In 12 days I leave the West coast to return to my beloved East coast. I’ve lived here for 3 1/2 years. I can’t say that I’m sad to be leaving. I’m going home. Things that I’ve seen and experienced here have not all been the enlightening and culturally diverse things that I expected when I first moved out here. As a newcomer, it’s hard to find that charming, small-time, artistic subculture that one expects to find out here on the West coast. There’s a lot of corporate glam, a lot of money, and a lot of need to be trendy. These things I am not.
Eventually, though, we found those small places. Those charming places owned by local joe’s who greet you as you walk in the door and wave to you as you leave. Those charming places with menus sitting on the narrow but loving shoulders of only one or two people. Those charming places that serve warmth and that one-of-a-kind spirit that makes them a million times more special than any pretentious restaurant that has the audacity to charge astronomical amounts of money for cocktails and even more for their cream-soaked mediocre food.
Today, I took my husband out to lunch and we visited a couple of our favorite places. We went to the Santorini Greek Grill in downtown Kirkland (very close to the waterfront of Lake Washington). This place is a teeny tiny little joint that stops you in the street as you walk by with the seductive scents of Greek meats. Lamb for lunch? Oh sure, why not!
The gyros, salads, Souvlaki, baklava, falafel, and service are all TERRIFIC. I love this place. The food is served up lightening fast and on real plates to boot! Usually is itty bitty places like this, you get plastic forks and paper plates or baskets. It helps to eat off of a plate with a metal fork.
In a small funky place like this, I was worried that the decor was going to be really kitschy and scary like off of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Luckily, it’s not like that at all. All over the neutrally painted walls, framed photographs of different regions of Greece hang in a very cool and very West coast manner. It’s lovely.
The one piece of kitsch was this hilarious tidbit right by the entrance/exit.
This restaurant is even featured in Zagat. That means nothing to me, it’s just amusing that Zagat and I agree for once.
After our Greek lunch, we went a couple of doors down to the Seattle area’s best coffee shop. No, it’s not Starbucks. Out here, I’ve found that there are two very opinionated groups where Starbucks is concerned: those who are proud of it and those who hate it for being a corporate crap shoot. Now, I get Starbucks every once in a while simply because they are literally on every block in this area. But if I had my choice, I would go to Cafe Ladro. This place is what a Seattle coffee shop should be. Small. Friendly barista who doesn’t have a painted on fake smile. Fair prices. And in their goddamned iced chai lattes, there is more latte than ice…unlike how Starbucks serves them….assholes.
Sorry about that outburst. But Cafe Ladro is a superior coffee shop. It’s a small place, it’s mellow instead of that fake rushed sense that you get when in a Starbucks. It’s a cool and industrial look that is oddly more soothing than that manufactured and fake look that Starbucks is trying to sell. The coffee is BETTER. The pastries are BETTER. All of the drinks are BETTER.
Look at that understated logo. It’s perfection.
The station was very simple. In fact, I had a nice little conversation with the barista about the movie Zoolander as she filled our order. Nice lady.
Some other East Side places that I loved while here:
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue (even though it’s a small chain)
I realize that we’ve barely chipped the iceberg and I have regrets about that, but our time here is up and I look forward to getting to know a new city. But if you ever make your way out to this area, check these places out and have some great food without worrying about an offensively huge bill.
