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
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 […]
Port Townsend Farmer’s Markets
You have heard me go on and on about my adoration for farmer’s markets before. My friends will tell you that I drag them for miles off a previously-planned itinerary if I see a sign for one. But this past weekend, it was my friend Susan who spotted it first. We were on our way […]
Tasting Cider on Vancouver Island
Is wine totally passé? That’s a cider flight. Before our lunchtime stop at Merridale Cider in Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley a few months ago, I couldn’t have told you a single thing about English-style craft cider. Now, I’ll tell you a thing or two. It rocks with food. Really good cider (and Merridale’s is really good […]
Oysters and the Santa Train
BRITISH COLUMBIA Do you love to shuck and slurp slippery oysters? They’re even more delicious at the source. On Vancouver’s rugged, spectacular western coast is the town of Tofino on Clayoquot Sound, host to the Clayoquot Oyster Festival November 18-20, 2010. The region has reason to celebrate their bounty; they harvest 50,000 gallons of Pacific […]
Tasting the Umpqua
Down in the valley, where the green grass grows, there are over a dozen small, family-owned wineries whose creations range from spicy Syrahs to deep-noted Pinot Noirs. Oregon’s Umpqua Valley wine region is not just one valley, but comprises several small valleys and undulating hills. It’s drier than the Willamette to the north, and cooler […]
