Hanger Cafe in Georgetown

Carrie and I have found a new favorite, and it's the Hanger Cafe!! The interior is a bit small, but that just adds to the ambiance. I had the Daily Egg Crepe, while Carrie had the Ham Crepe - both were excellent. The waitress was friendly and attentive, despite being overwhelmed by tons of patrons; my only complaint is that the kitchen, due to its tiny size, is ill-equipped to handle large numbers of requests; we had to wait a good twenty minutes - half hour for our order. But the food was well worth the wait!

Table 219

Table 219 is Geraldine's, but replace the homespun staff and genuine patronage with equal amounts of Capitol Hill Attitude, tempered somewhat on the staff's side with a genuine desire of customer service. If I weren't willing to drive to Columbia City to Geraldine's or walk to Madison Park to Flora, I'd happily voyage over to Table 219. I had the Lamb Burger with Tatziki, my wife had the Bacon, Egg & Arugula Sandwich. The Sandwich was a virtual clone of the one at the Counter, meaning that the owners / chef knows a bit about reproducibility and consistency. The Lamb Burger was Excellent, needing no seasoning whatsoever on my part; the sweet potato french fries were a welcome delight for me and an equally pleasent surprise for my wife, who was skeptical of the concept.

La Cote

Unfortunately, it's been a while since my wife and I visited this restaurant. We walked here during a rare warm early spring day for brunch, and were not disappointed. I can tell you that both the savory and sweet crepes that we had were excellent, and the waiter's wine recommendations for each crepe were spot-on. Good thing we had the walk back during which to sober up a bit!


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Anita's Crepes in Ballard

Carrie I first tried Anita's early last summer at the market in Ballard. We were looking for alternative caterers for our wedding, and were very interested in Anita's. We each tried a sweet and savory crepe at the stand, and immediately inquired about the possibility of having them cater our wedding; unfortunately, since they used gas for their cooking, and we were holding our wedding indoors, we had to give them a pass.

The reason I bring this up is to point out that when we went to the restaurant, we did so not just with high hopes, but with expectations based on past experience. Which is what made the actual experience in the restaurant all the more painful for the two of us.

I ordered Anita's Breakfast with over-medium eggs, sausage and a cinnamon crepe; Carrie had the Wild Mushrooms and Gruyer crepe. The flavors of her crepe were flat and a bit muddles, while the Gruyer had a rather weak, watery composition. My plate arrived with the eggs, sausage and crepe all touching the same buttery creme fraiche topping that should have been reserved for the crepe, which was a bit too thick and doughy for my liking. The eggs were decently prepared, and the sausage was quite good - but that had little to do with the skill of the cooks, and more with the culinary acumen of whoever ordered that particular brand.

The service was decent; the waitress was prompt with getting our drinks to us, although I did have to bug her for a warm up for my wife's coffee. The place was fairly busy, and the cooks seemed to be ill-equipped for the sheer volume.

All in all, we've both had better elsewhere, and were disappointed that, at least for us, Anita's had seemed to miss a few beats in the transition from being a stand-based business to a fixed-location one

Volterra

Yesterday (Sunday), Carrie and I met two of our friends, Alex and Ed, in Ballard and went to brunch at Volterra.

First, the pluses. The place has a ton of atmosphere, and never got that crowded. All of the servers wore bright smiles, and we got excellent service throughout the meal; our server knew just when to come and ask us if we wanted more water / coffee.

Now, the minuses. I ordered a dish that consisted of two over-easy eggs atop a duck confit with spinach and hashed potatoes. For me, the portion size was a bit on the light side, and all of the flavors seemed to run together. Carrie ordered a truffle-based dish with hash browns in which the truffle flavor seemed to overpower everything else. The fare that my friends had - the Volterra Breakfast and Francesco's eggs - seemed to fit them just fine.

We may or may not go back to Volterra to give the place another chance; it's not that high up on our list of places to brunch at, however.

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HellaWalk...!

This past week, I walked from my house in Leschi to my Dentist at Belltown Dental.


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I like my dentist, but they seem to want me to maximize my insurance benefits, as well as pay them out of my own pocket - I'm not a cheapskate, but hey, this is a recession...!

Finally!

I've been away for a while - went with Carrie to Utah to spend a week with in-laws.

Finally! The 1996 Nissan Sentra is out of my life, forever - and along with it, my last tenuous link to my ex-wife. Not that I have anything against her, and I certainly wish for her all the best - but it's time (way past, as a matter of fact) for me to cut my ties with my ex(cess wife) in Texas :)