Cafe Presse
1117 12th Avenue

I love French food.  I love the rich taste and texture of it and the ingredients they use.  I get so weary of healthy dining options and with French restaurants, you never have to worry that the health police have been there to strip the flavor out of everything.

Cafe Presse is a tiny little French cafe.  Or Seattle version of a French cafe which is good enough for me.  It's also a newstand - magazines - and a hub for watching international sports (translation:  soccer).  And it's a great place for breakfast.

And, even though it is in a neighborhood generally devoid of available parking spaces, early on Sunday morning, you can pretty much have your pick.

Food:  The menu is not extensive but it is creative and French.  Croque Madame is one of my favorite breakfasts of all times and theirs is good - not the very best in town but a very close second.

Today, I went with something a little more simple.  Broiled eggs over ham and cheese and a side of frites.  The eggs were perfection.  The frites, not so much.  I have high standards when it comes to french fries and they go up even higher when they are called frites.  These were good but not frite-worthy.  The eggs, apparently, come with a baguette which I declined.  Next time, I'll pass on the frites instead.

Service:  When I walked in at 9, the place was not packed but there were not a whole lot of vacant tables either.  They have a counter facing the window out to the street and a bar for seating.  The woman who met me at the door asked if I wanted the counter, the bar or a table and I asked for a table.

A lot of restaurants focus on the economy of their real estate.  A single diner taking up space meant for more than one person is eating at their bottom line.

This woman did not bat an eye.  She quickly surveyed the room and said, 'if you give me a minute, I'll clean off that cool little table in the corner.'  She did and I sat at one is, without a doubt, the best table in the house,

Happily, this woman also waited on me so I could reward not only her excellent service (which was, indeed, excellent) but also her generosity with seating me.

Everything else:  Besides very good food and interesting food choices, this is a great spot for people watching and eaves dropping on great conversations.  A terrific way to start the day.









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Smith
332 15th Avenue East

I totally have a new favorite bunch place.  I don't even remember how Smith made its way to my List O' Places To Try.  But, am I sure glad it did.

It's an easy place to get to, especially from the pool where I go to aqua exercise every Saturday morning.  And parking is easy to find.  Plus it is just across the street from my bank and within easy walking of good groceries and other errands.

But while those may be high up on the list of reasons to like a place, they wallow at the bottom this time because the menu and the food are so spectacular.

Food:  The food starts with the menu.  It's not extensive. About 15 items. Of which about 80% sound heavenly and the other 20% sound really good.  Today, I could not get past the second item on the list.  I did promise myself a return visit no matter what today's meal was like.

I ordered Brisket & Fried Egg Sandwich with Fries                    
with hot mustard, fried green tomatoes & gruyÈre.  I'm still stuffed as I write this but it still sounds bring-it-to-me-now good!

And it sure was.  It was served on a wooden plank with the food tumbling off a perfect bun - butter toasted crispy with good texture inside.  The fried green tomato was outstanding.  The brisket was heaven.  The photo shows how perfect the egg was.  Next time I order it - which, is only going to be after I make myself try everything else - I'm going to ask them to maybe dial back the mustard a little.  It was good but there was too much of it.

The waitress asked me if I wanted breakfast potatoes instead of fries and I assured her that I wanted fries.  And anywhere else they would have been excellent but they turned out to be overshadowed here.  Good but it would have been a great meal without.

I cannot wait to try the other menu items.  Oh and as has become habit, the guy at the table next to me ordered a bloody mary which looked delicious.  Next time.

Service:  The service was excellent.  My coffee mug was kept full and hot.  My food came quickly.  My waitress was there when I needed her and  not when I didn't.  Perfect.

Everything else:  The place is really kind of funky.  Dead, stuffed animal heads on the walls which does not offend me but I suspect does a lot of Seattlites.  I sat in the front next to a window which I realized after I'd been there for a while was actually a garage door. I'll bed they have that open in nice weather.  Nice.

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Americana
219 Broadway Ave E

This place has been on my radar for a while now - particularly for breakfast.  It's in a part of town that I don't get to much and where parking can be a bitch.

But, the restaurant opens at 9 and the neighborhood really doesn't wake up much before 10 on Sundays.  I got there at 9 and found plenty of parking.  Good thing to remember as there are lots of breakfast opportunities in that area.

Food:   I had a terrible time deciding between the Americana Benedict and the East Coast.  (Turns out neither was the right choice.)  In Seattle, I always always ask, if cold salmon is in the meal description if it is lox or what they call here 'dry smoked'.  On the east coast, lox is assumed.  In this part of the world, never assume nuthin'.  I have no clue why I didn't ask today.  I expected lox and I did not get it.

But, kind of amazingly in my book, it was absolutely delicious anyway.  I had them substitute the regular potatoes with potato pancakes which were supposed to have smoke gouda in them but if they did, it wasn't much.  They were fabulous either way.

It was also one of the prettiest breakfasts I've had in a long time.  Very creative, very delicious and very pretty.  It's the breakfast (or, heck any meal) trifecta.

Service:  The service was pretty good.  When I first got there it was fine but then the place started filling up and the one waitress tried hard but was a little stretched.  Finally, just as I was ready to leave, a guy came by with coffee.  But, my water glass was filled and you could tell the staff was trying hard.

Everything else:  My breakfast was great.  But, in looking at the meals at other tables, I learned that the thing to order was their french toast.  Their french toast looked the kind of good that armies die for.  Thick and egg/buttery crunchy on the outside and warm on the inside. Had I not been stuffed, I would have sat right down and started all over.




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Hi-Life
5425 Russell Avenue Northwest

It was only after I got home and sat down to write this that I found - when I looked up the links - that the Hi-Life is closely related to two favorite places of mine that I never get to very often.  I need to fix that.

The 5-Spot on Queen Anne just has no place to park so I always wimp out on that one but there is no reason why I have not been back to Endolyne Joe's in West Seattle in just forever and their fried chicken is worth fighting for.

But, I digress.  It was easy to find street parking for the Hi-Life - at least about 10 am  on Saturday.  It was also easy to find.

Food:  The menu wasn't particularly killer for me.  I'm always cool with 2 eggs over easy with stuff so I'm cool when nothing jumps out.  I ended up ordering corned beef hash:  "House cured brisket pan seared with potatoes & onions then topped with poached eggs. Served with fancy toast."

The eggs were poached perfectly (a biggie for me).  The has was corned beef mixed in with onions and mashed potatoes, grilled.  It was ok.  Not the best I have ever had.  But good enough  The fancy toast was not at all fancy and it could have even used some more toasting.

Service:   The service was excellent.  The cute waitress came by offering a coffee refill before I even had a cup.  I got one fast and it was never more than half empty.

Everything else:  The food was good but not either that interesting or spectacular but everything else makes this a comeback place.  When you walk in the front door there is a large dining room on the left and the bar on the right.

Off the bar there are several dining tables.  I was seated through the bar into a lovely bright room with great windows and a street view.  Warm brick walls were adored with interesting artwork.  It just screamed - come in, take a load off, relax, we're here for ya!  And while I noticed several toddlers in the other section, I quickly realized that my section was kid free.  I asked the waitress if it was considered part of the bar and that's why there were no toddlers and she confirmed that as the case... Outstanding -   a lovely room with no screamers.  Heaven.  I really will go back.

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Serious Biscuit
401 Westlake Ave. N.

Deja Vu. Yep.  I went back today to the same place as yesterday.  Get used to it.  I could become a regular.  And I am in love with the hardware store across the street.

Today, I sat at a different table but got the same waiter who is very cute and who greeted me with Welcome Back!!!

Food/drink:  They do not have one bloody mary, but, actually three.

I had the nonna maria.  It was gorgeous and delicious.  Not the very best I've ever had but way up there.

It was pretty.  The place is really rustic - like on purpose - but the food presentation is top drawer.  As is the bloody mary presention.

For breakfast I had another baked egg dish.  This time they were baked with dry cured salami, olives and provolone.  It was just delicious.

I do have one giant bitch.  I am sick and tired of butter served in that foil lined paper.  I don't want to see it and if that's the only way you are going to serve it, then just don't.  I know it's cheap and easy and hygienic.  And if that's the way I want to eat, I'll go to MacDonald's.

Today, Mr. Cute Waiter asked me how I wanted my eggs done.  Apparently, some of their clientele like their eggs baked for days.  I live on the edge, I want them the baked equivalent of sunny side up and they were.  Just perfect.

Service:  See above.  And excellent.

Everything else:  Attached to this place is Tom Douglas restaurant lab.  In fact, I think it's called Dahlia Lab.  There are two eating spots in the restaurant - one upstairs and a kind of eat in bar downstairs.

The upstairs dining room/kitchen overlooks the lab which is fascinating to watch.  I snapped some pictures that do not even do it justice.

I do love this place.  And there are still a dozen things on the menu I want to try.

Serious Biscuit
401 Westlake Ave. N.

This is an odd place that is really wonderful.  It's really not a place at all.  It's an upscale pizza place - Serious Pie - that magically morphs into Serious Biscuit for breakfast every day.

It's in a part of town that is very near some long-term traffic stopping construction.  So while it's been on my radar for a while, I haven't made the effort because it seemed too much of a PIA.

But, my friend, Deb, said 'wanna meet at Serious Pie for breakfast on Saturday?'.  I jumped at the chance.  She got there via public transport and I got there via car and we both got screwed up by closed streets and mislabeling funky stops.  But we both agreed that it was worth the pain and now we know the trick.

Food:  The menu is short but, honestly, every single thing on it looked delicious.  They have basically two kinds of dishes - baked eggs and biscuit sandwiches.  I had the former and Deb had the latter.

First off, let me say that they have nailed the biscuit.  I am a very very very picky biscuit eater.  The best is buttery crispy delicious on the outside and golden soft and flaky on the inside.  And are perfectly delicious in every way totally naked - no butter, no jam, no honey, no nuthin.

These were the best.  Best I've had in a really long time.

I got the baked eggs - "homemade ham, egg, beecher's cheddar, apple mustard".  Quite delicious in every way.  Kind of delicate and the ham was very tasty.

Deb got the fried chicken sandwich.  It was fried chicken on top of a fried egg between two biscuit halves with gravy on top.  A pepper gravy, the menu said.

She said it was good but we agreed that it would be better with out the gravy.  That's how I will have it when I get to it on the menu in one of my many future trips.

And, yes, it does tickle me that I got the shot of Deb's while she was taking her own shot of it.  I do remember in the olden days we used to dig right in and burn our tongues.  Saved by technology.

Service:  The service was very good.  There were lots of servers coming and going so you felt like you could snag one if you needed - which we did cause my fork had hill and valley tines.  Also I got there a good bit before Deb and my coffee was refilled often without having to ask or prompt.

Everything else:  I did not spy this until really too late but their blood mary's looked amazing.  The place was comfortable and not packed and  loud without being too loud.  The staff were all young men who were just cute a buttons.  And, on the way back to my car I spied a nice looking hardware store I'd never seen before.  I went in and it was amazing!!!  I can see many trips in my future for brunch and hardware.  In fact, I might just go again tomorrow - free parking and I can try one of those amazing bloody marys!

SDHQ 
526 1st Avenue S. #413

There are 2 really rough brunch days on the US calendar.  Mother's Day and Easter. Mother's Day is the worst - every brunch and breakfast place in town is stuffed to the gills with a line waiting to get in.  Easter isn't that much better.  My game plan today was to get up and out early before everyone else.  I even had a short list of places that open early and... alas... I had a rare but lovely sleep in and decided to just eat here.

Food:  I had the traditional 2 eggs sunnyside up with bacon and has browns and coffee.  In my book, the best food in the world is the food that I don't cook.  Having said that, however, this didn't suck.

Service:  There is comfort and security in knowing you can and will have a second cup of coffee whenever you damn well please.  Also the food arrived promptly and was hot when it got to the table.  The staff was a might surly, however.  And I hate having to bus my own table.

Everything else:  My condo building used to be a railroad warehouse.  It was built in 1909.  The condos were finished in 1992 and I moved in in January of that year. I was looking for a link to use and decided to check the real estate listings.  I was surprised this morning to learn that there is really only one for sale.  There are a couple with pending sales but really only one for sale now.  This time last year there were a ton for sale that had been on the market for a long time.  Interesting.

Brave Horse Tavern
310 Terry Avenue North

This is one of the Tom Douglas chain of restaurants.  Although they are all different, they all seem to share some of the same qualities - good and bad.  This is one of the two I have never tried before (and totally coincidentally, I will be trying the other one next Saturday).

It is a bar really - a brew pub - that happens to serve brunch on weekends and breakfast on weekdays (the difference being mainly speed, I think).

Food:  It's been my experience, in a Tom Douglas restaurant, that the menu is limited and odd and sometimes the selections are too odd to be good but often they are just artfully delicious as was the case today. The menu is not extensive and, really, there was only one thing that really caught my eye - the normal two eggs over easy selection.  But with the Tom Douglas touch, it was perfection.  I mean really creative and delicious and beautifully done.

The "hash" cakes were really inventive and good potatoes.  They were the size of golf balls and crunchy on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside.  And the toast was wonderful.  Thin sliced and buttered and crunchy delicious.  All in all a very satisfying and nice meal.

Service:  The joint was fairly empty as it had just opened up for the day and, I gather, tends to get a more lunch timey crowd on weekends.  Even so, the wait staff was kind of off and on.  I waited a fairly long time before anyone seemed to notice me.  My coffee came quickly and my order was taken promptly.  My meal came rather quickly and the second cup of coffee rolled in like slow, cold molasses.

I tipped as if the service was better than it was and I'm not sure why.

Everything else:  This place is located in the middle of massive offices and condos.  The only parking really is in the parking garage which was one of the worst I've ever encountered.  Apparently it was built during The Great Sign Shortage.  It was quite tricky to get out of and the cryptic messages about paying made it sound far more complicated than it actually turned out to be.  In fairness, it is surrounded by excellent bus and trolley service... heck my car is probably small enough to fit on the trolley... but I did not want to take the time to come home and then head out again on the bus.

I will be making the same trip next week as the other Tom Douglas restaurant is only a couple of blocks from this one.  But I will have learned some tricks from this time.

The parking was $2.50 but separate from the restaurant bill.

Ma'Ono 
(formerly Spring Hill)
4437 California Avenue Southwest

This is one of my favorite spots for brunch, not only because it has marvelous food, and is easy to get to, has easy parking and is surrounded by all kinds of places to get good errands done.


But mainly it's the food. 


Food:  Everything I have tried there is outstanding.  I have several all time favorite dishes there.  But one that is just incomparable to anything else in town anywhere is their Croque Madame.

Not too many places serve this delicious example of omg.  And none, at least here in Seattle that I have tried, are as good as the Croque Madame here.  They have two things that make theirs outstanding.  They do not list it but it is (traditionally and here) made with a tangy beschamel sauce.  They do not overdo it - perfect.  But the real ticket to their sandwich is the ham.  The outstanding flavor of the Westphalian ham is what makes their Croque Madame better than any other.  Yum.


The only downside is that it is too much, too rich, to eat it all.  Two people could fill up on serving.  


I am not a fan of the salad but I love their hash browns - which are really just potato bricks - sharply crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside.

I do not love catsup in a jar on my plate.  This is one of those places that does not have salt and pepper on the table.  To me that is classy.  It says 'trust the chef'.  A jar on my plate is NOT classy.  If, in fact, you think I need catsup (which I do not), then at least give it to on its own plate.


Service:  The service here is always excellent.  They leave a carafe of water on my table but I never ever have to refill my glass, when it gets half empty, someone comes by and fills it.  My coffee cup never gets below the half way mark.  The staff is attentive and available without hovering.  Nice.


Everything else:  This is just as pleasant a place to dine as there is.  Especially if you are a single diner.  I never feel invisible and I always feel welcome.  Oh and one other nice tidbit about this joint.  They take reservations.  I always have to sit out brunch on Mothers Day because every place has long lines but this year, I may just make a reservation here.