A Salumi Pilgrimage

Yesterday, Lisa and I headed down the I-5 to visit our neighbors to the south, and have lunch at the now famous Salumi in Seattle.

Go there! Now!

“What is the purpose of your trip today?”, the U.S. border guard asked.

“Uh, we’re going to get some Lunch”, I replied. I could see the sirens going off in his head.

“All the way to Seattle for Lunch? Likely story”. Things were going off the rails fast – I’m sure he thought we were going to do drop off a couple pounds of marijuana at some sketchy warehouse in Tacoma.

“Yeah, there’s this great place called Salumi I’ve heard a lot about…”

A look of relief washed over his face. “Hey did you know that it’s owned by Mario Batali’s dad?”

“Yeah! Have you been?”

“Not yet, but I’ve heard great things. Go on through”. Ah, the power of meat.

Waiting at the Peace Arch border crossing. How do I explain the pit-bulls in the trunk?

Except for the odd patch of intense fog, the drive to Seattle was without drama. We got off the interstate and headed right for Pioneer Square, a cool neighborhood close to downtown where Salumi is located. Before we got our meat on, we had some of Seattle’s most famous export: coffee. We found our caffeine fix at Zeitgesit Coffee, an artsy-fartsy place (I mean that in the nicest way possible) just around the corner from Salumi.

We were told that there is always a line-up, which is a good sign.

Salumi Artisan Cured Meats was started by Armandino Batali (father of Mario) after retiring from Boeing, where he spent 31 years a s a process control engineer. Following his departure from the aviation world, he went to New York to work with is son and to Italy to refine his salumi making skills. When he returned to Seattle, he opened the shop in Pioneer square and it quickly took off. Along with their line of cured meats, there are daily pasta, soup and entree specials, and of course, their famous sandwiches.

We finally got inside, and were now forced to make a decision.

The smell of cured meat is intoxicating, especially when you’re hungry.

Before we got inside, I had visons of the soup nazi being behind the sandwich line, but there was only friendly ladies making delicious food.

We got a meatball sandwich with provolone and onions on baguette, as well as a finocchiona with mozzarella on dense olive oil bread. The winner: Meatballs! But there are no real losers in this competition. I left with a half-pound each of Agrumi, Parprika and Finnochiona, as well as a guanciale. Will get back to you with a taste test.

This was sketchiest parking garage I have ever parked in.

After lunch went for a little walk downtown. Here is a cheesemaker at Beecher’s Cheese, making their “flagship”, a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese which is aged for one year. Tried it and it tasted like someting between gruyere and cheddar, with nice calcium crystals.

Then it was off to Capitol Hill to check out a couple of places I had heard good things about. The first being Cafe Presse, a French restaurant which is the sister restaurant of Le Pichet, a downtown bistro.

A salad was in order, as well as more meat, in the form of beef tartare. Both were nice, simple and well prepared.

In between glasses of wine, espressos were downed, creating a sense of euphoria that can’t be described.

Random sushi art.

Lisa’s boss Dustin told her about an awesome pizza place called Via Tribunali on Pike St.

Very dark inside, but we had Augustine to guide our way.

The wood-burning oven imported from Italy. I want one……now.

Margherita and Lisa. Like Campagnolo here in Vancouver, the pizza came unsliced. No problem, just tear off a piece and go for it.

Drive home was a mess. Fog, fog, fog. Couldn’t see more than 20 feet in front of me most of the time. To add to the pain, the Canucks broadcast kicked in somewhere outside of Everett, allowing us to hear the 4th unanswerred goal by Phoenix. 4-1 final score. Bummer, but not enough to spoil what was a wonderful day in the U.S. of A.

If you ever get bored of the selection of restaurants in Vancouver, go to Seattle for a couple days. There seemes to be a lot of really interesting places to check out and it’s only three hours away. I Will be back soon to go to Lampreia and Lark.