Seattle Adventures

It seems a little sad that having lived in Portland for so long, how few times I have visited Seattle, just three hours north. It is a beautiful, fun city and relatively easy to get to, but for some reason, life always would get too busy and those trips would just rarely happen. This past weekend, however Brice and I took a few days to head north to visit some friends and enjoy our larger sister city up north. We had such an incredibly great weekend.

Despite no premade plans, we hit up some delicious meals and a lot of fun activities.

Here’s my recap and recommendations if you are also planning a short weekend to Seattle!

Fremont District

Dinner at Revel – Seriously this place was outrageously good and perhaps one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. I stumbled upon it on our drive north while scouring the internet for dinner options in the Fremont neighborhood. It has won a lot of well-deserved accolades recently, so I was eager to check it out. We luckily got into town early and grabbed two seats at the chef’s counter. Their Asian-inspired menu with French technique was somewhat small and sorted by type, such as Dumpling or Salad. But there was no shortage of dishes I wanted to get. After a lot of debate, we narrowed down our options to one Pancake, one Noodle, and one Rice.

The shrimp cake with spring nettle, preserved lemon and garlic was delicate and flavorful, especially when topped with their fabulous homemade sauces.

The short rib with sambal daikon kimchi, mustard greens, and creamy egg yolk reminded me of the Kimchee Fried Rice from Egg Slut at this year’s Feast Portland. It would definitely be perfect for a chilly winter evening.

I am newly obsessed with the handmade noodles infused with seaweed, topped with massive chunks of Dungeness crab, red curry sauce and crème fraiche. Seriously, I could have bowls and bowls of that without end.

{Get reservations for Revel via OpenTable}

Cider Tastings at Schilling Cider House – Brice and I are big cider fans so we encouraged our friends to branch out of their beer comfort zone to try some ciders with us. Schilling not only has a wide variety of their own ciders, but also has others on tap (32 in total) as well as 250 in refrigerated cases. You can get taster flights or pints with a really fun vibe full of young adults playing games like Jenga and Cards Against Humanity.

Theo Chocolate Factory Tour – While exploring the neighborhood, I passed an A-Frame sign that advertised the factory tours for Theo Chocolate, the nation’s first organic and free-trade chocolate maker. I have always really enjoyed Theo’s rich and complex chocolate bars and of course their confections like their Peanut Butter Cups.

I didn’t have any set plans and obviously this sounded up my alley so I popped in to see if I could get on the waitlist. Lucky for me as I was by myself (Brice was doing his own thing for the day), they were able to squeeze me into the next tour. Hairnets were donned and off we went into the factory.

While the 12 or so employees who work in the factory have the weekends off so we didn’t get to see them in action, it was still really interesting seeing all of the machinery. Our tour guide, Nicole, was excellent and shared a lot of information about their processes converted beans from Peru, Congo and Panama into delicious chocolate bars, as one of only 35 bean to bar chocolatiers in the US. That includes Hersey’s!

To make the tour even better, we got to sample a wide variety of chocolates and even leave with a chocolate bar!

If you want to ensure this as part of your itinerary, you can reserve your spot online.

Fremont Troll – As any good bridge should have, the George Washington Memorial Bridge has a giant troll living under it. The troll, made of steel rebar, concrete and wire, is 18 feet tall, has one glass eye and is smashing a VW bug under one arm. It is quirky but worth the visit if you are in the area (conveniently it is just up the street from the other Fremont places listed above).

Belltown/Capitol Hill

Sweets at Macrina Bakery – This little café/bakery was the perfect spot for an afternoon recharge. I indulged with a sugar cinnamon bun and a berry roll, made with croissant dough, though a lot of the options looked really great.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery – This was probably the swankiest and most fun Starbucks I’ve ever walked into. Not only do they have a full-service coffee bar of course, but they also have a wide selection of delicious looking foods, big couches and cozy tables, and a complete roastery for their small-batch “reserve” label. Anytime you see the “Reserve” star on their coffee, it is roasted in that very building in Seattle. It was fun seeing them roast the coffee beans in person, especially after my Theo Chocolate tour.

Dinner at Sitka & Spruce – I am so excited we were able to check this place out. I had heard about this restaurant featuring popular NW cuisine over the years and was also told about it by my dear friend Annie (who writes over at Serious Crust). I checked Open Table and sure enough, they didn’t have any openings for the next three days. I was bummed but thought I would go scope it out any way just in case. Fortunately they save tables for walk-ins!

Sitka & Spruce is nestled in the back of the Melrose Market, which is incredible. Under the same barn-like roof with an industrial chic feel, there is also Rain Shadow Meats case, Calf & Kid cheese shop, a wine bar, Bar Ferd’nand cocktail bar and a flower shop. It is beautifully decorated with each place looking separate but with a united feel and purpose. I first grabbed a flight of Italian wines at the wine bar while waiting for Brice to arrive.

We quickly got seated at two window seats at Sitka & Spruce and then got to eating and drinking.

We shared some delicious sourdough bread from their bakery, the London Plane (which was also on my list but alas will have to wait until next time) and killer soft butter – seriously how is butter this good? Julia Child would approve.

We shared the celeriac gnudi with black garlic, quinoa, toasted seeds, whey and mint; grilled beets with fermented walnut, pan drippings and kale leaves; and halibut with charred rutabaga, stinging nettles, almond milk and dill.

The staff, the food, the space, all amazing. I wholeheartedly suggest it.

{In case you don’t want to be like us and just hope there is a table, you can get reservations via OpenTable}

Tacoma

Museum of Glass – On the way back to Portland, we made a slight detour off the freeway to check out this art museum featuring work from artist Dale Chihuly. You can view beautiful glass sculptures along the waterfront or along the pedestrian bridge outside the museum. The best was watching the live glassmaking in their “Hot Shop” where artists were working on creating glass sculptures from local kids’ drawings.

It was such a fun, nice weekend. If you are looking for a Seattle getaway, I highly recommend all the above!