A Love Song for Marjorie

Let me be very clear about something. I'm not a food critic, don't pretend to be one and really, REALLY don't want to be one. I also have a VERY strong dislike for the term "foodie." To me, that term implies a person who judges food, thinks of themselves as an authority on food and who only eats in fancy restaurants. Of course, I fully understand that there are thousands of people out there (most of them with food blogs) who embrace the term and don't fit any of my ill conceived stereotypes. Many of them appreciate a meal from a food truck and a Michelin rated restaurant with equal enthusiasm. As for me, I just love great food and I love great company. When you get the combination of the two just right, the resulting experience is memorable and filling in multiple ways.  

Words and Flavors {Book Bindery}

Long before I caved to B's suggestion of a food blog, I had a photo album on my Facebook page called "Words and Flavors" with various food and menu photos I've taken along the way.  Never did a title fit anything as well as it fit tonight's Thursday Night Bite at the Book Bindery.

We looked forward to their opening for months.  Since the closing of the Local Vine in Belltown, we'd known that TLV's Chef de Cuisine, Jon, would be joining the Book Bindery as sous chef.  I can't say that there are two things I love more than books and great food, so I was thrilled with the concept.  Add the fact that they were opening in a warehouse occupied by the Almquist VInters, on the water at the edge of Queen Anne, and I'd decided I loved this place before they moved a stick of furniture in the door.  All of that aside, I was secretly a bit worried.  What happens if a place you're so looking forward to that employs someone whose food you already know you love doesn't live up to your expectations?  I still have no idea.  I can't answer that question because the Book Bindery far surpassed everything I was hoping for.

(chi-KET-tee) on the Eve of Thursday Night

I've been eating there for months now and pronouncing it wrong.  It's Cicchetti, pronounced Chi-ket-tee, not Ki-Chet-tee.  It's helpful that they provide a phonetic spelling on the top of the menu, but only if you pay attention to it.

After last week's failed attempt at visiting Cicchetti, I'd sort of moved past the craving.  B, on the other hand, apparently had not.  As we crossed the bridge about 4:45 this afternoon, he commented on the fact that had we not left work so early, we could have made a stop there on the way home.  Not 5 minutes later, I noticed he was taking the wrong exit onto I-5... or the right exit if you're heading to Eastlake.

Cicchetti is one of those places where it's usually sunnier on the inside than on the outside... even on cloudless days.  The interior is friendly and it's definitely somewhere that's easy to just sit and stay for a long while.  Please forgive the photo qualilty.  I inadvertently flipped a switch on my camera that's been making all my photos grainy for a couple days.

Sunday Kitchen Adventures

So, here's the thing about me.  I love food and I love restaurants, but I don't particularly like cooking.  I'm not so much bad at it as reluctant to do it.  I cook because it would be ridiculous to eat out every night and because I generally like to know what goes into my food.  If I lived alone (and when I lived alone), I would eat mostly raw vegetables and fruit for dinner... less clean up.  Every once in awhile, though, I get an idea stuck in my head and I focus on it until I've seen it through.

Local Vine... Take 2!

For a little while, I thought tonight's Thursday Night Bite might be of the home cooking variety.  We use Amazon Fresh for at least 95% of our grocery shopping.  In addition to meaning that I rarely set foot in a grocery store, it also means that we have access to some interesting food items that aren't available in local stores.  My latest discovery are FRESH HATCH GREEN CHILES.  This is a HUGE deal if you're from New Mexico.  When they arrived yesterday, I promptly thrust my nose into the package, expecting to smell home... the scent was scarce and waning.  I didn't care.  I'll take it!  Now comes the challenge of roasting them in my Seattle oven rather than in a gas-powered, New Mexico roaster (to be driven home leaving your car smelling like chile for a week) as they should be.  In any case, my plan for tonight was to roast my 4 lbs. (yes, 4lbs, not 40) in my Viking oven.  
Anyway, my plans were derailed in favor of another Local Vine night.  The logic was that I'll be more relaxed on Friday night and enjoy roasting and peeling my green chile that much more.

Forget Thursday... Monday night bites (and not in a good way)... {Black Bottle}

I had my heart set on Cicchetti tonight.  I mean, I REALLY had my heart set on Cicchetti.  We started going there a few months ago after I read a review online.  It's this fun little spot built in what used to be a 2 story house behind Serafina in Eastlake.  They serve mostly small plates and great drinks.  Seating is all self-serve on both bright, cheerfully decorated floors.  I have quite a few favorites at Cicchetti, but today the saltcod fritters were on my mind.  ALL day.  By the time we crossed 520, B had heard enough about it, so he willingly drove us there on our way home.

As it turns out, they aren't open on Mondays.  After standing on the street corner and walking back and forth between there and the front door of Serafina for 10 minutes, we finally figured it out (Serafina was open, but we didn't feel like Italian).  Getting back into the car (after much grumbling from me), we decided on Marjorie instead.  B wisely suggested that I check their hours before we got there.  Also closed.  REALLY?!?!  We've often had trouble finding an open restaurant on Sunday night, but never had this problem on a Monday before.

We probably should have just gone home since it wasn't the idea of eating out that I was attached to, but the specific restaurant.  At this point, though, we were on a quest for a restaurant open on Mondays.  I didn't start out feeling like I needed a drink, but by the time we got home, I'd decided that I did, in fact, need a drink and didn't feel like cooking... never mind the fact that I'm a terrible, reluctant cook.  We decided on Black Bottle (open 4PM-2AM daily... thank you).

Bonus Weather

Once the weather in Seattle has turned, you sort of resign yourself to the fact that you've seen the last of the sun until July.  Of course, even in Seattle, we're bound to get a sunny day here and there.  That's called bonus weather.  Today,we got a HUGE bonus... High 70's, clear skies, awesome.  The total attitude transformation that takes place in this city on sunny days is astounding.  There are people everywhere on the streets.  They're smiling, friendly... grateful. 

Blame it on the bartender... {Paddy Coyne's}

I’m not the first (or even the fiftieth) person to write about food and how the act of eating together is far less about the food than it is about the experience, socialization and community.  Whether you eat alone, with one special person or share a meal with many, the experience can be equally poignant.  Though I didn’t realize it until a couple of years ago, food has always been a very important part of my life.