Spring season is upon us and our first weekend without travels or guests also greeted us with mostly sunny skies and a holiday to celebrate on our own. It was a rather glorious week in Seattle!
Monday was an excessively busy day for me with events throughout the day; two meetings for this Ottawa Light Rail job I am on, a lunch presentation given by a supplier from Powers Fasteners, and then an early departure at 4 pm to ride the newly opened University Link followed with a very happy happy hour at Poquitos to celebrate the success. Dos mezcal margaritas for me and a ton of appetizers with the company footing the bill suited me just fine. Monday also completed the end of our Lindy Hop 1 dance class at Century Ballroom. Moving onto the Lindy Hop 2a.
Wednesday night Andrew and Angela and the two of us ventured out via ferry to Bainbridge Island to dine at the always-wonderful Hitchcock restaurant a short walk from the ferry dock. Similar to when we went in November, Dine Around Seattle was occurring, so for $33 we were all able to select three courses. Additionally, Bryan and I shared a supremely delicious Aquavit cocktail and the rather steal of a price $17 wine pairing for the three courses as well as one of Andrew’s brother’s newly released bottles of wine from their winery in Napa called Guardian. All beverages were delicious and complemented the fantastic meal. Bryan and I shared tastes of all three courses, those being:
APPETIZER
Mead-marinated beets, wild watercress, honey-roast hazelnuts, ricotta salata
Smoked sockeye, Saboteur rye, cultured cream, pickles of all types, dill
ENTREE
albacore
sunchoke, pea shoots, marinated egg, seaweed
roast half chicken
celery root, heirloom chicories, spiced preserved lemon, oregano
DESSERT
chocolate mousse
elderflower chantilly, pistachio
profiterole with pear & crème fraiche ice cream
pâte a choux, Armagnac caramel, walnut
The beets and salmon for the first course were beautiful and delicious and I really loved the simple elegance of the roasted chicken but also the uniqueness of the albacore tuna entree. I think both desserts were much better than they have ever been at Hitchcock, with the mousse so dense and rich and the profiterole very nice with the creamy ice cream and very good caramel sauce. But like last time, it was the conversation with good friends and the experience of taking the ferry over that really makes for this bi-annual retreat so fun.
Thursday night was the first time in a long time the famous restaurant, Lark, was Guest Chef for the night and thanks to that it sold out a week ahead of time. We had a busy night with the full house but an intriguing meal to end the night with our friends. For dinner we had a warming but light roasted rutabaga soup with brown butter and hazelnuts, smoked pork loin with popcorn grits, goat cheese and nettles, and finished with a toasted rice pudding with creme fraiche and black truffle. Wholly wow was this a great dinner! Very surprising flavors that really made it interesting.
Friday night was FREEEEEEEEEEEE! Bryan and I reveled in this rare occurence with dinner and a movie at home. Bryan made the steaks to perfection!
Saturday was the first weekend in a long time that we could wake up at home and make brunch at home, something we truly love to do! We made a great sausage and veggie hash together topped with fried runny eggs. I spent the morning planting some of my vegetable seeds in indoor peat containers before setting out for our weekly 6+ mile run at Seward Park. Truly beautiful day for a run and it felt so good! We ran several errands; picked out a table top for a custom-made desk we are getting from Ballard Reuse, bought a bottle of whiskey for a gift, bought some cigars for Bryan’s groomsmen, and then set out for Renton to our friend Chef Drew’s going away party with him and his wife planning to take a break from Seattle and FareStart to take a cooking class in Italy and travel around Europe for three months. They invited everyone over to clean out their pantry and of course the food, drink and company were all exceptionally welcome. The night was sealed with sitting around their fire. Bryan and I picked up the Big Short and The Night Before form Redbox to watch and enjoyed them both.
Easter Sunday came and Bryan and I were able to attend church in the morning with brunch at Harvest Vine afterwards. The morning was noteworthy with a very hope-filled service followed by a walk down the street for the legendary huevos a la flamenco. Bryan and I each got our own baked eggs, split the patatas bravas, the pan con tomato, and a vanilla bun. The rest of Sunday was spent making phone calls, cleaning up around the house a bit, going for a walk in Capitol Hill to return the Redbox and enjoy the rain-free afternoon, and then making a ham(steak) Easter dinner for the two of us at home.
Spring is officially here; the birds are pretty vocal, the sun is making more of an appearance and we are looking to get our first 70 degree days here this week. I’ll take it!
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 