Hiiiii blogger readers and friends, I’m back in action on the east coast. What an amazing trip to the west coast though! So much to recap and share I’m going to break up it a little. I love using a WIAW as a way to recap because if you’re reading my blog I’m guessing you share my enthusiasm for delicious eats and I don’t want to leave any out.
We arrived in Seattle late on Friday night (May 8th)… we grabbed some beers and a very late dinner at Elysian… good but nothing to write home about. Let me stop here and say this trip was partially planned around visiting amazing breweries since my husband works in the industry and I’m also a beer snob…. So yes there was probably more drinking in 10 days then I drink in a month. However most of them were tasting flights and not pints upon pints.
Ok back to the trip…. Saturday we woke up so early, thanks jet lag and I enjoyed a nice run through the city before indulging in an AMAZING home cooked breakfast and then went to the Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room. I’m not even a big coffee fan- I usually have like 1 latte a week and they always sweetened… but this was coffee experienced beyond your wildest dreams. Pat did a coffee flight that consisted of 1 type of coffee brewed 4 ways: Clover, Chemex, Siphon, and French Press. I forget my favorite but Pat’s was that Chemex… there were definitely different tastes to each method which kinda blew my mind! 
Next we checked out the Space Needle, Pikes Place, the sound, etc. Two particularly delicious things from Pike’s Place were the oysters and Rachel’s Ginger beer- I had the flavor of the month- pineapple basil and I’m still thinking about- most refreshing drink ever!!!!!
We went to Rock Creek for dinner and enjoyed an anchovy salad, a cod coconut puree, Asian style calamari- fish was the theme of the trip. Afterwards we headed to Fremont Brewery which was on the water by the Marina… such a fun outdoor space to enjoy some brews.
We went to Rock Creek for dinner and enjoyed an anchovy salad, a cod coconut puree, Asian style calamari- fish was the theme of the trip. Afterwards we headed to Fremont Brewery which was on the water by the Marina… such a fun outdoor space to enjoy some brews.
Monday morning we had to stop at the Roastery again per Pat’s request before hitting the road to Portland. (They did have a unique menu and drinks that are only served at that Starbucks).
We arrived in time for lunch at the famous food carts. I went to one called Wolf and Bear’s which was a vegetarian, Middle Eastern inspired cart. I had the OLEA – Wolf’s homemade kalamata tapenade, labneh, grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, grilled red onions, gorgonzola crumbles, caramelized walnuts, freshly cracked pepper, salad greens drizzled with tahini sauce and olive oil on a warm pita (taken from website). Pat ended up getting a Moroccan dish that he was equally in love with…. We both said this was the most surprisingly awesome meals of the trip, maybe a favorite which is funny because it was likely the least expensive. I’ll be trying to recreate this wrap very soon!
After lunch we walked around the city a little and stopped at Powell’s bookstore- biggest book store ever- takes up an entire city block. Next we check out a couple breweries- Deschutes (my overall favorite of the trip) and Cascade (sours!) After touring a bit more we had reservations at Imperial– a Top Chef restaurant. We had a salad, caramelized green beans, and then shared the Coca Cola and PBR braised pork which is the famous dish Doug from Top Chef was known for it. I don’t usually like pork or meat dishes but this was so juicy and tender. Pat also ordered the special which included a fried egg, goat meat, onions and some Mexican flavors which I didn’t eat. Full and tired we went to bed early ready for lots of traveling the next day.
Before leaving Portland, I squeezed in another workout and then we had to stop the famous Voodoo Doughnuts. Far from healthy, but epically good- we split 3. The old dirty bastard (PB, chocolate, oreo), maple and bacon, and the traditional voodoo donut with chocolate icing and raspberry filling. We sufficiently stuffed our faces in Portland and were on the road along the Oregon coast for most of the day!
I’ll recap the Redwoods and San Francisco part of the trip next week!
