Mashiko Serves Up Sustainable Sushi in Seattle

Sometimes, I daydream about dinner at Mashiko. Okay, I daydream about dinner at Mashiko a lot. Mashiko is Seattle’s best sushi place. Lucky for me, it’s right up the street in the heart of the West Seattle Junction. Seattle has darn good sushi. Mashiko should have some stiff competition. In some ways, it does. For cheap […]

Coombs Country Market: Everything but the Goats, Under One Roof

“You gotta make a stop at the Old Country Market in Coombs. They have goats up on the roof!” People kept telling me this, totally unsolicited. I suppose I looked the part of a lost tourist, driving in circles around central Vancouver Island in my beater Volvo with Washington plates. And of course there was that ever-present […]

Tasting with the Cows at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks

Have you tasted artisan cheese made from the milk of cows that are right there in front of you, frolicking in their fresh pasture? Well, I just have. It was at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks at Morningstar Farm on Vancouver Island, just outside the lovely seaside town of Qualicum Beach. It’s a short jaunt to the […]

Columbia City Bakery: a Neighborhood Sweet Spot

Where will you find Seattle’s flakiest croissant, most perfect baguette or tastiest gingersnap? Many of Seattle’s best artisan bakeries are in its far-flung neighborhoods–removed from the hustle and bustle of Seattle’s downtown core and nowhere near Pike Place Market. To find them, head to tucked-away hoods like West Seattle, Wallingford or Columbia City–neighborhoods where out-of-town travelers rarely tread. […]

Q&A: Keren Brown, author of Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle

Northwest TripFinder (aka Lauren Braden) pulled up an ethernet cord with Frantic Foodie (aka Keren Brown), author of Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle, for a little chat about her new book. Lauren: When did it dawn on you that you are a “foodie?” Keren: I have always liked great food but when I realized that I could […]

Northwest Bookshelf: Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle

It’s no big secret that I’m not from Seattle. I let loose a y’all now and again, and I still mispronounce “Yakima,” ending it with a muh instead of a maw. These are common Midwestern transplant missteps. But after 15 years here, the lines are blurring. Just the other day, while noshing on some grilled sea scallops over […]

West Seattle’s Blackboard Bistro: Believe the Hype

I live on a budget. You read my blog, you know this. But an excellent meal out once in awhile– this is one of the things in life that we save up for and enjoy. Yet too often, a new restaurant comes along and its got a lot of buzz, and we pay for a […]

Tasting Hand-crafted Beer in Portland

Do you know the feeling? You sink down into a hand-hewn wooden booth at a Portland brewpub and before you is a piece of paper with about 127 different tap beers on it. And you’re supposed to actually decide? Well, sometimes, you don’t have to decide on just one beer. Go for the tasting flight. […]

EAT: Bella Gelateria in downtown Vancouver

According to our fellow travel bloggers at  DeliciousBaby, “Bella Gelateria hand churns some of the best gelato on the west coast.” Maybe it’s the wild, exotic flavors at downtown Vancouver’s Bella Gelateria (map) like black sesame and earl grey and lavender. For chocolate lovers, they make an intriguing array of different chocolate gelatos – one for every day of the week. And what goes […]

Cidery Tour: Quimper Peninsula near Port Townsend

Cidery Tour: Quimper Peninsula and Port Townsend

There’s a centuries-old tradition of European cidermakers turning tart apples into hard cider, and over the past dozen years or so this craft has experienced a renaissance right here in the Pacific Northwest. To get a taste, you might find yourself driving down a winding gravel path through some woods, wondering just what you’ve gotten […]