Seattle foodfest: part one

Aka ‘The Tom Douglas Odyssey’…

Since the boys have an annual winter school break, we decided to take a short culinary tour to one of our favorite cities: Seattle. The idea originated with Tate, who has been obsessed (to say the least) with the made-to-order donuts at Lola (recommended by Giada de Laurentis on the ‘Totally Fried’ edition of ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’). Seattle was at the top of his list of places to visit; the decision was made even easier by the fact that airfares are relatively cheap this time of year (rainy season?). Well, the joke was on Alaska Airlines because we had 3.5 days of absolutely sunny weather! A bit chilly in the AM and PM, but otherwise nice the entire time.

After discovering that one of the hotels on my ‘must visit’ list (Ace Hotel – Portland) has a sister hotel in Seattle, AND that Lola is owned by Tom Douglas, who has 5 OTHER restaurants to visit, the donut lure became the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What follows is a meal-by-meal account, in chapters, of our amazing trip.

But first, a word about the Ace Hotel (http://www.acehotel.com/seattle) and the not-to-be-missed Ed, who runs the show. We checked in by late afternoon and Ed gave us the most incredible VIP treatment. Our room could not have been nicer (a very generous upgrade) and Ed was a warm, solicitous host. We received excellent directions to our first stop, Serious Pie, a mere 6-7 blocks away, and a gorgeous laser-cut Tom Douglas restaurant binder to peruse. Did you know that Tom Douglas beat Masaharu Morimoto in ‘Battle Salmon’ on ‘Iron Chef America’ in 2005? We didn’t and it only whetted our appetite for his world-class cuisine. So we decided to get an early start in order to beat the crowd (and were glad we did).

Dinner Number One: Serious Pie (seriously, good!)

Pizzas at Serious Pie are unlike any I’ve ever had (and coming from someone who has lived in Italy and made a pilgrimage to Naples, this is saying a lot). The crust consistency is thin but not overly so, and crispy like bread (Italian ciabatta is the closest I can think of); this is reinforced by the air wafting through the restaurant which smells primarily of yeast. We decided to order two pizzas, the first on the recommendation of Tyler Florence, one of Tate’s favorite television chefs along with Giada. Note: this pizza was Tate’s secondary reason for choosing Seattle. The pizza in question is very simple and very delicious: yukon gold potatoes, rosemary, pecorino cheese. Heavenly…. really. We decided to try a meat-based pizza, too, this one with house salumi, caramelized onions and sardegna (also a sheep’s milk cheese). Another bullseye – wow! (http://tomdouglas.com/index.php?page=serious-pie)

We staggered home and laid on the hotel beds (the white down comforters and Swiss military wool blankets making it extra cozy). We watched a few ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay’ episodes, one of which prompted Tate to ask if we could seek out a pulled-pork sandwich for lunch the next day.

To be continued…

[All photos by Kathryn Besser]