"Boredom is your own fault!" One can always eat, drink, dance, (insert other verbs here) until it's fun! The Great Dane (TGD) was ever so excited that Faith No More is coming to Seattle. They may not be in my usual musical genre, but my mantra said that I was down to have fun!
A little piece of the concert @ the Paramount Theater.
Yes, the concert was actually fun, I jumped and "danced" and screamed. I especially liked the contrast between the mosh-pit inducing tunes and the flower laden stage.
Pardon the crappy sound...and the "commentary"
Oh, and they covered Herb Albert's This Guy's in Love With You. This guy can actually sing and not just scream and call it metal. Bravo Mr. Faith No More. How does one mosh to this? Ha!
All the jumping around has me hankering for some nosh. Trying to keep the metal on, we decided to check out Radiator Whiskey, sounds metal right? After going through the the random stairs at Pike Market, we found ourselves in a not so metal, but more quaint restaurant. Honestly, it felt like a Potbelly's, with cocktails. Not so metal, but they have food.
Speaking of cocktails....
How fun are those names?! Since the spring weather put me in the lemon mood, I opted for The Piledriver.What a name! This could be dangerous, as I could not even taste the bourbon. It's lemonade!
Time to eat! Instead of giving you bar nuts, they serve you warm popcorn! That was a fun twist!
Fried Beef Lip Terrine with Dijonaise. It was like breaded braised beef nuggets, with mayonnaise dip. The outer breading was perfectly crispy without being greasy.
Debris Sandwich:It was stuffed with house pulled pork, smoked cheddar, and fritos. Not really sure if by fritos, they meant Frito Lays...I don't remember biting into any. Since it was basically bedtime, TGD and I split the sandwich. TGD got most of the yolk part. Boo. This was not your typical pulled pork sandwich, as it was not covered in bbq sauce. It was just seasoned right, and melded with the cheese. I could only finish 1/4 of this hearty and meaty sandwich; maybe because I inhaled the popcorn and the tots. Oh I nearly forgot, this sandwich came with Rainier Beer. I like that they keep it local.
No room for dessert! The world is ending!
If you are in the mood for whiskey, this place is your jam. They have a wide variety of whiskeys, which stays true to their name.I thought it was a little too quiet to have a name like Radiator Whiskey.Nonetheless, they quelled my late night hunger...and if I had more room for dessert, I would've gotten the warm chocolate chip cookies with a shot of whiskey. Who needs milk when there's whiskey.
I'm willing to gain 2.5lbs out of 5lbs for Radiator Whiskey
That day that we toured Pike Place Market, I heard Nick the tourman talk about this hot chocolate, and described it as something that would rev your heart if you consume more than one. My curiosity was peaked, and I took it as a challenge!
My quest for the perfect hot chocolate started when I was 9. I was at Disneyland and someone (most likely my mom) mentioned getting hot chocolate. Being that I was at Disney, I imagined this hot chocolate to be basically melted chocolate with a splash of milk. I was quickly disappointed by it's too fluid consistency. From that point on, I have surrendered my idea of the perfect hot chocolate...until my taste buds met The Colombian Hot Chocolate! It flowed like thick mud, and tasted like my dreams and aspirations coming true. Be still my heart!!! According to my partner in crime, The Great Dane, the only words that came out of my mouth, with every sip was "oh my gosh!" Although I remembered mixing it up with "ouch too hot." It was the melted milk chocolate with a splash of milk- hot chocolate I have been searching for, that not even Disney could provide! I guess it's not the happiest place on earth. This hot chocolate sure made wherever I was standing, the happiest place on earth. I swear that the world stood still all around me, and all I could see was this lovely cup of chocolate in front of me...Is this what falling in love feels like? or is this my heart stopping? Of course I went back for more! The picture above is from day 2, when I felt a little adventurous and sprinkled cayenne on it. I like it with and without. Yep this is love.
Oh I just had a flashback, and nearly forgot to tell you about The Confectional's cheesecakes. When Oprah is not giving away cars, she is giving away her favorite things!!! ( Did you just do the Oprah voice while reading it? That was my intention)...and The Confectional's cheesecakes are just that. Martha Stewart approves of their cheesecakes too. So who are we to pass these up? The whole display case please. No not really, I wanted to, but we just ended up with a "few."
- Quadruple Chocolate ( the one with the dark and white chocolate nib): It's got a lot of chocolate chunks hidden inside this creamy goodness
- Mexican Chocolate: "This cheesecake is spicy!" Those were my exact words. After I got over the shock, my palate started to understand that this is good!
-Raspberry White Chocolate: One would think that this is just going to give you the typical raspberry and white chocolate flavored cheesecake, but the texture makes it a cut way above typical. It was almost like a cheescake/mouse/is there marshmallow fluff flavored cream cheese?
-Seattle's New York-Style (not pictured): The Great Dane declared this the favorite, I was still half asleep eating it for breakfast, hence the lack of pictures. Guess you'll have to find out for yourself. I remember that I did not hate it.
The cute little cheesecake pops you see are mini versions of their cheesecake flavors, so there is no reason to not taste it all...unless like me, you filled up on hot chocolate...2 days in a row. There would have been a third, but I figured it would be smarter not to challenge my heart to stop. Nick the tourman did not lie at all. I could only handle the 3 ouncer, even sharing it with TGD. I will be back for you my hot chocolate, my love!
For your listening pleasure: Willy Wonka's Pure Imagination
Like a proper tourist, I heeded the countless recommendations to go to the market...Pike Place Market. My friends, "The Swedish Twins," have previously gone before I did, and took the Savour Seattle Food Tour . They came back madly in love and ready to elope with Seattle and the market. I have visited the market on a previous trip, with the mission to see fish fly! I did, and uneventfully checked it off the list... and nowhere in love with the place. Not giving up on love, I decided to stop being cheap and give it a second chance. I took the Savour Seattle Food Tour...thank you Groupon!
My alarm clock blared at 8am to make it to the 10:30am tour with Nick, the pink umbrella toting man. He started off handing us napkins while telling us that those would be our utensils, and that we may be eating off the same container. Ha?! WHAAAAT?! I had to self talk the germophobe that possess my soul, down! Ohhhhm....Moving on...
First stop is the Daily Dozen Donuts. It's described as "tiny, hot, sugary, and delicious" Supposedly people line up around the block for these. I saw it as carbs, sugar, deep fried, OK, but I wouldn't line up for them.
Pike Place Fish: Time to see fish fly again! This time, I contemplated about volunteering to be the catcher so I could show off my spectacular hand-eye coordination...NOT! I left it to a brave soul, who's down to smell like eeeweau de parfish all day. (Nope! I did not take a picture! My camera decided not to! ) Finally, the fish monger called my skills to the plate...eating!!! He gave us samples of 3 different kinds of salmon. I'm so used to getting nasty salmon that I was ready to do my Negative Nelly face...But NO! I wanted more more more! They nicknamed the peppered as the converter. It will make a salmon lover out of anyone.
Left:Smoked. Top Right: Peppered. Bottom Right: Jerky.
MarketSpice:This picture is not what it looks like. Whiskey shot this is not. It's tea and some gourmet salt (I forgot what it was! Trust me it's not Morton's.) The tea had clover and cinnamon in it. It was like a hug from a crush... refreshing and warm. The salt was well...salty. This would be a great stop for the gourmet cook. I'd go back for the tea and queen worthy teacups.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese: Cheese is actually made on site, which means squeaky cheese curds! What people really come for is the mac and cheese made with their Flagship cheese. It's got a semi hard cheese feel and taste, but it's delicious stink melts in your mouth. You can sample them in store. I got greedy and tried to pile up a few on my skewer, only to have it crumble and fall to the ground. Lesson learned?
Chukar Cherries: This was my favorite! The place where cherries crashed into salsa and chocolate. Yes, salsa! The sweetness from the cherries went surprisingly well with the tangy and spicy flavors of the salsa. If my luggage wasn't full, I would've hoarded a few. Now on to the chocolate topic. There were 2 different kinds of chocolate and cherry concoctions, a raspberry and cranberry concoction, and Oh there was a random pecan, the one that's dusted with white stuff. Powdered sugar perhaps? It tasted like a slice pecan pie! Does Willy Wonka work here?!
The bing cherry is the reddish tinted morsel in the cup. They decided to mess with mother nature and made bing cherries in chocolate form. Does this grow on trees? The darker morsel is the Cabernet cherry. It tasted like wine and chocolate in one bite. The vibrant red thing is the Raspberry truffle. The bright red color is from the raspberry dust that was hiding the white chocolate, that was holding the cranberry hostage. I approve of this delicious crime! The wrinkly looking thing is a dried cherry. I expected it to taste like a raisin, but it was way better!
The orange tinge shot is the bisque.
Pike Place Chowder: Chowdah you say? Before this, I only knew the Campbell's kind.We got shots of the New England Clam Chowder and the Lobster Bisque. I was a big fan of the chowder. It was very creamy and not watery or slimy. They were not stingy with the meaty clam either. The bisque was definitely overshadowed by the chowder.
Piroshky-Piroshky: "From Russia with love." That was how it was listed in the tour flyer. Indeed love was involved in the history of this place. Story has it that the owners of this place had a limited amount of money, and bought everything they needed to build this place. When all the money was spent, they realized that they forgot to buy eggs and flour! Penniless the night before opening day, they had set to turn opening day into breaking down day. The next day, they woke up to a mystery envelope containing enough money to buy flour and eggs! Years after, it was discovered that the donor was from a lady who also owned a piroshky shop a few blocks down. Awww. With my heart swollen from this tale, out comes Nick the tour man with a tray of piroshkies. An apple and a meat version.
It reminded me of a strudel, with a heartier dough. It's as if a croissant and a bread bun had a baby, and the baby had a play date with meat and apples...and they all lived happily ever after.
Etta's Seafood Restaurant: Crabcakes! These sea critters landed on my napkin, freshly made, which then my mouth quickly realized how fresh from the fryer it was! It was oh so hot! Yes, we were substantially warned, but my brain turns into Homer at the sight of food. Although I singed my mouth, it's crunchy outer layer and juicy inner crab was a delicious distraction to my pain receptors. Burn? What burn?
Oh what a wonderful way to explore the market and try out foods that I would not otherwise have tried. At the end of the tour, we were given a business card that I can flash like someone of importance, and get discounts at countless of places at the market. Do you smell a sequel to this adventure? Stay tuned to find out!
