The Night I Ordered Five Desserts

Okay, okay, so it was tapas style and I was sharing with a friend so I didn't actually get five regular size desserts. The menu actually instructed that you order at least two desserts per person so I figured five for two people would be a generous portion for each of us. But I did feel like I may have gone a little overboard as soon as the waitress walked away and then when she came back ten minutes later, five not so tiny desserts in hand, I knew I had gone way overboard.

Here's what I ordered for the two of us:

1. Carrot cake with sour cream mouse and apricot carrot compote. This was good but tasted too healthy, and by that I mean it was not sweet or rich the way good carrot cake is.
2. Mango cheesecake with kiwi coulis, mango gelee, and toasted coconut. The kiwi coulis on the bottom was the highlight of this one.
3. Red velvet cake with lavender cream cheese icing. This one was my favorite. The icing was, in my opinion, to die for. And the rich dark cake was the perfect compliment to it. Just right.
4. Sea salt caramels. You can't go wrong.
5. And banana cream bonbons. On the other hand, we could have done without these.
All in all, knocking off the first and the fifth dessert and just having the best three would have been ideal. But, instead, I have a bag of treats for tomorrow.

PS, this was at Purple in downtown Seattle, a beautiful restaurant with a large menu - tapas and otherwise - and food that almost lives up to the compelling setting.

PSS, my apoligies again for the crappy iPhone photos as I am still without my regular camera.

Seattle So Far

So far Seattle has been great.

(But before I get into that, I have to preface this post with some bad news. I left my fancy new touch screen snap on smile camera at home. Boo-hoo! So instead of forgoing all photographic documentation of this lovely place I am making due with what I have: my iPhone camera. And as Jimmy has recently reminded me, the best camera is the one you have on you.)

Now, on to the Seattle part of the post. Tonight I went for a walk to find a treat to eat. I do this every time I come to Seattle and every time the result is the same: failure. But still I try. The problem is that everything closes here - at least in downtown Seattle where I'm staying - at eight or nine pm. I know, crazy. Makes no sense. I do most of my spending after dark, doesn't everyone? Well apparently not here. Anyway, while I was out I took in some of the sights and a bit of window shopping too.

Betsey Johnson on 5th Avenue stands out a bit between the Louis Vuitton monogram tennis shoes and the empty Hermes jewelry display, but in a good way.
Here's where the nice camera would have really made a difference. Look at this photo, but pretend that you can see every color between fuchsia and cerulean in the sky, that's what it really looked like.

Yes, I consider the flowers outside the Four Seasons Hotel a "sight."

And of course hand-made chocolate also falls under that category.

And this last one is of a decoration - I assume - in the lobby of my hotel, the Hotel Vintage Park. Good looking phone, right? Makes me wonder why we ever stopped using them. But then again, it can't double as a camera.

Oh, and I solved the sweet-tooth problem. Room service. Two very plain words that transform into one of the most fantastic terms in the English language. Room service. I will never tire of saying it or of partaking in it.

Chocolate and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is Del Posto's Chocolate Ricotta Tortino with Toasted Sicilian Pistachios and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gelato. I had the great pleasure of eating this confectionary masterpiece last night and let me tell you, it was perfect. By themselves the chocolate ricotta tortino and the extra virgin olive oil gelato were delicious but together they were truly amazing. I have heard that chocolate and extra virgin olive oil are good together, and it makes sense because chocolate and butter are so good together, but this was more then just a complimentary pair. Together, in this dessert, the chocolate and the olive oil became a third ingredient all it's own: choclive oil? You have to try this combination.