Lake Union Park at the sound end of the trail. *Photo courtesy http://seattletimes.nwsource.com

Last weekend I finally did one of those things I kept telling myself I should do.  Do you know those things?  Those things that when you moved to a certain neighborhood you told yourself you would do all the time.  Like if you live next to a great park you tell yourself that you’ll go read there in the summer all the time but instead you just sit in your house and watch TV.  Well, living in Queen Anne I spend an awful lot of time looking out at Lake Union and thinking, “I should totally walk all the way around Lake Union.”  And, you know what?  I finally did it.  And I didn’t even die.  (It was mostly the walk back up the stairs to Queen Anne that made me feel like I was going to die) The entire walk around Lake Union is on the Cheshiahud Loop Trail and it is about six miles in total.  The trail itself is pretty much flat the whole way around and is a pretty easy walk.  (I refuse to call it a hike because I don’t think “urban hiking” is a real thing.)

It was perfect for this kind of walk on Sunday.  It wasn’t too hot or too cold and thankfully, though the clouds darkened by the end, it did not rain.  It was an interesting way to see a very diverse slice of life in Seattle and not just in the people walking, running, biking, rollerblading, and walking their many, many dogs on the trail.  The trail takes you through the newly finished Lake Union Park at the South end of the lake, up the East side where you can marvel at the strange luxury of the floating homes.  We also got hissed at by a cat named Pixel right around there.  Eventually you will cross the University Bridge  and turn around the end of the lake.  I started to get hungry right about the point I could smell Ivar’s Salmon House at the end of the lake, but we pushed on to Gasworks Park.  In Gasworks we saw grown men in suits of armor beating each other with swords, a table full of Alice in Wonderland role players, and and intense fitness competition.  It was a perfect mix of the fit and healthy and weird and nerdy (not that those are mutually exclusive necessarily) that are all acceptable ways to be in Seattle.

Then you head into Fremont, cross the Fremont Bridge and head back down Westlake where you can marvel at yachts that are bigger than your entire apartment complex.  We did not however see a yacht big enough that a helicopter could land on it.  That was disappointing.  Non-helicopter-bearing yachts not withstanding, all the while it just reminded me of how awesome it was that you could take such a long and beautiful walk right in the city.  It was so nice, I might have to start doing some of the other things I keep thinking I am going to do.  Maybe not.

My family used to rent movies frequently.  Especially when my parents were going to be gone for a night or two my sisters and I would go down to the video store and usually pick up a few movies to occupy ourselves.  We generally started by going through all the new releases and then venturing on to the other shelves if we hadn’t made a decision yet.  We also learned not to let my mom go pick out movies by herself.  When she did we learned what a truly terrible movie looked like.  Thankfully I have managed  to block most of those from my memory.

We don’t do anything like that anymore.  We make long lists for our Netflix queue and wait for them to appear in the mailbox.  Now, I am in no way criticizing the amazingness that is Netflix.  You can get pretty much any movie or TV show you want delivered to your home and that is a great thing.  It has allowed my fiancé and I to waste away many a rainy day as lazily as possible.  However, I find, it  remains that there still may be times when you could want an actual video store. (more…)

It never fails.  Every time the sun peeks out here in Seattle for more than I few hours and I find myself driving down 45th Street in Wallingford there is the telltale line.  It comes out of the door of Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream and often up the block and around the corner.  If the temperature is rising, the line seems to be growing…and with good reason.  The ice cream is delicious.  The first shop opened in 2008 and we mentioned it here exactly one year ago so by  this time you have probably tried their stuff.

However, if by some chance you have not, it really is time.  The flavors are wonderful.  I fully recommend the Scout Mint (which has ground up Girl Scouts Thin Mints cookies in it) or the Vivace Coffee, ooh or the balsamic strawberry, or the salted caramel…or really I’m sure all of he other flavors are delightful as well.  Molly Moon (and yes that is her real name) prides herself on using as many local ingredients as possible ( if that’s something you’re into).

You have to admit, there’s not much quite as summery as the smell of waffle cones being made.  It’s just a fantastic smell.  It ranks up there with fresh cut grass, barbeques, and that wonderful smell you get when it starts raining (that’s my favorite).  So hop on over to their Wallingford or Capitol Hill location and really enjoy yourself.  I promise you the line is worth it.

BUT, BUT…here my friends is the really spectacular news.  Sometime around Labor Day  Molly Moon’s will be opening a shop in Queen Anne!  It’s going to be on Galer between Top Pot Doughnuts and Via Tribunali.  That is fast becoming a very dangerous (and tasty) block.

(Also, you can spend some time stalking their mobile ice cream truck, Leo, on facebook and twitter if you get really obsessed.)

So first I just want to say that I’m happy to be back in Seattle after two weeks in Europe and back to the blog after a few more weeks than that (It’s been a rough few months).  I thought as a nice welcome back for myself I would write about a place that makes me feel back at home.

The 5 Spot up on the top of Queen Anne is a great place.  They have a standing menu containing a few favorites and then every three months they rotate in a new theme.  This means not only adding new items to the menu but also redecorating the entire restaurant.  My favorite part is that they also change the music in the bathroom to fit the theme.  During the Washington D.C. period they had 5 spot employees reenacting the Nixon/Kennedy debates in the bathroom.  The New Mexico theme included large papier mache spaceships and a reenactment of the X-Files.

The current theme is Tornado Alley, which has a lot of Wizard of Oz imagery and you can find the menu here.  More importantly, through June 13th, 25% of sales from the Tornado Alley menu will being going to help tornado victims in Alabama.  So, not only will you get to check out a cool place but you actually have the rare opportunity to help people by eating ribs! (more…)

Photo Credit: Seattle Boutique Blogspot

If you are like me, you enjoy discovering cute little boutique shops that contain endless gift ideas, chic clothing options and nick nacks of all sorts! Well, ladies, I have the perfect little gem for you. It’s called Meadow, and it’s nestled on the northwestern edge of upper Queen Anne (1959 6th Ave W.).
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Meadow is chock full of delightful finds, and I stroll into this place on an almost weekly basis. I’ve purchased cute birthday cards for my friends and family, lovely earrings, necklaces, scarves and the BEST soap I’ve EVER purchased (grapefruit!). Best of all, everything in this store is more than affordable. (more…)

Continuing our series on the Best Bites around Seattle, this week we’re headed to Queen Anne. Admittedly, my repertoire of this neighborhood’s cuisine lies in midday meal as I work at the top of QA and is usually the only time I’m out and about. That being said don’t let this family-friendly neighborhood fool you. There is a ton of wonderful food on all sides of this hill.

Here are my picks for the best bites in Queen Anne.

• Toulouse Petit – This sister restaurant to its neighbor Peso’s is a one way trip straight to  the French Quarter in New Orleans. Bathed in a million candles lining every inch of wall space, Toulouse offers a wide variety of traditional and modern Creole fare including oysters, po’ boys, muffulettas and beignets. On this particular night I was craving comfort food and the fried game hen with spicy tasso gravy and cauliflower gratin with horseradish hit the spot. Double bonus: Toulouse has an amazing breakfast for just five bucks during the week that warrants an extra-long “coffee break” from the office. Just sayin.’
• Emmer and Rye – I had the pleasure of trying this much buzzed about restaurant during Seattle Restaurant Week. Housed in the old Julia’s space on Queen Anne Avenue, Emmer and Rye’s hook is locally grown food prepared seasonally. Each dish on the extensive menu comes in full and half- size portions so I would recommend going small and trying a bunch of dishes – I can never seem to make up my mind on what to eat so this is the perfect solution. On a recent trip I had the cider braised pork shoulder with roasted vegetables sitting on large slabs of bacon – unbelievably simple yet still fresh and flavorful. Emmer and Rye offers lunch, dinner and even brunch. Also, all bottles of wine are half price on Wednesday.
• Via Tribunali – A city-wide favorite known for its Naples-style pizza, the Queen Anne location is slightly less crowded than its sister outlets, perhaps it’s because it is tucked into a neighborhood on West Galer Avenue. Either way, the classic yet inventive menu of pizzas is like crack with its blistering crusts and fresh melted mozzarella cheese. This place needs little words as its reputation speaks for itself.
• Coffee – Okay this isn’t a ‘best bite’ but Queen Anne has (in my opinion), some of the best coffee shops in the city that are definitely worth noting. Muse, Café Fiore, El Diablo all offer wonderful nooks and crannies to spend hours reading, working or just pondering life. Oh yeah, the coffee isn’t too bad either
• Eat Local – Looking for quick and easy take out? Look no further that Eat Local, “prepares meals that are hand-made in our kitchen, from scratch, using traditional cooking methods and house-made stocks,” according to its website. They use locally grown meats (organic and free range) as well sustainably grown produce. The menu features pizzas, handmade pastas, fish, beef, chicken, pork and even rabbit entrees as well as sides. All packaged and ready to heat up at home. Eat Local also has wine, bread, desserts and cheeses, everything to make your meal complete. Eat Local also makes a wonderful gift for a family with a new baby or anybody who is need of a full stocked refrigerator or food.

Didn’t see your favorite place listed? Shoot me an e-mail at missy@bellesofthesound.com or follow me on Twitter @foodiecritic and I’ll check it out.

The other day I met my friend my Helen (whom I haven’t seen in many months) for drinks and nibbles. As a mom of two very young boys, I wanted to take her to a place a) she’s never been to b) was quiet enough that we could actually hear each other and catch up and c) somewhere that made her feel like she was having legit adult time. The answer? Flow on Queen Anne.

Flow is a cozy, hip lounge with a slightly Asian feel. Filled with lots of hidden nooks with mismatched tables, rattan couches and brightly colored Chinese silk pillows, Flow has a laid back, modern vibe. And the best part? Happy Hour is from 4 – 11pm. I admit this is one of the primary reasons I selected this place (Who can get to Happy Hour by 6? Anybody? Just me? Sigh.)

Part of owner Orappin’s (single name like Madonna) mini empire – she also owns Orappin Thai Cuisine next door – Flow offers a menu filled with a variety of small bites, big bites, salads and specialty cocktails. On this particular night we ordered several small bites from the happy hour menu including fresh Vietnamese summer rolls, chicken pot stickers and pesto fries. Everything was super fresh, flavorful and in a word delicious. We washed everything down with perfectly balanced kir royales and managed to spend $15 apiece. 

Just to prove I wasn’t dreaming, I went back to Flow the following week for a co-worker’s going away.  This time we mixed it up with some of the small bites and had calamari, seared scallops, hot peppered beef and lemongrass pork satay. Needless to say, I was not disappointed and it confirmed my initial instincts about this place.  If you’re looking for a slower paced happy hour with flavorful food, solid cocktails and a place where everyone knows your name slip on down to Flow.

 Want more tips on the best food Seattle has to offer? Follow me on Twitter @foodiecritic.

If there is one thing you take away from knowing me (at least virtually), please let it be that everyone should become active in their communities. Admittedly, I don’t do this as much as I should, although I do currently volunteer for 3 organizations in addition to my regular job. Getting involved can be as simple as getting to know your neighbors, seriously. They should be the people you look away from and hustle into your house in order to avoid making conversation. Who knows? They may be super nice. Maybe they’ll start inviting you to their exciting Bunco nights (hint hint to my neighbors who still haven’t extended me this invite…).

If you live in Queen Anne, here’s your chance to do something good for your neighborhood and be an active participant in your community. According to QueenAnneView,  volunteers are needed to help “paint the new mural on the Dexter Way underpass (below Aurora on the east side of Queen Anne).” This new mural will replace the old painting that is completely covered in grafitti (boo!). The event takes place on Saturday, August 21 and Sunday, August 22 from 11am to 5pm, and everyone is welcome.

So SAVE THE DATE! If you need directions or more information, call 206-285-4883.

Here is a nifty graphic via QueenAnneView that shows the old mural compared to the new planned mural. What do you think?

Queen Anne hill was not named after this Queen Anne (18th century British monarch)

I have been a resident of Queen Anne for a few months now and it has been great.  We have spent a good bit of time walking around the neighborhood and just seeing how beautiful it really is.  So, in order to explore we’ve done a lot of walking.  Now, as you may or may not be aware, Queen Anne is quite a large hill.  With a large hill comes the problem of how one gets up and down it.  For one, there used to be streetcar lines that ran all over the hill.  Because of the streetcars the steep of Queen Anne Avenue became known as the Counterbalance.  I remember getting breakfast at the 5 Spot (which is quite good) shortly after moving to the neighborhood and seeing references to the top of the Counterbalance and thinking “What the hell is a Counterbalance?”  Well, for those of you also wondering, it is a device that was used to help the electric streetcars up the steep hill.  The streetcars were attached to a 16 ton weight in a tunnel under the street.  The weight would be released down the hill and would help to pull the streetcar up.  Oh the downhill route the weight would stop the car from speeding down the hill and losing control.

Now the streetcars are long gone, so if you are looking to get up the hill you are just going to have to use a regular car, or a bus, or you can take the stairs.  Queen Anne is covered in stairs. So covered that resident Thomas Horton decided there needed to be a map.  If you head to Queen Anne Books or the Queen Anne Historical society you can pick a copy of themap.  We picked up just such a map and now feel that we really must try to visit all of them.  Some of the staircases are very long and others only a few stairs.  According to the map stairway #54 is haunted, stairway # 51 is lauded as being “Great for Kissing” and there is one stairway, #51, that is not on the map but supposedly “very good looking.”  Of course then, with map in hand, my boyfriend and I start to feel an obsessive need to find all of the stairs and go up or down each one of them.  In my case it may be to see how many of them I can nearly fall down.

The other thing I’ve noticed aimlessly wandering the hilltop are the great houses.  Queen Anne hill was actually named for the Queen Anne style of architecture that was popular in the Victorian era.  Many of Queen Anne’s original Queen Anne style houses are no longer standing but there are still some examples here, here and here.  These houses were quite popular when the hill was being originally developed.  Although there are not that many Queen Anne style houses left there are still quite a few other impressive buildings like the Ballard mansion or the old Queen Anne High School (now a condo complex).  Check out the Queen Anne Historical Society’s website for further listings of historic sites (http://qahistory.org/historic_sites.htm).

So if you’re feeling like checking out a little history, climb the stairs to Queen Anne.

Usually when I step out of my apartment, I get an unobstructed view of Lake Union and Eastlake.  In the summer, I love taking over the strategically placed park bench that offers the clearest view of the lake, where sail boats bob in colorful confusion and the cars on I-5 look like little Matchbox toys.

Today, I stepped out into the great big world to get engulfed in fog.  Couldn’t see the lake.  Could barely see along the road far enough to avoid getting hit by incoming cars.

You might wonder what had drawn me out of my sweet, warm bed on my day off – thank you, Lincoln! – to make my way through fog-filled streets thick with cold.

It was the promise of something better than cereal to eat for breakfast.

It was the lure of something with more snap than the coffee that my (coffee-maker) Tristan makes with such loyal consistency.

It was Macrina’s Bakery. 

Perched at the top of Queen Anne hill, right on 6^th and McGraw, Macrina’s offers a myriad of baked goods: tarts and turnovers, bread and brioche, rolls rich with fruit and bread fresh-made that morning.

Breakfast for me was hot ginger-apple cider and an Italian plum tart.  I had to smile when my server made it, as the steam from the ginger made her eyes water (she laughed, too.  I am not a monster).  The tart, though dusted with powdered sugar, had none of the too-much, too-rich, can’t-finish qualities that you sometimes get from your local Starbucks pastries.  Nuts were nestled throughout the chewy bread; the plum, in happy contrast, had been baked to an almost chocolate-like consistency.  Sharp apple, made sassy with ginger, harmonized with the nut and fruit so that every sip was a pleasure.

I am not a morning person, and so it’s hard for me to be around people who are.  But as I sit in Macrina’s typing this post, I am surrounded by the light chatter of Macrina’s patrons, occasionally punctuated by laughter or smiles and I don’t feel like Grumpy Bear on steroids.  This alone, I feel, should recommend this bakery to you.

On an entirely unrelated note, Dave Matthews Band has power over babies.  I baby-sat this weekend and played The Stone on my iPhone.  The kid was asleep within minutes!

Also, “dynamitard” isn’t in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.  So THERE.