Bellingham local « A Bellingham Foodie Blog

May 29, 2009

The Daisy Cafe Needs to Offer a Meal Plan

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Tags: bagels, Breakfast, cafes, coffee, tea, wa — Bellinghamster @ 9:48 pm

I was looking for comfort food this morning and my partner was looking for some company before the day’s work consumed HIM. The Daisy Cafe was the place.

I had eaten lunch with the children there, but was eager to sample breakfast. The space is bright and airy with tables and a counter. The counter is always a draw for us because we both love to watch the kitchen at work. We were impressed. This was not the typical kitchen. No griddle here – lots of flames going; each meal cooked from scratch.Â All menu choices could be customized without anyone making a face. FRESH FRESH FRESH.

Our server was Chase and he was as sweet and sunny as the generous wedges of orange on our dishes. Our first question was if they had a meal plan for people who would like to eat here often. He laughed and said ‘Get a job here, that’s what I did!’

The menu had so many great choices: scrambles and frittatas, pancakes and their famous cinnamon orange french toast. I ordered the french toast and one scrambled egg and it was excellent. It went down very fast – good thing my partner had ordered something big enough to share:Â the ‘Geneva – a scramble of eggs, chorizo, spinach, cheese and some secret ingredient that made it taste prefect (kidding on the secret ingredient). It came with well seasoned potatoes, delicious dark rye toast and home made Pico de Gallo. The Pico de Gallo was fresh and the best touch to flavor the scramble. The Daisy Cafe serves Tony’s Coffee for him and BIG individual pots of tea for me.

While we were there, Baker Drew made his first bagels and I had to get a taste. Bagels are a devil of a thing to get right. My partner made them in a past lifeÂ – mmm, I can smell them now. Drew did alright, just rose a little to high so there was no hole. Keep at it!! Toasted bagel sandwiches look good on the menu.

Since we will be returning, I glanced at the children’s menu:

The O’le Onsie – 1 pancake, 1 egg, 1 meat
The O’le Twosie – 2 famous cinnamon orange french toast
The O’le Cheesie – 2 scrambled w/American, potatoes and toast
The O’le Wellatleasthey’reating – a bowl of Post cereal w/milk
The O’le Plate of Fresh Fruit

I love a place with a sense of reality AND humor! Chase serves breakfast on the weekends. I told him we’d all be back and fill the counter…

114 W MagnoliaÂ Â 733-8996Â Â Â open 7 days from 7:30-2

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May 23, 2009

Prowling for the BEST food value @ Bellingham Farmer’s Market

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 9:17 pm

Not only is she the best cook in Bellingham, but she also offers the best value: Danielle. She runs the show at The Bowl ‘n Roll booth at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market. Today’s feature was delectable. And vegan! I had the jerked large mushroom & yam kabobs with pasta salad and green salad. It took only 1 bite to know her dishes stand out. If you haven’t tried her meals yet, I truly urge you to. They are delicious. And as I’ve stated before: The Bowl ‘n Roll is a winner.

What is a meal without its treat, I ask you? To choose is almost impossible, so I go on the prowl. Opposite The Bowl ‘n Roll is Liz Kovacs’ Icing On the Cake cupcakes. She had a new item out – frosting shots. Frosting shots? Okay…I’ll get each of my kids one of those and then we’ll trot over to sample some java. Just watch them slingshot all over town after that! I was only kidding — I won’t feed them pure sugar or caffeine. I’m pretty sure the counter girl just wished I would go away; you could see the smile drain from her face…oh well.

I looked at Mount Bakery, Breadfarm, Mallard’s, Mykes Shaved Ice, Ralf’s Bavarian, Rocket Donuts, Kettle Korn. As I’m always on the lookout for vegan and/or gluten free options it takes some time, some questions, some decisions. Today I chose Rocket Donuts and threw it all to the wind. They were serving these beautiful little donut holes and not just one flavor, but 12. Yes, TWELVE different flavors of donut holes. One of each please, especially since they were 3 for $1. Everyone in the family would find favorites! 12 = apple fritter, blueberry, chocolate, chocolate striped, powdered, powder jelly, glazed, coconut, almond, walnut, chocolate w/creme, sugared w/jelly (YES, I remember them all)…and they had 2 vegan muffin options: big berry and pumpkin. We had big smiles and lots of giggles and sharing. Very important to share – we slice donuts in half to settle disputes.

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May 20, 2009

The Fork at Agate Bay, Bellingham

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 10:42 am

The Fork – I like the play on words. There is a fork in the road (Y and North Shore) and a fork in hand when eating at this restaurant. The Fork at Agate Bay is a new restaurant opening in Bellingham at the end of May. It will be a venue for J. Russell Catering in a bistro/bar setting with table linens. They will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday. I think it will be a bonus to be able to drive AWAY from town for eats for a change. It’s a 10 minute beautiful lakeside drive from Whatcom Falls. Quite the hideaway.

At the fork of Y and North Shore Rds, in Bellingham Â 715-1710

Update: We visited The Fork at Agate Bay for breakfast.

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May 19, 2009

Sushi 101 @ The Cordata Community Food Co-op

Filed under: Bellingham local,Britich Columbia,British Columbia,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants,Seattle — Bellinghamster @ 10:44 am

I participated in a sushi class at the Community Food Co-op and I loved every minute of it! I’ve been making sushi for many years, but the opportunity to participate hands on with a native Japanese restaurateur was a true privilege.

Yukiko Helle was the teacher tonight and is a wonderful lady. She is a native of Kumamoto, Japan where her family members were restaurateurs; she grew up in a restaurant kitchen. Yukiko and her husband also had a restaurant in Georgia before making their way to Bellingham.

She had an ambitious schedule. We were to learn the ins and outs of making sushi rice (very important to vigorously fan while ‘knifing’ the vinegar and salt into the rice) and the prep for some sushi vegetables (spinach, cucumber, avocado). Did you know the Japanese don’t generally eat spinach raw? The spinach is washed VERY well with the roots attached, dried and then quickly blanched. The water is repeatedly squeezed out of the spinach above the cooking pot. Then, the roots are cut off and the spinach used. This is to remove the acid in the spinach, but still retain its nutrients.

She gave detailed instruction on how to make shrimp tempura:

‘Don’t be a cheapskate with the vegetable oil’ so as to maintain the oil’s temperature.

And, of course,we learnedÂ how to assemble and roll different types of sushi:Â nigiri, California, big maki, gunboat, inari. There were cuttingÂ boards and sharp knives so you could practice using your ‘qi’ or energy flow, to slice your sushi roll to perfection! She offered very good hands-on instruction:Â she walked the room to give assistance, asked the students to the kitchen stove to prepare and cook shrimp tempura. There was so much sushi made, people were taking home leftovers!

First we made nigiri sushi with shrimp, eel, taco (octopus) and tuna. Then we made California rolls with crab, avocado and cucumber. The third dish was called big maki – there was an entire shrimp tempura along with pickled daikon, spinach and cucumber in a roll. We made gunboat sushi which is a special type of nigiri sushi where a strip of nori is wrapped around the perimeter of a small mound of rice creating a cup we filled with spicy crab (imitation crab sliced and pulled apart into matchsticks and mixed with fried tempura batter pieces,Â mayonnaise, salt and sriracha). And last, but not least, we made inari which is a credit card sized pouch of fried tofu (comes canned in a syrup) filled with rice. YUM YUM YUM.

Next, I would love to participate in a Japanese breakfast class. I think breakfast options need to be expanded in the American diet. Yukiko?

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May 17, 2009

Book Fare Cafe, Bellingham

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 10:30 pm

Book Fare Cafe has been a favorite hideaway for me. I’ve written about it previously, having had a very positive experience there. Recently, my friend and I wanted a meal with a view during an early Saturday evening and chose Book Fare. I remembered the luscious desserts by Heather. I remembered the clean tables and attentive servers and panoramic view.

The panoramic view is still there, but things have changed. There are some new desserts from Mount Bakery – a positive pairing to Heather’s desserts. There are changes to the wine list. I KNOW Saturday early evening is busy busy busy, but all available tables were dirty and there were only two servers in sight working the lattes and desserts at the front counter. We changed our plans and went to Abbey Garden Tea Room.

Maybe the high expectations from previous visits didn’t prepare us. But we didn’t stay. And now I know why…I read the BBJ article about the cafe being under new management:Â a realtor and her daughter with experience in the floral and wine business. We’ll give them a couple of months and check back. I can’t stay away from those desserts for TOO long!