my bucket list

naturally when i decided to move away from seattle, i had to make a bucket list of restaurants to hit up before i bid this city farewell. go ahead...judge...but then again...are you all that surprised??  some of the places are just restaurants i enjoy while others are specific dishes i love.  well in no particular order, here is the deliciousness that i've devoured in the past two weeks!

quinn's bone marrow with escargot and tomatoes. this was a little bit of a letdown because liya and i couldn't figure out where the marrow was...laugh it up.  the escargot was alright.  i'm not a huge fan but it takes a lot for me not to eat something.


pork belly also at quinn's.  this was really good. had a nice apple chutney to go with it. good balance with the saltiness of the pork.


oxtail ragout with gnocchi! this was definitely my favorite dish at quinn's.  it was so tender and the gnocchi was pan fried a little which gave it good texture.


musashi's chirashi bowl.  fresh and delicious cuts of raw fish with sushi rice underneath.  need i say more?  i always sub shrimp for something else because let's be honest, cooked shrimp is a waste when i could eat more salmon ;)


paseo's midnight cuban press sandwich. i will miss this place so much!  this sandwich in particular has ham, pork roast, banana peppers, caramelized onions (the best part!) and swiss pressed with their yummy aioli and crusty bread.  yeah...i thought i would only eat half.  not so much.


portage bay's southwest eggs & grits.  this was okay.  the grits were made of yellow corn, cheddar and jalepenos with poached eggs, spinach and an ancho chili tomato sauce.  it lacked salt and the grits can't compare to toulouse petit's.  the fruit was good though!


la carta de oaxaca's 'entomatadas' plate aka grilled thin sliced beef with homemade tomatillo sauce, tortillas stuffed with with oaxacan cheese, onions, and mexican crema.  it sounds simple but the flavors were unbelievable!  you know it's good when you show up on any given night and it's packed with people waiting in every open area possible.  i can't believe this was my first and last time ever here :(

i'm not done..more to come still!

Seattle Restaurant Week

although i've been completely lazy lately, the least i could do is post my restaurant week adventures. truth be told i haven't done a whole lot of cooking since i came back from focus rally. just haven't really been in the mood, and now i'm moving in a week so i need to eat my way through seattle before i leave for good :)

luckily restaurant week has been happening these past two weeks so i've been able to take advantage for one last time. the first outing was at canlis for my birthday on 4/11. yes...that's right. canlis. for the unfamiliar, it's arguably the nicest restaurant in seattle with a gorgeous view of lake union. mostly this happened because i happened to see on my facebook feed that the restaurants were announced, i peeked at the options, saw canlis and immediately called and made a reservation. did i know who was coming? course not. did i book for as many people as i could? hell yea i did. turns out that 5 people had called also in the last 4 minutes. people don't mess around.

for my first course i had the canlis salad which was great. i've had it before so i knew what to expect. everything was tossed well and they add mint to it which is a nice touch.

the entree was papardelle with fava beans, a tomato confit, peashoots and meatballs. the meatballs were tasty and the pasta was good, but it was missing a sauce to tie it together.

desert was a rhubarb shortbread desert with strawberry sorbet and the added touch of a candle for my birthday :) it was delicious.

stop number two of restaurant week was this last tuesday at emmer and rye on upper queen anne. i've passed by it many times and its always looked so cute so i gave it a try. my appetizer was really good! some greens with house cured salmon, fromage blanc and pickled mushrooms on a baguette. the acidity helped make the dish feel lighter.

the entree i chose was grass fed beef bolognese. this was absolutely TO DIE for. everything about it was perfect, even the curl of the pasta. it was so flavorful and a 'flavor explosion in our mouths', as my roomie put it ;)

then came the dessert. these were fudgey brownies with a rye caramel sauce and hazelnuts. they were amazing! the brownies were a little crisp on the edges and then you had the fudge and i ate every single bite. the hazelnuts added some more flavor. i didn't even miss the ice cream.


tonight was the last restaurant week dinner which took place at art in the four seasons downtown. i started off with a stout pork cheek dish with endives done three ways. i liked it, but thought it could've used some sweetness. there were also coffee grounds on the plate so that combined with the stout made it a little bitter almost. the pork was very very tender and the endives were great.


this is probably the best cod i've ever had in my LIFE. it was sooo smooth and flavorful. it had soy flavors and was just cooked to perfection. the mushrooms and pepper relish were also very nice.


for desert i had the strawberry pavlova which was another lighter option. there was also strawberry sorbet with a balsamic reduction to make it a little savory. it was good but i probably wouldn't waste my time on pavlova again.


well there you have my restaurant week adventures. i'm sad that this was my last one, but i'm sure wherever i move to will have something similar!

i suck...i'm sorry

i know...it's been ages since i've updated. i was doing so well until i left for focus rally and then after i got back, shit hit the fan...metaphorically.

long story short, i won focus rally america, i quit my job (last day is 4/27), i'm moving out of seattle (4/30), and i'm going traveling for about 3 months starting 5/4. what's the plan after i get back from seeing the world? wish i could tell you. the world is my oyster?

YEP. girl went crazy. or you could call it a quarter life crisis. i did turn 25 this last monday afterall ;)