Seattle may have a reputation for coffee – heck, we are the home to the largest bean brand in the world – yet I tend to think the city and Puget Sound region as a whole is more of a food & drink haven.
Think about it: Washington state is the second-largest producer of wine in the U.S. (after California) and it has hundreds of tasting rooms across the four corners. Add in the 400 or so Washington breweries – including 109 in King County alone – making suds, from sour to crisp, and you have a top-producing and highly vested adult beverage hub in the top-left corner of the country.
Then you throw in the hundreds of diners, drive-ins and dives (sorry, Guy Fieri) – let’s call them eating establishments – that serve up everything from poutine to pot stickers, grasshoppers to bison, in everything from high-end restaurants to food carts and trucks. There is no shortage of eating options across this city. Yes, we are serious about food & drink!
We also love our big-name chefs, including Ethan Stowell, Renee Erickson and Tom Douglas. A James Beard Award winner, Douglas (pictured, left, with yours truly) is arguably the best known of the local curators of cuisine. By my count, Chef Tom owns 16 establishments that range from traditional Pacific Northwest fare to wood-fired pizza, pub grub and modern Asia. He opened his first restaurant, Dahlia Lounge, in the mid-1980s and it’s still going strong. (He even won on The Food Network’s “Iron Chef”.) While not working behind the stove, Douglas tag-teams with other chefs behind the mic to host a weekly radio show/podcast on the topic of, you guessed it, food & drink.
Stowell is no slouch either; he owns 14 establishments and offers some of his favorite items at Mariners games. But my personal favorite is Douglas for his creative use of local ingredients and unique preparations on traditional fare.
Our love of food & drink is served up in mass quantities every summer when Seattle Center comes alive with the city’s biggest food event of the year – Bite of Seattle, three days of food, beer, cider, wine and much more. Grab a roasted cob of corn, bison burger or fire-roasted salmon. This is a must-experience event for all.
If you can’t wait for summer, then why not try Taste Washington. More than 200 wineries and 60-plus restaurants show off their talents to food & drink lovers, March 28-31, at various locations in Seattle. The main event (okay, main course) is the Grand Tasting at CenturyLink Field Event Center, where a single-day pass (3 ½ hours) starts at around $100. Real foodies will pay for the VIP experience to get in early and avoid the crowds.
There are roughly two dozen other food & drink events that dot the Seattle/King County calendar throughout the year. Watch for updates in the monthly newsletter (sign up today!).
Yes, we take eating and drinking seriously here.