for mirabilelectu, as promised, a list of Seattle things! I started out listing food and then just got sidetracked to a bunch of other things, honestly, so... here you go! Let me know if you have questions, or want to meet up, or anything-- I'm around!
Daily Dozen Donuts! In the Economy Market building, which is to the left of the main entrance on 1st and Pike. If you are a donut fan, they are super delicious- the best is the cinnamon sugar, imo. If you’re not a donut fan, skip that and go to:
The Crumpet Shop, on first ave between Pike & Pine. Just go to the Crumpet Shop anyway, because tea + crumpets is the best. Go there for breakfast and be happy.
Pear Deli has my current favorite sandwich (the lusty loin, which is named for the lusty lady, which was a famous Seattle landmark/strip club). They also have a ton of well-curated artisan food and drink from the area.
Pike Place Chowder, I mean, ffs, I didn’t even used to like chowder but I love this stuff. The traditional New England is my fave, but if you don’t want the dairy they have a Manhattan version that’s really good too.
For chocolate, go visit Fran’s (on 1st, one street south on the corner of Union), or Indi chocolate in the Market itself (5th floor). Tell them Kenna sent you and depending who’s working they might know who I am. :)
Etta’s, at the edge of the market past Virginia street, has ridic good crab cakes.
Pike Place Fish – it’s more of a cool place to see than to eat, but over to the left of the counter they usually hand out smoked salmon samples and their salmon is SO GOOD, holy cats. They’re all super nice there, too.
Non-food: just spend some time to explore Pike Place Market; now that it’s not high season there’s fewer crowds and I really do love the place. There’s shops and bookstores and weird places galore on the underground in the Main Arcade building.
Tanaka-San, 6th and Lenora (I think), Tom Douglas’s newest, run by his head chef Erik Tanaka. I’m going to say five words to you: Salted Caramel Chili Chicken Wings. (But literally I loved everything I ate there, so, uh, no worries on that front.). It’s Japanese small plates, so try lots. The sake slushies will make you keel over (so good), so maybe go there for dinner and not lunch…
My favorite Pho place is Than Bros (there’s a location on Capitol Hill, the U District, Ballard…) Others will disagree; it’s a subjective thing. But there is a LOT of good pho in town. Go poke around the International District and basically anywhere you go will probably be delicious.
Also on Capitol Hill is Honeyhole Sandwiches (on Pike, between Boylston and Harvard), which is the same block as Babeland (if you’re in need of a sex toy etc) and one block up from Atomic Cosmetics (burlesque performer tested, drag mother approved; I love this place).
Parks! I like them. It’s suddenly real cold here, but still: Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill has the Asian Art Museum (fab), lots of lovely walks, plus a watertower you can climb the inside of and get great views). Also Discovery Park – huge and lovely. And Gasworks, which is fun to explore and has a beautiful view of downtown; and Greenlake, which was my old stomping ground and has a good trail around the lake. I like that neighborhood in general.
Fremont is another good neighborhood to poke around in, with a lot of good restaurants, and also Theo Chocolate, which you should go take a factory tour of, because chocolate. And factories. And more chocolate. Do it. Also there's the Fremont troll!
Museum of Flight, if you want a day of aviation and Cabin Pressure feels (a bit) – it can take a while, but it’s a great museum.
The Frye is also a good little museum, and it’s free!
There’s always the Space Needle, but here’s a tip: if you want to go to the top, go up to the Sky City restaurant for Happy Hour. It’s cheaper than lunch or dinner, and you’ll get to rotate while you drink, and visit the observation deck one floor below for free. You’ll basically pay as much to get a ticket up as you would for a couple cocktails, so get both!
I prefer going up to the Chinese Room at the top of Smith Tower (Pioneer Square) instead. It’s shorter, but older and funkier and less crowded and much prettier, and you get good views of other parts of town.
Take a ferry. It doesn’t really matter where, the ferry ride is the important part. It’ll be cold as hell, but spend a little time outside on the deck anyway.
If you want a destination, take the ferry from the waterfront to Bainbridge Island, and then go to Island Vintners (walkable from the dock) and do their wine tasting. Super delicious and a really lovely place to spend an afternoon! (There’s other wine rooms on the main street there too—that’s just the one I’ve been to lately and I really enjoyed it.)
If you want to see theater, that’s a whole other list of ideas—let me know if you’re into it and what your dates are and I’ll let you know what’s playing at my favorite theaters in town!
