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Lunch at The Whale Wins

At the moment, one of my definite favorite restaurants is The Whale Wins in Wallingford/Fremont.
Chef Renee Erickson (also behind Walrus and Carpenter in Ballard) mixes her amazing talent with many European influences (England, France, Italy, and Spain). 
I went with two friends, and we shared several plates:
First, two tartines on very good bread. One with sardines, curried tomato paste, and shaved fennel and another with herring rillettes and pickled shallots.
Then we tried roasted clams with sausage, spring onion and sumac. I love sumac’s flavor.
We also had warm lentils, swiss chard, spinach, cilantro, orange and tahine.
And the desserts… oh my!
We had Peychaud Bitter frozen sabayon with citrus and meringue. And finally, something that was recommended to us by our waitress was butter roasted zucchini bread with crème fraîche. She was right, it was delightful!

They offer a long list of wines from Italy and France. Among the French ones some we usually don’t find in Seattle (Janières, Apremont, Saumur Domaine Filliatreau…).

Best Baguettes in Seattle 2014

Where to find the Best Baguette in Seattle?

Columbia City Bakery Bakery Nouveau

To French people, bread is something serious. Especially baguettes. We have a large choice of great bakeries in Seattle but when it comes to baguettes, we are not as fortunate. I have two favorites: Columbia City Bakery and Bakery Nouveau.

Their baguettes are crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. They taste delicious.

When a baguette is good, it will never get all the way home in one piece. When I was little, I would walk to the Boulangerie to buy bread for the family dinner, and always ate the “croûton” (the extra crust at the tip of the baguette) on the way back… I still do.

And you, where do you buy your favorite baguette?

— Columbia City Bakery 4865 Rainier Ave. S
— Bakery Nouveau: 2 locations