Seattle Afternoon

For the second half of my first Seattle afternoon, I headed to Brouwers, a bar in Seattle that four or five people had all independently recommended. It was amazing. A beautiful, large open space with 400 bottles and 64 beers on tap. I had a beer called Pliny the Elder, a double IPA that Jeff Suer, a friend and colleague of mine from LA, had recommended that I hit up on the west coast. I also had a deeelicious pan-seared halibut that was so fresh and just absolutely hit the spot. Pics of Brouwers below:

 

(One of the best selections I've ever seen)

(Any beer list that is leather-bound is probably going to be good.)

(The warning on the inside cover of the beer list. They are not kidding around.)

(Russian River's Pliny the Elder Double IPA. Best I've had since my last Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.)

(A beautiful space. This picture is taken from a lone leather couch in the corner of the room. Out of place, but very comfortable. Probably prime real estate on a Saturday night...too bad it was Friday afternoon at 3pm.)

I was on my way to Molly Moons, a local ice cream institution that Ali recommended, when she called to tell me that she had gotten off work early, and I had to come straight home so that we could go to a local hip hop festival. Um, okay. We saw a couple of groups, one called "Fresh Espresso", a name which is just soooo Seattle, and the headline group called "Dime Def", a local hip hop trio that really got the crowd moving. The best part about the concert was the fact that it was directly overlooked by the Seattle Space Needle. Pics Below:

(Dime Def.)

(Fresh Espresso. Best song was "So Gigantic")

(Sweet Venue.)

Once the concert was over, we went to Ali's friend Heather's house, at which we cooked dinner with her boyfriend Christian. The menu was a seared scallop appetizer (which, I will admit, came out a bit salty), followed by an angel hair pasta (Cappellini) with Sauteed Shrimp, Broccoli, Sundried Tomatoes, Garlic and Olive Oil, and finally Home-Baked Ghiradelli Brownies with Vanilla Ice Cream, and Fresh Chopped Mangoes, Strawberries and Blueberries (Ugh, I forgot to get a picture of this). Pics from dinner:

(Portions were large.)

(Scallops in Dill Butter Sauce)

We finished eating and went out to hit up local bars in Capitol Hill, the neighborhood in which Heather lived. We spent most of our time at a bar called The Cha Cha Lounge, one of the places where you walk in and say, "Why is this place so empty?", and then you go downstairs and there's a totally different vibe and a ton of people rocking out (reminds me of Coffee Shop in NYC).

I woke up this morning, and played a game of Mancala with Ali's roommate Ali (whoa. same name.) I told her I would tell you all that she won...

(Hadn't played since second grade.)

Now I am off to Portland for lunch, Eugene, Oregon for dinner, and San Francisco by tomorrow night.