Friday night, we found ourselves wandering around Capitol Hill without a particular dinner destination in mind. This is pretty unusual for us; normally, by about Wednesday or Thursday, I am so excited about the approaching weekend that I have already planned out all of the places where we will go to eat. We eventually decided to swing by Via Tribunali in the hopes that they might have a table free. We were doubtful since this section of Capitol Hill gets exceedingly busy on Friday nights (it’s no wonder when you consider the fact that Capitol Hill hotspots Pike Place Fish Fry, Neumo’s, Quinn’s, Bimbo’s and Via Tribunali are all located within the same two blocks.) We lucked out! Not only did Via Tribunali have a table available but it was a table right by the big open garage door, about as close as you can get to outdoor seating in Seattle!

Via Tribunali (or “the Trib” as it is affectionately called by people around these parts) specializes in authentic Neapolitan pizza. Authentic is not just a pretty word being bandied about here; Via Tribunali’s pizzas are made in accordance with the strict regulations of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, a group founded in the mid-1990’s whose objective is to protect the tradition of Neapolitan pizza. In order to be certified by the VPN, you must follow all of their regulations which detail such things as how the dough is made, how the pizzas are cooked and what ingredients may be used (for example, only true San Marzano tomatoes, grown in the volcanic soil of Mt. Vesuvius, are allowed.) True Neapolitan pizza is made in a wood-fire brick oven which must be approved by the VPN. Via Tribunali’s oven was hand-crafted using supplies imported from Naples including bricks made from the ashes of Mt. Vesuvius. Even the guy who made the oven was brought in from Naples. Now that’s dedication!

The menu is, not surprisingly, primarily dedicated to pizza. There are a few salads and starters and a couple of calzones listed as well. The pizzas are all very simple in keeping with the tradition of Neapolitan pizza. If you like your pizza loaded up with tons of toppings, look elsewhere; these pizzas are all about good crust and good tomatoes (oh, and a little bit of cheese too!) I was really torn between the Margherita and the Napoletana which is topped with tomatoes, oregano, garlic and anchovies. I finally settled on the Margherita; you can’t go wrong with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil! Robert ordered the Toni Lupino which is topped with mozzarella, Italian sausage and coppa, a type of cured meat (pig collar, to be specific.) They were out of Italian sausage (crazy!) so he just got mozzarella and extra coppa.

Our pizzas arrived at the table hot and bubbly. They looked absolutely beautiful, and they tasted even better! The tomatoes were sweet and delicious and the mozzarella was creamy and comforting. I would have liked it if there were more than three leaves of basil on my pie but, again, that’s just part of the whole minimal ingredients thing. With all that luscious tomato sauce and olive oil, I thought for sure that my pizza would be soggy. Not at all! I guess this is where the stamp of authenticity comes in to play. The crust on this pizza was amazing! It was elastic and chewy, even in the center where the sauce had congregated. And, the bottom side of the pizza had just the perfect amount of char. A small word of warning: these pizzas are served unsliced so you’re going to have to do a little bit of work while you eat (I used a butter knife to cut into mine but you can also ask for a set of pizza shears.) Robert made fun of me throughout the meal for cutting my pizza into perfect, even wedges as I ate it. What can I say? I like a nice wedge of pizza. Besides, since I didn’t just tear right into it with my bare hands, I was able to slowly savor my pizza. And, this is pizza that should be savored. Delicious crust, silky tomatoes, creamy cheese and a big glass of Dolcetto d’Alba - I could eat like this every night!

Well, we finally made it to Pike Street Fish Fry. I’ve been meaning to try this place ever since it opened back in late April. I’m not sure why it has taken me so long. I’m a huge fan of fried fish, and Pike Street Fish Fry is only a couple of blocks from my apartment. Plus, I just love the term fish fry! It conjures up images of a different time and place. A fish fry is pretty much just what it sounds like: a meal made up of fried fish, usually served with fries and coleslaw. Fish fries are very popular in the Midwest and Northeastern part of the country, especially in areas with significant Catholic populations where fish is traditionally served on Fridays. My mom, who grew up near Chicago, remembers her dad stopping to pick up fish fry every Friday night on the way home from his job at the steel mill. Now, I too can stop by for some fish fry on my way home from work (although, since Pike Street Fish Fry is open every day, I don’t have to wait until Friday to get my fried fish fix in!)

Pike Street Fish Fry is located right next door to Neumo’s in the space previously occupied by Frites, a popular, but ultimately doomed, Belgian frites shop. Everything I’ve read about Pike Street Fish Fry makes a point of describing how exceedingly tiny it is inside. Fully expecting to walk into a space the size of a small closet, I actually ended up finding it to be almost roomy. It is small, but not claustrophobically so (although, if you are very tall, you may feel a bit cramped; unlike at most of Capitol Hill’s new restaurants, all of which seem to be competing to see who can achieve the loftiest space, the ceiling at Pike Street Fish Fry is extremely low.) Pike Street Fish Fry’s small size doesn’t matter too much, though, because it isn’t really meant to be a sit-down restaurant. There is only one small table inside and a few others outside; otherwise, you eat standing up at one of the counters or you order your food to go. Cal Anderson Park is conveniently located two blocks away and is the perfect spot for a fish fry picnic.

The menu is divided up into several categories: Battered & Fried, Just Fried, Grilled and Sauces. The Battered & Fried section lists five or six choices of fish as well as one or more seasonal vegetable (asparagus in the spring, green beans in the summer, etc.) Fish is brought in daily from Mutual Fish, and there is a strong emphasis on sustainable seafood. The Just Fried section includes French fries and “Spanish fries” which are French fries served with a sweet chili sauce and sour cream. Grilled offerings include octopus, steak and fish of the day. Finally, there are the sauces: classics such as tartar sauce as well as more unusual options like smoked chili aioli, salsa verde and curry ketchup. Everything is ordered a la carte, and each individual item costs anywhere from $4 to $10. Anything on the menu can be turned into a sandwich with slaw for an extra $1.

I gluttonously ordered straight off the Battered & Fried menu: smelts, zucchini and lemons. Robert chose catfish and Spanish fries. Our order came up, and we immediately realized that we had ordered way too much. I’ve never had so much fried food in front of me before. It looked like we had joined some sort of battered and fried Olympics. How embarrassing. My smelts were pretty tasty, though. They were fried in a very light batter, similar to tempura. It was nice and crisp and actually stayed crispy the whole time! This was a real treat. I absolutely hate soggy fried fish, and it’s amazing how many places can’t seem to get it right. The smelts measured about 6 inches each, edging close to the size at which I would no longer consider eating them whole. But, I ate my smelts head to tail, taking a slightly sadistic pleasure out of dipping them head first into Pike Street Fish Fry’s delicious salsa verde.

The fish, fries and zucchini were all very good, but my favorite thing was the lemons! Battered and fried lemon slices come with each serving of fish at Pike Street Fish Fry. I had heard great things about these lemons so I ordered an extra helping. I’m glad I did because I only got two measly slices with my smelts. I wouldn’t have thought fried lemons to be very good, but these were tart, sweet, crispy and totally wonderful. I put forth a good effort, but I wasn’t quite able to finish my extra lemons. I ended up giving them away to the people sitting next to us (as fellow fried lemon aficionados, they were more than happy to take my leftovers.) Overall, everything that we ate at Pike Street Fish Fry was really good. The prices and location are pretty hard to beat, and I’m looking forward to working my way through the various types of fish on the menu (the fried fish balls and grilled octopus are next on my list.) I see many, many fish fry picnics in my near future!

Pike Street Fish Fry is located at 925 E. Pike St.

We wanted to get a really early start on our hike last Sunday so Robert and I decided to spend Saturday night in Leavenworth. Leavenworth is located on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, about 100 miles east of Seattle. It also happens to be situated 11 short miles away from the trailhead to Lake Caroline making it an ideal stopover location. For those of you that don’t already know, Leavenworth is not your average town. It is a full-fledged Bavarian village! Every single building in Leavenworth is outfitted with Bavarian touches, even the gas stations and the supermarkets. Some people might call it a cheesy tourist trap, but I like it. My grandparents lived there for many years so we used to visit all the time. I had lots of fun in Leavenworth as a kid. Bavarian-styled buildings and kitschy toy and gift shops – what child wouldn’t love it? It was like our little Disneyland (minus the rides.) Although it is much bigger now, and many of the kitschy shops have been replaced with upscale wine tasting rooms, Leavenworth is pretty much exactly as I remember it.

After an amazingly traffic-free drive down Highway 2 on Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Leavenworth famished! We immediately headed down to München Haus, a classic Leavenworth eatery where I knew I could get my hands on the one thing that I was craving: sauerkraut. Hey, this is a Bavarian village after all! München Haus is located right in the heart of downtown Leavenworth. It is less of a restaurant, and more of a glorified beer garden (or is that biergarten?) Communal picnic tables are arranged around a small courtyard where bands sometimes play. The restaurant is primarily outdoors, although most of the seating is covered by roofing or large umbrellas which provide much needed relief from the hot sun (or snow, depending on the season; in the winter there is also a big open fireplace in the courtyard to keep everybody warm – sounds cozy!)

München Haus specializes in one thing: bratwurst! They have a wide variety of brats to choose from including standards such as kielbasa and knackwurst, as well as more unusual fare like curry wurst and vegetarian wurst. You order and pay for your brat at a window and then grab a seat in the seating area and wait for your order to come up. Beer and wine is sold at another counter and, since this is Washington State, they feature plenty of local brews and wines in addition to the expected German imports. All brats are cooked to order on an open grill. München Haus is a very busy place, and I’m fairly certain that this has something to do with the aroma coming off that grill. It is pretty hard to resist. It may also be because München Haus’ food is relatively cheap. Our two brats came to $11.

Robert had the München Haus Beer Brat, an all-pork bratwurst boiled in beer. I ordered the vegetarian wurst. I really didn’t expect much from my wurst but, since I was in it mainly for the sauerkraut anyway, I wasn’t too concerned. Boy was I surprised! München Haus’ vegetarian wurst was amazing. It was spicy and flavorful, with plenty of delicious caraway seeds sprinkled throughout the “meat.” But, best of all, it was somehow actually juicy. Vegetarian meat substitutes have gotten better over time, but the one thing they are never able to imitate is the juiciness you get with a piece of meat. Not so here. I don’t know if München Haus just slathers it with grease before grilling or what, but it was great. I think Robert was even a little jealous. Topped with a smoky porter mustard (one of about 30 different mustard offerings,) horseradish, chopped onion and München Haus’ famous apple cider sauerkraut, this vegetarian wurst made me one happy camper (for that night at least – the next night, of course, I was fated to become one truly unhappy camper!) We washed our brats down with München Haus’ house brew: Alpine Brewing Company’s Marzen Amber. After dinner, we did a little shopping, cooled off with some huckleberry ice cream in a waffle cone, watched Bavarian music in the park and grabbed an Icicle Ale at Gustav’s before heading back to our hotel.

Besides ice cream, one of my favorite things in Seattle right now is the Grilled Sardine Sandwich en Baguette at Cafe Presse. I’ve expressed my love of oily fish before on this blog, and sardines are among the best of this group. Sadly, none of the fishmongers here seem to ever sell fresh sardines. Canned sardines are good, but nothing beats a grilled or pickled fresh sardine. Hopefully, if the new trend towards eating lower on the seafood chain holds up, we will begin to see more of these kinds of fish in the shops. I would absolutely love to be able to walk down to Pike Place Market and pick up some fresh sardines or anchovies. Until that happens, I will continue to content myself with Cafe Presse’s delectable sardine sandwich.

A mere $5, gets you a crusty, chewy baguette filled with crisp butter lettuce, vinaigrette and mayonnaise, and two plump sardines, their beautiful, shimmering silver skin charred to perfection. If you are squeamish at all, don’t worry. Their heads and tails have been removed; you’ll only have to contend with a vertebral column or two. The baguette is guaranteed to tear your mouth apart, and the sandwich drips everywhere, but it is so worth it. The sardine sandwich comes with just a few cornichon on the side but, if you desire a more filling meal, a large bowl of frites only costs $4. When we go to Presse for breakfast, which we do frequently, I almost always order the sardine sandwich. Yes, that’s right, for breakfast - I like to get my omega 3’s in early in the day! They’re good for your brain!

So, for as long as I can remember, I have had these recurring dreams where I discover a whole new world of shops hidden away in mysterious tunnels around Seattle. In these dreams, the tunnels are almost always located somewhere down at Pike Place Market, although sometimes they connect up with other tunnels in Pioneer Square. Sometimes they are underground and are actually very cool and cave-like and other times they are more like simple alleyways that I just never noticed before. Frequently, these shops are full of really awesome clothing (all of which fits me perfectly of course) but, more often, they are filled with unusual and delicious foods or yummy, whimsical candies. What kind of person dreams of hidden candy shops? Was I born in Whoville or something?

Whenever I have one of these dreams, I wake up really excited. I know it’s only a dream but, there are so many hidden nooks and crannies down at the Market already, it makes me think that, if I just looked hard enough, I might actually discover something new and wonderful that I hadn’t come across before. And, Seattle does have a whole underground level. Perhaps there really are special caves down there with mysterious underground dwellers selling all manner of wondrous candies! Okay, maybe not, but that sure would be exciting!

I bring all of this up because, several months ago, I stumbled upon a photo from Procopio Gelateria, located on the Pike Street Hill Climb between the Market and the Waterfront, and I was immediately hit with a sense of déjà vu. I can’t remember having ever gone to Procopio before, but, in this photo, it looked so familiar. In fact, it really looked a lot like one of the specific shops I had imagined in my dreams. Was it just a strange coincidence? Did I have some sort of psychic connection to this place? Or, did I go there once as a kid and have images of it stored away in my subconscious only to be brought forth in a dream later in life? Procopio has been in business since 1980 so it’s not completely outside the realm of possibilities that I went there as a child.

I became kind of obsessed with Procopio for a while after that. I really felt that I knew this place from somewhere. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore so I had to go check it out and see if I could resolve this mystery. Since today was my birthday, I decided a birthday gelato was in order. My friend and I took a break from work and headed down to Procopio. Well, I am sad to report that no major revelations took place. The shop from my dreams was several stories high with walls of glass and mirrors on all sides and a tall staircase winding down from the entrance. Procopio has some windows and mirrors and there is a long staircase outside the building but the similarities end there. I was more immediately struck with how similar Procopio’s layout is to that of Zig Zag, a bar a few shops down from Procopio, than I was by anything from my dreams or childhood memories. I don’t know where that initial feeling of déjà vu came from, but I was definitely not feeling it today.

That’s not a very thrilling end to my story, I know. But, do you know what is thrilling? Delicious gelato from Procopio! They only had about 10 or so flavors available today, but they all looked really good. I was tempted by the prickly pear, kiwi, blackberry and lavender. In the end, however, I couldn’t resist my two favorites - coconut and pistachio - so I got a scoop of each. The gelato was so creamy and the flavors were subtle but amazing. It was the perfect treat for this first day in June that actually feels like summer (the sun actually came out on my birthday for once!)

It was an amazingly sunny and hot day in Seattle yesterday, and Robert and I took advantage of it with a trip to the Ballard Locks. On the way, we decided to swing by Lunchbox Laboratory, Ballard’s new burger shack, to see what all the fuss is about. I’ve been hearing about this place everywhere for the past few weeks it seems. All of the food blogs are raving about it. It even came up in my knitting group forum. Lunchbox Laboratory is apparently the new hotspot in town so, of course, I had to go and check it out!

At first glance, Lunchbox Laboratory looks like your average burger joint: casual, kitschy and tiny (and, when I say tiny, I mean tiny - there are only three tables inside!) As evidenced by the long line of people waiting to order, however, it is anything but average. Moments after we had secured our place in line, the line behind us had doubled in size. I guess I’m not the only one who’s been hearing all the buzz about this place. There was only one woman taking orders and serving food so the line was moving pretty slowly. Although there were only 5 or so people ahead of us, it still took about 20 minutes for us to even get to place our order.

20 minutes is actually the perfect amount of time to wait, as it turns out, because Lunchbox Laboratory’s menu is huge! It takes at least 10 minutes to even read through the thing. Then, you have the challenge of actually making up your mind. The menu is written up on two big boards: daily specials and drinks on one and burgers and sides on the other. The burgers are “build your own.” You start with a choice of patty which includes standards such as beef and lamb as well as some more unusual options like kielbasa and “the dork” (a duck and pork blend.) Then, for toppings, you choose from a list of a dozen or so cheeses and an even greater number of creative sauces (satan’s tears ketchup, million island, and stone-ground horsey aioli to name just a few.) There are some other toppings available as well such as maple bacon and crushed green olives. Sides include fries (skinny, krinkle, tater tot, sweet potato) as well as onion rings and mac and cheese. As if that wasn’t enough to make your head spin, even the fries come with your choice of salt (bacon, smoked tea, etc.) A variety of daily specials and shakes and sodas round out the menu. We had barely managed to get it all figured out before it was time to place our order (I’m guessing this is a common problem since the woman taking orders actually complimented us on our ability to place our order in an organized and efficient manner, a feat I’m quite proud of!)

We took our burgers down to the locks and found a nice shady spot to sit and eat. All of the food was still piping hot and crisp when we took it out of the bag, always a good sign. The burgers, which were absolutely enormous, came wrapped up in tin foil with a little box of sliced tomato, crisp romaine hearts, shredded onions and pickles on the side. I had a falafel-quinoa burger topped with havarti cheese and basil aioli. It was great but impossible to eat politely! The patty itself was crusty, tasty and very moist (a rare quality among veggie burgers.) I could see pretty little flecks of red quinoa throughout the patty which made me happy. Robert had a buffalo burger with havarti and BBQ sauce. He loved it. We both ordered the same fries, skinnies with bacon salt (which is magically vegetarian.) They were delicious! I washed my burger down with a Jackson Hole huckleberry soda.

I could only eat about half my burger before I felt like I was going to explode. Robert had to lay down for a bit after finishing all of his. I’m pretty sure these burgers are potentially coma-inducing. I can only imagine what might happen to a person who orders the cheese-stuffed beef patty topped with more cheese and maple bacon. Yikes! Feeling the need to work off some of our gigantic, delicious lunch, we wandered around the locks for a bit. Robert hadn’t been there before, and I always forget how neat it is. We spent some time watching the water levels being raised and lowered to allow the boats to pass through. We saw tons of baby salmon passing through the fish ladder on their journey out to sea where they will mature into adults. We were even lucky enough to spot a greedy sea lion on the other side waiting for the baby salmon to come through!

Robert and I took a trip to the Ballard Farmers Market last Sunday. Our Capitol Hill Farmers Market opens this coming weekend, and, although I’m super excited about it, it really can’t hold a candle to the Ballard Farmers Market. The Capitol Hill market is very small with only a handful of farmers selling their produce and an even smaller number of vendors offering baked goods or other prepared foods. The Ballard Farmers Market, on the other hand, has everything! Organic meats, fresh shellfish, tons of cheese vendors, pizza fresh from Veraci’s mobile pizza oven, live music, you name it. I’m so jealous that it isn’t in my neighborhood. I’m hopeful that our little farmers market will begin to catch on and grow a bit over the next few years (it’s still pretty new.)

Aside from the fact that a trip to the farmers market is generally a fun way to spend the morning, our main reason for going was to get our hands on some tamales from the Patty Pan Grill stand! The last time we visited the market, back in early April, we had just eaten breakfast so we weren’t in the mood to eat anything more. But, after catching a whiff of the grilled onions and veggies coming from the Patty Pan Grill stand, we made a pact to come back as soon as possible. All of the tamales at Patty Pan Grill are vegetarian, and you can order them solo or with a side of their delicious grilled vegetables. The grilled veggies – that day a mix of cabbage, kale, gai lan, and onions – are cooked on a large cast-iron griddle with ground cumin and chili powder. The aroma coming off that griddle is amazing. We ordered a tamale and a grilled vegetable quesadilla (pictured.) The tamale and quesadilla were both good, but it was the grilled veggies that really did it for me!

Robert decided to pick up a 3-pack of tamales to take home and have as his Cinco de Mayo lunch the next day. We also bought a poppy seed-filled bread and a raspberry strudel from the Little Prague Bakery, a half loaf of Tall Grass Bakery’s awesome pumpernickel-dried cherry bread, a small wedge of “Tipsy Cow,” a cabernet-washed cow’s milk cheese from River Valley Ranch (which went beautifully on the pumpernickel-cherry bread) and some baby carrots and rapini which Robert used in a delicious noodle stir-fry for dinner Sunday evening. Hooray for the farmers market!

Yesterday, I had to attend a half-day “retreat” at work (Why try to fool us with “retreat”? It’s never as much fun as it sounds.) The one positive thing about these meetings, however, is that it means free lunch. Usually, this is some sort of standard boxed lunch: a salad or sandwich. These lunches are rarely delicious but, given that they provide a much needed diversion from the monotony of the day, they are always welcome (kind of like how you get excited about airplane food, no matter how gross it is, just because it gives you something to do.)

This year, we actually got really great boxed lunches for a change. They came from Baguette Box. Baguette Box has two locations in Seattle, one on Capitol Hill and one in Fremont. They specialize in sandwiches inspired by the classic Vietnamese sandwich known as bahn mi. Bahn mi are baguette sandwiches that are traditionally filled with meat or tofu and pickled carrots, daikon, onions and cilantro. Bahn mi are always really cheap; in the International District, you can get one for about $2. Of course, the sandwiches at Baguette Box aren’t as cheap as that, but $4.75 to $6.50 for a sandwich is still a pretty good deal by Capitol Hill standards. Plus, the quality of the baguette and ingredients at Baguette Box is definitely a step up from you what get with typical bahn mi.

My friend and I actually went to Baguette Box for lunch last Friday since neither of us had ever been there and we were feeling the need to try something new (it was during this lunch that we noticed that Baguette Box delivered boxed lunches and we thus decided to recommend it for the staff retreat.) I had the crispy tofu baguette. This sandwich is very similar to a traditional bahn mi. The filling consisted of pickled daikon and carrots, red onion and cilantro as well as tofu that had been marinated in a delicious coconut sauce and then fried until crispy. It also came slathered with a homemade aioli. The baguette was what set this apart from a typical bahn mi. It was hearty and crunchy (but not to the point that it ripped your mouth apart.) The tofu sandwich was really yummy. Other tasty-sounding options on the menu include crispy drunken chicken baguette, braised pork shoulder with red wine baguette, and grilled yellow squash and eggplant baguette. There are also interesting sides available such as truffle fries and beet salad.

Although the house-cured salmon gravlax baguette was tempting, I ended up ordering the tofu baguette again this week for the retreat. This time it was even better than before! The deliveries come from the Fremont location so perhaps the chef there is more generous with the fillings than the one up on Capitol Hill. This sandwich was oilier (in a good way) and much more flavorful than the one I had last Friday. Be forewarned, these sandwiches can be very messy. I dribbled aioli all over my meeting agenda making it more difficult to engage in my favorite retreat pastime – putting giant X’s though the agenda items as we finish them (like a countdown to freedom.) In addition to the sandwiches, the boxed lunches also came with a nice carrot and raisin salad and an extremely moist banana cake with coconut sauce. It was very rich and filling but oh so delicious!

Thursday night, I met up with a knitting group that I found through Ravelry, the absolute best knitting website on the web today (Seriously, every knitter out there needs to check out Ravelry. It’s amazing! Still in beta, though, so there’s a waiting list to get on.) The Capitol Hill Knitters decided to meet this week at Remedy Teas, a tea shop just around the corner from me that I had been meaning to go to ever since it opened last winter but hadn’t quite gotten around to yet. Somehow, when it comes to going out for beverages, Robert and I seem to always choose beer over tea. Now, I finally had the perfect excuse to check it out.

The first thing I noticed upon entering Remedy Teas is that it is very modern inside. Bright, lime green walls and gleaming silver chairs and stools abound. A couple of funky white vinyl ottoman-style chairs are available in the center of the room. Teas are kept in test tubes giving the place a slight laboratory vibe. Despite the ultra-modern furnishings, however, Remedy Teas is very cozy inside (as any good tea shop should be!) It is a pretty small space so the tables and chairs are closely packed together creating a friendly, jovial atmosphere. That, combined with the mellow lighting and bluesy music that was playing when I was there, made me feel like I was in some kind of cool mad scientist’s lounge room.

Remedy Teas offers over 150 types of tea, divided up between wellness teas, white teas, green, oolong, black, pu-erh (rare teas that that are aged like wine,) and many others. Not being a huge tea drinker myself, I found the tea list to be pretty overwhelming. I mean, I get overwhelmed by the number of teas in our cabinet at work, and that doesn’t even compare to the offerings at Remedy. I had finally settled on the Citra Pu-erh only to find out that it was one of ten teas that they were out of (wouldn’t you know it.) The gentleman working behind the counter happily gave me a recommendation, though, so I felt that I was in good hands. He suggested the Winter Pu-erh which is a blend of bold leaf pu-erh, ginger, cinnamon sticks and clove. That sounded perfect.

You can order tea by the cup, small pot and large pot. All of the tea is served in really cool glass serving ware. My tea arrived at the table in a clear glass pot, with a clear, round-ish cup and another cup full of the brewed leaves which you can use to strengthen the pot of tea if you so desire. In addition to tea, Remedy offers tea sandwiches, such as cucumber or radish and red onion, as well as other snacks. They also have delicious-looking pastries and cookies including lavender shortbread and cornmeal rosemary (yum!) And, if you really want to go all out, you can order full tea service in which you get a “tower of treats” perfectly paired with your tea.

Apparently, tea is the new hip thing. At least, it is at Remedy; the place was packed when I left. I can see why, though. Remedy makes you want to drink tea all the time. My Winter Pu-erh was the perfect “remedy” for Thursday’s cold, blustery weather. I’ll certainly be back. Plus, now that I know they offer organic beer in addition to tea, I should easily be able to get Robert to go with me!

Remedy Teas is located at 345 15th Ave E and is open from 7am-11pm every day.

Each December, around the time that bonuses are handed out at my job, I like to treat Robert to a nice dinner out. Nothing outrageously expensive or anything, just a great meal in a fancier restaurant than we normally go to. That really isn’t saying much because, most of the time, we are pretty cheap. What can I say? We like our pubs and budget Thai restaurants. But, every once in a while, it is fun to splurge and dine out in the restaurants where foodies like me are probably supposed to be eating.

Last night, on a whim (or, on a “lark” you could say) we decided to head down the street to Lark. It was completely unplanned, but it turned out to be the perfect place for our special occasion dinner. Located in the uber-popular 12th Avenue area of South Capitol Hill, Lark has been getting plenty of acclaim ever since it opened for business several years ago. We tried going there once before, a while back, but it was slammed (they don’t take reservations.) Last night, the winter cold seemed to be working in our favor as we were able to get a table right away.

As is typical of many of Seattle’s newer upscale restaurants, Lark has a very casual, understated elegance. White tablecloths and candles are about all you get in terms of decor. Tables are situated close together in the big, open dining area, and you practically have to walk through the kitchen to get to the restroom. Very casual, very comfortable. I think the emphasis here is more on the food, less on the surroundings.

Lark’s menu is broken up into Cheese, Vegetables & Grains, Charcuterie, Fish, and Meat. Like so many places these days, the dishes at Lark are all small plates that are meant to be shared (to be fair, Lark was one of the pioneers of this movement in Seattle.) Our waiter explained that 4 or 5 dishes is usually sufficient for a couple like us.

We started off with Lark’s homemade crackers and a wedge of Echo Mt. Blue Cheese which is a cow and goat milk cheese from Oregon. We were also given a selection of homemade breads: a plain French bread and a very dark, slightly sweet bread that Robert especially liked. Our waiter informed us that it was dried cherry pumpernickel. Yum - I love pumpernickel!

Our second dish was ricotta gnudi (gnudi are similar to gnocchi.) This dish consisted of three ovals of pillowy soft ricotta dressed in a brown butter sauce and topped with currants, pine nuts and the tiniest cubes of winter squash. It was delicious; the texture of the gnudi was incredible.

To complete the meal, we ordered a couple of fish dishes. We were really tempted by the special of the night: seared scallops with porcini mushrooms and brussels sprouts (I love any restaurant that dares to serve brussels sprouts!) But, since neither of us is particularly crazy about scallops, we ordered the bacon-wrapped cod and the Spanish mackerel instead. The cod, which was wrapped in the thinnest slices of bacon I’ve ever seen, arrived in a subtle truffle broth sprinkled with diced celery root. The fish was cooked perfectly and the light & crisp bacon added just enough flavor to the dish without being overpowering. The cod was good, but the mackerel was our favorite dish of the night. Robert and I are big fans of mackerel, and this dish was a perfect example of why. It was pan-seared (again, cooked perfectly) and served with Bomba rice, chorizo, kale and marcona almonds. The briny, oily flavor of the fish matched so well with the spicy, rich chorizo. It was an outstanding dish that left me dreaming of mackerel all day today.

To drink, I opted for the 2006 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner which proved to be a decent match for the wide variety of tastes throughout the meal. Everything about our experience at Lark was wonderful: the service was friendly and helpful, all of the dishes we tried were excellent and, although it was pricey, it wasn’t ridiculously so (and the food was definitely worth the cost - a rarity these days, in my opinion.)

Lark is located at 926 12th Ave and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5:00pm to 10:30pm.