For those of you who don’t know, Seattle is called the Emerald City. Seattle has great food, sights, shopping and lovely scenery. Recently John and I made our second trip up and it was a trip full of happy accidents. One of those happy accidents was coming in contact with Tom Douglas’ Restaurants. I am now convinced that Tom Douglas IS The Wizard!!! And he is now on the “boyfriend” list.

When I fall in love with a Chef’s food I always remember my first experience. It’s like a great kiss, I don’t want to forget it. High School Friend Neil drove into town to meet John and me for dinner, and due to John’s arriving conference colleagues, we needed to stay close to the hotel. Neil suggested Dahlia, about a block from where we were staying. Excellent choice! The food was FABULOUS!! Since Copper River Salmon was in season that was featured on the menu (all over the city) and it was beautiful. I strayed from my “no tongue” comfort zone and had lamb tongue confit and was pleasantly surprised at how tender and flavorful it was. When offered to John, he declined saying he didn’t want to kiss a sheep! As we left the restaurant, I snagged a flyer outlining Tom Douglas’s operations.

Lamb Tongue Confit

I immediately fell in love. There are 12 locations, plus a farm that provides organic produce and herbs to all the locations, taking the farm to table concept to a more personal level. They grow their own, just like farming communities have done for ages. One of the 12 locations is a bakery supplying bread (or in the case of some items, recipes) to all the others. I made it my mission to visit as many of the sites as possible, and I only had 2 days from the dinner at Dahlia to the flight on Thursday afternoon!

Seattle is a great walking town, and I walked everywhere, and thank goodness for that, otherwise I’d have gained 10 lbs instead of the 5 lbs that actually ended up in my jeans. The following morning, after having hit the web and realizing the BBQ rub shop I had seen earlier on the trip was in fact a Tom Douglas enterprise, I headed out to locate it. What I found right next door was Seatown, where I promptly ordered oysters and a Bloody Mary for breakfast. The guy down the bar from me ordered the biscuits and gravy with sausage. GK, the server/barmaid, informed him the sausage was house made and smoked. Upon hearing that, I felt cheated with my oysters, so I had that too. The sausage melted in the mouth and the biscuits were first rate as well. Then it was on to the Rub with Love Shack where 9 rubs were purchased and later shipped home.

I also made a trip to Tom Douglas’ Brave Horse Tavern. Great local beers on tap and the most delicious and beautiful pretzels I have ever seen. A burger so juicy that the juice was LITERALLY dripping off my arm completed that trip. And don’t even get me started on the fries! Crispy outside, tender inside, popping hot and the perfect amount of salt. Special thanks to Drew my bartender!

Without fail, I have to say every single server and employee at the locations mentioned above was happy to be there, helpful and very knowledgeable about the operation, products and company. What a treat! What a joy to hear employees speak glowingly of their boss and owner. Tom Douglas is doing LOTS of things right. The food and the vibe in all the places I visited are fantastic. I didn’t see everything Tom Douglas has to offer, but what I did see was heightened by happy servers and knowledgeable staff members. What I didn’t see/hear were frowns, snarky comments, back biting among the waitstaff or sloppy presentations. Wahoo!

I can’t wait to revisit The Emerald City and hit up more of Tom Douglas’ joints. I think I will need to go on a diet before liftoff…

In addition to the Food Memories listed above I had a great week – house made corned beef hash at a little divey bar/café, dinner and drinks with friends Byron and Christine, brewery visits, eating in a Chihuly inspired restaurant and multiple visits to Pike Place Market. For more info on this Seattle trip, check back next week. There was so much great stuff that I couldn’t put it in one week!

Until next week, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!