Monday, March 28, 2011

Tossed salads and scrambled eggs...[Seattle Part I]

Seattle in March isn't actually the ideal respite -- weather-wise -- from a chilly Minnesota winter. After all, it was still in the 30's and 40's when I arrived there for a family vacation two weeks ago. Despite the light showers that dotted my vacation, I had such an amazing time in the beautiful Emerald City (and Vancouver, part deux!) with my lovely famiglia.

Seattle feels like a very livable and lively city, with plenty of neighborhoods to explore, an appealing culture and a fascinating history, all surrounded by ridiculously gorgeous nature, including Mt. Rainier. It's larger than Minneapolis, but has a few similarities to my current city, such as its high literacy rate, beautiful Central Public Library, and (of course!) a great foodie heaven. My family can seriously spend 90% of our vacation time just eating,; we could be on a safari trip in Africa, and all we'd want to do is eat the same gazelle that lion is gnawing on (note to self: Africa trip?). That said, we did find some time to look up from our plates and embark on other activities...

Wednesday:
It's almost freaky how I'm always the first one to wake up when I'm on vacation, especially since I used to have to be kicked (literally) by my sister to wake up for school or church. I guess I was still operating on Central Standard Time. This has absolutely nothing to do with anything, except that I would like to gloat about my awesomeness. OK thank you.
Our first stop was Pioneer Square to do the Bill Speidel's Underground Tour. I was surprised at how hilly the city is (how could I have missed that fact from my Wikipedia research beforehand? tsk tsk), and equally relieved that we were driving around my 'rents minivan. The Underground Tour tells the fascinating history of Seattle's crappy days when it was a city built on sea level, and during high tide everything from the sea washed back ashore (think about it: everything that went out, coming back in). Long story short, merchant vs. city = stores built before street level was raised = underground city. It's hard to explain, but fun to explore.


We had lunch @ Red Mill, after it was lauded quite heavily on Man V. Food. I gotta say, though, I've had better burgers. Perhaps it was just because it wasn't prime time (i.e lunch), but the burger wasn't at its peak of perfection. That said, it was a very good burger...it's just that I've also had ridiculously good burgers elsewhere.
Red Mill Onion Jam Burger with cheese

Because I grew a sweet tooth somewhere between California and Minnesota, I now have to have dessert after every proper meal. So, before we go back to the touristy spots, we decided to go the nearest sweets place with a high Yelp! rating = Hiroki, which is this adorable shop in a residential neighborhood with very yummy specialty cheesecakes. Word of advice: Get the green tea cheesecake; it's so decadent but refreshing. Pair it with a steaming cup of jasmine tea, and I feel so lackadaisical (I admit, I had to use spell check for that...darn it!)


Feeling very stuffed (but not guilty; we bury that emotion down during vacations), we decided to walk off a miniscule % of our calorie intake at the Seattle Center in the Queen Anne neighborhood. It was pretty cloudy already, but we still got to briskly tour a sliver of the place, making stops at the Experience Music Center (which was closing at that point) and of course, the Space Needle. The place reminded me of Tomorrowland in Disneyland, particularly the monorail that ran from SC to the shopping district. I mean, c'mon can you blame the kid? 
The Contours of the slightly confusing Experience Music Center/Science Fiction Museum


As day was turning into night, we decided to catch great sunset views at the quintessential Seattle tourist destination: Pike Place Market. Unfortunately (because it is a functioning market that has regular hours), a lot of the storefronts were already closing by the time we got there. But not before I caught (haha, lame pun) a glimpse of the flying fish being thrown by those fish guys. Now, if only I had the moolah to actually buy that fish. 
I was able to get some piroshkies from Piroshky, Piroshky, which apparently is an Anthony Bourdain- approved food place (um, hell yeah I'm going to buy bad-ass food). A piroshky is basically a Russian meat-stuffed bun, which is something I bet every cuisine has (from empanadas to varenikis to turnovers to samosas, we all love our buns stuffed; and please get your mind out of the gutter). 

But, the piece de resistance, the crowning jewel, the highlight of the day would have to be my visit to the first ever Starbucks in the world. Yeah, you know that Pike Place they refer to in their Pike Place Roasts? Yeah, it's this Pike Place, bitch. 

Ok, I get a little crude when I get excited, my apologies. (You sure wouldn't want me around fireworks, then). But, you gotta understand, this is my Disneyland, man; I drink way too much Starbucks coffee not to be all giddy about the mother of all Starbucks stores. Come to think of it, it's probably all that SB coffee that's making me jittery. 
My silly arm is covering the word "First"

After downing my 3rd cup of caffeine for the day, I close my first eventful day in Seattle with a couple episodes of Southland, and a plan for tomorrow, when we shall travel to that strange, foreign land called Vancouver, Canada. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Burger Club

I love burgers. No words have rung truer. I love burgers because they combine three of my most favorite food groups: bread (Carbs), meat (Protein), and cheese (Fat), coz I need cheese on mine all the time. Also, I'm not a burger purist by any stretch of the imagination; if you've got intriguing ways to get a burger to an 11, by all means go ahead and do it. That's why some of my favorite burgers in recent memory include the Black & Blue burger from Eli's in Minneapolis, and the Jiffy Burger from Blue Door Pub in St. Paul. 


That said, I also believe that for any burger to be epic, you have to lay a strong foundation...that is, you gotta have fresh, juicy, delicious burger meat. And the 112 Burger at 112 Eatery epitomizes how memorably good a basic cheeseburger experience could be. 


I've been to 112 Eatery several times already since I moved to Minneapolis; three times already since the beginning of 2011. Excessive? Probably. But oh-so-worth it. I love feasting over their appetizers and shared plates more than I do their entrees. Oh, and I might've swooned over their butterscotch budino, too. It's probably my 2nd favorite restaurant in Minneapolis (right after my neighborhood joint, Eli's). For this latest visit, I joined a wonderful group called "The Burger Club" to try their famous burger. Can I just digress and say that Minnesotans are obsessed with burgers, so much so that someone decided to have a burger make love to a slice of cheese and -- voila! -- the Jucy Lucy is born. 


Anyway, back to my aventura de carnivoro. First off, I got some refreshing, acidic Limonata to provide some break from the (foreseeably) greasy burger:
Then, they served us with these simple but addictive peanuts:

Given that this was my first attendance of the Burger Club, I didn't want to commit heresy by ordering something other than the burger, but 112's menu sure as hell looked enticing. Steak tartare? Raw oysters? Tie me down now before I go mental: 

But, I'm here for the burger. Like everything else on their menu, 112 Eatery's Cheeseburger is so fantastically delicious and delivers a fully-flavored punch to the gut (the good, playful kind of punch). Again, when you do the basics perfectly, you get perfect results. The meat is a wonderful medium-rare, seasoned very lightly but heightened by the tiny bits of sweet onion mixed into the patty. The cheese is really where the saltiness comes from. Then it's all laid on a toasted English muffin. 


And, for a burger that's seemingly tiny, this baby is actually a fat baby; it's pretty fulfilling. It must be all that gooey, melty brie cheese, or that healthy burger patty, or the buttery muffin. Whatever it is, it was enough to put a dent in stomach and a smile on my face. In other words, I left a beat up, upbeat fool. 


What's your favorite burger, and where can I get it? 

Monday, March 21, 2011

Have you eaten yet?

Thus, the backbone of every Filipino household's greeting: Kumain ka na ba? Have you eaten yet? Even if it's 3 in the morning, your host will still ask if you've eaten already, or would like something to eat. It doesn't matter if they have to wake up the help to get some burgers from Burger Machine, or set out extra plates whilst their own family is in the middle of lunch, the Filipino household's hospitality is pretty unparalleled in that regard.

And, while I've spent the last 8 years living in the States now, with a family that eats out more than we'd care to admit, that habit of asking visitors -- expected and unexpected, wanted and unwanted, from your mother to your mother-in-law -- "Have you eaten yet?" as a form of "Hello" has stuck. Back in San Gabriel, instead of setting out extra silverware, we love inviting people to restaurants that are either our go-to's or new places we'd like to try out, too. That's how we found out our first "regular" restaurant; our close friends brought us to Noodle World in Alhambra and introduced us to the awesomeness that is every-popular-Asian-cuisine-imaginable. Now that I'm living on my own, in my adult shoes with my grown-up job, I continue to greet my friends, family, and (once in a blue DC moon) strangers with an invite to chow down and discover new restaurants or rediscover favorites.

That's also why I wanted to start this blog. Writing is a release for me, as well as the only art form I am actually any good at. And the dining experience is my muse. Through this blog, I hope to explore with y'all the foodie heavens (or foodie hells; it all depends) that I encounter in my current home -- Minneapolis/St. Paul, in the places I visit, and sometimes rarely in my own test kitchen. I think the dining table is oftentimes the best place to bond with family, friends, and new possibilities; hopefully, this virtual dining table (I know, cheese is seeping from every pore of my skin) will foster thoughtful or silly or funny or cynical -- and altogether human -- dialogue. While this site won't be all about the edibles (nope, not that kind of edibles, silly rabbit), there'll still be lots of food for thought (someone stop me before I say another painfully corny line).

At the very least, I aim to make you hungry with my food photos and wish that you have eaten already. That being said, I'm going to make myself a sandwich. Love, peace, and chicken grease.
And chicken feet, too!