Music and Cats

One of the Food Network’s celebrities is the perky, giggly Rachael Ray, who each week eats her way across a different city on a budget of $40 a Day. For the 4th edition of Dine & Dish, Sam of Becks and Posh set this challenge: Be Rachael Ray for a Day in the city in which you live.

Seattle is a wonderful city for those who love to eat well. The Pacific Northwest provides a bounty of seafood, fruits and vegetables, wines, nuts and grains for those who would eat and drink locally. With ingredients of the quality found in Seattle’s markets, it would be hard to go wrong; Seattle’s many fine chefs respond to the region’s offerings with dazzling food. Trying to select a favorite day’s worth of meals from the entire spectrum of Seattle’s restaurants - even the moderately priced ones - was daunting, so I narrowed my scope to an area within a mile or two of my home.

Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, each of which has a distinct look and feel, a very particular sense of place. My neighborhood, Queen Anne, shares its name with the hill that it occupies just north of the Space Needle. Queen Anne is one of the older neighborhoods in this young city, and has the feel of a small town, with a main commercial street, Queen Anne Avenue, that reminds me in scale of many real small towns that I’ve known. To the west of Queen Anne is a low-lying area known as Interbay, bounded on the south by Elliot Bay (along which Seattle’s downtown extends), and on the north by Salmon Bay. Interbay is largely commercial and industrial, but there are treasures to be found there. On the north side of Salmon Bay is the neighborhood of Ballard. A separate city until Seattle annexed it in 1907, Ballard was settled by Scandinavian immigrants, whose cultural heritage is still evident. I’ll be spending my $40 in these three Seattle neighborhoods; let’s start close to home.

Breakfast: Macrina Bakery on Queen Anne

In an old brick building a few blocks from QA Avenue, the second Macrina Bakery & Cafe bakes the artisan breads and pastries that have made owner/baker Leslie Mackie a name in the baking community.

On weekend mornings, Macrina is packed (where’s that camera crew and advance scout when you really need them?), so I ordered a roly-poly bun ($2.50) and double caffe latte ($2.90) to go. The bun is a tender yeasted dough swirled with cinnamon, nuts and raisins and topped with a dollop of cream cheese icing; eat these often and you’ll live up to their name. Macrina’s coffee is the yummy organic “bakery blend” roasted for them by local roastery Caffe Vita.

Cost: $5.40($5.90 with tax)

Queen Anne is a neighborhood full of wonderful old Craftsman houses and marvelous views. Once the caffeine and sugar have kicked in, it’s time for a nice long walk around the ‘hood.

On Sundays, my favorite place to be is the Farmers Market in old Ballard, just a few minutes’ drive northwest from Queen Anne. If the drawbridge is up (the Lake Washington Ship Canal is heavily trafficked with pleasure boats on weekends), you’ll have time to enjoy the view of the boats on Salmon Bay. (If not, don’t worry; we’ll be back.)

Lunch: Bruschettina at Ballard Farmers Market

At farmers markets all around Puget Sound, chef Jennifer McIlvaine turns the day’s fresh produce into lovely light meals or snacks. Her blackboard lists the farmers and bakers from whom she has purchased the ingredients sizzling on portable gas grills.

For lunch, I ordered a trio of bruschetta topped with 1) chickpeas and octopus, 2) chevre and caramelized onions with rosemary and 3) beets, greens and balsamic. ($6) To drink, Bruschettina’s citrus mint juice, a mint-infused blend of tangerine, orange and lemon juice with a splash of sparkling water. ($2) I found a bench near the live music - this week a duo singing country-western classics - and enjoyed a marvelous mix of flavors and textures.

Bruschettina can be found in Columbia City on Wednesdays, Mulkilteo on Thursdays, Edmonds on Saturdays and Ballard on Sundays.

Cost: $8.00(Tax and tip included.)

The Ballard Farmers Market is held in Ballard’s Historic Landmark District, several blocks of old brick buildings now occupied by restaurants, pubs, architects, craftsmen and cool local shops. Most of the shops and restaurants are open on Sunday; take a stroll and look around. You might find the perfect mid-century Danish chair, or something else unexpected that you’ll have to take home.

Are you feeling a little tired? How about a coffee? (When in Seattle, and all that.) We’re heading back to Queen Anne now.

Afternoon pick-me-up: El Diablo Coffee Company

Of the eight coffee houses on the eight-block hilltop “main street” of Queen Anne Avenue, Diablo is my favorite, not only for its coffee, but for the vivid Latin-themed murals that cover its walls. This is the place to escape those rainy Seattle winter blues… which are, thankfully, still a couple of months away. While summer lingers, Diablo’s vine-shaded patio is a lovely spot to while away an afternoon, preferably in good conversation with a friend.

Diablo serves Cuban coffee; the beans are roasted at a higher temperature for a shorter time than most espresso roasts, and the coffee is brewed at a higher temperature. The resulting coffee is rich and smooth, with very little bitterness. I ordered a cortadito ($2) and slice of mojito tart ($3.50). The cortadito is a traditional Cuban coffee (strong espresso sweetened with caramelized sugar) topped with a little steamed milk and foam; it is a firecracker for your brain in a shot glass. The tart was flavored with lime and mint; think smooth key lime pie topped with minted cream. Yumm-ee!

Cost: $5.50($6.01 with tax and tip)

Sharing a building with Diablo is Queen Anne Books, a small, friendly, independent bookstore on the hill since 1989. The store’s owners, Cindy and Patti, were nurses prior to buying the bookstore in 1998; though they had little experience with bookselling prior to the purchase, they’ve made this bookstore a vital part of the neighborhood. While the store specializes in children’s books and literary fiction, the books in all sections are carefully chosen, and the staff will order any book that you want. Oh, oh! Over in the cookbook section, look! It’s Rachael herself. How cool is that?

After a long day of eating and walking and eating and shopping and eating and reading, aren’t you about ready for dinner? This blue-skied day is beginning to fade to evening; it’s a lovely time to be near the water. We’re going down the hill to Interbay.

Dinner: Chinook’s at Fisherman’s Terminal

On Salmon Bay just west of the Ballard Bridge is the Fishermen’s Terminal, home of Seattle’s ocean-going fishing fleet and the businesses that serve it. Adjacent to the piers is the powerfully striking Fishermen’s Memorial, which lists the names of Seattle fishermen/women lost at sea each year since the turn of the last century. It is a stark reminder of the dangers endured by those who make a living on small boats and high seas. I come to the Fishermen’s Terminal to eat the fish harvested by this fishing community, and I always pause to recognize their sacrifices.

Chinook’s, which looks out across the working marina to old Ballard, is known for its simply prepared, extremely fresh - and mostly regional - seafood. I had about half of my $40 budget still available, so I splashed out on alder planked Alaskan silver salmon ($17.95). Silver - or coho - salmon has a milder flavor than king (chinook) or sockeye (red) salmon. The alder planking - a Pacific Northwest Native method of grilling or roasting fish on alderwood - infused the fish with a light, sweet smokiness, which was complimented by a roasted sweet pepper beurre blanc. It’s finally the season for local corn here, so the ear of sweet corn was just that; sauteed potatoes rounded out a bea-u-tiful meal.

Cost: $17.95($19.61 with tax)

Total cost for a delicious day in my neighborhood(s): $38.65 ($39.52 with tax)

Of course, that’s not including generous tips, mummble for market produce, and mummble mummble for books.

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