THE EMERALD CITY - SEATTLE

Photograph by David Hogan
My trip to the "Emerald City" was driven by an event, but, I didn't really have to find an excuse to be in Seattle. I love being surrounded by the lush green hills and the clean blue skyline, not to mention, the vast array of dining choices that stretch out over the city. Seattle is a seductive food fest. Oysters were on the top of my go-to Seattle menu. Shuckers (located in the Fairmont Hotel) was my first mollusk stop of choice. The restaurant is known for its vast selection, including Stellar Bay, Evening Cove, Kumamoto, Emerald Bay, Olympia, Wescott Bay Flats and Hama Hama.


Photograph by Monyca White
No visit to Seattle is complete without taking a journey through Pikes Place, a.k.a. the Soul of Seattle. I walked past the famous salmon tossing fish mongers and spied a great selection of apples, pears, dungeness crab, and various artisan cheese products.

Photograph by Ricardo Carreon

When I reached the Market Grill I sat down and thoroughly enjoyed their freshly caught grilled salmon toasted baguette sandwich. Uli's famous Sausage, Inc. also caught my attention. The master butcher and owner is a certified meister from Westphalia Germany (known as sausage country). I tasted their chorizo and lamb sausage chili. This was a tasty way to warm up from Seattle's cool ocean breeze.

Cherry Bomb Pepper-Sweet Fennel Pizza Photo by Heath Ashli
After spending time at the market, I went in to ETTA's for a glass of wine where I was pleasantly surprised to run into Tom Douglas. He is one of Seattle's best known chefs and owns five different restaurants, including Serious Pie and LOLA. Tom had taught a cooking class at the Greenbrier when I worked there. It was great to catch up with him and all his various projects. During the trip I made it a point to stop at Lola's where I had the delectable curried goat tagine. I also had one of the best pizzas I've ever tasted at Tom's pizzeria, Serious Pie. Anything that has a name like Cherry Bomb Peppers and Sweet Fennel Sausage is well worth the trip to Seattle alone.
Serious Pie Coaster Photograph by Rebecca Burgess