seattle food tour

Early last month I went home to Washington state to see friends and family. It'd been a while since my last visit home, nearly a year and a half, and I was anxious to do some of the things I've always wanted to do in the Seattle area but never taken the time.

The first thing on my list was to take a private lesson at the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio. My friend C and I went together and had a blast. If you ever get a chance to blow glass, do it. It was loads of fun and I can't wait to try it again someday.

I also wanted to try a food tour in Seattle. I lived in Western Washington my entire life, and in West Seattle for a bit, but I'd never really taken the opportunity to fully explore the food scene. Shame. On. Me.

I've discovered in recent travels that one of the easiest ways to get acquainted with a city's food is to take a tour. It worked in Hawaii. And in NYC. Why not a town I've known my whole life?

graffiti in an alley near Pike's Place Market (right across from a great little comedy club called Comedy Underground)After perusing Trip Advisor I decided upon Savor Seattle Food Tours and my mom booked us tickets (thanks Mom, you rock!). The weather cooperated, our guide was amusing, and we had a fun group. All spelled success and we had a great time.

Our first stop was a neat little restaurant called Andaluca. There we tried some amazing sangria. It was easily one of the best sangrias I've ever tried, fruity but not too sweet, velvety on the tongue with just enough liquor to make you happy you're there.

We had a little amuse bouche size crispy duck cake served with an apricot chutney and a cucumber riata. I have to admit I didn't enjoy this at all. The apricot chutney was delicious, but the cucumber riata was too tangy for my liking (and I like tangy foods) and duck cake had a texture that I found unpleasing.

However, I finished off my mother's sangria and I remained quite happy.

We trotted over to Serious Pie, and what serious pies they are. It's one of Tom Douglas' more casual affairs; the pizza is undeniably delicious. Douglas is nothing if not well known in the Seattle area, owning at least 6 different eateries downtown. I've only ever eaten at his seafood-centric Etta's near Pike's Place, but I admit I wasn't impressed with their lobster rolls.

The pizzas were glorious though. All ooey-gooey melted cheese and chewy, thin crust. The traditional margherita was delicious, but it was the truffle-mushroom pizza that really did it for me.

Cremini mushrooms and truffle cheese - deelish. I was mildly irritated that we had to stand outside on the sidewalk and eat our pizza standing up, but it appears that this is an issue at Serious Pie whether you're on a tour or not. Space is at a premium and you're probably better off ordering to-go.

The market was next, one of my favorite places in the world. When I lived in West Seattle (actually, on the other side of that hill in the background behind the sign) I used to come to Pike's often to buy parrot tulips, squid ink pasta, cinnamon-honey creme, and all sorts of other goodies. It's a fun place to be and even better when you can get there in the off hours when the tourists haven't yet made it out.

Next up was La Buona Tavola, a truffle store. In an effort of full disclosure I'll admit right here that I've always maintained a kind of love-hate relationship with truffles. I've been on the fence about them for a while - intrigued by their aroma but also slightly repelled. I've been sampling them off and on in the hopes that I'd develop a taste for them - hey, it took me about ten years to get used to mustard and now I can't get enough of the stuff.

Thankfully my palate couldn't have picked a better time to decide to finally adore truffles. We sampled a simple potato and leek soup (a kind of hot vicchyssoise) first on its own and then with a few drops of white truffle oil.

My. God.

It was delicious.

In fact, I bought a bottle of white truffle oil to take home with me.

I also took full advantage of that lovely table filled with truffle oils, creams, and pleasantries. It was fabulous.

We also tried an arugula pâté that I found more pleasing to the eye than the tongue. I'm a huge fan of arugula, but this just didn't really do it for me - too vinegary. It made a lovely presentation, though.

We popped over to Il Bistro on Pike Street to enjoy some saffron risotto with Chef Nathan Lane.

The risotto was well prepared, but I'm not a huge fan of saffron so it was largely lost on me. I did however enjoy the Sangiovese they paired with it quite immensely.

In fact, were a wild bottle of it to appear on anyone's travels I wouldn't be averse to finding some on my doorstep. Wink, wink. My disappointment over the risotto was soon assuaged by polishing off my mother's glass of wine as well (methinks Mom and I should hang out more often, no?).

We stopped off at the Pike Brewing Co. next, but there's enough info there to qualify as an article on its own. It'll be up shortly.

When I think of the Four Seasons Hotel I'll admit that mini burgers are not the first thing that come to mind. However, after having tried them I can't imagine why they wouldn't be - delectable little bites of tender beef patties on spongy buns. The Four Seasons has definitely cornered the market on sliders, let me tell you that.

They were served with a DRY kumquat soda. DRY is a local brand of soda that is fairly new on the market. By dry they mean largely unsweetened, but the soda lacks in no way in the absence of the tooth-rotting amount of sugars present in most soda.  The kumquat was delicious with the burger, but after visiting the website I'm very interested in the rhubarb flavor.

A gelateria was our last stop - a perfect endnote to a surprisingly warm and sunny Seattle day.

I believe the lighter color was a caramel flavor, but I really only ate the raspberry. It was so fresh and perfectly made that had it not been for the caramel gelato melting in the dish I would've licked it clean.

A lovely day with family and food in my hometown. I could get used to this whole food tour thing.

Any Seattleites think we missed something on the tour that I should definitely try next time I go home? Or is there a particular tour or food in your town that warrants a trip just to try it?

Because believe me, I've done crazier things than drive 4 hours for a cheeseburger.

Comments

[kristin @ going country]

Well. I think my Slippery Sidecars warrant a pretty long drive, but that could just be consummate egotism.

[Mom]

And what a wonderful day it was, and I also think that we should hang out more often, even if it means I get wine and sangria that I don't drink just so I can share with you. I liked the pizza, although standing on the sidewalk next to a construction area and eating it was not my idea of a good impression. The sliders were awesome and I liked the Dry soda also. I still don't care for Truffle anything, but the raspberry gelato was outstanding. The risotto was ok and the duck cake was not pleasing at all. Thanks for the wonderful day daughter, without you I never would have done anything like this.