663659 Fri Oct 30 20:57:37 -0700 2009 5 4 Pacific Northwest 0 5144490 Even though i lived in vancouver (BC) a number of years, i never really spent any time in seattle - i'll be there next weekend (saturday to monday morning) and hoping for great sunday brunch and dinner (saturday is a private party...the point of the trip). sunday i'm on my own and staying at the sheraton downtown - i'd like some good morning coffee and a great seafood dinner (tuna/halibut/salmon). thoughts?! Fri Oct 30 20:57:37 -0700 2009 74241 pants 1 5144957 Pants, Try the off-the-menu brunch at Maximillien's at the Market. (Very old school French, but quite tasty.) The Salmon at the Steelhead Diner is excellent for dinner as is their fried chicken. I also suggest the Palace Kitchen. Enjoy Seattle! Sat Oct 31 08:35:40 -0700 2009 5144490 11158 Leper 1 5145104 It depends on whether or not you will have private transportation (e.g., a rental car). If you do, I’d suggest Sunday brunch at either Spring Hill in West Seattle or Corson Building in the Georgetown area south of Seattle. Corson Building’s Sunday brunch costs $23 for a self-service spread of salads, homemade yogurt and house-made preserves, juices and French-press coffee, and cooked-to-order dishes that vary Sunday to Sunday and season to season, but will have the signature Corson Building emphasis on seasonal, local foods – like poached eggs fresh from Corson’s hen house served with creamed nettles. Spring Hill’s brunch menu offers things like duck’s eggs benedict with Kurobuta ham, a Dahlia Bakery English muffin, and herbed hollandaise, or “special saimin” with smoked pork belly, six-minute egg, pork & ham broth, fish cake, and scallion, or wood-grilled Kassler bone-in ham steak with bathed egg, Beecher’s cheddar grits, and sautéed arugula.. Although you can reach either place by bus, it would be somewhat of a hassle to do so (getting information about bus schedules, waiting for a bus, etc.), so private transportation or a taxi would be a much easier way to get there and back. If you want something within walking distance from your downtown Seattle hotel, two possibilities are Lola, a Greek-influenced Tom Douglas restaurant, or Café Campagne. Although I have not otherwise been wowed by the food at Lola, breakfast/brunch has some unusual and tasty items, such as “Tom’s Big Breakfast: with octopus hash, sweet pepper, pork belly, and a sunny-side egg. If you go there, don’t miss the signature Tom Douglas made-to-order doughnuts with seasonal jam and vanilla mascarpone. Café Campagne, serving French bistro fare, is on Pine Street and Post Alley, near the Pike Place Market. Its brunch menu offers things like oeufs en meurette (two poached eggs served on garlic croutons with pearl onions, bacon and mushrooms in a red wine and foie gras sauce, served with pommes frites) or omlette choizy (French-style rolled omelette flavored with herbs and filled with escarole and goat cheese, served with chicken-and-pork sausage), as well as non-egg items like pate de campagne, cassoulet, and croque monsieur. Now let’s talk about a seafood dinner on Sunday night. I’ve had some great seafood at Etta’s Seafood, on Western Avenue just north of the Pike Place Market, another of Tom Douglas’s restaurants. Standouts were the Dungeness crab cocktail with green papaya and cucumber, Etta’s clam chowder, and the rub-with-love wild salmon with cornbread pudding and shitake relish. Another good choice is Shuckers in the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. Shuckers is located in a beautiful room with carved-oak paneling and a pressed-tin ceiling left over from the days (in the 1930s) when the space was occupied by a haberdashery. Shuckers has a nice selection of Pacific Northwest oysters, and daily fresh fish specials. Good seafood in a classic old-Seattle ambience. Sat Oct 31 09:52:39 -0700 2009 5144490 58257 Tom Armitage 2 5147391 Hey Tom, I appreciate the detail you always include in your posts. It makes them much more meaningful than posts that simply say something like, “I recommend Restaurant X,” with no supporting detail. Sun Nov 01 14:16:06 -0800 2009 5145104 1120851 toby2 1 5177454 update!! so i went to lola for brunch - delicious!! dining alone has it's perks, with an hour wait for a table, i was able to sneak in at the window on the bar side - perfect!! sunday night i went to Poppy (recommended by the friend i was visiting)- it was divine! i had the turkish delight martini...i always forget the joy of the american free pour, they measure very carefully in canada :( i then moved on to the veg thali - i felt so decadent with my giant platter of little delightful dishes, surrounded by wine glasses 9the bar tender gave me a few to try before i commited to one glass) - i wish i had paid more attention, the wine was a pinot noir but it wasn't on the by the glass list....so smooth and light, perfect with the veggie dishes. i don't know if i could pick a favorite on the platter, probably the chard au gratin, or the roasted cauliflower - and i don't like cauliflower as a general rule... anyhow, i had a good weekend - poppy was a highlight for sure, the staff were great and the people sitting around me were friendly as well. Thu Nov 12 18:40:39 -0800 2009 5144490 74241 pants 2 5179479 Good job. I'm glad you had such a nice time. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Fri Nov 13 12:41:26 -0800 2009 5177454 58257 Tom Armitage