seattle – Page 3 – Have you eaten?

730 Sq. of Freedom: Simple Living

March 6, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

This is the square footage of living space of my house. Some people think it’s to0 tiny and wonder how I live in it. I am a 5’-2 Asian woman so my house is the perfect size for me. I am a purger. I’m always looking for something to donate or let go. When I buy one clothing item, for example, I donate at least 2 items. One pair of shoes purchased, one old pair will go. I have 2 things I dislike in the world, life drama and “stuff.” I don’t like to have lots of thing and I don’t like things filling up my personal space.

There is this house. A big house. Maybe 4-person family plus one friendly Labrador living in that house. The house has a 3-car garage but it seems like only 2 people in that household can drive, husband and wife. Kids are maybe like 4 and 6 years old. The 2 cars that they own are always parked on the street. One day, a garage door was open when I was out walking my dog and I saw that garage was full of “stuff.” I mean it was PACKED. This is actually what I saw in Atlanta. The big house was right next to mine. Do they even need that many items? It seems like it was almost impossible for them to take stuff out because it was SO packed. You buy a bigger house because you are running out of space to put your stuff? I really do not see the point in that.

I don’t get indecisive on what to wear to work in the morning because I only own what I wear. I don’t worry about which purse I use today because I only have one laptop bag.

I do like a very simple life. I don’t like to complicate things (because I am a complicated person). I don’t call myself a complete minimalist but my wish is to lead a minimal life. Food, books, my dog, handful of precious friends, music and travel. That’s all I need to complete my life. If someone tells me “you need to move to Thailand tomorrow”, the things that I would bring are my overweight Chihuahua, Archie, my favorite book, and my passport and I will say “let’s go!”

Like Oscar Wiled said, “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” He is genius, right?

coffee

My Kind of Meditation: Coffee, Cream and Sugar

March 4, 2015by have you eaten?2 Comments

When I feel like this (oh, life is so hard).

I translate my body is asking for some happiness injection. Gentle sugar intake. I barely use sugar when I drink coffee since I want to enjoy pure flavor and taste of coffee beans but sometimes what you need is good quality sugar and happy cow cream.

Inner beauty is important but outer beauty is also important. I don’t know what it is but I have this huge love for mason jars. Whatever you put in, they all look lovely. I even put my quinoa salad in one of my mason jars and bring it as my lunch. Anyhow, coffee also looks good in that.

I like to use rock sugar or raw sugar because it taste milder and rounder than refined sugar, to me anyways. Sometimes all you need is to take extra few minutes to grind beans, boil the water, and inhale fantastic coffee aroma while pouring water over the coffee. Your life would be so much better after that. It is sort of like meditating.

Some tips on making this coffee…use good quality coffee. I tend to like higher acidity beans from Africa. Use good quality sugar and cream, this makes so much difference. You can also add vanilla beans (real) to ground beans to it. Don’t rush to do anything. Please make sure to taste it.

personal view

They Are a Great Start for Problem Solving: Flowers

March 2, 2015March 2, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

It is true, flowers actually do not solve any one problem you may have. However, flowers remind you that you are being thought of by someone, the beauty of life, that you are loved and to smile. Someone special in your life, whoever that may be, is thinking of you, which lifts you up, not the flowers themselves. It has been hard to accept that I am special to someone because I grew up convincing myself that I was an ugly duckling and no one cared about me.

My friend Ayako Gordon, (also an artisan jam maker) made this gorgeous bouquet. Archie goes to see Ayako every other Sunday at Marigold and Mint where she works as a florist. She knows exactly what I like so he doesn’t have to tell Ayako what kind of bouquet he wants to get for me. Every time Archie brings me those flowers, my heart gets filled so much and it almost explodes.

The bonus to that is that when you give flowers to someone special, your best friend, your spouse, your boss, your direct report, your mother, your brother’s wife…whoever that is, you will experience the same effect as much as when you receive them. You will get to feel the beauty of life, how much you love that person, how much you think of him/her.

Flowers=the first step to world peace (at least your inner peace)

Personal, restaurant

Happy Meal: Sunday Brunch at Sitka & Spruce

March 1, 2015March 1, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

“A Sunday well spent brings a week of content” Whoever said this, gets my respect automatically.

My favorite meal is brunch on Sundays. Not Saturday, not holiday brunch. It must be Sunday brunch. My work starts Monday so Sunday is the day I recharge and rejuvenate my body and soul so that I can tackle my insane work week until next Friday evening. Rejuvenating my body and soul starts with satisfying my tummy. When I am done with that task, my Sunday is 80% complete. Therefore, choosing where and what to eat on Sundays is super critical. Since last Thursday, I had been thinking about spending my couple of hours of Sunday morning, at Sitka & Spruce.

Sitka & Spruce is one of 5-Matt Dillon’s restaurants, located in Capitol Hill in Seattle. Melrose Market is combination of restaurant, bar, butcher, furniture store, general store, cheese shop, clothing store, deli, shellfish restaurant/shop, it’s a mini version of Chelsea Market in New York City. Sitka & Spruce is located inside of this old building that they didn’t tear down. The space has floor to ceiling windows and concrete floor, it reminds me of old and spacious loft. We were lucky to be seated at bar by the window. Bloody Mary, homemade pickles, bread and butter, hot rye porridge, granola, cultured cream & marjoram, baked eggs with smoked brisket, beer braised cabbage & harissa. I was already giddy being inside of that restaurant anyway and I was overjoyed by looking at the menu. What Archie and I ate was ridiculous. If I can show you what happiness looks like, this would be one of them.

My stomach is warm and satisfied. Now I look forward to welcoming my new week. Have a great rest of Sunday, everyone.

restaurant, Seattle

Seattle Food Icon: The Dish (no famous chef required)

February 22, 2015by have you eaten?3 Comments

There is something romantic about eating at a diner, especially at the counter. Drinking a very bad cup of coffee in a very thick unmatched ceramic mug. The food is greasy and its portion is gigantic so it’s promising that you’ll get a huge gut-bomb even while you are eating. You can easily find those diners in NYC but there are not many in Seattle. The Dish is one of only a few and very valuable.

Since I moved to Seattle in 2000, I have been coming here. It is a small restaurant. The counter seats 8 people and there are 9 four-top tables. They only open from 8 am to 2 pm, are closed on Mondays and all national holidays. If you arrive there after 10 am, you should be ready for waiting. Outside. Summer in Seattle is gorgeous, so there is no problem waiting outside. But winter? Wet and cold…but the line does not get shorter. Of course, there is bottom-less coffee with unmatched ceramic mugs while waiting. You sometimes have to go to the bathroom twice before you get seated. People in Seattle adore this place despite these inconvenient factors.

The menu is not that original, regular American. Lots of eggs, starch and meat. Not a lot of gluten-free or vegan options but this place attract people. 98% of Seattle population either knows about this place or has been there, I bet you. Nobody will judge you if you dine there alone. It’s actually quite comfortable place to do so. It has lots of sunlight so it’s nice to eat there when the weather is nice. It’s equally good to dine there on rainy Sunday’s as well.

Their food is good, it doesn’t necessarily wow you. But I repeatedly go there because of the charm, consistency, nostalgia, comfort and romance that this place offers. The Dish will remind you of your grandma. It’s like eating your breakfast in her 50’s kitchen with a bunch of other people.

coffee

Luner New Year: Komodo Dragon

February 21, 2015February 21, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

On morning of Chinese New Year, what is the appropriate way to wake yourself up?
Komodo Dragon, of course. Komodo Dragon is one of Starbucks’ core coffees. Rich, deep, dark. Also earthy spicy and kick. It will take you to Southeast Asia somewhere. You will feel like you are wondering around in the forest hearing these exotic birds and animal crying.

This coffee does not have any association to Chinese New Year but it is nice to start the day taking a trip to where you have not been to, by drinking Komodo Dragon. Happy Lunar Nee Year, everyone.

restaurant

Sixty Four Minutes of Patience Takes You to…Amsterdam: Arabica Lounge

February 17, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

1. It is a long line to order your food and drink.

2. It takes a long time until your food comes out.

3. Staffs are not so attentive.

If you do not like these facts of restaurants or cafes, you would not like to keep reading this post because this place I write about today does have a long line to order, they take a long time to prepare your food and the staff are not super attentive.

I love Capitol Hill in Seattle. It’s weird and not-so-clean, but it offers a lot of character and feels welcoming for some reason. I came to Seattle for the first time to study English and lived at a dorm at Seattle University. It was located (still is) on 12^th and James, and I used to walk to Broadway to check out funky small shops and do some human watching (there were LOTS of “interesting” people back then). Capitol Hill has gone through numerous changes and people say it is not the same Capitol Hill anymore, but this place still attracts me and I notice I feel nostalgia every time I go there.

Arabica Lounge is located at the corner of East Olive Way and Denny. Many of the old buildings (I love old architecture!) still remain around there instead of being replaced by these ugly new apartment (cheap materials and ugly…ugly!) buildings with no character nor the care. This place is located in one of those old buildings with big windows and lots of sunlight. If you are like me, as soon as you enter this café, you feel like you are transported to somewhere in Europe. Maybe like Amsterdam. People working there and people drinking, eating, chatting, reading, laptop-ing, iPhone-ing or just being are all beautiful people. I am not saying they all look like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. What I mean is that they have their own style. Some are hip, some are cool, some are groovy, some are rad, some are indie and some are just not. They just look comfortable in their own skin. This space a good level of intimacy but in the meantime you can still be alone with other people there if that makes sense. I feel most comfortable at this kind of places. They offer simple yet delicious food, well prepared drinks (traditional French bowl with Stumptown beans! Oh MY!) and good music. I wish I had a living room like that space.

Arabica lounge is the best place to be yourself and alone with someone. It is a place to connect with people who are exactly like you, who want to be themselves and are comfortable in their own skin without exchange of words. You’ll want to bring 2 or 3 books when you go there. Trust me, you want to easily stay there half a day but please be careful who you go with. Go there by yourself or with someone who is like you. I went there with Archie and this one friend who was sort of cranky that day. While I was enjoying the time waiting for my food, he mentioned how long we had been waiting (it was 64 min actually but it did not feel like that long) and you don’t actually need to know that kind of information at Arabica Lounge. This is where you go without your watch.

Bring no watch. Bring your books, notebook and your favorite pen. 64-minute wait is totally worth of your time.

food

Savory & Manila: Clam Talk

February 15, 2015by have you eaten?7 Comments

At U-district farmers market, this cheerful, personable and warm hearted lady working the Hama Hama stand and I were chatting about their excellent quality of oysters. She recommended clams this week and they carried 2 kinds of clams, savory and manila. I bought both.

It was BEAUTIFUL today. It was around 50 degrees and sunny. Yes, SUNNY in Seattle. I am happy that I was able to have a relaxing Sunday. So, what I need is an easy but delicious meal on this relaxed early Sunday evening.

Combination of savory and manila clams, about 2lb.

Half of mayor lemon, peeled and sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Olive oil

Pinch of sea salt

Little bit of white wine

I put the above in my favorite Staub cast iron pot and put a lid on and left alone for about 10 min over medium low heat.

Sliced baguette (from Tall Grass Bakery) toasted in a Turk iron frying pan to accompany that.

There, all I need is to sit down and enjoy this simple and relaxed dish with Archie. I even have a cherry pie from Janeli’s Alki Pie Company in the oven right now.

I can’t ask for a better Sunday night than this. I hope you all had a wonderful Sunday.

life

春が来た: Spring in February – Perfect Saturday

February 14, 2015February 14, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

First this. Nice morning cuddle

Then this. Necessity.

Then farmers market. Nice apples at Tiny’s Organics.

Having a nice weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful one too.
Happy Spring.

life

FOB (fresh off the boat) Seattle: Love Letter to Seattle

February 13, 2015February 14, 2015by have you eaten?3 Comments

There were so many clouds to see through the window of the plane. The plane was about to land but I remember it was gray and wet. I thought it was the most beautiful place on the planet however.

February 13^th, 15 years ago I moved to Seattle from Tokyo. I love Japan and I am proud to be Japanese but I have never felt I belonged there. I have been wanting to get out of there since I was 5 years old. When I studied 1 year in college as an exchange student, I fell in love with this City. Ocean, lakes, mountains, trees…I even didn’t mind rain at all. I loved everything about Seattle. I tend to use my guts to decide something significant. So moving to Seattle was the easiest decision I have ever made actually. All I had to do was to follow my heart.

Here I am, 15 years later still in Seattle (I took a detour in Atlanta for a couple of years). Where is the best place to celebrate for this crazy life for 10 years and merry-go-round life for 5 years? There are millions of wonderful restaurants in Seattle but there is only one place I want to go with Archie for this kind of celebration, of course Emily’s place, The Corson Building. Archie, a couple of friends and I went there last night and their theme was “Winter Vegetable Dinner.” Her vegetables gave me so much more than just vegetables. She took “just vegetables” to next level while she uses spices I can’t really identify and made them taste so much more than just vegetables, but you can still identify each vegetable she uses. She is just like a magician. I do not know how she does it every time.

My love for Seattle will never go away. I am happy to call this city my “home” and I want to thank everyone who loves me and are always there for me. I have just a few and I hope you know who I am talking about.