Seattle: Part 1

I just spent a fabulous week in Seattle.  My mom flew in for the visit as well and we stayed with a friend in Capitol Hill, which is, in my opinion, the best neighborhood.  The trip was mostly about friends, running and food (at glorious Seattle restaurants).

We were picked up by Ben downtown and headed to Fish Fry for dinner.  After plenty of fried halibut and fried asparagus it was time to go and settle in at Pauline's place.

Day 2 was Pauline's birthday and started off with a trip to Bainbridge.

First, we had Green Eggs at Streamliner Diner, 

all of the food comes on Fiestaware!

Then, we shopped for fabric at Esther's 

an example of some quilting they had on display.

 And followed that up with yarn shopping at Churchmouse 

Mom bought some amazing yarn that she will be making into a tank for moi.

We rounded out the day with ice cream at Mora and the return trip on the ferry.

The Birthday Girl!

Some Bainbridge tips:

• know your ferry times, there's nothing more frustrating than just missing the ferry
• get to Streamliner first, it's a tiny place and one of the first stops on the main road, so it fills up fast, and they close from 2:30-5:00
• when ordering at Mora, you will be in flavor overload, they keep 48 on hand, just try a bunch and know that any scoop can be split into two flavors
• we didn't on this trip, but riding a bike around Bainbridge is awesome, bikes get to enter and exit the ferry first and you feel like you're about to ride into Puget sound when you get on, it's a fabulous feeling, you can spend a whole day riding around the island and hang out on a beach or two, if you like

For dinner, I took Mom and Pauline out for their June Birthdays.  We went to Olivar in Capitol Hill.  It is a smallish place in what was originally a Russian restaurant.  The space was built in 1931 and the murals and stained glass are original and fantastic.  They were restored once, about 12 years ago, according to the waitress.

Olivar is fantastic!  The menu is made up of small and large plates, but the small plates are a bit larger than one might expect.  We started with a cured meat plate and some grilled asparagus.  Then it was gnocchi time, Pauline had been raving about it for days.  Their gnocchi is seasonal, light and delicate.  Our version had smoked trout, pea vines and fried capers.

Next up was the special of the night, duck confit served over lentils.  The duck fell apart with the lightest touch and the lentils were perfect.

For dessert, it was flourless chocolate cake with creme anglaise and berries.  Always a favorite.

Yay!  Getting to celebrate birthdays!

Are you sensing a theme here?  I was in Seattle to run the marathon, and you can bet I was going to make up for those burned calories.