Creature Comforts

It's hard for me to think of Seattle as "home," especially now that I am no longer an official resident. I didn't grow up here and I don't have family other than dear friends I consider close enough to be family and the adorable dog of whose I lost custody in my divorce. But, I do find some home-style comforts, not just with the people I get to see, but some of the food I get to eat.

I'm often asked where my favorite place to eat is, and it's easy to randomly pick one of the more popular, highly-rated, and usually more expensive restaurants. The truth is, something I would truly consider a favorite has to be more accessible, not just price-wise but personality-wise. The kind of place I could go to on a regular basis and know the food and know the folks, that whether I were dressed up or dressed down, I'd be treated well and get the same great food regardless. While I generally live my life open to outcome, I do take a large measure of comfort in consistency, too.

I love breakfast and can enjoy any of its components during any meal. However, there's something quite magical about weekend breakfast for me. Oh, better yet, if I could get an unhurried, sit-down breakfast during the week, too, I'd be in Heaven. There are two places in Seattle that offer the comfort food component for such sacred meals, and rarely do I ever share their identities or their meaningfulness with others. But now that I have moved away and I won't be coming here so often, I will share them now. Think of it as a reward for actually taking the time to actually read my blog.

The first place is Voula's Offshore Cafe, already pretty well-known, not just because of its long-standing existence, but was well-publicized on the Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, so I didn't mind writing about it in a previous blog post, nor publicizing my outings there on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, even sending out invitations. The place is crowded already, so I'd rather see it crowded with people I already know. It's a family-owned and -run restaurant, with Voula as the matriarch and her two sons, Sikey and Nikos handling the day to day operations. There's also Brian behind the counter, who seems to be more of an adopted brother. Nikos has probably the most important job in my book, making me crispy hash browns. While we both elevate the importance of their crispiness, his way is to focus on one side's perfection while keeping the other side moist and more potato-y. And he believes the time taken to grill the second side would actually sacrifice the first side's perfection by making it soggy. And for us two-sided fans, it's not like there isn't plenty of hash and brownage to go around. In fact, the plate itself can barely contain how much is served. I usually just eat the crispy parts and if there were 2 sides available, I wouldn't have room for the rest of the breakfast. Actually, I don't usually have room for the entire breakfast anyway. And along with the boys behind the counter, I have to send a special shout out to one particular waitress, ZeZe, who has just been such a sweetheart to me over the years. She really helps me feel like I'm "home."

The other place, I'll have to think about whether to share . . .

3 Months, 7 States, 1 District, 1000s of Miles

Is it August already? Seriously? Where has the time flown?

There's no way to fully write out my full experience the last few months in one blog post, so here is a brief synposis:

May:

• Birthday weekend visit by my sister who was giving a talk at the University of Washington. First opportunity to buy her a drink since she turned 21 in March.
  
• Surprise trip to DC for work. Even got to do a school visit in Maryland.
  
• My first (and possibly last) attempt to drive in Washington, DC, including conquering my worst vehicular fear -- Dupont Circle. And THREE times no less.


• Scoring a seat at Jose Andres' Minibar in DC, apparently one of the hardest reservations to get considering there are only 6 seats. Incredible 30+ course dinner. Molecular gastronomy just fascinates me.
  
• Other DC culinary highlights: Ben's Chili Bowl, Cafe Atlantico, Penn Quarter Farmers Market, and Tangy Sweet (frozen yogurt)


• Inventively convenient, and delicious dinner with the Spence ladies (paella and smores to be written in a future post some day)


• Northwest Totem Cellars Vintners Dinner - an all-vegan affair at Russell Dean Lowell Catering.


• Brunch at the Brown Bag in Kirkland. Worth the drive to the Eastside, especially for Yonatan, the most affable waiter ever.


• Ice cream at Theno's Dairy in Redmond. Who needs a 45+minute wait for ice cream in Seattle when you can drive 30 minutes to Redmond.
  
• Amma's visit
  
• Anthony Bourdain & Mario Battali show and after-party. Actually favorite part was partying til close with Armandino & Marilyn Battali. No, make that reuniting with Tracey, an old high school friend and fellow foodie whom I hadn't seen in -- well, since high school.

June:

• Month-long personal sabbatical including solo retreat and caretaking opportunity at a retreat center in Idaho. My duties: creation, meditation and prayer. My hobbies: cooking, cooking and more cooking.
  
• Hour-long drive to farmers markets in Lewiston and/or Moscow were bliss
  
• Cougar Creamery/Ferdinand's Ice Cream at Washington State University
  
• Dinner at the Corson Building (back in Seattle)
  
• Trip to Southern California for brother's graduation. With pit-stops in West Hollywood (lunch at Tender Greens) and Malibu (dinner at Nobu)

July:

• Back to DC including 4th of July on the National Mall


• Dinner at Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, VA (so worth the commute)


• Announcement of Top Chef Season 6 contestants, including Robin Leventhal from Seattle. The combination of one of my most favorite people on my most favorite show was just so incredible to bear.


• Since I was in DC during the day of the announcement, had dinner at Zaytinya where fellow contestant, Mike Isabella serves as chef. Food was extraordinary, especially the Seasonal Mushroom dish which brought me to ecstasy.


• Dinner at Sonoma in Capitol Hill, great way to spend a beautifully warm summer's evening


• Back to Seattle and Burning Beast. Sorry, but what happened at Burning Beast should stay at Burning Beast. You'll just have to go next year.


• Dinner at Branzino to check out Seattle's other Top Chef Season 6 contestant, Ashley Merriman.
  
• Not just one, but TWO Outstanding in the Field Dinners. Chef Seth Caswell at Full Circle Farm and Chef Matt Dillon at UW Botanic Gardens (benefitting Seattle Youth Garden Works). Great food, great friends, great chefs in great settings. Full Circle Farm offered the most unique experience with the scratch & sniff field trip through their herb garden and giveaway bags of super-fresh produce we could pack up.


• Weekend in New York and picnic in Central Park with H&H Bagels and whitefish salad from Zabar's Deli.


• Back to DC and casual dinner at Himalayan Heritage. Preceded by drinks at Tabard Inn.


• Ballard Seafood Festival and bacon-wrapped scallops sales guy.
  
• Back home and back to yoga. Had to work off all the food from the past few months!

Ah, My Beloved Ballard - Sunday Farmers Market

(A weekly progress)

I've been back in Ballard almost 3 months now and I am even more enamoured with the Seattle neighborhood as ever. And what's better is it's not even yet summer yet when everyone unsheds their winter coats, music fills the streets, and children dance around (and through) the water fountains at the park by the library.

One of the first things I looked forward to most was the year-round Sunday Farmers Market. Not only is it an opportunity to taste culinary creations from Mother Earth and innovative cooks, it's a great way to socialize. I've been blessed with running into friends old and new, and have found myself developing a bit of a ritual on how I spend my Sundays lately. Or at least like to.

It starts with setting up my victim -- er, my date -- for the day. One was a friend who was taking a rare Sunday off from her practice to celebrate her birthday, one was a client while we made it a walk-and-talk-and-taste session, and others have been dear friends that have been curious about learning about the neighborhood I love so much and this quintissential event that helps make this my foodie paradise. That, or it's the only time we happen to both be available. Or, sometimes, I just go on my own.

We meet for coffee (not too early) at Nervous Nellie's, a great cafe that is ideally located practically rolling distance from my bed. Depending on how awake we are, we may even sit down and chat while the caffeine courses through our veins. They use Lighthouse Coffee, a nearby roaster that I find makes the best coffee next to my beloved Peet's. If we're super-hungry already, Nervous Nellie's is known for their Swedish-style toast. My favorite combination is the butter, jam and cheese, but if you're really adventurous, go for the tracitional hard-boiled egg and caviar. Swedish caviar isn't the straight-up fish eggs that one would be used to, but is smashed and smoked and then comes out of a tube. Since I am such a lover of taramasolata (Greek style caviar), I was hoping it might be similar. It wasn't. Again, I stress that this might appeal to you if you are adventurous. But this does remind me, I should add taramasolata to my Last Supper Buffet, especially the one from Kokkari in San Francisco. And their vegetarian pastitsio while I'm at it.

Back to Ballard. Off we walk, west on Market and then down south on some random street to hit the Farmers Market. If we want something eggy for breakfast, we may go down 20th Ave. and stop in at GreenGo Food for their organic, locally made breakfast sandwiches. Otherwise, it's easy enough to walk around the market and eat our way around. While the samples from the vendors tend to be generous, I do need more food for the day. If I want to eat healthy, I get Patty Pan Grill's side of veggies with lots of Zane & Zack's honey chipotle hot sauce on top. If I want pizza, Veraci is there with it's wood burning oven (yes, the oven is there, too). And there are innumberable storefronts to get my nosh on, too.

Aside from the food stuff, there are great stalls and storefronts to pop into, handmade jewelry, books, Asian decor, herbs, etc. But usually after a round or two around the market and a hearty brunch, it's off to home to unload my bags and cook up or better yet, take a nap.