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01/12/14 - Boat Street Cafe

We made a lightning trip into Seattle, got rained on terribly and tried out a new restaurant in Seattle. The rain was unexpected with great torrents of it pouring from the skies and turning the street channels along the curb into rivers. The Boat Street Cafe was unexpected in that we had expected a good meal, but not to find a new favorite restaurant.

The dining room
The cafe is in an uncharming part of Seattle, in the U of one of those biotech buildings cut off from the waterfront by the rail lines, so the interior was a charming contrast, peaceful, spacious and beautiful. The food was charming as well. We started with deep shell oysters with grated horseradish and tender grilled octopus with a smoked paprika sauce, picked onions and pickled celery. Boat Street Cafe, it turns out, is famous for its pickled fruits and vegetables, and we enjoyed them from the start.

We also had the most amazing Dover sole, lightly floured and seared and served on a bed of creme fraiche, but the real treat was the vegetables we had ordered on the side. We had a plate of roasted brussels sprouts and a plate of roasted baby carrots with a parsley chive pesto, covered with frizzled carrot greens dripping black butter. Baby carrots were a serious thing back in the 1980s, so it's good to see they are coming back in such style.

 We also had a wonderful plate of pickles, with a host of pickled vegetables including rutabaga, turnips, carrots and bright purple onions. The Boat Street Cave comes by its pickling reputation honestly. Since we were having pickles, we also had some cheeses. There was a great selection, with a rich triple creme, a camembert, a light farm house blue and something much like a Spanish manchego.

What can we say? We were surprised too. We liked the Boat Street Cafe much more than we had expected.

Boat Street Cafe

3131 Western Ave
Seattle, WA
(206) 632-4602
http://www.boatstreetcafe.com/

Keywords: restaurants, seattle

12/11/13 - Edible Art at the Sheraton - 2013

Every Christmas the downtown Sheraton in Seattle hosts some serious gingerbread cookie art. There's more than gingerbread, of course. There's also a lot of candy, spun sugar and serious imagination. This year, the theme was nursery rhymes, rendered as charmingly as ever.

That's Jack's beanstalk towering over Seattle.

This is jolly old London, the setting for oh so many nursery rhymes.

London Bridge is falling down.

Hickory, dickory, dock.

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe.

I saw a ship a sailing.

A close up of the ship - The windows were magical.

If you look carefully, you can see the cow jumping over the moon.



A rendering of Seattle under the bean stalk.

Keywords: christmas, seattle

12/10/13 - Seattle Cranes

It is our favorite time of the year for visiting cities, because this is the time everyone gets serious about decorating for Christmas, and Seattle is no exception. There were wreaths and roping and Christmas lights everywhere, so the city was at its best both by day and by night.

The downtown Christmas tree

The Space Needle and one of the many construction cranes

The Space Needle a bit later - That's the Pacific Science Center down on the left.

The Space Needle and even more cranes

As dusk approaches, the cranes take light.

The guys must have had some real fun decorating this one.

Downtown by night

That crane from another view

More cranes decorated for Christmas

The Space Needle with its Christmas tree topper

The Space Needle again

Keywords: christmas, seattle

11/29/13 - Seattle - City Views

We've been making a lot of short trips into Seattle. This was another overnight. We had some shopping to do before Thanksgiving, so we loaded up at Pike's Place Market and wandered the waterfront.

View of the harbor from Pike's Place Market

A little vegetable and herb garden at the market

The waterfront from Myrtle Edwards Park in Seattle

The grain elevator, loading wheat for China

Look carefully between the bush and the pier and you'll see Mount Rainier, another northwest ghost mountain.

Pike's Place Market - pretty good for a handheld shot

The future as seen from 1963 - Cinerama and the Space Needle

Another shot of the Space Needle ...

... and the Seattle Science Center

Keywords: seattle, shopping, mount rainier

11/11/13 - Seattle Conservatory

Whenever we climb up to Volunteer Park we make a point of checking out the conservatory.

Something like a pineapple

More exotics

Flowers

Fruits

Orchids

The reflecting pool at Volunteer Park

A community garden

Keywords: flowers, seattle

11/08/13 - Seattle Band Signs

We always love the ragged, colorful look of those Seattle band posters that plaster various light poles and the like. They're a real part of Seattle. We aren't big music people, but we can appreciate their energy and their testamony to the vibrancy of the local music scene. Of course, they can look a bit messy and cluttered, so we're sure that one day the gentrifiers and improvers are going to do something about them. Until then, we're going to enjoy them.





Keywords: seattle, art

10/26/13 - Seattle Fog

We went into Seattle to see Gravity in 3D on an iMax screen. It was a pretty good movie with much better writing and acting than we had expected from a movie where the real stars were 3D and IMAX. The physics, on the other hand, had us laughing, but that's because we played a lot of Spacewar back in the 1970s so we know some orbital mechanics. Still, they avoided a lot of the cliches, and, as noted earlier, it was a very gripping and entertaining movie, as long as we ignored the physics.

It was foggy in Seattle, so we took some nice foggy pictures, and Halloween was on its way, so we took some Halloween-ish pictures too.

Is this a comment on bicycle safety?

Foggy Space Needle

Foggy Seattle

Some Halloween themed art

Did we pass the smell test?

Keywords: halloween, seattle

09/21/13 - To Seattle By Sea

Whenever we give directions to people coming to visit the Olympic Peninsula, which is pretty often, we always tell them about the land route via Tacoma and the water route via the Bainbridge Island Ferry. While the land route may be faster, particularly when starting from the airport, the water route gets one into the spirit of the Northwest more quickly. It's what they used to call a "sea change", a change of attitude, focus and mind induced by the crossing of water.

We recently took the journey in reverse and had some wonderful views of the city from the bow. Despite the softness of vision, we could see far, up into the Cascades and north to Mount Baker. We were reminded that Seattle's harbor is a working harbor when the scenery snapped into bright industrial focus as we moored at the ferry terminal. It was quite a transition, and we were suddenly, like the air, sharpened for urban adventure.

A quintessential view of Seattle

The city from the water

The snow capped Cascades

Mount Baker

A working harbor

Keywords: seattle

09/07/13 - Traveling a Bit

We have been doing a bit of traveling. We were in Seattle and got to see the disappearing Space Needle illusion and the new ferris wheel down by the waterfront. Then we headed east to the land of peaches, apples, and wineries which is slowly being invaded by hops. Eastern Washington State not only produces a lot of grapes for wine, but also a lot of hops for beer. It also produces a lot of electricity which is carried to the I-5 area and points west along power lines supported by strangely anthropomorphic towers.

The vanishing Space Needle Illusion

The new ferris wheel

Two guys walking around near the highway

Some beautiful country

Hops - They're grown in a protective frame.

Keywords: seattle, washington state

07/26/13 - Seattle Pictures

Here are just a few pictures from our recent lightning run into Seattle. Given how packed with errands our typical is, it's a wonder we even have time to point and shoot.

The Space Needle

Diners

Seafood on Melrose

Playing with wooden boats in the fountain

Sunlight

Keywords: seattle

01/29/13 - Rover's Is Closing

One of our favorite restaurants in Seattle is closing. We've long been fans of Rover's, a restaurant serving in the classical French style, but with an emphasis on ingredients from the Northwest. We almost always had the grand tasting menu, usually paired with wine. This isn't a very popular style of dining anymore. It's too formal for some, but we have enjoyed and still enjoy it greatly. So, we are going to miss Rover's when it closes around the end of April. It had a 25 year run, and that is a good long run, but it still feels like the end of an era.





Keywords: restaurants, seattle

12/31/12 - Two Out Of Four

This was a last minute Christmas present suggested by most recent flight back from Seattle. The climb out of Boeing Field takes one over an industrial area south of Seattle. It doesn't look like much by day, but there are all sorts of fascinating lights by night. One set was hypnotizing, a set of four columns lighted two at a time, moving about an invisible shape. A quick trip to the Radio Shack provided an Arduino processor and some red LEDs. JoAnn's fabrics and hobby supplies next door provided four plastic columns for supporting elaborate wedding cakes. Add in a glue gun, a soldering iron and some black foam board, and there was something new under the tree. Be sure to click and watch the dark video. It can be hypnotic.

Click the image to see the movie

The works in a drawer

Click the image to see the movie

Keywords: christmas, seattle, science, art

12/19/12 - Seattle Sidewalks

With all its evergreens, Seattle doesn't have to work hard to be Christmassy. Still, a lot of folks make an effort as we discovered exploring the hills Capital and Queen Anne.

They've turned on their lights.

Another of the stately homes near Volunteer Park

More lights and a wreath

A very traditional display

A more modest home

Even the folks who maintain those communications towers have decorated for Christmas.

This year's trend - antlers for your car - We saw another set with lights, but they drove before we got our camera out.

Christmas brew

More Christmas lights - pooly photographed

How to dance the rhumba - sort of Christmassy in bronze

This was left over from the Day of the Dead - not Christmassy at all, but unusual

Keywords: christmas, seattle

12/18/12 - Christmas at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

One of our favorite places in Seattle is the Conservatory at Volunteer Park. It takes a bit of climbing up Capital HIll to get there, but the display there is always amazing. It's even more amazing around Christmas.

A winter scene in Seattle with the Space Needle in the distance

There are always orchids at the conservatory

But, around Christmas, they do the place up proud.

Christmas trees, poinsettas, and a model train set

More Christmas flora, decora, and wonderful, steamy greenhouse warmth

We dropped by to visit the cactus.

A nautical scene

Another view - so cozy

A plethora of Christmas trees - our kind of place

Winter foliage

There is always something even more amazing at the conservatory, like these flowers growing from the edges of this air plants leaves.

Keywords: christmas, flowers, seattle, winter

12/17/12 - The Gingerbread Display at the Seattle Sheraton

Whenever we get into Seattle around Christmas, we check out the gingerbread display in the lobby of the Sheraton. They always have some amazing constructions, and they always get us into the Christmas spirit.

This is actually the Macy's display which was on our way to the Sheraton.

That's Ariel on the left, Disney's Little Mermaid.

This one, with amazing spun sugar domes, is based on Aladdin.

Beauty and Beast, meeting on the bridge

This castle features tales from the Brothers Grimm.

This confection is based on Lewis Caroll's confection, Alice in Wonderland.

That's the Jabberwock up there.

That's Ursula, Ariel's nemesis, in her cave.

That's Aladdin with the genie.

Keywords: christmas, seattle

11/07/12 - Urban Rainbow

We were in Seattle again. This time the sky treated us to a bit of a show.

Sunset clouds and the space needle

An urban rainbow - They don't look like country rainbows.

Sunset light

Keywords: seattle

10/07/12 - Manga Seattle

We recently downloaded an application for our phone that turns ordinary photographs into manga-like drawings, complete with untranslated Japanese text for enhanced versimulitude. Where better to mangafy the imagery than the trendy Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle?

That's J. Crew and Barnes & Noble downtown. We went up Pine and down Pike.

The Paramount - looking good

A record shop

A boring looking building looking less boring - This reveals some of the power of mangafication.

Is that Spinassa?

An appliance repair shop on Pike


This must be a head shop

This could be Tokyo, or Des Moines.

A costume shop

The convention center

Keywords: art, seattle

09/27/12 - Seattle Update

On our latest lightning trip to Seattle we went to one of our favorite places in the city, the Ballard Locks. We just love the early 20th century Army Corps of Engineers style, the botanical garden and the amazing fish ladder viewing area. There were plenty of salmon, and though there weren't a lot of boats, we still got to see the locks cycle. We definitely got our civil engineering fix this trip.

We also tried out the cupcakes and ice cream at Cupcake Royale and were pretty impressed. We aren't big ice cream people, but we did enjoy the mix of caramel cupcake chunks with partially crystallized caramel smooshed into sea salt ice cream. The whiskey bacon crack ice cream was pretty impressive too with a good clean whiskey flavor and good use of the salty bacon. If ice cream is just too sweet for you, this might just be close enough to savory to please. The chocolate cream cheese cupcake we tried, however, was the real treat. They are serious about their cake and crumb, and their icing expertise is excellent.

Ballard seems to have a number of pretty good bakeries. The Great Harvest Bread Company down the street smelled pretty good, and they had seriously sticky looking cinnamon rolls, but we were also booked for dinner, so it will have to wait until next time.

In fact, we went to two restaurants for dinner. First, we went back to The Walrus and The Carpenter for some oysters. They only had four types, including some lovely little Olympias, but we still had a nice tasting. Then, we went down the hall of the bicycle shop and checked in to Staple and Fancy Mercantile where we had a great charcuterie plate with some of the best speck we've ever had with some coppa to match. (The octopus salad was good, but not great.) For our main courses we had their wonderfully tender pork shank with an eggplant puree, grilled padron peppers, and oil cured dried tomatoes. As usual, some of the padron peppers were mild, while others were quite spicy. We also had some wonderful penna full of rich melted cheese. Staple and Fancy is definitely a restaurant we have to get back to.

Cupcakes royale

Sprinkles at Cupcakes Royale

A ship coming through the Ballard Locks

Serious civil engineering style

Botanical garden

A fishy friend at the fish ladder

A passion flower

We'll check out the cinnamon rolls on our next trip, if we're feeling thin.

Staple and Fancy Mercantile

Keywords: oysters, restaurants, salmon, seattle

06/09/12 - Restaurant Update

We've been eating out a bit, so we have some updates on some old favorites we've been neglecting, and at least one new place.

Cafe Campagne

 We hadn't been to Cafe Campagne in a while. Our last visit, some years back, was a disappointment. We tend to go for lunch, and the lunch menu had be sorely reduced with many of our favorite dishes gone. This time, things were much better. We really liked the asparagus mimosa with asparagus, eggs and a mustard dressing. It was a lighter version of the old, incredibly buttery, asparagus flamande. We also enjoyed the country pate and our hanger steak frites. That's one of our favorites, and it was good to see it back for lunch. We'll definitely be coming back to Cafe Campagne again.

They had really good lighting for this picture of their bar.

Palace Kitchen

 Palace Kitchen was another neglected favorite. Here too, the problem was the menu. It had settled into a rather pasta heavy pattern and seemed all too predictable. Time, and a few more iterations of the menu, seems to have changed things, so we enjoyed old standards like the glazed chicken wings and coconut cream pie, but also some new dishes like a meltingly tender spring lamb ragout with green chick peas, ramp (wild onion) oil and little cavatelli stuffed with ricotta. We also had the pork debauch (our term) with crispy ears, pork loin lomo, pork belly, and bacon bits served with arugula. To compensate for all the porky goodness, we also had a spring time dish of flowering broccoli with nettle pesto and white beans.

More great lighting

California Taco

 We made a short side trip to chow down at this taco truck in a Lacey strip mall, and we were well rewarded. We took over a table in front of the next door pawnshop and devoured our tacos, with beef tongue and with chorizo. They had great fresh corn tortillas and wonderfully spicing fillings. Nothing was bland or greasy. Even the rice and beans were great. We also had a sandwich on a soft roll called a cubano with chunks of meat, green peppers and onions. Everything was absolutely delicious. This truck has the best Mexican food we've eaten in the Seattle area.

It's one of four trucks. This one was in a strip mall in Lacey.

Blue Flame

 Blue Flame is close to home, and we drive by all the time. There's the distinctive blue flame design and often the distinctive smokey smell, but we usually just pass by. This time, we were hungry, so we ordered up a rack of pork back ribs and a pile of beef brisket, slathered on the barbeque sauce and chowed down. The meats were great. The romaine salad with blue cheese dressing was delicious and refreshing. Even the smoked potatoes were wonderful. It's going to be much harder to drive by in the future.

It's hard to miss on route 101 east of town.

Joule

 We were in the cab, on our way to Joule, when we thought to call ahead and make reservations. It took a while for the phone to answer, and an apologetic voice explained that the restaurant was closed. They were moving to a new location. We are really excited about this. The word is that there will be few changes in the direction of the restaurant, so we can hardly wait until they reopen.

They are reopening in Fremont this summer.

Keywords: reviews, seattle, restaurants

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