Seattle foodfest: part three
Lunch Number One: Etta’s (pulled pork nirvana)
In between breakfast and lunch, we made a few stops. First, to the Army/Navy surplus store where Dane and Tate spent 45 fascinated minutes looking at everything from old grenades to camping gear. I decided to buy them wool hats because, in typical California-boy fashion, they’d neglected to bring heavy coats and the previous evening’s walk home had been a bit cold, even for them. Dane eventually settled on an East German mini folding stove (about the size of a large, flat matchbox). He figured it would be great on Boy Scout backpacking trips not to mention being a seriously-cool boy toy. Tate, ever the window shopper, decided against the empty grenades and bullet casings, figuring they would be difficult to get home in our carry-on luggage.
From there, we went to Pike’s Place Market to pick up some special pickles, officially Tate’s new favorites. We had made a brief stop the day before (in advance of dinner at Serious Pie) and Tate charmed the counter girls into giving him a huge pile of samples. Now, we just had to make good on our promise to eventually buy some! We then stopped at Sur La Table (the original!) where both boys found many, many kitchen gadgets that they really, really wanted. Luckily, they were persuaded to purchase just one thing each (note that this was with their own money). Practical Dane chose a pair of folding scissors for his pocket first aid kit (which he happened to be carrying). Tate, possibly frustrated by not being able to score some ammo at the Army/Navy store, chose a strawberry huller that can only be described as a ‘potential’ pain inflictor (not that he would use it against anything other than a defenseless strawberry, but I’m just sayin’). See the photos below to understand what I’m referring to.
By this time, it was getting late and we hurried over to Etta’s for lunch. Tate found his slice of heaven in a pulled-pork sandwich with the crispiest, tastiest fries this side of the Mississippi. Notice that there is no food photo of this incredible find. I can only say that he was so hungry by the time the plate arrived, I didn’t have the heart to make him wait while I whipped out the camera. Suffice to say, it was excellent and Tate deemed it his number two sandwich OF ALL TIME. (First, of course, is the Office Burger at Father’s Office in Los Angeles, but that is another story). Dane split the sandwich and fries and said it was very good but did not qualify as one of his favorites of all time. I had some lovely mini tacos: pulled pork and crispy fish, with housemade guacamole and salsa. Yum-O!
http://tomdouglas.com/index.php/restaurants/ettas
After lunch, we walked up the street to Dahlia Bakery (yet another Tom Douglas establishment). We only had one more dinner out in downtown Seattle (that evening) and made the choice to go to Palace Kitchen over Dahlia Lounge, primarily because we heard the Burger Royale was fantastic and partly because we found out we could try Dahlia’s famous coconut cream pie at the bakery. The best part was not having to shell out eight or nine bucks for a dessert I just wanted a bite or two of. At the bakery, you can purchase an entire pie for $35 or a decent-size bite for two bucks. I opted for the bite and it was amazing. Dane had what can only be described as a ‘gourmet’ twinkie (filled with vanilla-bean cream) – the first of his life. I can almost guarantee he’ll never taste one that good from whoever it is that really makes Twinkies. Tate had a peanut-butter filled truffle, still so full from his amazing lunch.
http://tomdouglas.com/index.php/restaurants/dahlia-bakery
In one of the photos below, you will note the ‘grunge’ look the boys sported the entire trip. I was so tempted to buy the cool Swiss wool army blankets to bring a little slice of the Ace Hotel home with me but held off since we only had the tiniest of carry-on bags… oh well.
[All photos by Kathryn Besser]
