Here are two sandwiches to enjoy in Seattle. In both cases, I was stranded at a coffee shop in Capitol Hill (Victrola on the first day, Vivace on the second day) because Craig, who has meetings throughout the day, drops me off at these places so I can do my own work while he does his. I am doing that now. This is work–do you think I LIKE blogging for you people?
The sandwich you see above was ordered at Crave (recommended by Rena) which has its own website. The sandwich is a Crab Melt with “chilean crab, fontina cheese, chermoulah remoulade, mango red pepper salsa, on La Brea sourdough.” Now I was wary of mixing crab with cheese–seems irreverent to the crab, ya know?–but this came together quite magically. The crab stood up to the Fontina and the other components added necessary tang and zest to achieve maximum sandwich harmony. Add to that homemade chips and homemade pickles (the former very good, the latter shockingly bland–were they pickled in vinegar or WATER?) and Crave is a perfect spot for lunch.
The second sandwich was from The Baguette Box (recommended by Molly) which also has it own website. Can you guess which sandwich I had?
It sort of looks like a red onion and lettuce sandwich, doesn’t it? But no: buried beneath that mix of purple and green was a beautiful house-cured salmon gravlox. The Pacific Northwest is the place to be for salmon and this gravlox did its location justice. Plus the bread was fresh and crunchy and the toppings–while a bit overpowering (red onion breath alert)–were lovingly placed and dressed with just the right touch of salt and pepper. (You can even see the pepper in the picture).
So if you’re stranded on Capitol Hill–or even if you’re not–those are two very good sandwiches that you can enjoy in Seattle.
That first sandwich sounds tremendous. Crab and Fontina make for a seriously decadent fondue, too – we’ve had it for our anniversary, and it’s very special-occasion-worthy. I highly recommend it.
Have you ever had occasion to eat at the Empress Diner in East Meadow? They might use that same homemade pickle recipe… bleah.
Although both sandwiches sound delicious, in the pics it looks as though they are suffering a bit from Too Much Bread. I love crusty, chewy breads for sandwiches, but often times in the fancier joints I feel there’s simply too much bread! It sort of overpowers the interior textures and throws off the filling-bread ratio. Did you find that to be true with the above sandwiches?
The first picture is a surefire tip off but I also went to Crave’s website/menu and confirmed that you for sure finally got a dose of Tim’s Cascade Chips (not sure I’d classify them as “homemade”). Now you can return to New York and know that you’ve lived a full culinary life.
I agree about the amount of bread, which I love. Oh boy! An opportunity to use a good homemade simple vinaigrette. Italian, Sicilian, or Greek. Yummy!
I import the Chilean crab meat used in their crab melt sandwich. It sounds so delicious. I will have to stop in to try it. Thank you for posting.