COVER STORY
Eats and drinks her way around Seattle.
Seattle is eternally cool. This weekend the city’s most famous record label, Sub Pop — who launched Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Nirvana, The Shins, Father John Misty, Shabazz, Fleet Foxes and, yes, Flight of the Conchords — marks its 30th anniversary with a vast free festival in their laidback Washington hometown. Because that’s the kind of city Seattle is.
It hits you the moment you touch down at the domestic airport, which has a relaxed and easy air, with buskers singing, a stall selling handmade glassware and a couple of nonchalant cowboys — and all this before you’ve reached the baggage carousel.
Of course, it’s been a long time since the days of grunge and the streets of Seattle are no longer lined with long-haired Nirvana fans in checked shirts and ripped jeans — although the dress code is still casual thanks to the likes of Microsoft and Amazon having their head offices here and being some of the city’s biggest employers. As much as I love music, I also love to eat and drink and my visit is timed to coincide with the annual Seattle Food & Wine Festival. I am here, quite literally, to get a taste of what this city is all about.
High time
There’s nothing like a roof-top bar to toast your arrival to a new city and take in the lay of the land. And so it is, on our first night, we find ourselves sinking back into the leather couches at Nest (thompsonhotels.com) — the bar at the top of the stylish Thompson Hotel on Stewart St — and tucking into a round or two of cocktails created by the hipster team of mixologists. The fact that there are more locals in this bar than tourists, is a good sign. The industrial design softened by velvet furnishings and warm kilims on the floor, work to compliment the view out across innercity apartments to the waterfront, where the eye-catching 53m-high ferris wheel towers from
Pier 57 over Elliot Bay. In summer, the roof rolls back and Nest is a hot spot for Friday night drinks and seafood barbecues.
Chocolate heaven
The next morning, even before breakfast, we find ourselves heading to the headquarters of Fran’s Chocolates in Georgetown (frans.com )—anareawhere old brick buildings have been turned into cool apartments, eateries and business spaces. For those with a sweet tooth, Fran’s is a brand you should know about. Indeed, it was a favourite of the Obamas when they were in office. Fran Bigelow is like a smiling Mother Christmas. Her passion for chocolate started after a visit to France in the 80s, and she is credited for sparking the artisan chocolate renaissance in the US. Bite into a square of her smoked salt caramels (the sea salt is sourced from Wales) or the light ganache of a truffle, and you’ll see why. If you can’t get to a tasting or a fascinating class on what makes great chocolate over good chocolate, be sure to take some of Fran’s chocolate home with you.
Market eat fest
What you won’t be able to miss — and shouldn’t — is the Pike Place Market (pikeplacemarket.org), back on the waterfront of central Seattle. Here you’ll find farmers, producers, craftspeople and artisans selling their wares. The market is a food-lover’s dream so set a side plenty of time to explore and eat or take a Savor Seattle Signature Food Tour (savorseattletours.com). This is highly recommended, as the passionate guides are a source of fascinating facts (more
than 10 million people visit the market a year, making it the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world), about the history (it is more than 110 years old), how it serves the community (the tradition of the market is to support society’s most vulnerable and money goes to the low-income senior housing and a preschool for the community) and, best of all, the guides will lead you directly to the tastiest stalls.