Full Tilt

Full Tilt Ice Cream has opened a sistership to its White Center shop in beautiful Columbia City. It took a little bit of searching to find its location, which is just about a half block outside (to the south) of the "cute" section of the stretch, and is located in a worn looking stripmall on the west side of the street.

There it is! With the yellow sign behind the white SUV. I suspect there will be an awning soon.

The concept is the same at the white center location: homemade, high quality ice cream, pin ball machines, and all ages music shows. They have a rotating list of flavors, and some of the notables on my visit were: Blue Moon (a fruit loop flavor popular in the mid-west), Mexican Chocolate, Horchata, Birthday Cake, Ube (purple yam), Swiss Chocolate Orange, and blueberry. They also had three different vegan flavors: Chocolate Oreo, Lime Lavendar Sorbet, and Lemon Peppermint Sorbet.

I ordered the Horchata, which tasted exactly as you'd expect: sweet, creamy, cinnamony and delicious. My dining companion ordered the Birthday Cake, which tasted more like what actually happens in the bottom of the bowl at a birthday party than like artificial cake flavor.

Horchata up front, party in the back

There were a few flavors that I wish were on the menu that weren't (at least not during this visit): a good simple chocolate, and some sort of caramel/dulce de leche flavor, both of which are some of my personal favorites.

Something that I really love is that these guys offer "kids" cones, meaning a nice round single scoop that is non-taboo for adults to order, that costs just around $1.75. To my sensibilities, this makes a world of sense because I don't need or want a skyscraper of an ice cream cone that costs me a fortune. Bravo for figuring that out!

They also sell sparkling water and inexpensive beer.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Full Tilt
5101 Rainier Ave S, #105
Seattle, Wa 98118
http://twitter.com/FTicecream

Baguette Box

I enjoyed a really tasty variation on the typical vegetarian tofu vietnamese sandwich at the baguette box, the Braised Tofu sandwich. Like most tofu vietnamese sandwiches, it consisted of chunks of fried tofu, carrots, pickeled (?) radish, cilantro, onions, etc, but the high quality bread and the exceptionally delicious tofu made this sandwich stick out.

I also had the beet salad, and it was super good... thin tender slices of beets swimming in garlicy olive oil.

Downsides: a little bit expensive, and parking can indeed be difficult if you plan on arriving via car.

Homegrown

Homegrown is one of the delightful sandwich shops that makes an effort to have some interesting, unusual, delicious vegetarian options (no "lettuce, cucumber, sprouts" here!). I went to  the Homegrown on Capital Hill one recent stormy night and was thrilled to see the following sandwich on the menu: roasted beets, pickled onions, wild greens and cheese (menu says goat cheese, but they substituted Beechers flagship cheddar at my request). It was a perfect mix of sweet and juicy beets, the sharp vinegary tang of the onions, spicy peppery freshness from the greens, and salty, savory cheese. 

I also indulged in some tasty, fresh homemade fries liberally sprinkled with dill. They came with homemade tarter sauce.

In addition to making an awesome sandwich, Homegrown is dedicated to doing things as sustainably as possible, and is happy to accommodate vegan and gluten free diners. Definitely worth a visit!

The Twisp River Pub

I recently spent my birthday in the Methow Valley and did some serious research about where to eat on the special night. Unfortunately, it appears the Twisp/Winthrop/Mazama stretch is pretty bleak for good vegetarian food.

I initially got really excited about this: http://www.winthroptipidinners.com/, an unusual (and not corny/cooperate/tourist trap, as the name might make you think) restaurant developed as a life dream by a local woman that revolves around eating artfully prepared, healthy, traditional (local as possible) Native American foods while in a beautiful tipi. In the winter time, there is fire and candle light and and animal skins to keep everything warm. The proprietress, Suekii, cooks everything in a nearby kitchen and brings it via hand held wagon to her hungry guests. I spoke to Suekii about what she does for vegetarians (no bison steak for this birthday gal), and it all sounded wonderful... hummus and pickled asparagus, stuffed squash, emmer farro, etc. But it turned out that the tipi was already fully booked (it only holds 8) on the night of my birthday.

There are other fancy type options in the area, including the Sun Mountain Lodge and the Arrowleaf Bistro, but these have really limited vegetarian entrees that are priced at meat prices. No thank you.

So I went to the Twisp River Pub, where I knew there were decent vegetarian options to be had. My dining companion and I split two things: the Asian salad and a veggie burger with fries.

Based on the menu description, I had hoped that the Asian salad (with rice noodles) would be similar to the contents of a Vietnamese bun. Turned out the noodles were more of a garnish, and the salad was mostly green. I ordered it with fresh tofu (instead of fried), which was possibly a mistake, because it came fully unmarinated (rather than in the sesame marinade the menu describes).

The pub-made veggie burger was tasty, and the fries were excellent.

For my birthday dessert, I ordered a warm walnut brownie with vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.

Ramen Underground

The tofu hunter spent a short and delicious period in San Francisco, a city that never fails to provide interesting vegetarian fare! 

One of my favorite meals from this recent trip was at Ramen Underground, a teeny, tightly packed ramen house on the border of Chinatown and the financial district. I was seated with a bunch of strangers at a postage stamp of a table and ordered by filling out an ordering sheet. My order: vegetarian broth, tofu, veggies, and chili paste.

It was a nearly perfect bowl of ramen. The tofu was fresh and soft. The veggies were abundant and fresh. And the house-made chili paste was slightly spicy, deliciously roasty, and out of this world delicious (I was stoked to see that it wasn't just a blob of sambel olek).

My only complaint was that this amazing bowl eventually came to an end.

Hot Mama's Pizza

Hot Mama's Pizza, which is open late, is located a few blocks west of Broadway on Pine and is thus especially well suited to satisfy late night, drunken hunger.

The shop is small, and after you order your slices (about $2.25 each), you can either take them on a paper plate out into the action of the street or stand inside at a crowded standing-only bar. The ambiance isn't really the point.

The pizza is pretty good in the sense that it tends to be thin, hot and cheesy with a nice crisp crust. They tend to have many vegetarian pizzas going earlier in the evening (mixed veggie, pesto, etc), but my experience has been that plain cheese dominates in the later hours. Far as I can tell, there is nothing suitable for a vegan.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the best pizza in the city, or even Capital Hill, and the quality of the slice varies pretty significantly depending upon whether it has been sitting or is fresh from the oven, BUT it has many of the qualities I like in pizza: a thin crust that is crisp but not crackery, plentyful but not oozing or overwhelming amounts of bubbled lightly browned cheese, and interesting toppings (hot peppers, fresh basil, etc). Hot Mama's manages to squarely hit the "after dinner" hunger and a couple of slices is a mighty fine nightcap.

Thanks K for yet another outstanding job as phone photographer.