Tuesday, November 11, 2008

If you are ever in Seattle...

Stay in The Ace Hotel. I recommend requesting rooms 113 or 117 for Standard rooms or 131 or 126 for the Deluxe rooms. Ed and Amiee are two of my favorite people, so tell them that I sent you and be nice to them!

Eat at The Black Bottle. It is only a couple of blocks north of The Ace. I have eaten here many times and love their food. It tends to be busy and loud, so if you are looking for something quite I also recommend calling in your order and taking it back to your room. I recommend having the Grilled Lamb & Sumac Hummus (comes with flatbread for hummus), Cumin Pork Tenderloin & Frisée, or Mussels Marseille-style (also comes with flatbread). The portions are enough to leave one person satisfied. I usually have one of the previous items with a portion of the Broccoli Blasted or Braised Artichoke Heart & Greens for additional veggies. If there are two of you eating I would just order one portion of veggies, there is more then enough to share between. I would skip the flatbread and leave room for desert. If you are eating in then I would have the Zefina Zinfandel Columbia Valley or Mac Murray Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with the lamb or Canaletto Pinot Grigio with the pork or seafood.

The obvious sightseeing choices are to visit Pike Place Market or going to the top of the Space Needle for something to do, but if you have more time I would take a ferry to Bainbridge Island for a nice outing. There is a movie theater within walking distance from the ferry (for some it is a long walk), but there are cute shops and restaurants on the way (a lot of them close early so plan trip carefully). Also visit the SAM (Seattle Art Museum) especially if it's a typical rainy Seattle day. I also enjoy walking around Pioneer Square and Georgetown, these are usually less congested neighborhoods than the more popular neighborhoods like Capital Hill, Fremont, or Ballard (I do love Ballard even though it's the new Seattle favorite).

Coffee is a Seattle staple as you probably guessed, I would skip Starbucks and visit Zeitgeist Coffee in Pioneer Square or All City Coffee also in Pioneer Square and Georgetown. In Ballard my personal favorite Equal Exchange Espresso, yes I am a co-owner in the company and have been known to pull shots behind the bar from time to time, but it is an awesome little spot and our coffee is just plain good! Visit Ballard Market while you are there and pick some specialty beer or wine, Fran's Caramels (as noted in previous blogs), specialty cheeses. and they always have an amazing sale on local produce by the front door, but all of their produce is beautiful! While you are in Ballard picnic at Golden Gardens or on the park benches by the "Ballard Locks". On your way there or after make sure you stop and walk Market Street and Leary Way some of my favorites shops and restaurants are Thaiku Noodle House, Archie McPhee, The ReStore, & Space Oddity Vintage Furniture Store.
So, I have given you at least a weekend worth of things to do in Seattle. I have many more places to suggest, so if you need ideas let me know! This is a great time to visit Seattle, it is raining, Christmas decorations are appearing downtown, and it is the "off season" so it is much cheaper to visit many of these places and there are less tourists. So get to it!

3 comments:

Kristi said...

o man...I want to go to Seattle RIGHT NOW!

edie said...

Hi Michelle - Saw the title of your post on Diane's blog and I was intrigued since we live in North Seattle. I'll have to check out the Black Bottle - the menu looks great. As someone who frequents Ballard you've probably been to La Carta de Oaxaca and if not, you really should go. The food is amazing.

I'll definitely be paying Equal Exchange a visit sometime soon. Look forward to trying some new beans.

Michelle said...

Hi Edie,
Thank you for reading! I have never tried La Carta de Qaxaca, but it sounds really good. I will have to try it next time I am there! I am always looking for new places to try.