GO WEST YOUNG MAN

Yes, those were the famous words spoken back in the 1800’s to those that were in search of fame and fortune. For me, I heard the calling but it was under much different circumstances. You see, I went out west to find Meals that would Make me Moan! OK, to be honest, I went out there to work, but as long as I was out there it wouldn’t do any harm to do some moaning.

So I left bright and early Sunday morning and boarded a flight to Washington, DC. From there another flight to Phoenix, AZ and then one more flight for good measure to Seattle, Washington! After spending eleven hours in three different planes, you could imagine what my appetite was, as well as my demeanor. I needed food and it needed to be good enough to Make Me Moan. After meeting up with my partners in crime for the week (Bob and Brad), we settled on going to the Keg for some beef. You see, the gal at the front desk of our hotel said if this is the first time we have visited the Keg and we let them know, they would give us free shrimp cocktail for being newbies. With my mouth watering, we were promptly seated and waited patiently for our waitress to come take our order. After hearing the specials and ordering our drinks we asked for our free shrimp cocktail only to be disappointed by the fact that they discontinued offering that incentive, BUMMER!! Life goes on as they say, so I settled on some French Onion Soup (made with Spanish onions) and the prime rib with a side of mushrooms. The soup came out hot, loaded with plenty of onions and a golden brown layer of baked cheese on top. OOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEE that was good. When the prime rib came out our waitress warned us to be careful of the horseradish sauce as it was a specialty of the house and had a bite to it. Not one to back down to the heat of a HR sauce, I slathered it on my perfectly cooked prime rib and took a bite, then another and another until my taste buds said STOP you fool, you're going to burn us up if you don't. That’s when the heat hit me!! It was like a five alarm fire in my mouth! Water, lemonade, more water, more lemonade and then and only then was I ready to resume with the task at hand. You see, no matter how hot the HR sauce was, it was delectable and I just couldn't’t stop dunking my chunks of prime rib in it until everything on my plate was devoured. What a start to what I hope will be a week of many moans.

Monday and Tuesday morning brought us back to an old friend for breakfast.

That’s right, The Original Pancake House. Yup, Seattle had several of them in town and we (Bob and I) couldn't pass them up. Both mornings we feasted on eggs, pancakes, hash browns, toast, corned beef hash and of course, their famous thick cut bacon. Oh boy, two days of eating like that for breakfast and we needed to take a break. In fact after Monday’s chow down, we skipped lunch and only had a light meal for dinner.

Tuesday was a different story. Bob and I started at The Pancake House, skipped lunch and then went out for what I would hope was going to be a great Italian dinner. After doing some extensive research for a great place to dine, we settled on Grazie Resturante Italiano. One step into this quaint little cafe, and I was feel pretty good about my choice. After scouring the menu for what I was going to dine on, I decided to go off the norm and order a dish that contained a red sauce of sorts. Now, for those of you that did not grow up in an Italian household you wouldn’t understand the risk I was taking. You see, growing up with Italian grandparents, parents, aunts, uncle, etc., you become accustomed to eating homemade sauce on a weekly basis. When I say weekly of course, I don’t mean once a week, I mean several times a week and because of this, your taste buds become accustom to a certain quality of sauce. So you can now appreciate the position I put myself in. After much soul searching, I decided on Caesar salad and the Fettuccine Puttanesca.

The salad came out first, properly dressed with five anchovy fillets but was very light on the dressing. In fact, I must say, sans for the anchovies, the salad was not that memorable. I started sweating at this point as I was beginning to second guess my decision to come here. When the fettuccine arrived, I was overwhelmed by the wonderful aroma and overall appearance of the dish. I couldn't wait any longer, I picked up my fork, twirled some of that great looking fettuccine ladened with artichoke hearts, anchovies, tomatoes, calamata olives, mushrooms, capers and took my first mouthful. Mama Mia, I hit pay dirt!!! Not only did the moans start to come, I was overcome by memories from my youth. Memories of going to my grandparents and aunts house after Church to enjoy some home made pasta and sauce. Those are the memories that are deeply ingrained in my memory banks. The type of memories that take a special Italian dish to bring them to the forefront of my mind. Man, this was some magical pasta I was eating. I couldn't get enough. Even when I said I was done and couldn't eat any more, I found a way to finish every last noodle! So now that I properly finished off the main course, there was only one way to pay tribute to what I just had. Dessert!!! Now, my cousin Amy has been on the lookout for the perfect cheese cannoli and I wish I could say, I found it at Grazie's, but I can not. However, I can say I did find the perfect chocolate cannoli Just take a look at this beauty.

The shell was lite and crispy, with a filling that was flavorful, yet not too sweet. The whipped cream and chocolate sauce was just the right amount to compliment this delightful delicacy. All in all, a perfect meal and one that was totally worthy to be written up in the Meals That Make Me Moan Archives.

Wednesday is now upon us, and to tell you the truth, I need a break from eating!!! Well ,at least I need to change things around a bit. It was decided that there would be no breakfast and then a light lunch to ride us over until dinner time where we had planned to meet Shane and Kelly for what was promised to be a moan worthy dinner. With this in mind, breakfast was skipped and we opted for a light lunch of.........Hot Dogs! After spending some time searching for a hot dog spot, we ended up at Matt's Gourmet Hot Dogs. Now I won't spend much time on this but to say they had one of the best chili cheese dog and slaw dog I have ever eaten! Moan worthy indeed, but lets remember we are still talking about hot dogs.

Dinner time has arrived, Brad, Bob and I went off to the city to meet with Kelly and Shane at the 5 Spot restaurant. A lively little place that is known for American Regional Food. In fact, every 3 months they change their theme. This time around it was food and drink from St. Louis. I like to think that I am just as adventurous as the next person, but this restaurant is know for their honey stung fried chicken. So I guess you all know where I went with this.......................

That's a half of bird you are looking at which has been buttermilk dipped, deep fried and drizzled with Tupelo Honey. Served with some mashed potato's and carrots. This was no "KFC" I was dining at!. One bite into this moist bird and the flavors exploded in my mouth. There is no other way to describe this fine meal but to say the bird was moist, flavorful and plentiful. Everything that I look for in a meal to make me moan.

So that concludes the end of my Seattle trip. I must say, this trip ranks up there with my many experiences since I started writing this Blog. A few points I need to leave you with before my next writing:

1. That mysterious appetizer I so enjoyed at the Lucky Wishbone in Alaska was none other then deep fried chicken gizzards. Congratulations goes out to Kitty Hayes for guessing correctly on this!!

2. The fact that I have now been treated to such memorable meals as a pork chop sandwich and a pork tenderloin plate at Hog Wild, A Poblito at Rosalita's in Denver and honey stung fried chicken from the 5 Spot in Seattle has created a contest of sorts between Barb, Kelly and Shane as to which area, East or West can come up with the most memorable meal that will Make Me Moan. As Barb puts it, "I know how to play both sides and come out the winner". Clearly in this contest, the deck is stacked in my favor.

3. My next stop is in St. Paul, MN where I will be in search of some Juicy Nookie.