>> Quintessential Seattle ingredients?

I am really fussy about ingredients. Here are my favorite farmers market purveyors. I visit these vendors at the University District farmers market. Most of them sell at more than one market. I'm listing the products that WA does well. Don't bother with sweet corn or tomatoes. Our farmers grow them nicely, but our climate inhibits the development of best flavor/texture.

Potatoes - Olsen Farms. Grown in the NE corner of WA. Many varieties. Excellent. Also, their frozen meats are very good. Excellent ham.

Ozette potatoes. Homely, sincere tubers. The oldest WA potato, brought here by the Spanish via Peru, cultivated for centuries by the coastal Makah people. Olsen Farms doesn't sell them. I buy them from Alm Hill and other vendors.

Garlic. Inchelium variety, oldest garlic strain in North America. From the Colville people. I buy it from the garlic guy.

Apples. Jerzy Boyz. They have a passion for antique rootstock varieties. Orchard is in Chelan and they recently lost 20% of their trees to wildfire. Apples, wonderful pears, table grapes. They pick at the exact ripeness. Their apricot preserves are outstanding. http://jerzyboyz.com/

Chicken. Stokesberry Farm. They raise them in pasture using chicken tractors, and do their own processing. They source their feed carefully. Also eggs and duck. Their frozen beef has great flavor.

Cheese. Try the sheep cheeses from Glendale Shepherd of Whidbey Island. http://glendaleshepherd.com/

Eggs. Of all the egg sellers, I think Growing Things Farms tastes best. Stokesberry a close second.

Beets, Kale, Collards, Turnips, Chard, Rutabagas, Radishes, Walla Walla onions. Washington farmers excel at these. If you see rabes (kale rabe, collard rabe, etc.) be sure the try them. For this type of produce I like Alm Hill, Nash, and many others.

Honey. Flavor varies widely among vendors. I love Seattle Urban Honey.

Lavender. Of course.

SPECIAL VENDORS

Mair Taki Farm - Yakima valley. Japanese produce. Don't miss this. They have things you won't see anywhere else. Many varieties of Asian greens, radishes. Fresh ginger. Big selection of hard squashes. Walnuts.

Rockridge Orchards. Asian pears, French crabapples. Ciders. Vinegars!

Tonnemaker. Orchard and fresh produce. Frozen and dehydrated fruits and veggies. Everything they sell has great taste and texture. Lovely dried cherries.

Rachels Ginger Beer.

Iggy's Krauts.

NuFlours bakery. Gluten-free breads and pastries.

Enjoy!

I like the RockRidge stand at the farmers market. Here's what I buy.

- Apple Cider vinegar. Lovely flavor and perfect acidity. This is my all purpose vinegar. I buy it in 1 gallon glass jugs.
- Rocksalmic apple vinegar. A balsamic style, aged in french oak barrels. Intensely applely, sweet, syrupy.
- Pearsalmic vinegar. I think this is made with asian pear. I use it only for beets. And never add salt to the beets. Just cooked beets and pearsalmic. So good.
- Root beer. Really good.
- Bottled cider. (alchoholic.) Makes a great gift. Everyone likes it.
- In the Spring, giant stalks of lovely rhubarb.
- In Fall, French sweet-tart crabapples for eating out of hand.

I've been to Araya's several times. The buffet is consistently good, nothing special, a bit pricey. I would not go out of my way to eat there. It's reliable and the room is pleasant.

Other options near the U-Dist:
- Chaco Canyon. Vegan organic cafe. They have a large menu. I love their soups and fresh salads. Not crazy about the baked goods. They have three locations in Seattle. The U-Dist location has a welcoming vibe, very community oriented.
- Sunlight Cafe on Roosevelt. Big comfortable place. Classic hippie vegetarian food.
- Krittika Noodles on Latona Ave. Typical Thai menu. Very good quality, nice flavors.
- Jewel of India on University Way. This is my favorite buffet in Seattle. It looks like a real hole in the wall, but nice and peaceful inside. Buffet includes some veggie options, and all you can drink hot chai. Very nice food.

I visit the U Dist and Ballard farmers markets regularly. BOTH markets have foraged food and fresh seafood. U-Dist has Loki Salmon and an oyster vendor. Ballard has those two seafood vendors, and Wilson Fish.

I love Loki. Excellent whole and filleted salmon. Sold fresh in season, and frozen off season. Their frozen salmon portions are expertly packaged and offer great quality year-round. Their smoked salmon is very firm, and on the sweet side. Expertly packaged and great for day hikes. At the U-Dist, Loki has a cook's counter serving salmon patty sliders, salmon-potato hash, and chowder.

I love the smoked salmon at Wilson Fish. It's soft and succulent, on the salty side.

All these items are sold at the University District farmers market, and other places:

Mair-taki farm. Cucumber kimchi fresh pickles. So very good. No longer in season. I will be craving them until the summer.

"Keep it Real" grain-free granola. I gave these for holiday gifts and everyone loves it.
http://www.keepitrealfoodcompany.com/...

Rockridge Ochards rocksalmic vinegar. Apple vinegar aged in french oak barrels. This season's batch is even better than last year's. They also have a "pear-salmic" vinegar.

+1 for Rachel's ginger beer.
Another poster mentioned Pinky's Kitchen. Their freshly-made potato chips are really good.

I'm GF, and I like:
- St Dames
- Portage Bay Cafe (long waits during peak times)
- Razzi's on Greenwood Ave. has a lunch special. Their GF food is really expensive, but the GF breads/pizza are good.
- I like the soups and juices at Chaco Canyon.

Here is a list of coffee shops that serve d.floured GF baked goods. Soooo good. http://www.dfloured.com/find-us/

You can get more detailed advice if you temporarily join some of the GF meetup.com groups and read their discussion boards and comments in past meetups. I like "Sensitive in Seattle". http://www.meetup.com/SensitiveInSeat...

Many Seattle restaurants offer GF options. If you don't need a separate kitchen, you should do fine at most places.

This suggestion is a bit off the wall... Infinite Soups has more than a dozen really good homemade soups everyday. They have no seating. But their customers are welcome bring their soup and sit in Malarkey's Pool & Brew. It's right next door. It looks like a dive from the outside, but it's spacious, with lots of daylight, and nice people. My husband and I sat in a booth, ordered cokes from the bar and hung out for a bit.

Last time I ate three cups of soup - a chicken chile verde, a pumpkin curry, and a potato cheddar. So good!
http://infinitesoups.com/

Lately we've been going to Sura in Lynnwood, 19226 Hwy 99. It's not exceptional. But the food is quite good in a traditional way, and the service is friendly. I always like my meal there.

Haven't been to Haeman Galbi for several months. My last few meals were lackluster and the place is really shabby. (I don't mind shabby if the food is really good.) Perhaps it has improved.

Kaya has changed ownership. It has a new name. We tried it a few weeks ago and didn't like it enough to go back.

If you want REALLY good food, meet at Revel in Fremont. they do Korean flavors. It's not traditional, it's fusion. They use really good ingredients. Also you will get a much nicer atmosphere for your meeting, and can stroll around Fremont after dinner.

I like "Got Soup". He sells frozen quarts at many of the farmers markets. They will deliver a certain quantity to your house.
He has about 20 different kinds in inventory.
I've enjoyed the following:
* Caramelized Onion and Apple Braised Cabbage-Vegan $11
* Coconut Curry with Chicken and Brown Rice $12
* Corn and Shitake-Vegan $11
* Moroccan Lentil-Vegan $11
* Red Curry Squash and Basil-Vegan $11
* Smoked Tomato Bisque-Vegan $11
* Wild Mushroom-Vegan $11

http://gotsoupseattle.com/

Revel. Yes. They have the grill going on the patio.

Will you be here on a Monday evening? Go to "Taco Night" at Sitka and Spruce. The regular Sitka staff has the night off and chef Alvaro serves simple traditional food. So so good. http://www.sitkaandspruce.com/mondays...

Senor Moose gets lots of raves on this board. I don't like it so much. Lunched there recently to give it another try. The freshly fried chips were very nice. Good guacamole. On the waiter's recommendation, I ordered chilequilles with chicken. Not good. Shredded chicken breast-meat was oily and the oil tasted stale and some of the chicken was dried out - like it had been sauteed and stored. The other ingredients may have been ok, but that oily chicken ruined It. That was my second disappointing meal at Moose and I don't plan to return.