We had so many wonderful meals in Seattle, I'm just bursting to share!
Our first night, we dined at Sazerac--our hotel's restaurant. To begin, let me just say that the Hotel Monaco is totally awesome, and I highly recommend staying there if you're gluten-free. Their central location downtown allows for much exploring, and their restaurant is super gluten-free friendly. The service is excellent...they did a wonderful favour for us (which you'll hear about in Part 2), and every evening, they host a wine reception in their uber comfortable and stylish lobby. That's right, free wine, free snacks, huge couches....for one whole hour of bliss. The bacon-wrapped dates are so addictive.
Right, back to Sazerac.
We decided to do the four-course tasting menu, for the low price of $40. We didn't even order drinks because we were already pretty liquored-up from the wine reception. Here's what I had: Fresh Oysters, Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Pistachios, Pan Seared Scallops with Creole Clams and Chorizo, and a bountiful Fruit Plate for dessert.
Everything was so delicious and fresh and seasoned perfectly. We came back the next night after an unfortunate dinner at Tulio Ristorante, and I had the Cedar Plank Salmon Salad which was also just perfect.
SOOOOO...about Tulio.....this was the first time IN MY LIFE that I have not eaten something served to me at a restaurant. We had made reservations, and glanced at their gluten-free menu online....I was excited, because they had duck on their menu, and I love duck. A LOT. Anyways, they had to make (apparently) so many modifications that the duck they served me was pretty gross. It was totally bland, and cold, and unsauced and naked. I make better seared duck breasts at home. The "Lemon Risotto" they served me underneath the protein was also cold and only tasted like chicken stock. The rice wasn't even cooked properly. And no lemony-goodness to be tasted. Well...that was the only unfortunate part of our whole trip. Afterwards, we made a mad-dash to Bottega Italiana so I could inhale some delicious Pistachio Gelato I had been craving for the past year. It was amazing, as expected.
On our third day in Seattle, we stopped for lunch at a classy little place called Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. Their menu didn't overly excite me, but I gave them a shot. Not to my surprise, they had no gluten-free alternatives, just modifications. I mean, no gluten-free buns, baguettes, pizza crusts, or pasta. So, I decided to go low-carb and get the Cranberry Chicken Salad. The portion was HUGE and I could only eat half of it, despite my healthy appetite, and it tasted great! I didn't even miss the bread because this salad was fully loaded with apple, cranberries, almonds, scallions and shaved parm. Just look at this beauty!
On another note, I opted out of going for breakfast while in Seattle. Why? Because I prefer to start my day on a lighter note, so greasy eggs, bacon and hashbrowns were out of the question. Thankfully, we scouted out a supermarket called Kress IGA just a couple blocks from our hotel and picked up some gluten-free goodness for our mornings. There were tons of gluten-free snack options in Kress, and if you're planning on going to Seattle, I highly recommend picking up some essentials to save you a little bit of money, and keep yourself from overindulging every meal of the day. Here's the granola I found, loved, and brought back four bags of:
And lastly, I found a fantastic fancy coffee place called Tully's; it was super close to our hotel. They had a very nice assortment of gf baked goods, which I enjoyed on a big comfy chair with my Vanilla Soy Latte.
Well, I think I'll cut this part off right here. Part two will be up soon (my favourite parts of our trip). If you ever needed a reason to spend some time in Seattle, now would be an excellent time to go and treat yourself to some gluten-free delicacies. <3 <3
