Food & Drink in Olympia

With a citywide lack of air-conditioning, it is imperative in Seattle to find a way to not just beat the heat, but to embrace and enjoy it. The key to doing this is to find that holy grail of hot-day meals: one that actually sounds better than just having ice cream for dinner for a third straight night (not that there’s anything wrong with that, right?). For those not looking to go on the all-gelato diet quite yet, these are some tempting Seattle dishes that will bring down the body temperature without dulling the taste buds. Demi-poulet Froid Mayonnaise at Café Presse The French-style service of this impeccably authentic French café on Capitol Hill gives eaters plenty of time to leisurely strip off bites one-by-one from the roasted and cooled half-chicken and swipe them slowly through the mayonnaise. Luxuriating at tables for hours on end is a French tradition, and the cold chicken, with its need to be picked apart and dipped, forces the eater to slow down, order a glass of Lillet on the rocks, and really enjoy the meal. Mezze at Cafe Munir Whatever appetite the heat might sap, Cafe Munir will replace with one view of it's  rainbow of dips, vegetables, and salads, each in its own small white bowl. The north Ballard restaurant’s white walls and intricate lighting fixtures lend an old-world feel, which combined with summer heat feels transportive, taking the diner on an evening journey to Lebanon itself. Familiar Middle-Eastern small plates like hummus and tabbouleh mingle with less familiar dishes, such as lebneh—a yogurt strained until as thick as cheese, served cold with your choice of toppings: olives, roasted tomatoes, or pickled vegetables. Naeng Myun at Hae Nam Kalbi and Calamari Being served  a large chunk of ice, floating about in beef broth like an ice ring in a punch bowl, bodes well for the cooling properties of this cold noodle dish. Also in the large silver bowl is a tangle of chewy buckwheat noodles (employing the accompanying scissors to navigate the mass is highly recommended), slices of beef, an egg, and slivers of Asian pear and cucumber. The spicy mustard sauce served on the side can spice up the frigid soup if needed, but the sweet crunch of the pear provides plenty of contrast for the richness of the cold beef broth. Cleaned and Cracked Chilled Dungeness Crab at Taylor Shellfish in Melrose Market Taylor’s “shellfish deli” in Melrose Market offers the opportunity to not worry about getting shell fragments in your carpet as you get elbow deep in crabmeat. Dungeness, the gentle giant of the crab world, is the Northwest’s regional forte, and need little more than a quick squeeze of lemon to be the sweetest treat. At Taylor, where shellfish specialization is an art, they’ve got the crab cooked and cracked so that diners have to nothing to do but enjoy the process of digging in.

Seattle has a noodle problem. The city’s standards are too low: a half-million people willing to accept as lunch bowls teeming with strands of limp dough lazily floating, the sins of a thousand factory noodles covered in a murky pond of sauce. A great noodle has the stretch of silly putty, the snap of a rubber band, and a bite that is its very own. The meltingly-thin, precisely-cut fresh pastas of Italy stand at attention, grabbing life by the (meat)balls. Thick, doughy, irregular Chinese mein snake about, tails flinging, as they’re slurped up. Earthy but delicate, strands of soba sit with the quiet attention of a geisha, ready to perform their most beautiful skills. What makes the difference isn’t the flour used or the shape being pulled, rolled, or extruded, a great noodle comes from being freshly made for that day’s meal. It’s time for the eaters of Seattle to remember the culinary heights to which a great noodle can slither its way. Miyabi 45th Seattle’s most consistently underrated restaurant, Miyabi 45th starts out a little on the defensive, serving neither the American favorite of Japanese cuisine, sushi, nor the trendy darling, ramen. Instead, the restaurant’s beautiful stoneware presents diners with immaculately made bowls of fresh soba noodles. The delicate buckwheat strands are served, depending on the dish, hot, cold, mixed, or with broth, but the spot-on servers are always around to provide guidance on choices and instructions on the best way to eat them. Sichuanese Cuisine The imperfections in Sichuanese Cuisine’s noodles are as integral to the International District restaurant’s dishes as perfection is to Miyabi 45th’s. The soft doughiness makes the noodles prone to irregularities, tiny depressions in which pockets of sauce hide out, making every bite just a little bit different from the one before. Il Corvo Chef Mike Easton says he didn’t learn to make pasta in Italy, he just learned how to think like an Italian. So each morning, he thinks like an Italian about what three fresh pastas he’ll make to match up with the produce in that day’s delivery. The combinations of pasta shape and sauce are infinite, but Easton’s steady hand on the dough means that no matter what’s on the menu, it’ll have that perfect pasta texture. Shanghai Garden The menu proclaims “high nutrition barleygreen hand shaven noodles,” and one wonders just how nutritious the lumpy green bits that arrive on the plate could be. But with a nibble of the bouncy dough, all doubt about the deep jade color and the claims of nutritional benefit will be forgotten. The restaurant has held up its corner of the ID through multiple decades, and these noodles are a big part of the reason why.

Seattle’s most famous landmark is a buzzing hive of farmers and fish mongers, old world delis and nouveaux bars like Rachel’s Ginger Beer, where craft cocktails show off the artisan brew. Throughout the rambling three blocks of the Pike Place Market, there’s a world of flavors, dozens of cafes, bakeries, clam chowder shops, seafood counters and restaurants that showcase the diverse bounty of the Pacific Northwest. Tourists line up to have their photos snapped at the legendary Pike Place Starbucks, where the ubiquitous franchise got its start. This shop remains tied to that past, with bins of beans on display, harkening back to a time when today’s most recognized name in coffee simply sold beans in bulk. On this same block, the savory scents wafting from Bavarian Meats draw customers in from the cobblestone streets. Thanks to recent expansion this European deli now serves full meals, which are a fine way to try before you buy, especially if you’re in the mood for one of the succulent sausages the company has been producing for decades. Portable snacks are a perfect choice for making the most of a visit to this historic spot, and most every eatery offers quick takeout options. DeLaurenti, the delightful Italian deli, serves pizza by the slice, a wide selection of sandwiches and a mouthwatering assortment of antipasti items. Many folks grab one of Mr. D’s well-seasoned gyros and head to the scenic Victor Steinbrueck Park, named for one of the Market’s biggest boosters. The late architect led efforts to preserve the Market when there was talk of tearing it down in the 1970s. For a full-service dining experience, the Italian-inspired Pink Door is prized for its sun-dappled deck in the summer and its romantic dining room year-round. Le Pichet wins fans with its spot-on French bistro fare, which changes seasonally. And Matt’s in the Market offers one of the best views of Elliott Bay and the majestic Olympic Mountains to the west. The market-driven menu focuses on infusing pristine seafood and locally raised meat with vivid regional flavors, and the kitchen takes pride in its creative presentation, so the meals match the memorable view. It would be a mistake to skip dessert, so venture into The Confectional for a bite-size cheesecake, try the macarons and other pretty pastries at Le Panier or grab a bag full of minis from Daily Dozen Doughnuts. If there’s room, snag a cup of piping tea from the Perennial Tea Room to round out the Market-wide feast.