Getaways
36 Hours in Seattle
By Rosemary Poole published Apr 1, 2007
Additional Images click to enlarge
FRIDAY
Dine at Kingfish Café (602 19th Ave. E., Montlake, 206-320-8757), a neighbourhood hotspot with lineups out the door and a Southern menu that takes you to rural Alabama-which is exactly what the owners, who hail from there, intend. Family recipes inspire the rustic menu (picture fried green tomatoes, griddle cakes, pork chops) and old sepia family portraits line the walls. Portions are huge but if you make it to the dessert course, order the red velvet cake; it's the size of the tabletop and enough to feed a party of six.
Seattle has no shortage of live music venues, but The Triple Door (216 Union St., Downtown, 206-838-4333) gets a nod for style (it inhabits a restored 1920s-era vaudeville theatre) and diversity (pop, rock, blues, folk and indie acts get equal stage time). Musicquarium, the attached lounge and restaurant, is hoppin' at happy hour, which runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
SATURDAY
Don't go to Pike Place Market for breakfast, unless you're an early riser or don't mind wading through packs of hungry, Frommer's-toting tourists. Instead, take a walk up the hill to Le Pichet (1933 First Ave., Belltown, 206-256-1499), an authentic French bistro right down to the zinc-topped bar and mud-brown tableware. Reasonably priced breakfast items are available all day: Les oeufs plats, jambon et fromage (eggs broiled with ham and gruyère) served with a house-made baguette is excellent, as is the ramekin of plain yogurt laced with honey and walnuts.
Across the street, Urchin (1922 First Ave., Belltown, 206-448-5800) and Peter Miller Books (1930 First Ave., Belltown, 206-441-4114) cater to the American Institute of Architects crowd (their office is also on this block) with exceptional design-forward inventories: Urchin supplies the home accessories and original art; Peter Miller has the gorgeous coffee table books. Stroll north on First Avenue to the Seattle Art Museum's new Olympic Sculpture Park (2901 Western Ave., Belltown, 206-654-3100). Zigzagging paths run past large-scale, contemporary installations to a rise overlooking Elliott Bay and the Olympic mountains. But don't get distracted by the view: Wake, a 300-tonne, five-piece steel sculpture by Richard Serra is a major highlight. Admission is free.
For all its newfound coolness, Ballard is still very much a slow-paced seaside town. To fully experience it, grab lunch on the pier at Ray's Boathouse (6049 Seaview Ave., Ballard, 206-789-3770). A Seattle icon, it's been at its current location since 1945 (though completely rebuilt in '88 after a fire) and its Pacific Northwest-style seafood is excellent. Reservations recommended-especially on sunny days.
Ballard's retail gems warrant spending half a day here: Tableau (2220 NW Market St., Ballard, 206-782-5846) is a spacious home décor store with a small children's section-look for the line of old-fashioned knit cardigans, caps and bibs by Makié; Sonic Boom Records (2209 NW Market St., Ballard, 206-297-2666) is a local chainlet of music stores right out of the film High Fidelity; Clover (5335 NW Ballard Ave., Ballard, 206-782-0715) pays homage to the area's Scandinavian roots with Norwegian-inspired children's clothing and simple wooden toys, while re-souL (5319 NW Ballard Ave., Ballard, 206-789-7312) stocks hard-to-find lines of home items, accessories and shoes. Our favourites: the line of sandals from Chie Mahara, unisex wallets from J. Fold and handbags from Italy's Mandarina Duck.
