It used to be I thought that any place north of the Montlake Bridge was full of sea monsters, I’d not venture there without the Sea Witch at my side to protect me with spells and amulets. I’m long over my provincial hangups, plus, people act like our West Seattle home is somewhere beyond Hawaii, so reluctant are they to make the crossing. We understand how you feel, far flung neighborhoods, and we won’t make fun of you anymore.
Today’s errands found us in Wedgwood and when we’re there, we like to snack it up at the Grateful Bread bakery on 35th and 70th. It’s right across the street from a newish Top Pot donuts, but while we can get our hipster donuts downtown, we can’t get our hippie lunches there, at least not in that “you might be in Eugene, Oregon but that doesn’t mean you have to eat vegan food” sort of way.
We shared the chicken and red pepper pannini – a mighty serving of sandwich it is, easily big enough for two – fresh and delicious, stuffed with plenty of greens and other filling, and on house made bread. We followed that with coffee and a cinnamon roll. My sidekick is on something of a quest to try every available cinnamon roll in the greater Seattle area. He’s given the green flag to hardly any of them, the Essential Baking Company version doesn’t have raisins in it, the one at the Original Bakery is actually more of a donut, the Grateful Bread one is too doughy, the only one that’s up to his exacting Austrian standards is the Bakery Nouveau rendition and they don’t have them in the case often enough.
Never mind. I like the quiche at Grateful Bread, it makes a nice lunch, as do their big sandwiches, and I like the way the staff is mellow even during the lunch rush. It’s almost always crowded in there, meaning you have to double up and share tables (this means you too, wi-fi users), and I like that too. Today we overheard a little girl asking her mom about the existence of pirates, which the mom denied. We had enough restraint to not dive in with horror stories of modern buccaneers on the high seas, but we wish she’d said that yes, pirates still exist, even if they’re only the Seafair Pirates.
Perhaps our decision not to breed was a good one. Our choice of lunch stop, though? Not bad at all.
Grateful Bread is on the corner of 35th and 70th.
Side note on wifi: For some time I’ve been pondering the issue of wifi users in cafes. I hate it when I go into a cafe and it’s all one person+laptop per table. “Double up, people!” I think, probably out loud. I have a possibly unpopular solution to this – rather than free wifi, I’d like to see cafes offer free Internet but at wired hub tables. That way, the non-social wifi users all hook up around a wired hub and they have to share space, leaving more real estate for, well, everyone. Or maybe just a sign that says, “Yo, wifi guy! Double up!”
I produced or did sound for many Seattle Folklore Society concerts at the Bread back in the day. Alas, they didn’t generate enough business to keep the cafe open in the evening. They’re good people and had good food and coffee.
The neighborhood is spelled Wedgwood, BTW.
We noted with annoyance the prevalence of table-hogging wifi folks in the downtown Top Pot yesterday. 90 percent of said wifi-ers had finished their pastry and coffee and were just squatting on valuable real estate. If yer gonna sit there, at least pony up for more donuts!
You made me SO hungry with your description of the good food at Grateful Bread. And I agree that a good cinnamon roll has raisins — just like Mom made! I haven’t had a good one lately.
On the wi-fi comment: I scheduled a meeting with an old colleague at a locally-owned, organically-inclined coffee shop here in the Queen Anne neighborhood. When I got there, virtually every table was occupied with people busy on their lap-tops. We finally were able to share one of the larger tables with a couple of them. That was the first and last time I will have a meeting at that particular place.
I thank my lucky starts everyday that I live near both Larson’s Bakery and Besalu in Ballard. One satisfies the old lady in me ready for a nice, decent jam dot with her afternoon tea…the other guarantees me the best French-inspired pastry anyone could hope for in the PNW.
I like the Nerd’s solution to the wifi problem! Good one!
Having worked in cafes, I can tell you that wifi is both a blessing and a curse. Our sales always were up when school was in session and we had campers for hours on end.
But remember, the best places are the crowded ones. You’re not going to like the coffee at a place that’s empty at 9:30 in the morning.
For the record, Trish, it ain’t the crowds that bug me, I’ll wait in line politely with the best of them. It’s the one table/one person thing, when that one person is clearly busy with the tubes. If they’d just SHARE the space, well, that would be really very nice. They’re not talking anyway, is it a big deal to double up with someone who’s ALSO not talking?
It’s so interesting to me to hear you discuss the wifi issue. Here in the midwest it’s not an issue at all, but I can understand how it would drive you crazy! I have never taken my laptop with me to the local eateries that offer wifi, but I have been thinking about doing so. I will be sure to heed the advice here and share a table if it comes to that. I’ll make The Nerd proud! =)