October 8, 2005
Colors of Belltown
Leaving for a travel-trade show in Italy next week. Will take camera, laptop, wi-fi card; promise to post pix and tasting notes as often as possible.
Meantime, this image from Belltown, just to remind myself that street scenes can be colorful at home, too. (Veuve Clicquot ice buckets in the back window at Del Rey, if you want to know.) Cheers!
October 6, 2005
Eat Dessert First
MORNING AFTER UPDATE: Here's the P-I's Rebeka Denn discovering, in October, what savvy Belltown residents have known since July: those tasty shrimp! Read her review.
Terrific take on Belltown nitelife in Geoff Carter's "Life Behind Bars" column today. He has nicer things to say about Del Rey than I do, but we agree on the amazing dessert at Black Bottle, a chocolate cupcake "stuffed" with vanilla gelato. Doesn't show you what it looks like, though, so here it is:
And it's only seven bucks!
Black Bottle, 2600 1st Ave., 206-441-1500
October 4, 2005
Korean Lunch Counter
Ethnic enclaves thrive in unexpected urban corners. Latest example tucked into a tiny patio of Belltown's Harbour Heights condo: Young Lim's Belle Harbour Cafe. Ms. Lim came to the US from Korea 25 years ago carrying her guitar and a talent for show biz; she's now in real estate. "Restaurants are my hobby," she explains.
The cafe, open for two months now, serves the expected range of takeout sandwiches, but comes into its own with home-style Korean favorites like bi bim bop (stir-fried spinach and beef topped with a fried egg), kalbi (beef shortribs)and bulgoki (marinated beef, rather like teriyaki).
Ms. Lim also stuffs a mean gyoza, serving them atop rice or in a bowl of spicy ramen. (I'll pretend they were my Rosh Hashana kreplach.) All this in a corner of the building directly across the street from mine!
Belle Harbour Cafe, 113 Cedar St., 206-728-2219