Journey of a Snohomish County foodie
Published 1:30 am Sunday, December 11, 2016
As someone who grew up in south Snohomish County in a foodie family, I was eager to see “Edible City” at the Museum of History and Industry.
(Oh, and if you’re like me and you haven’t been to MOHAI since it moved from Lake Washington to Lake Union, be encouraged to go. The 75-year-old old Naval Reserve Armory has been transformed into a fabulous museum. And all the stuff you remember from your visits as a kid — with the exception of Bobo the gorilla — are still displayed.)
I am not alone in having lived through a good part of what the culinary exhibit addresses. Everyone has their food stories. Here are a few of mine, all related to the exhibit, which triggered a lot of memories.
My older cousin took me to the first Starbucks — the coffee, tea and spice store in the public market — shortly after it opened in 1971. I loved the smell of the place. My dad shopped regularly at Pike Place Market, and later I accompanied my first husband when he delivered salmon to one of the fishmongers at the market.
The first time I ate sushi was at Maneki, a Japanese restaurant in the International District that was the first in the region to serve sushi.
I tutored Jerilyn Brusseau’s kids on violin while she was at work at her Edmonds cafe perfecting the recipe for what would become Cinnabon rolls. I remember watching Ivar Haglund feed the seagulls on Elliott Bay.
I went with my high school French class to eat at Brasserie Pittsbourg in Pioneer Square. I ate at the Dahlia Lounge not long after Tom Douglas opened his first restaurant. I went to college with the sister of the Cascioppo Brothers, and visited their meat market and the Larsen’s Danish bakery next door.
I have interviewed Greg Atkinson, who revitalized the menu at Canlis, Seattle’s favorite high-end restaurant. I have lived near several American Indian reservations and know a bit about foraged food. I have interviewed Japanese-American farming families whose neighbors held onto their property while they were interned in camps during World War II.
I ate at the first Red Robin, located across the Montlake Cut from the University of Washington, and the first Anthony’s. When I was a kid, my buddies and I would make trips to the first Herfy’s and Skipper’s restaurants.
Fredrick &Nelson’s Frango chocolates (now found at Macy’s) are my favorite, but I also love Fran’s, a company my daughter worked for while at the UW.
A friend has played guitar during dinners at the Herbfarm for forever. Like many locals, I have yet to eat there.
So much food, so little time. But it was great to see this exhibit and remember some wonderful times.
What are your local food memories? Write to Gale Fiege at gfiege@heraldnet.com.
