Slurps Up At Samurai Noodle

On February 13, 2010, a new noodle house came to town … well, to the University District, at least:  Samurai Noodle (no website yet). This noodle house – all ramen, all the time – is an expansion of the one located at Uwajimaya.
At Samurai Noodle, it’s all about Japanese noodles, broth, veggies, and meat.
They have [...]

Where East Meets West: The Tea Garden

Tea may not be to Seattle what coffee is – not yet, at least – but there are some very unique boutique tea shops and tasting rooms worth checking out.
In addition to Seattle’s Zen Dog and Floating Leaves, there is now the Tea Garden in Ravenna’s East West Bookshop. Opened in December 2009 – when [...]

Bask in the Glow of Suncadia

If you’re looking for a “staycation” – a getaway that’s not too far away – you might want to consider Suncadia Resort & Spa. Located 80 miles east of Seattle on the sunny eastern slopes of the Cascades amidst 1,200 acres of pine forests and saddled up next to the Cle Elum River, Suncadia is [...]

Cuckoo for Cocoa Chai Chocolates

Chocolates are like fine wine in (at least) one respect: the artisan shops tend to rule. Why? Because, like terroir, the personnalité of the artisan vintner/chef/chocolatier shines through like sunlight through stained glass – truly, a thing of beauty.
While Seastar’s truffles certainly rock the palate, there’s something to be said from making chocolates in your [...]

Makin’ Bacon … Jam

What do you think of when you think of jam?
Is it sweet – or even tart – fruit?
Or … is it salivatingly seductive savory bacon?
If you answered with the latter response, then chances are you’ve tried Skillet Street Food’s bacon jam. Perhaps you noticed that Martha Stewart’s inner circle of bloggers recommended it as a [...]

Seastar’s Chocolate Truffles – Who Knew?

It’s still February, so the stores literally floweth over with chocolate.
But there’s good chocolate, dear hedonists, not-so-good chocolate, and – at least some would argue – flat out bad chocolate.
Who knew seafood, raw food, and chocolate could go so well together?
Last month, your Hedonista gave a fine review – a gold star, in fact – [...]

Tilth Brunch Do Us Part

Tilth Organic Cuisine: true Pacific Northwest cookin’, right down to the refurbished home its housed in right in the heart of Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. It first opened in September 2006 and has been all the rage ever since (even the NYT said so almost two years ago, when it ranked Tilth 9th out of the [...]

From Divey Dougie to Rico Rialto

Ah, the Douglas Hotel … a veritable flophouse with the type of bar that became a “first shot/drink” rite of passage for young men on their 19th birthday (19 years of age being the legal drinking age in B.C.). In short, a seedy operation that no self-respecting young woman would step foot in (your Hedonista [...]

Fat Tuesday and Polish Pączki

As if Valentine’s Day – dubbed “V-Day” by those unimpressed by either its sucrose-saturated, schmoopy, and saccharine nature, its commercialized evolution, or both – isn’t enough reason to LOVE (or despise) February, then what about the “Carnivalrous” Mardi Gras (that’s Fat Tuesday in the English language, or Shrove Tuesday and/or Pancake Tuesday in England and [...]

Sleep, Slurp, Spy, ‘n’ Spa This February Month of V-day

Since it seems that – for better or for worse – day-long holidays (pagan or not) are now marketed as month-long events, this month your Hedonista will focus on the month of pure hedonism: February.
Why February, you ask? Well, there’s Valentine’s Day, with all of its pampering of your respective loved one (or ones). However, [...]

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