I thought it was about time I shared my favorite Seattle places with y’all.  I just love Seattle.  It feels a lot like San Francisco with a slight touch of being a little more ahead of the trends in some ways.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I always feel a little cooler when I come back from there.  Should you find yourself headed to the Northwest, I highly recommend checking out the following:
* Sitka & Spruce – my favorite restaurant period.  In all the land.  It’s in the Melrose Building, which has a few other cute little spots to check out (florists, cheese shop, meat shop) & is just delicious, delightful food.  It’s very fresh, very farmers market.  A bit Alice Waters 2.0.
* Bar Ferd’nand – this cute little wine bar is in the same space as Sitka & Spruce and is the perfect spot for a pre-dinner drink.
* Oddfellows Cafe – this is the most perfect bookstore-adjacent cafe in all the land.  Seriously.  I would move into this place if I could.  Light, airy spot with delicious reasonable food, not too crowded but definitely alive.  I wish this was in San Francisco.
* Elliott Bay Book Company – years ago when I went to Seattle for the first time, this bookstore was located in Pioneer Square and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  It’s relocated to Capitol Hill, right next to Oddfellows Cafe, and is still pretty close to the most perfect bookstore ever.  I hear there’s one I might like better in Portland, so I am reserving final judgment, but this is pretty awesome if you love bookstores, like me.
* Boat Street Cafe – another delicious place to eat.  It’s the spot with the charming upsidedown umbrellas pictured above.  After you go to Sitka & Spruce, have dinner here the next night.  It’s another classic, Northwest spot and is warm and charming.

From this list, it appears that mostly, I ate and read books in Seattle.  Not too shappy, IMHO.