Oh,
the shame of having a fabulous trip to Seattle and not writing it up while it
all fresh in my mind. Perhaps that’s one
way of editing myself, to wait three weeks and see what I still remember. In my defense, I’ve just spent ten days at
the amazing Virginia Center for Creative
Arts (VCCA)
where I immersed myself in my novel-in-progress (which is starting to feel more
like a novel and less like a 200-page mess).
There were two days of magical writing, where ideas and sentences flowed
like a river, and eight days of the more brutal hard work of pushing, prodding,
and hoping—which is a pretty good ratio, I’d say.
Anyway…time
to catch up on Seattle, where I went to the AWP conference, the largest gathering of writers in the country. I believe they’re up to 13,000 of us in this
one place. Thank goodness Seattle was up
for the task of absorbing us and making sure we all got enough excellent food
and liquor.
I
had the first afternoon to explore on my own, and it was oysters all the
way: a wonderful selection of six at
Cutters Crabhouse, and then I won’t tell you how many at Elliott’s Oyster House, which
was an oyster bar I will dream about for the rest of my days. Let’s just say, I ordered six, and they were
the best oysters I’ve ever had—each unique, each bright, each with lingering
mouth-feel and taste. I may have ordered
more after that first six…but how many more will be my little secret! Perfect wine pairing, and very friendly waiter
(everyone in Seattle was super-friendly—buzzed on coffee?). I didn’t want to ever leave. I’m sorry to say that I’m pretty sure that
west coast oysters are the best. And
this place was so serious about oysters the menu included information about how
they were harvested! (For the super-serious, here are my selections: Otter
Cove, Penn Cove, Hama Hama, Fanning Bay [can’t read the handwriting!], Eagle
Creek, Calm Cove.)
I
walked through the Pike Place Market and the surrounding area and truly almost
went insane because I wanted to eat EVERYTHING!
It was overwhelming, and I wish I had four stomachs like those lucky
cows. I tried some chowder at Pike Place
Chowder, pastry at Piroshky Piorshky, and stared longingly at the ginger beer
place, the cheese place, and a thousand other places and produce stands. I cracked when I found the Copperworks Distillery,
and tried a small (honestly, VERY small) sample of gin and bought some interesting-looking,
amber tonic (Bradley’s Kina Tonic) that Steve later noticed was featured in the
new issue of Imbibe
magazine (yes, there’s a magazine for mixologists).
There
had to be some space between all this eating, and woman does not live on food
alone…she needs books! I found the
deservedly famous Seattle Public Library, which is an architecture wonder
and—if the crowds are an indication—a vital part of the fabric of the
city. Seriously, this building is so
beautiful and such an incredible showcase for the vibrancy of books that I
almost cried as I rode the artsy escalators to the top floor for a fly’s eye
view of the city through the glittering glass panels. Of course I bought a ton of stuff in the gift
shop. (See below for some photos I took with my NEW smartphone!!!)
That
night, I met up with some fabulous Converse students at the Taphouse Grill,
which had about a zillion beers—seriously, out spot at the bar faced a solid
and vast wall of beer taps—and then hung out with more Converse folks at Wild Ginger, a Thai and Thai-inspired
restaurant that created one of the most perfect appetizers I’ve ever had, which
basically was a salmon curry compacted and distilled to its essence, all wrapped
up in a banana leaf. I had made a big
production of how I don’t like sharing food and wanted my own…but when I got
this dish, it was so incredible that I had to force bites upon other people so
they could try it and I could watch their faces when their tastebuds got the
hit. This is why they trusted me when I ordered
ginger ice cream for dessert to share, and that, too, was incredible.
Another
dinner highlight was Miller’s Guild,
located in a hip-happening hotel (not part of the conference hotel selections!)
that was also one of Seattle’s oldest buildings (1926). The restaurant was known for some sort of
famous wood grill that looked very fiery and intense. So I had to get beef—so tender and lush—but
the most memorable aspect of this wonderful meal (with another fabulously
friendly waiter!) was the cask-aged gin old-fashioned. Yes, a GIN old-fashioned. If you’re not up on current mixology
experimentation, aging spirits for several weeks in a wooden cask is the new
thing—flavor and color is added, and what flavor! This was about as perfect a drink that could
exist. I was so enamored of it (and knew
Steve would want to know everything about it) that the friendly waiter sent
over the friendly bartender who answered every question I had—which gin, which
bitters, what kind of sugar for the simple syrup.
Did
I mention that people were friendly? And
that Seattle actually can be gloriously sunny, and when it is, people are even friendlier?
This
might not come as a shock to you, dear reader, but it was a shock to me that I
felt sick on Friday night, something sudden and drastic. And—brace yourself—I HAD TO MISS A MEAL!* The horror, the
horror. But I hear that the Purple Café and
Wine Bar was wonderful. Next time (and
there will be a next time; despite my extended stay due to weather, I am not
done with Seattle).
Caution
prevailed food-wise the next day, Saturday, which almost broke my heart.
And
then the gods intervened in the form of a snowstorm in Washington that delayed
my Sunday flight until Tuesday. And,
lucky for me, I was stranded with a DC friend who also had not had her fill of
Seattle!
Sunday
morning, I jumped back on the food wagon with a wonderful breakfast at the bar
of Lola, a
happening breakfast/brunch spot with an hour long wait, unless you lucked into
a seat at the bar, as I instantly did (as if the food gods felt sorry for my
prolonged compromised state). Awesome
bloody marys, and the bartender was pouring them out at a rate of about one
every two minutes.
I
walked to the Seattle art museum and took a guided tour of the Joan Miro
exhibit which was informative. I liked
the museum overall, especially a wild and wonderful exhibit of African art.
My
friend and I taxied up to the Capitol Hill area for drinks and dinner, and what
a night! One of the best food
experiences I’ve ever had. This was the
night of the Oscars (on west coast time, remember) so there were no crowds,
which made for a pleasant evening. First stop:
Tavern Law, a craft cocktail
bar, with a thoughtful menu and a—guess what!—friendly bartender (thank you,
Michael)! I had to try a gin drink with
egg white, since that’s something you don’t find at most bars (making a drink
properly involves much, much, much shaking, which is hard on the arms and
rotator cuff), so I had the Lusty Lady, which was delectable without being
cloying: Genever gin, cranberry juice (I think…fuzzy notes!), egg white, and
something lavender…actual lavender? Lavender simple syrup? For my second drink, the bartender went
off-menu for me, making a drink he had invented that involved—I kid you
not—blue cheese tincture and saffron tincture. How does a drink work with blue
cheese, you wonder? Amazingly! (I mean, as long as you’re a blue cheese
fan.) There was an earthy after-glow
that was surprising in a delightful way.
(See Steve’s “Two at the
Most” column for more on Tavern Law.)
Alas,
we had to get some real food, so we walked to Lark
and settled into a wonderful booth and had one of the best meals I’ve had, EVER. The waiter spoke my language immediatelywhen
he came to tell us about the menu and that everything was a “small plate” and
that most people got three things.
Three! Yay! Exactly what I wanted to hear…though it was
hard to pick three. I decided a focus on
fish would make sense, so I started with a yellowtail tuna Carpaccio that was
bright and melted on the tongue. And my
friend had heard the char was to die for, so we both got that and if dying is
anything like what that char tasted like, sign me up! (For the super-serious, the dish is actually
called: “Arctic Char with Brussels
Sprouts, Smoked Butter, and Rye Salt).
So beyond lovely…lovely times infinity.
(This is where I wish I had been taking notes, but I always find that
it’s much more fun to simply eat and enjoy the moment.) I felt guilty for so much indulgence that I asked
the waiter for a vegetable recommendation, and he suggested the Bloomsdale spinach
sautéed with Meyer lemon butter. Any
spinach with its own special name had to be something worth checking out, and
it, too, was AMAZING! If I could only
have one meal in Seattle, Lark would have to arm-wrestle with oysters at
Elliott’s.
On
Monday, I walked back up to Capitol Hill, which was an interesting city walk
and gave me a stronger feel for the real town, away from the tourist/convention
life of downtown. I came across about 1000
coffee shops and tiny restaurants that were begging me to eat something…more
heartbreak as I pressed onward, to The
Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle’s (deservedly) famous and amazing
bookstore. I had decided that I would
spend as much time as I wanted to, looking at books, reading staff
recommendations, and my mission was to buy books by people I didn’t know or
know of, books I hadn’t heard about…to just explore and go wherever that led
me. So, two hours and six books later, I
emerged as if from a dream. This is
probably the best bookstore I’ve ever been in (I guess if I could only go to
one, it would have to arm-wrestle The Strand in New York City), and certainly
one of the best bookstore experiences. (You
can read about one of the books I bought and read, The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout, here.)
For
a light lunch, I picked Oddfellows Café,
a hipsterish, brunchy vibe in an old, restored Odd Fellows building from the
20s or so. The salad was…amazing! And scrambled eggs with cheese on homemade
biscuit with homemade strawberry jam was…amazing! The eggs were such that the cheddar had
melded into them, as if into its own form of food product. So yellow!
And walking back to the hotel, I came across a dog park, so I
people/dog-watched in the sun, which is—surprisingly, since I’m not really a
dog person—is one of my very favorite city activities.
And
the last meal: Blueacre Seafood, where I had another
really excellent salad (lavender-infused goat cheese!) and, of course, finally,
SALMON with a brown butter sauce and almonds and dried cherries. Ah, so this is
what salmon really can be? Again, sign
me up! And for dessert, salted caramel
pot de crème, so rich and luscious I regret to this day that I had to leave
behind two bites.
And
off to the airport the next day, sitting on the plane with my friend for entertainment,
my amazing book to read, and time to digest it all before hitting DC and snow.
Oh,
the AWP conference….right. That was
fabulous too…learned a lot, talked a lot, listened a lot, ended up with a lot
of journals, saw a lot of cool people, had a lot of fun doing my four-minute
reading of this story.
_____________
*Please
note that on these extravaganzas I do not typically eat three meals a day. Otherwise, you’re right, I would
explode. But it was awful to have to
miss a planned meal (not to mention the fine company I was supposed to dine
with).
Here are some pictures of the public library (uh-oh...I've got a smart phone now, but I'll try not to get out totally out of control):
