one week..
things accomplished and things awaiting on my seattle bucket list
One week.
Next Thursday, Herald (our little weiner dog, incase you’re new around here) and I are catching our one-way flight to San Diego. Z and my father-in-law will be driving down our car that Saturday (our ‘82 volvo is in for quite the journey…).
It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten a chance to sit down and write on here (sorry…). End of Feb and March thus far has been endless searching on Zillow, setting up virtual viewings (thanks Mom and Reetu!), signing a lease, packing in any moment we have, doing a moving/garage sale, and somewhere in there I flew down to San Diego to co-host my friends Reetu and Craig’s baby shower. Where I also got to see our new place in-person! In any other freetime we may have, we’re packing it with friends and before-we-move-bucket list items. So since I’ve no new recipes I’ve tested recently, thought I’d share the bucket list with you instead!
Bucket list items accomplished so far:
Bait Shop— I should start this by giving a huge shout out to my sweet friend Ellary, who has been making sure these bucket items get crossed off, so you’ll hear her name many times in this. We love meeting up with Ellary and Chris at Bait Shop, so we had to get in another. Bucket of fries, highlife pony, and buffalo wings. This time I also tried their friend chicken salad and it was unreal— goldfish crackers… as croutons. Amazing.
Pancita— If you’ve been subscribed for awhile, this should come as no surprise. I had to get in a Pancita visit. Ellary and I were spoiled by the team and everything was a hit, as always. Especially the chocolate tamale, and a coffee amaro/digestif bev from mexico that I still have been craving!
Donna’s— Donna’s had been on my list since it opened, and, you guessed it, Ellary made it happen. Ellary got their Holy Bull martini which was the smoooothest martini I have ever had. Tomato and basil infused gin, dry vermouth. So good. I got the Always Dreaming: massenez pomme verte, bitter bianco, lemon, simple. It was like drinking a light green apple jolly rancher. So good and refreshing. We shared their parmesan loaded fries (insane!), espresso martini shot !!!, and in our tradition, ended the night with a highlife pony.
Burrito Express— The breakfast burritos from burrito express had been a morning after supper club tradition, since we live so close to the truck. I will miss the kind people who work there, just as much as the burritos.. but I can’t complain too much because I am going to the city of burritos. But this is the first spot we found that that truly reminded me of back home (San Diego).
Columbia City Bakery— Depending on our work schedule, we’ve made a tradition of making Wednesday mornings a trip to Columbia City. We went recently with our friend Evan, got our regular breakfast sandos, and a pretzel for later (a must!).
Hoste— I had to get into my friend Lana’s shop before moving! My wardrobe definitely isn’t ready for the Southern California climate, so I picked up some light striped button downs, a baby gift, and scored my first sønderhaus item! Their precious gingham boxer shorts, in red!
Szechuan First— The place that breaks our hearts to leave the most.. but we had our dream “last supper,” like truly, a feast, with our friends Evan, Marlena, Tien, and Korey. Scallion pancakes, spicy cucumber salad, szechuan cold noodles, chong-qin chicken, general tso, whole fried tilapia in brown sugar vinegar sauce, salt and pepper tofu, eggplant in hot garlic sauce, and garlic pea shoots. It was transcendent.
Naan n Curry— Our favorite Indian restaurant in Seattle. My heart is also sad to not be able to have their matar paneer on cold, comforting days anymore. Their saffron rice is the best, and I love the side onion salad for a crunchy, fresh bit while eating curry.
Sebastiano’s Wine— Another new spot, that I got to visit opening week with my friend Lana, and again recently with my friend Ash. No corkage fee, can get a flight of his open bottles of the day. A stunning wine collection. And just the sweetest ownership. I love that spot, and West Seattle is truly so lucky to have him and his shop!
Ben’s Bread— After our hectic moving/garage sale weekend, our friend Marlena dropped us off some english muffins and blue corn cookies (the best!!) from Ben’s. This move has taken a village, and we’re so grateful for our village.
Good Habits Tattoo Studio— During Ellary and I’s Donna’s date, I mentioned how I really wanted to get in one more tattoo by one of our tattoo artists before the move. Sure enough, Jac had a last minute opening, so we got matchy strawberry jam jar tattoos from their flash! Besides our love for bread making, and being colleagues in the industry… when Ellary and I first met, we bonded over how the majority of our tattoos were from the same artists, Emily-Rose and Jac, who own Good Habits Tattoo Studio. I will also miss them since they have primarily been tattooing me over the last 3-4 years. Definitely will be trying to get in the books when I visit though!
Cheeky + Dry — Wishing I could take C+D with me to San Diego!! Stocked up on some of my favorite non-alchs, like Tilden! I shared some with my friend Reetu, when I was down for her baby shower (who is going to be having her baby 2-3 weeks after we arrive!!!) and we were obsessing over some of the fun options C+D offers. I’m going to miss it, but if you have any places with good non-alch selection in SD, lmk!
Cornelly— Our favorite pizza spot when we lived right across the street, in Capitol Hill. We don’t go often, so when we do, being on Summit Ave already feels iconic and nostalgic Seattle to us. Their Caesar salad is S tier of all Caesar salads in my heart. Wine selection also never misses!
Bucket list items on the schedule:
Le pichet— Continuing the the iconic Seattle vibe.. this week we have a date with our friends Frances and Ian. Frances planned an “au revoir tour“ for us: boys are going to Sonya’s for happy hour, and gals are going to Virginia Inn (iykyk, iconic Seattle bar since 1903) for theirs. Then we’re all meeting at Le pichet (cutest, coziest, french cafe/bar/restaurant) for dinner. I can’t think of anything more perfect to send us off, and especially with it including these two! Being in that part of Downtown, and inside le pichet, I feel transported to old Seattle. I love it, and can’t wait!
Taylor’s Shellfish— Besides Vashon, Mt. Vernon/Bow, WA are my favorite country towns near Seattle. Z and I are wanting to take one more drive up there, and go to the Taylor’s Shellfish that is right on the water bank that they harvest oysters from. It’s supposed to be nearing 70 this weekend (!) so we want to bask in the stunner that Seattle is on a perfect Spring day. The moment when every Seattleite remembers why we live here. ❤️ We’ll cheers to our time over oysters and a view of the Puget Sound.
Both Ways brunch + Lake Washington walk — A place I want to gatekeep because it’s so precious and I don’t want it slammed.. but I’m sharing with with you all.. I love the community/neighborhood feel Both Ways has. Their biscuits are amazing (second best to Ellary’s, at Layers! which i may also need to get my hands on before I leave..) house potatoes are some of my faves, and the staff is always so nice. It’s in walking distance to Lake Washington, which I will miss floating in this summer, but I’m looking forward to one more nice spring walk, with (most-likely) Z skipping rocks!
Familyfriend— A newer spot that people have been raving about the smash burgers! Ellary and Chris are going with us, on my last night in Seattle ❤️
Last, but certainly not least, we have our going away party this weekend. I can’t wait to have all our friends around and give hugs and cry and remember and laugh. It’s going to be surreal. Friends we’ve been friends with since college years (that have already seen long distance friendship, through our Berlin, Germany era) and so many we have made over the last few years (most all thanks to supper club! ). Proud of where Zach and I have come, and the community of people we have grown to have around us and love. Going to miss our people so much. But we know there are more in San Diego ready to welcome us, and who have also been helping us with this move already! Moving takes a village, and I’m grateful for ours, both here in Seattle, and in San Diego. ❤️
On that note— I want to give HUGE thank yous to all of you that have come to a supper club, hired me for your private event, supported my work and more here in Seattle. I’m so, so grateful for the opportunities you all have allowed me to have. I will miss this work in this city just as much as the members in my personal community I’m leaving behind. You all have been my community. I’m grateful. Forever. ❤️
Well, the next we’ll chat it will be from my SD kitchen! I’m looking forward to having more natural sunlight for some food content vs chasing the Seattle clouds and light. A brand “refresh” is also coming soon! Been working with last week studio, who has been a GEM at being in-sync with my vision. New year, new state and city, lil Spring cleaning, lil brand refresh! We’ll chat about that next time, and give you a little peak at my new kitchen and space. In the meantime, if you’re in Southern California and want to work together this year, hit me up! My books are open, and looking for new work!
Seattle, I love you.
San Diego, I’ll see you so, so soon!
xo
Courtney