A Brief Respite
We made it to Seattle last week. The Clipper got us there and back without me getting sick!
Three nights at The Moore (on 2nd Avenue between Pike and Virginia) with two room changes was not the best experience although the front desk folks are always very pleasant and helpful folks (our fifth stay there). Being placed above 1St Avenue when we asked for a “quiet room” was not fun. The second room had a leaking faucet and a poorly operating toilet which was not repaired while we were out for the day.
At the end of it, we realized that we have had to move rooms, or complain about something (a day retrieving a ball down the hall at 5:00 a.m.) most every stay. We’ll look for something different next time.
Walking a lot, we enjoyed the usual haunts near Pike Place Market (The Moore is but two blocks away). Sur La Table for kitchen ware, Rose’s Chocolate treasures for yumminess presented by Vee.
Cafe D’arte (fine coffee, “home” of Sarah Dooley, PNWBC). There is a very good falafel takeout place near Pike Place Market, on 1st Avenue… very garlicky sauce.
We ate at Ohana (a delightful restaurant on 1st Avenue in Belltown, a few blocks north of the Market. Always colourful, lively and very tasty, we always make it to this restaurant for Hawaiian fare.
Beyond that few more blocks, we dined at La Vita E Bella Ristorante & Bistro (http://seattle.citysearch.com/profile/37045546/seattle_wa/la_vita_e_bella_ristorante_pizzeria.html). We have enjoyed the pizza here and our meal was very good BUT they serve lousy bread!
Serious Pie was the stop on our first night. This is on Virgina, near The Moore. Expensive (for pizza), but very good. Interesting concept. (http://seattle.citysearch.com/profile/44522434/seattle_wa/serious_pie.html).
Macrina Bakery nearby was a disappointment for breakfast as they do not serve much during the week. I did not have a pleasant experience with service there. Although we have enjoyed our visits many times in the past, they surprised us this time. Even after hearing back from the “General Manager” and, then a partner, I do not know that they understand “real service”…
The new location
Anyway, they have also got a new, much larger facility much further south. We will always want to stop in at Macrina for their style and passion.
Victrola Roasters was a delightful stop. Delicious macchiato, nice enough atmosphere although a little “cold”.
David Schomer’s new cafe, Espresso Vivace Roasteria is on Broadway in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. For this, we took a bus. Worth the visit, I met David for the first time besides some shows (he couldn’t possibly remember me among the thousands). Nice, he expressed great pleasure in having completed the build-out for this shop in such a way as to come very close to his inner vision for the site.
Some indoor photos:
Roomy, clean lines, interesting angles and material, this is a very functionally well-designed space. The coffee wasn’t bad either!
From there we made it (slowly enough for my blood sugars to start to crash) to Glo’s. This is a restaurant worth visiting. You want breakfast? Go to Glo’s. Want a sense of history, a plate full of food and atmosphere? Go to Glo’s. The new-ish owner is Janet Reisman. Energy galore. Comfort foods, eh?!
I’ll have to continue this another time or I’ll never get it “published”!
Apr 25, 09:22 am
There is so much that we can learn from Seattle…
and it is not about the border thing – or the fact that it is America… they seem to be have definitely taken coffee and food culture to the next level – then again, they are bigger and definitely have a bigger brain-trust.