Simply, Because It Wasn’t Raining

Today turned into an all-out carb-fest.  I think I should blame the weather.  We’re all getting so depressed up here it’s no surprise we’re comfort-eating like crazy.  I want to blame Taylor, but it wasn’t Taylor that started it, it was that pesky Ms. Reed.  All that talk about French Toast got me all stirred up.  And then, sitting in the window at 5 Spot found me completely unable to stop myself from ordering the Tart Cherry & Cream Cheese French Toast – Macrina cherry brioche dipped in orange custard and griddled. Topped with cherry compote & whipped cream cheese.

I mean.  Will you look at that?  Give a girl a break.  What would you have done??  I am normally pretty darned disciplined in the breakfast-ordering department – for goodness sake I’ve eaten exactly what Seattle Magazine have told me to for the last year.  Maybe this was the backlash from that.  Either that or I just shouldn’t be allowed free-reign with a menu.

When I rolled up outside 5 Spot at 8:15 am the street was empty & 5 Spot was dark without any sign of life.  I decided to go start a line, simply, because it wasn’t raining.  Which meant I could stand outside without a hat or umbrella.  After the last few weeks I needed no other reason.  By 8:30 there were more than 30 people zig-zagging down the sidewalk behind me & not a parking spot to be had for blocks.  Seems starting the line was a better idea than I realized at the time.  Taylor was late.  Well, she is a dashing diva, after all.  I had already snagged one of the few window tables & ordered a hot chocolate by the time she scurried in.  5 Spot was packed, loud & our server was very jolly.  I suspect she may still have been under-the-influence from Friday night.  Fun girl.

5 Spot is way more of a diner than I was expecting.  Their ever-changing menu is eclectic & certainly not as spendy as I was anicipating for Quenn Anne.  And it’s seriously popular.  Come early if you don’t want to wait.  And, let’s face it, who’d want to wait for this?

This French Toast was so unbelievably orangey it stopped me in mid-bite & I had to make Taylor eat some.  The toast was all soft & squidgy, and completely different to Geraldine’s famed version.  The cherry compote was tart & delicious.  The whipped cream cheese?  Well, what is there to say about cream cheese that you don’t already know?  A little taste of heaven.

Taylor had the Porkopolis Rumble – House cured pork belly lardons, caramelized onions, thyme & Pearl Valley Sharp Cheddar cheese. Served with Twister spiced red potatoes & toast.  I took a shot but it was so up close & personal (lovin’ my new toy!) that you actually couldn’t see what it was, unless you’d been there.  So, sorry, no picture.  The potatoes were awesome – super crispy skins & soft, fluffy interiors.  Apart from the eggs being a little softer cooked than she liked, Taylor loved her rumble.  It was very diner style.

Talking of my new toy, I played again…right there at the table.  Taylor didn’t mind.  I don’t think.  She gets I’m weird & still wants to have breakfast with me.

At 5 Spot you get your water in a Mason Jar.  Cute.

I still didn’t drink any water. 

However cute.

And that, my friends, is as close as you’ll get to the Tart Cherry & Cream Cheese French Toast without going to 5 Spot and getting some yourself.  Which I thoroughly recommend, by the way.

Taylor & I trotted off down the hill, back up the hill and all around Queen Anne afterwards.  The sun was out, the sky was blue(ish) and although it was still pretty nippy, do you think we cared?  We did not.  It wasn’t raining.  Nothing else much mattered.  We had a most splendid time wandering up and down, peering in all the shops, reading all the reatuarant & cafe menus.  And then…well, this is where the all-out carb-fest became Taylor’s doing.  She made us go in Le Rêve Bakery, a 5 month old French-style bakery right in the middle of it all on Queen Anne Avenue.  I admit, the cafe itself is so darned charming it was hard not to go peek inside.  And, of course, once we were inside it was pretty much a given that there would be pastries bought and eaten.  We sat outside on the veranda.  It was such a nice way to spend half an hour of a Saturday morning.  Taylor & I, despite Taylor being a dashing diva, always have a great time. 

The Currant Tart was definitely as tart as it was beautiful, a tartness offset by the light, creamy Crème pâtissière underneath.  The pastry case was too thick & was a little over-baked giving it a not-quite-burnt flavor & a less-than tender bite.  I still enjoyed eating it, especially sitting on the veranda in the spring sunshine.

I played with my new toy again.  Taylor is very forgiving.

After the pastries were done we headed down to Chocolopolis, but that’s a whole other post for a whole other day.  I snuck a Pain au Chocolat home from Le Rêve.  I knew just by looking at it that it wasn’t going to knock Honore Bakery from top spot on the Seattle Croissanterie ladder, but you still have to eat it for the final verdict.

I {really} enjoyed eating this  Pain au Chocolat.  It had a terrific flavor, not one hint of palate cling (oh! we do love butter) and the chocolate batons inside were rich & dark.  No namby-pamby baker’s chocolate in this baby.  But.  You knew there was going to be a but, didn’t you.  The texture, as I suspected, was all wrong.

 The flakiness was only apparent in the very outer layer.  The inside was light & airy, but it didn’t disintegrate into a pile of crisp, flaky nothingness in my mouth.  Having said that, it’s flavor would probably put it in my #2 spot & I would definitely swing by and grab another one if I was whizzing through Queen Anne.

So there you have it:  one particularly lovely Saturday morning.  Taylor, sunshine, awesome French Toast, a long, leisurely stroll, girlie chatter, pastries on the veranda, chocolate & a few new places added to the future Foodie must list.

Saturdays just don’t get much better than that.