SEATTLE VACATION FROLICS AND EATS

Regular readers will recognize a pattern over here.

About every three months or so we as a family miss water views, big-city shopping, and lots of good Chinese food.

Our solution: we head up to Seattle for a few days.

We’re just now wrapping up the end of our spring break, and I’m happy to report that oops, we did it again.

We ate ourselves silly in Seattle.

No regrets. No apologies.

And sadly enough — not too many leftovers, either.

This time we stayed in an Airbnb in Queen Anne, an area we weren’t too familiar with that’s very centrally located to Pike Market and downtown and full of wonderful views and stately homes.

Our place was a gorgeous flat, full of beautiful furniture

a great kitchen, and lots of high end interiors and touches

and two luxurious, well-appointed bathrooms so it felt like we were staying in a suite in a 5 star hotel.

And although the weather was gray and somewhat cold, we had some lovely views off our private balcony (which was comfortably outfitted with a sectional couch, pillows and candles).

There were some stunning views off that deck — and we were so happy to catch some of them.

The light in the Pacific Northwest can be stunning at times, with so many hues of grey and blue and silver.

And being the family we are, our time together was first and foremost focused on procuring and indulging in the sensational food in that city.

We started out with the goings on at the Fremont Fair (every Sunday) and it was there we caught up with one of my go-to Seattle food trucks.

Could it be that Nosh makes the most delectable fish and chips I’ve ever had?

Yes, it’s true — perhaps best ever; I think my piece was about eight inches long of greaseless, superior crunch with melt-in-your-mouth flaky lusciousness inside.

The beauty of Fremont Fair is that there are some vendors selling appealing merchandise there, too; Oliver bought some original Seahawks art and I found a vendor inside who was selling these darling vintage swans.

Occasionally on this trip we’d get take out and enjoy it back at our rental; it was so enjoyable to be there because we’d filled it with flowers and other beautiful objects from our house to make us feel comfortable.

One of the things we always bring on road trips is our electric espresso machine. Check out the resulting goods.

That’s not a bad way to start the day, right?

The trip was just hopping between neighborhoods and food stops, with occasional short walks or beach brambles in between to work up an appetite.

 

When you know a city as well as we now do, it’s always such a pleasure to return to a number of our favorite places.

Like Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese import that specializes in dumplings (especially the XLB).

These soup dumplings are impeccable

and the noodles with pork mince were a new favorite.

Red Lantern is another winner in our book, and so we had to pop in there, too.

Everything charmed us in this clean and modern restaurant: Beef Chow Fun

Basil Shrimp

Mongolian Beef and Sesame Chicken and their insanely crispy yet ethereally light Potstickers.

Red Mill Burgers is always good for a beefy blowout (so appealing during a long movie night)

(oy! that bacon!)

and this time we added a new favorite into the rotation: Homegrown.

This is a Seattle chain that makes inventive sandwiches and salads and we brought both in one night when we wanted a change of pace.

We enjoyed steak sandwiches with blue cheese and greens

and a Farmer’s Market Cobb that featured arugula and the most dazzlingly tender poached egg and chicken throughout.

But I have to say that while the our multiple forays into poke land were also satisfying

(especially with spicy tuna sushi rolls and Trader Joe’s organic corn chips on the side),

I have to say that my favorite food memories from this trip revolved around this place.

I’ve bought Macrina Bakery breads before on previous trips

but this trip marked the first time I went to their bakery and checked out their full array of offerings.

We went almost every morning while there, picking up Orange Brioche one day, Herb Baguette another, but it was the selection on the penultimate day that had me swooning the most.

The Hazelnut Orange Pinwheel.

This particular pastry blew me away  — flaky, buttery, with a creamy orange center with a tangy glaze and the surprising crunch of hazelnuts riddled throughout.

It was sublime — like a brioche/croissant/cinnamon bun hybrid–and the three pinwheels I ate in as many days weren’t nearly enough.

We left Seattle with full bellies and lots of memories.

Now back home, we’ve been continuing to eat well

and enjoying Portland’s charms with visitors from out of town (perhaps more of that later).

But for now more holiday frolic awaits.

Happy Easter and Passover, peeps!