I slept late this morning and took off for Seattle late in the afternoon. Looking at the route and the mileage, I figured it to be a two hour trip...three tops.
Everything was going well until I approached the British Columbia/Washington border...the line was at least a mile and a half long. So...I waited and waited...talked for an hour with my good friend, Mark Freedman...listened to satellite radio...read some more of "Kitchen Confidential". Two and a half hours later, I'm at the head of the line. The Customs Officer is concerned about the twelve bottles of wine that I bought at Red Rooster. I explain, in a very polite way, that the duty on wine is only a few cents, but the response is..."couple of cents, couple of dollars...doesn't matter". So, now I have to pull over, park, and go inside to see another officer...he's pretty nice and we talk about my trip so far. He confirms that the duty is $0.21 per bottle, and says he won't bother collecting the $2.52 cents in duty. He does, however, want to "look" at the wine, so I wait inside while he goes out to search. A minute later, he's back..."Well, I opened the back of your vehicle but, after looking in there, I decided that I wasn't up to searching through that much stuff today". So...off I went...back on the road to Seattle.
I got into Seattle late in the afternoon and checked in to the Red Lion Hotel...right downtown and only a few blocks from Pike Place Market...very nice. Having missed lunch while waiting at the border crossing, I'm hungry! And, after last night's meal, I'm on a sushi "roll", so to speak...so sushi again tonight. I'd read that the former chef at Nobu Los Angeles has set up shop in his own place here in Seattle..."Nishino". A short cab ride, and I'm there. It's good...really good...as good as Tojo's?...well, not that good.
My sushi chef is a great guy, plus I meet some really nice folks sitting around the sushi bar (see photos). To my left, in the yellow shirt is Steve...he now lives in Seattle, but lived in Vancouver for a year...he had the Chef's Tasting Menu, and it all looked really good...like the food you'd get at Nobu. To my left is Theresa, originally from Hong Kong, but living in Seattle for the last three years. Next to her is friend Lee...he's originally from Texas but now lives in Seattle. Lee really knows his sushi and Japanese food in general. I'm watching what he orders...sushi, soba noodles, Japanese pickles...everything that he orders is a great choice.
Well...now I'm full again, but I have wisely saved room for dessert. There's a guy in Seattle named Tom Douglas, and he really has a knack for restaurants (he's often sighted as the person who put "Northwest Cuisine" on the map). He's got four or five different places in town, and they're all great. I head for the Dahlia Lounge because one of their dessert specialties is one of my favorites...coconut cream pie...it definitely does not disappoint! Once again, I walk along, working my way back to my hotel, stopping here and there for a glass of wine...another great night's sleep.
1 comment:
YUM! All the darn food photos are making me hungry! How I miss Bill Thee's Gourmet Kitchen!!
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