eat this lens

snapshots: pike place market

On a recent business trip to Seattle I found myself with an extra hour to myself after a long day of meetings. I grabbed my camera and headed to the legendary Pike’s Place Market to take a few snapshots before ending the day with drinks and dinner at Matt’s in the Market.

Staying in a hotel has it’s limitations so I wasn’t able to dive fork first into all that the market has to offer. And wow does it ever. Fish stalls, produce stands, meat counters, cheese shops, charcuterie, tea shops…the list is endless. I did learn that many of the vendors package their goods to be fresh for 48 hours and ship them all over the country. I hope to have more time on my next visit to explore this option as there was way too much good stuff to choose from.

After my stroll through the market I popped into Matt’s.

Sipping a Sazerac while I munched on housemade potato chips and hot bacon-caramelized onion dip, I took in quite possibly the best market views in the city. Tucked into the top floor corner of an old building directly across from the market, I watched the vendors finishing their daily business as I dined on a frisee and treviso radicchio salad made with Carlton Farms lardons, poached egg, toasted brioche and house cava vinaigrette.

My main course was the seafood stew of Taylor Farms mussels, Manila clams, sea scallop, fin fish, and Olsen Farms potatoes in a fennel-shell stock rouille. The Domaine de la Louvetrie Muscadet sevre et Maine 2005 was a perfect match for the tart cava vinaigrette and rich fennel-shell stock of the stew.

Friendly staff. Fresh, amazing food. Priceless views. I might have found my new favorite restaurant.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 12:01 pm and is filed under food tour and tagged with carlton farms, matt's in the market, olsen farms, pike place fish, pike place market, seattle, taylor farms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.