There are some weekends where you spend most of your time hanging around the house, engaging in mellow activities such as reading and watching rented movies, and dining out only in your favorite neighborhood restaurants. But, sometimes, it just so happens that you end up with a weekend jam-packed full of plans with friends and family requiring you to venture out to new restaurants in neighborhoods other than your own. This weekend fell into the latter category for me. I put a pretty big dent in my New Year’s resolution to try some new restaurants. Here are mini-reviews of each of the places I visited.
On Friday, I had to attend a business lunch at Taste in the Seattle Art Museum. Although I would rather do pretty much anything than go to a work-oriented lunch, I had been meaning to try Taste for a while now. Typical of any downtown lunch spot, Taste was bustling when we arrived. Taste is sort of an upscale cafeteria; they have lots of room for sit-down dining but also sell sandwiches and other to go items. I ordered the soup of the day (curried cauliflower) and the Alsatian flat bread. The soup was creamy and very good although it didn’t taste particularly like cauliflower or curry. The flat bread, which came topped with fromage blanc, bacon and caramelized onions, was too dry and crumbly. Every time I broke off a piece, little shards would go flying everywhere out onto the table. For dessert, a couple of us decided to split the S’more which consisted of, not surprisingly, homemade graham crackers topped with chocolate and an oval of toasted marshmallow. It was good, but the real highlight of this dish was the burnt caramel-sea salt ice cream that came with it. Too bad it was served in a thimble-sized cup!
Friday night, Robert and I met up with friends at Calamity Jane’s in my beloved Georgetown. Like all of the restaurants in Georgetown, Calamity Jane’s has a real old-time Seattle feel about it with lots of vintage wood and brick everywhere. There is a definite Western theme going on at Calamity Jane’s. Besides the fact that the sign is written in a lasso-style font, the menu features country favorites such as ribs served with corn on the cob. That said, it is actually a pretty eclectic menu. Friday night’s special was pasta with clam sauce, certainly not something anyone would consider traditional country fare. I ordered the red beans and greens meal which comes with a johnnycake on the side. The beans were good but a little meaty for my taste (of course, that’s only because I don’t really eat much meat. For everyone else, these beans would probably be perfect!) The greens were delicious. They used chard instead of collards so they were nice and tender. If you are a strict vegetarian, you have the option of ordering only greens instead of the beans and greens combo. Overall, it was a great meal and a really fun place. Georgetown scores again!
On Saturday, we had plans to meet up with my family at Crave to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. Crave is only two blocks from our apartment, but Robert and I don’t go there too often. Their food is really good (especially brunch), but there is always a huge wait and we are just too impatient for that. I ordered the goat cheese gnocchi which is served in a cream sauce with roasted garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and prosciutto (yep, more meat for me…it’s a good thing I had my cholesterol checked last week and not this week!) The gnocchi were topped with stir-fried pea vines which I absolutely adore. The rest of the food looked really good too including mole-braised short ribs with corn bread and the fish special which was seared cod atop a white bean ragout. With my meal, I had a very unusual Australian wine called Pericles. Pericles is a Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend by Flinders Bay Winery. According to the wine list, it is supposed to have an aroma of tomato and jalapeno. I didn’t really pick up on that, but I could tell that it was very different, in a good way. I’ll have to see if any of the wine shops around here carry it.
Finally, we got up early this morning and headed out to Ballard to meet my friend Val and her husband for brunch at one of their favorite spots, Wild Mountain Cafe. Located in a renovated home, Wild Mountain Cafe is very cute and, well, homey. The brunch menu, which is huge, has all of the standard brunch items you would expect to see plus some rather unique creations. Instead of hash browns, most dishes are served with roasted garlic-potato cakes. I ordered the “Tower of Power” which consisted of two potato cakes topped with seared spinach, green bell pepper, tomato, mushroom and sharp cheddar cheese. It was quite tasty and, despite the name, was not an overly gigantic portion size which appreciate. Robert had a breakfast burrito with chicken sausage and green chili. The food was great and the cafe was charming and cozy, just what we were in the mood for on a rainy day like today.