once by now. We hadn't.

That all changed when, along with our friend Simon, we decided to go Ice Skating at the Seattle Center. Apparently this was part of Winterfest 2007.

We picked up the Monorail at the Westlake Center. The fare was $4 for a round-trip ticket to the Seattle Center.

The ice skating rink was somewhat underwhelming. The rink was much smaller than we'd anticipated. Generally that's not a problem, but it was also very busy. We watched as fast-skating adults briskly weaved their way through little children just learning to skate. The ice also didn't seem to have been resurfaced in at least a day, leading to choppy conditions that (for a beginner like me) would be tricky to skate on after having not tried for at least a decade. In the end, we all decided to pass in favor of a future planned event to Highland Ice Arena in Shoreline just north of downtown.

We rode the monorail back downtown and rode up to Capitol Hill. We were in search of good Indian food, for which we decided to start at Chutney's Grille on the Hill at 606 15th Avenue. After parking on one of the side streets we walked up to the doors only to find that the place was almost empty (at 7pm on a Saturday) and the patrons who were there didn't seem to be the culinary enthusiasts you'd hope for (think Florida Early Bird Special restaurant go-ers). We again decided to pass (note that hours later when we returned the restaurant was still empty. If anyone knows why post a comment -- we'd love to know).

We walked over to the Coastal Kitchen at 429 15th Avenue, just a couple blocks down the street. While there was room for us, the menu wouldn't work for Simon (who is a Vegan) but they recommended a Thai restaurant just a few doors down called Jamjuree at 509 15th Avenue. Jamjuree was well worth all the false-starts -- the food was outstanding. Di, Simon and I all had something different (I had the Kow Soy Noodle Soup and it was amazing). We ended with an outstanding desert (one of the specials -- a Friend Banana with Ice Cream). In the end, the bill for 3 of us (with a beer each and desert) was $40. Amazing.

To finish the evening we headed over for a chill night at the Stumbling Monk, a bar off Olive just before Broadway that specializes in Belgian Beers. While sampling some great beers (Di had a Cider) we played Uno and topped off the evening with a rowdy game of Scrabble. Apparently group meet-ups and board games is not uncommon for the Stumbling Monk, one table was playing cards while another was into a heated game of Trivial Pursuit.

So if you're looking for ice skating in Seattle, go for Highland Ice Arena in Shoreline. If you're looking for terrific Thai food in Capitol Hill, check out Jamjuree and if you just want to chill with a small group and take-in a card/board game, go for the Stumbling Monk off Olive.

Txori: Restaurant Experience

I had the opportunity to try Txori this week. We went on a Tuesday night at the prime dinner hour. The restaurant was busy as to be expected but it definitely met my expectations. The space is elegantly simple. The fresh white walls and small bird paintings create a delightful interior. It is a very narrow space with a limited number of tables but it makes it very cozy. You will definitely find some of Seattle's friendliest and down to earth crowd here. Our preference was to stand at the bar.

The food and drinks were sensational. The spanish style pinxtos are really a treat for the tastebuds. We ordered one of everything on the menu and it was all delicious. My favorite was the mushroom dish. I also really enjoyed the beverage menu. I would recommend the Clara.

This is a great date place or place for afterwork happy hour. Just beware though that your clothes will smell very smoky. The ventilation system in the kitchen in not adequate for the needs of the space.

http://www.txoribar.com/

2207 Second Avenue
(between Bell and Blanchard)
206.204.9771

Art: First Thursday is Upon Us...

This Thursday is "First Thursday" for all galleries. The Stonington Gallery at 1st and Jackson is having an artists reception from 6-8pm tonight.

Snow in Seattle

Looks like the first day of December is also the first day of this Winter's snowfall. These flakes were spotted at the corner of 2nd and Lenora in Belltown. Watch yourselves on the roads out there!

Glass Galore in Seattle

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending a private event at the Seattle Glass Blowing Studio on 5th Avenue. It was a lovely experience. The event had a holiday theme and so all of the attendees got to blow their own ornament. The idea seemed quite dangerous to me at first but they have great instructors and are very cautious. The ornaments made great parting gifts. I would highly recommend this place for a private event or just to check out the items that they have in their store.

We also got to watch them create one of their specialty bowls and make a few horse figurines. The horses were really amazing. It took the artisan all of 4 minutes to create the horses and it had such intricate details.

http://www.seattleglassblowing.com/

This would be a great place to go on a rainy day.

-D