I’m on the hunt for a new side buffet in our kitchen. I was hoping to have it set up before my mom’s upcoming visit, but World Market was handing out rain checks on the piece I wanted.
While I was waiting for the stockers to verify that the item was out of stock, I noticed these Googles cookies. Apparently no relation to the megacorp, but I say it’d be great diversification.
Promotion the way it used to be done, before sites and twitter and gCalendars. I’d be surprised if any Fremont residents don’t know Skillet’s here weekly. You can follow a trail of people every week to find the trailer.
Tonight is Sprizee‘s dude’s birthday. We’re going to wing it. And maybe have some birthday cake.
I also backfilled the last day of our San Francisco trip here: SF Street Food Festival + Humphry Slocombe.
Cupcakes might be on their way to bacon’s fate (overplayed, man), but I love ’em.
Vanessa‘s going out of town for a bit & will be gone on her birthday. Tonight at her place on Alki Beach, we celebrated in advance.
In San Francisco last week, the dudes at 15 Romolo suggested Txori to Mr. T. It’s been on my List for a while, to try. Tonight, we went with Gus & Matt to check it out.
Drinks were great, except for that last Pepino. I was mostly whelmed, neither over or under, by the food selection. Choices are divided between pintxos frios (cold) and pintxos caldos (hot). The albondigas (caldo) were my favorite, but I liked the Prosciutto (frio). The braised pork and braised beef bites were just okay, almost lacking in flavor like the ingredients themselves weren’t at their best.
I’m guessing this Tuesday night just was an off night, much like how none of my pictures turned out. Ah well, ’twas no Romolo. I’ll try ’em again though.
2207 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98121
Tonight I went to Alki for another Canvolution meeting at Kim’s. This weekend’s our first major event, so we talked of final strategies and future ones as well.
It amuses me to no end that she’s basically a neighbor of a friend I visit every week. Alki’s my second-favorite neighborhood this year.
I know, I know. I go to San Francisco and back, and all you got was this shot taken before Sunday brunch in Ballard instead of those other picks: “Follow Me to the Sundown Saloon. It’s nicer than this car.”
We met up with Ian & Celeste to go to A Caprice Kitchen. Good, as it was last time. Service more hurried than I’d expect. It’s got great company down the street with Delancey and Honoré— Celeste & I picked up treats for mid-afternoon on our way home.
Two days into our trip, Mr. T’s coworkers talked of the Saturday San Francisco Street Food Festival. I know Seattle plans to have one soon in SLU, but this seemed like such great luck to have our trip coincide.
After scoping out massive crowds, we decided to hit up Humphry Slocombe first. Our ice cream flavors: Peanut Butter Curry for him, Ancho Chocolate + Cinnamon Brittle for me. I also tried Secret Breakfast (bourbon + cornflake), Prosciutto ice cream, and Pepper + Mint (wicked good). The day’s flavors are in this picture.
We headed back to the fair before waiting for another local friend to meet up with us.
Crowds were deep. The festival was far more well-attended than organizers anticipated. And frankly I spent the last two days of our trip feeling full — the ice cream for brunch didn’t help matters. So I didn’t want to spend time in lines 50-100 deep. I wandered, looking for photo ops. The sheer variety of what was considered a small sampling of San Francisco’s culinary scene made me feel like I’d found my Mecca.
This guy looked like good people. I almost got in line after watching him work the crowd of onlookers.
I know what to get gastrognome for Hanukkah:
We hung around for the Mission for longer than planned since the neighborhood seemed a black hole for cell communication and there were a lot of crossed messages. Sadly, we missed out altogether on spending more time with a couple of folks, but Pete came out to find us since we had our plans a little more solid with him. He took us away from the Mission, into the fog through Golden Gate Park and over to the Beach Chalet. We hung out for a bit before heading back to SFO to return to Seattle.
See you next month, San Francisco!
———-
Humphry Slocombe is at:
2790 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
All the rich food and drink is catching up with me, reminding me of our trip to New Orleans in March.
I wasn’t hungry for a month afterward. We had dinner plans with Deborah at Nopa, so I soldiered on for great conversation and a late night walk through Hayes Valley, the Civic Center area, back via the BART to Embarcadero, talking all the way. I’ve really missed Deborah.
the bar at Nopa
Mr. T’s colleagues travelled en masse to the Mission for lunch at La Taqueria. Dessert at Mission Pie put me over the edge. I was still full by dinner at Town Hall, where they were covering New Orleans’ greatest hits. I caught the bridge above during our walk back to the hotel.
Afterward, we met friends at Absinthe Bar & Brasserie in Hayes Valley. We’d met the owner in New Orleans in March…the drinks we tried in NOLA were great again, but anything new was a travesty. Ah well. Company of koroshiya & Jared more than made up for it. I hope we see ’em again on our next trip back to the Bay Area!
For this other picture – if Jen was our bartender at our first stop — Town Hall, our fellow patrons were right on:
Today’s goal was Chez Panisse in Berkeley. I had an amazing lunch in the cafe: heirloom tomato salad + house made spaghetti arrabiata + Meyer lemon ice cream with Mexican wedding cookies. (I have a long history of loving those cookies, the ice cream just made it all the better.)
Afterward, I spent time in the Ferry Building near our hotel and took the picture at the top.
For dinner, we went to Anchor and Hope. We followed dinner with Rye SF. Both were marginal.
I still haven’t sorted it out, but I wasn’t compelled to take the “real” camera out today. Most were from my phone.
Mr. T had some business to attend to in San Francisco, so we took the opportunity to spend a few days there together. We took an evening flight, our first on Virgin’s service from Seattle to San Francisco. It was an okay flight, but we were stuck in front of the noisiest potheads ever. After several mix-ups and problems at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, we got our room settled by 11. It wasn’t the greatest start, but I take these things as good omens.
I’d thought we’d settle for midnight In ‘n Out, but instead we walked to 15 Romolo in North Beach. I’d learned about them in a great SF Chronicle article about late night dining.
We had an heirloom tomato salad, jambalini (jambalaya croquettes), their burger & fries. All of it was amazing. Next time I’m in San Francisco, I’m headed here after a late night flight. As they say on their site & menu — they are “delicious, not precious.” Precisely!
We are lucky enough this year that the tomatoes are coming in! We harvested some of the Black Prince tomatoes today, with cucumbers, lettuce, and cherry tomatoes all from the garden. We’re getting ready for a trip to San Francisco this week, so it seemed a great excuse to stay in and use up our fresh veggies and bread before we leave.
I learned to read by Sesame Street when I was 3 or 4. I loved the word-scramble animations back then. My Dad used to call me Oscar the Grouch when I was overtired. I loved Bert & Ernie, Big Bird and Mr. Snuffalapagus. I couldn’t miss the Fantastic World Exhibit at the EMP. Mr. T and I went shortly after he made an awesome brunch of blackberry pancakes.
They showed all sorts of Jim Henson projects over his lifetime of work. Including storyboards, early muppeteering, and later fantasy projects. I left the exhibit totally inspired to do something creative.
I liked the soft wall of exotic muppet fur so much, Mr. T threatened, “I know what someone’s getting installed for Christmas…”
Tonight, some of my pals from my book club are headed to Golden Gardens & later, Mad Men!!
Mr. T’s colleagues met up to check out the snow leopards. Two babies were born — on Mr. T’s birthday, as it happened — this past May. We waited in a good long line before learning that they were asleep, do not disturb.
The day wasn’t wasted. We visited penguins, giraffes, and the dingos. More in the set here on flickr.
After work, I bussed downtown to see a friend & her husband visiting from Phoenix. We met at Lola’s, my favorite of all of the Tom Douglas restaurants. A few hours later, I headed back to Fremont to officially head home for the evening. I spotted these two best friends outside of the pho joint. They kept resting their heads on top of each other, watching out in either direction. Adorable.
About four years ago, I made my first wishlist of Seattle restaurants. Matt’s in the Market was in the top ten. I’m not sure why I never made it before tonight, but I’m not sure if we’ll ever go again.
As I described to a friend later:
Our reservation was at 8:30. We should have had the salmon or the snapper — we tried 4 smaller plates and a dessert and were pretty underwhelmed. We’d been hoping that the variety would yield good results, but no go.
The good: We loved the prosciutto/fig pizzette special.The waiter was great but seemed to think we weren’t from Seattle.
The okay: We were seated midway into the restaurant. It seemed difficult to talk to each other when we first got seated and we were in a heavily trafficked area. I have a feeling that if we were by the windows, it would have been more charming.
The bad: For over $110, I expect a really good meal. We tried the “caprese” (the tomatoes were TERRIBLE — how do you do that above the market?), the foie gras BLT, the pork belly, and the raspberry lemon bread pudding. Come to think of it, Mr. T REALLY loved that bread pudding. That should go in the good column.
I’d heard great things about Matt’s for years, so it was a let down. I’d go again if someone else insisted, but I’d never recommend this to a visitor, even for the great view of Pike Place Market.
Tonight, we went to a soft opening of heavily anticipated Delancey in Seattle.
We started with the tomato & corn salad – excellent representation of what’s in season, followed by the pepperoni pizza – terrific, and the pizza with padron peppers – amazing depth and flavor. For dessert, a sea salt chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was the one off-key note since it was overbaked.
This is best pizza I’ve ever had in Seattle and on par with Apizza Scholls of Portland.
Last week, Stacey forwarded Skillet’s menu with, “I must HAVE the trailer-made corndogs!” We penciled it in. While we waited in line, I noticed their Freemont Faux Pas.
For the record: it’s Fremont. NOT Freemont.
I’m rather displeased today seemed like Fall. Tonight at Vanessa’s she made curry which fit the mood.
For lunch, another great meeting with the Canvolution crowd.
For dinner, Mr. T & I investigated The Corson Building. Our dishes:
-honeydew with dried abalone and peppers
-Tarte with tomato and eggs from the in-house coop
-Lamb with chanterelle and pecorino romano
-Dessert: Apricot and dark chocolate tart
Our appetizer expertly blended sweet, heat and savory. The tarte, rich but light. The lamb was the most amazing I’ve ever had — its chanterelle sauce was somethin else. And I think most mushrooms detract from a dish. We were having such a great time, it seemed wrong not to get dessert.
I cannot recommend the Corson Building more highly.
The Baron went in for a routine check today, but when he came home, he was less 3 teeth. All in the very back, but painful nonetheless.
Mr. T held down the fort after dinner, while I headed up to see my girl Vanessa speak at Ignite: Seattle. Cracked up at all the references to our weekly gatherings, especially the part about putting guests to work.
Afterward, we ate with Keaver, Todd & Natala at the Palace Kitchen. For the first time, noticed the entrees seemed a bit sad. The giant crouton with the Caesar Salad seemed ridiculous, the hangar steak with potatoes seemed overdone. Oh, but wait. Keaver asked for it well done. Not their job to protect him if he asked for it charred. Chalked slower service up to Monday night, but now thinking they were just letting us gab and catch up. The cheese plate and the Basil Rickeys were great. Ok, so they did good.
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