Day 4: Touring Pike's Place and Planning Recipes
The weather
cooperated with us today—it was sunny and beautiful throughout our entire Savor
Seattle Tour of Pike’s Place. We began the tour by meeting our guide, Judson, from Sitka, Alaska, at Unexpected Productions near the famous Gum Wall. Judson
first took us to Eleno’s Yogurt where we sampled marionberry and passion fruit yogurt. Judson
schooled us in the making of Greek yogurt, explaining that Eleno’s only uses
local dairy, which they strain three times per day for five days to get the
right thickness and consistency. Eleno’s is the hidden gem that’s in plain
sight—people pass by the storefront every day since it’s on the corner of Pike
and Pike across the street from the bronzed pig—but because it’s so unassuming,
many people don’t even know it’s there. Seattleites, you are missing out.
From Frank’s produce, we headed to Pike Place Chowder on the corner of Post
Alley. Originally called Charleston Street Café and located on Charleston
Street, Pike Place Chowder has won the New England National Chowder Cook Off in
Newport, Rhode Island three years in a row (who even knew there was such a thing?!). After achieving
the three-peat in 2000, 2001, and 2002, they banned from returning to the cook off for 10 years. In 2012, they
returned and won AGAIN! It seems that Seattle's clam chowder just can't be beat. We sampled three different chowders, including their
original recipe clam chowder (which, according to Judson, our guide who was wearing a t-shirt that said BACON across it's front, has a LOT of bacon in it), a bacon-free Manhattan style chowder, and a vegan
corn chowder. I can't speak for the other two flavors, but I can say that the vegan corn chowder was fabulous. The potatoes, mushrooms, and corn mixed well with the curry and coconut flavors and I can see why it's so popular. When we left, they hadn’t even opened for the day and the line was already snaked
around the corner.
Our last stop on the food tour was at Tom Douglas restaurant Etta’s, which is located directly across from Victor Steinbrook Park. Etta’s is named after Tom Douglas’s daughter and is known for using locally-sourced ingredients and for cooking in season, all things we learned about yesterday in our behind-the-scenes tour of TD restaurants. Etta’s shares a corner with several other Tom Douglas restaurants, and as you head up the hill toward the heart of Seattle, you walk through what locals now call “Tom Town,” thanks to the many Tom Douglas restaurants along that route. At Etta’s, we tried his famous crab cakes, which he is credited for bringing to the Northwest, and sea salt caramels from John Boy Caramels, which are made from rice sugar and are hand-rolled.
After our guided tour, we set off to pick up snacks at the Pike’s Place vendors, because after so many stops and tastes, we had all basically eaten lunch already! Mollie opted for samosas, Oli selected spiced nuts, Alex wisely chose Beecher's mac ‘n
cheese , Dayanne went for the pierogi, and several students
chose to return to Elena’s for a variety of Greek yogurts. Now fully sated, but armed with extra cookies just in case, we
boarded the bus with our fabulous driver, Victor, and headed back to Overlake
to plan recipes and grocery lists for tomorrow’s exciting Chopped Challenge
event. We spent the rest of the afternoon perusing recipes from my cookbook
collection and munching on a variety of cookies from Cinnamon Works, which Abby
claims are “as big as [her] face.” She may just be right! It was another sensational day of eating and tasting our way through Seattle for Chopped, Baked, and Fried.
Iconic pic of Pike's Place Market Sign.
Back view of the sign.
View from the sky bridge.
View from the sky bridge, part two.
The big wheel in the clouds.
45 degree angle practice with the big sign.
Back view of Pike's sign closer up.
Group shot in front of the gum wall.
Alex loves the idea of shouting "GUM!" when taking the photo.
Super gross, but great pic for capturing texture. And gum is sort of food, right?
45 degree angle gum shot.
Tighter angle--captures the gum on the ground too. Seriously, I was grossed out to be this close.
Rendezvous place for the guided tour.
How do we stay behind the guide? Follow the pink umbrella!
Rule follower: I'm following the pink umbrella.
Pic #2 of the sign, front-facing.
First stop: Eleno's Greek Yogurt.
Pike Place sign.
Pike Place sign, different angle.
But first, hand sanitizer.
A whole tray of Eleno's Marionberry Yogurt, just for us!
We learned that Eleno's doesn't use any dyes or additives. That's pureed marionberries atop the yogurt.
Passion fruit yogurt--love the turmeric-colored yellow!
Passion fruit seeds speckled the yellow and white half-moons. The students said they tasted crunchy and sweet--not like most seeds.
After indulging in Greek yogurt, we visited Frank’s Produce, which is owned and
run by a 4th generation
Frank. Frank and family know their produce so well that you can tell them which
day you are planning to eat the fruit and they will pick one so it reaches peak
ripeness on that day. We tasted Sumo mandarins and Kiku apples, both of which
were perfectly chosen and in their peak ripeness. Mollie and I returned and
bought more of each!
Gorgeous mandarin oranges. Though, I wanted them to be more neatly stacked, I can appreciate their haphazard beauty.
The group in front of Eleno's and Frank's Produce, along with the pink umbrella.
Frank's beautiful produce stand. Ah-mazing.
Perfectly in-season muscat grapes.
Peter contemplates the deeper meaning of "Meet the Producer," which is the Pike Place motto.
Our samples from Frank's Produce: Sumo mandarins and Kiku apples. Sumo's are what happens when a Naval orange and a Mandarin have a baby. Kiku's are fantastic--a bit like a Honeycrisp.
Beautiful peas, potatoes, and peppers, captured from a 45 degree angle.
Dried peppers make such beautiful decorations!
All lined up in Post Alley in front of Pike Place Chowder.
Oli is practicing her photography skills.
Post Alley's iconic sign and lights.
Post Alley's sign, up close.
Mollie enjoys the rare appearance of sunshine in Seattle in March while we await our chowder samples.
New England and Manhattan chowder samples from Pike's Place Chowder.
My vegan corn chowder up close.
Pike Place Chowder sign... and the pink umbrella.
Leaving Post Alley... following the pink umbrella!
Our last stop on the food tour was at Tom Douglas restaurant Etta’s, which is located directly across from Victor Steinbrook Park. Etta’s is named after Tom Douglas’s daughter and is known for using locally-sourced ingredients and for cooking in season, all things we learned about yesterday in our behind-the-scenes tour of TD restaurants. Etta’s shares a corner with several other Tom Douglas restaurants, and as you head up the hill toward the heart of Seattle, you walk through what locals now call “Tom Town,” thanks to the many Tom Douglas restaurants along that route. At Etta’s, we tried his famous crab cakes, which he is credited for bringing to the Northwest, and sea salt caramels from John Boy Caramels, which are made from rice sugar and are hand-rolled.
Judson talks to us about the international restaurants along this stretch of Pike's.
Heading to Etta's.
Etta's street-facing restaurant front.
Tom Douglas's famous Etta Crab Cakes... lots of crab, very little filler.
Mango sorbet from Etta's.
John Boy Sea Salt Caramels.
The group in front of Victor Steinbrook Park. The park honors Steinbrook, who saved the market by turning it into a historic district in 1971.
My almond milk latte from Cafe D'Arte in Pike's Place.
Random sticky-note sign. Also, a double entendre.
The group posing for me in front of the Pike's stairs.
One more group shot!
Tanya and team plan a pasta dish for tomorrow!
Dayanne, Oli, Samantha, and Rebecca write recipes for sliders and sweet potato fries.
I brought in a few of my cookbooks from home for inspiration.
Nelson, Abby, Alex, and the rest of Team France plan for crepes and several decadent sauces!
Abby is right--the cookies ARE the size of my face!
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