Ballardblog.com

Before I actually moved to Seattle, I spent 5 weeks renting a house here between leaving one job and starting another.  I had been to Seattle only once before on a business trip in February and had fallen in love with this part of the U.S. but I wanted to see if living here was the same as coming for a business trip or vacation.  This was during a period when Seattle had for several years made those “Best Places to Live” lists in various magazines and was getting a lot of press due to grunge, the Starbucks phenomena, etc.   I have never been one to believe the hype so I took the opportunity to rent as my control in my little experiment on what it would be like to live here.  I didn’t have a car while here, so I used the bus to get around from the place I was renting in Greenwood.  It was easy to get downtown to the more touristy sites such as Pike Place Market,   etc.     However, when it came to scouting at neighborhoods, I guess the bus may have created a natural inclination towards neighborhoods such as Greenlake, Wallingford, Fremont and Ballard. 

I was charmed by Ballard.  At that time, the Scandinavian flavor of the neighborhood was more pronounced.  There were a number of Scandinavian gift shops and food businesses along Northwest Market Street, streets lined with cottages and bungalows and few condos.  An Italian friend came to visit me once and told me that she suspected I had paid people to walk around the neighborhood and say hello to her.  She sputtered, “It’s like that movie ‘Pleasantville.  It’s almost too perfect.” 

So I was shocked to read something recently that listed the worst streets in Seattle and placed 15^th Ave. NW right after 99/Aurora.  My eyes bulged out at the preposterous idea that our main north and south thoroughfare could be seen as anything like Aurora.  After all, Aurora has prostitutes in full view, worse traffic, businesses that make you wonder how they pay the rent and a strange cast of characters with wild eyes who mutter to themselves.  There are  a number of seedy motels and Ballard doesn’t even have a motel.  Ballard in contrast seems like such a wholesome place.   This was simply slander!    I was especially appalled as a resident who lives only a couple of blocks from 15^th Ave. NW.    

Unable to scrub this affront of an article from my brain, I have now found myself mentally noting disturbing images on my rides up and down 15^th Ave NW.  Across the street from businesses needed by the community such as the QFC and Walgreens, is Daffy’s, a seedy looking place and then there is Centerfolds further down the road.   While I love the fact that Crown Hill Hardware survives despite the competition from big box chains like Lowes’ and Home Depot, right across the street is the unholy trinity of:  the Love Zone, the Plasma Center and the liquor store.  Let’s hope that those lining up to sell their plasma didn’t make a quick stop into the liquor store first.    There have been car thefts and other disturbances in my neighborhood over time and when I would hear about something, I would be so shocked as it’s the kind of community where people look out for one another.  However, when I consider the kind of clientele these nearby businesses attract, even Nancy Drew would be able to draw some pretty accurate conclusions as to the spillover affect into the neighborhood. 

When you consider 15^th Ave. NW there is a lot of potential there, but unfortunately it’s currently a mishmash of chain stores such as Kinko’s and TMobile mixed in with small unique businesses such as the Celtic Trader and the Ballard Massage Center.   Food options range from the ubiquitous fast food places like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell vs. the Scandinavian  Bakery as well as Scandinavian Specialties, Jimmy’s and Lunchbox Laboratory which cater to people who like their food to be somewhat unique and not entombed in a cardboard or Styrofoam box.  It makes me wonder how the development of 15^th Ave. NW turned out so differently than NW Market Street.     The way NW Market Street has developed has made it a desirable neighborhood for buyers and renters as well as a destination spot for tourists and hipsters alike.

When Safeway wanted to put in a gas station there was quite an outcry from residents due to its impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.    I wonder why there hasn’t been as much pressure from the community to clean up 15^th Ave. NW and encourage the kind of creative and independent businesses that residents could be proud of?

More fashion is coming to Ballard. Move over, make room. It’s a big deal. Monster Art and Clothing is moving into the old Cors and Wegener Building on Ballard Avenue and 20th, to officially open for business this Friday, August 29th. But this isn’t another polished Dolce Vita or previous commercial tenant, Merge. All of you Ballard-purists with your skeptical eyes and crossed arms can appreciate what local artist, Holly Gummelt (http://www.etsy.com)  and her art posse are trying to do with Monster Art and Clothing– eco and econ friendly art and fashion.

With the exit of Merge and most recently Olivine (both have moved onto yuppified Fremont), a new movement is setting forth: clothing made by artists, to look like art, at an artist’s budget. Holly Gummelt, a Pike Market craft booth veteran, is picking up her tent, and setting up shop in Ballard to bring art to the common man. She coins her movement, “casual art”, for unpretentious, anti-boutique people– so basically, for Ballardians. “We don’t have a lot of money ’cause we’re artists, so we’re really trying to bring something to others who love handmade art, that’s sustainable and affordable. We’re not ‘hoity-toity’; we want to be accessible.”

And we want to access you, Monster Art and Clothing! With hoodie wraps made from 100% up-cycled wool (see photo with proprietor, Gummelt, modeling hat/scarve), screen-printed T-shirts, and quirky accessories created out of recycled scratch, Ballard welcomes you with open arms…. right after we put down our fishing polls and finish our beers.

So what’s the connection between Coldplay and eighty year olds?  Read on to find out…

Seattle is a fairly youthful city full of single hipsters.  When I first visited Ballard, even before I moved to Washington state, the joke was that the drivers were so bad as it was a neighborhood of old people who could barely see over their steering wheels.  Their cars would inevitably have bumper stickers such as “Honk if you’re Norwegian.”  These old folks would populate the Eagles Club on 24^th Street or the Leif Erickson Hall by the old QFC.  These were people who had grown up in the area and purchased their cottages and craftsman houses for prices that make present day buyers cry.  Ten years ago Ballard was far from hip.  However, there was something about it that charmed me, I kind of liked the fact that the streets were full of the elderly, to me it was like having a whole neighborhood of grandparents.  However, I didn’t always feel so drawn to the elderly.

When I was a little girl my grandmother, though she was old herself, used to take me along during her volunteer visits to nursing homes.  I fully admit to being terrified, as I was too young to understand what I was seeing.  The old people some of who couldn’t talk well due to missing teeth or breathing problems seemed like monsters to me, as they would reach out to touch me with their gnarled hands.  I didn’t understand that they were happy to have visitors, particularly a young child to fuss over. 

 Over the years I have lived here, I noticed that instead of the older faces I was used to seeing on Ballard streets, the faces have gotten younger and younger.  I first clued into the fact that Ballard had become hip when the Tall Grass Bakery opened on 24^th Street.  When I talked to one of the owners, they mentioned that Capitol Hill was just too overdone and had chosen Ballard.  Like mushrooms springing up new bars and restaurants such as Bal Mar, the Matador, Volterra, La Carta de Oaxaca, etc.  A younger population was drawn to the nightlife and the condos rapidly being built at the same time the older population was dwindling. 

However, Tuesday night these generations cross paths at a special  showing of the movie “Young at Heart.”  This film festival winner is about a real group of east coast seniors who rock out to Coldplay, the Ramones, James Brown and many groups you wouldn’t expect to even be known by this age group.  This amazing group performs this music for others startling everyone by the song choice, passion and emotion of their performances.  Don’t be put off by the fact that this movie is being shown at the Greenwood Senior Center as the event if open to all age groups with a suggested donation is $3.   I dare you to watch the following You Tube clips and see if it spins your notion of aging on its head. 

UNFORTUNATELY THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Event is Tuesday, August 26^th and  located at:  The Greenwood Senior Center is located at 525 N. 85th St.   For more information call 206-297-0875. 

Young at Heart Sings Talking Heads “Road to Nowhere”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wgrM-R6yfY&feature=related

Young at Heart Sings Coldplay “Fix You”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3IT4TeSxY&feature=related

Unfortuately this event has been cancelled

Do you like your latte served up with a full order of deliciousness?  It doesn’t matter what kind of milk or flavoring you put in your cuppa Joe if the underlying base of the drink isn’t worth the price.  And at Firehouse Coffee, it’s definitely worth every penny.  Surprisingly, this shot of caffeine-laced goodness isn’t expensive at all!

The cozy atmostphere means limited seating, but the tables and chairs are extremely comfy, and there’s a nice little patio for those iced cappuccinos on hot days.  They even have a bowl of water out for your four-legged coffee buddy.  I was quite pleased to get a 20 oz. latte (Hazelnut soy, no foam, my standard) and a wonderful breakfast sandwich and spend only about $7.  The sandwich was a delightful multi-grain bread with lots of flavor, encompassing an egg, swiss cheese, and bacon on the perfect side of crisp.  Warmed up and cut in half made it the perfect way to spend half an hour on the free wi-fi with my laptop.  The wi-fi had a good connection, albeit an unsecured network and you have to re-login every 20 minutes or so. I personally didn’t get that pop-up for almost an hour.  They do have a single computer in the back corner in case you just HAVE to check your email and don’t have anything with you.

Good coffee, good food, nice atmosphere, free wi-fi…  Not only two thumbs up, but I’ll definitely be back.  Oh, and I might hit that drive-through window if I don’t have time to actually stop in.

Firehouse Coffee

2622 NW Market St

Seattle, WA 98107

(206) 784-2911

Since 1907, the citizens of Ballard have joined forces in attempt to “free Ballard” from Seattle hegemony. One store, Archie McPhee, helps us Ballardians in this everyday struggle.

A cross between a cracked-out tiki bar and the magic shop in Pee Wee Herman’s Great Adventure, Archie McPhee’s features thousands of random and quirky toys, candy, party supplies, costumes and miniatures—think yodeling pickle figurines, giant underpants, etc. Among the random shit-fest, is a “Free-Ballard” retail industry, featuring an array of wearable propaganda such as hats, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and even games and toys. McPhee’s started the modern-day “Free Ballard” movement about eight years ago, and has been promoting the liberation of Ballard with pride and a sense of humor ever since. Download your own “Free Ballard” poster, courtesy of Archie McPhees here. And if you don’t jive with the “Free Ballard” campaign, there are thousands of other reasons to go there. Temporary tattoos, counterfeit Australian coins and bills, or maybe you’ll run into Blayne from Project Runway.

www.archiemcpheeseattle.com

2428 NW Market Street

Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sundays 11am-6pm

Finally, our heat wave broke!  Now we can enjoy the cooler weather and get up and around.  There’s certainly plenty to do out in the soft cool air…

Thursday, August 21st, come meet new friends at our neighborly Greenwood Senior Center for an Intentional Community Potluck.  6:30 – 8:30pm, please label your dish.

The Loyal Heights Community Center is having an End of Summer BBQ, and you’re invited!  August 22nd, 6-7:30pm, with hotdogs and games.  Best of all?  It’s free, so bring the whole family!  2102 NW 77th St, (206)684-4052

On Saturday, Aug. 23 from 2 – 6 p.m. the Ballard/Alki Odd Fellows will be hosting the First Annual Oddfest. Donations are $5 at the door and benefit the SOS Children’s Village in Cambodia for AIDS affected youth. For more information, e-mail Greg Powers at Kitkadevi@aol.com.  Oddfellows Hall at 1701 NW Market St.

St. Paul’s at 6512 12th Ave NW is also hosting a neighborhood event.  Join them for a pancake breakfast (suggested donation, $5) on Saturday, August 23rd, from 9-11am.  Tons of opportunities this week to make new friends and really get to know your fellow Ballardites!  Maybe we should vie for a “Most Community-minded Neighborhood” award…

And lastly, enjoy a jazz concert at Golden Gardens this Friday!  August 22, 7-10pm, listen to Ambience with Leah Natale, a four-piece band from Seattle.  They play vintage and Latin jazz, and will present a concert at the Golden Gardens Bath House. Following the concert, a “Jazz Jam Group” from the Miller Community Center will perform. $3 adults/$2 seniors, youth under ten.

So enjoy the cool weather and get out in your neighborhood to have fun in YOUR Ballard.  It’s what you make of it!

I had been hearing a lot about the trend of comfort food at gourmet levels.   Then I saw this trend come to Ballard via the opening of Lunchbox Laboratory on 15^th Ave. NW.   It’s located in the former Ballard Brothers Burgers space next to a nail salon.  From the outside it reminded me of the little clam shacks you see in New England.  A small painted structure with some picnic tables outside for dining.   But this is not a seafood place, but a burger place, though that doesn’t fully describe choices such as the ‘Dork’, a duck and pork burger, nor fries that have rosemary salt on them. 

Before I ventured over to check it out for myself, I checked out the reviews on a Ballard website and Yelp.   The results were surprising.  On the Ballard website the reviews were decidedly not in favor of the Lab citing service, cost, inability to order a certain temperature and amount of grease.   However, Yelpers as a whole were strongly positive about the place and the ironic thing was that most of the reasons they felt positively were the same reasons people on the other site felt negatively.   On the issue of not being able to order a burger well done, the gourmands on Yelp pointed out that meat shouldn’t be ordered that way as it dries out and isn’t as flavorful.  The high cost for burgers cited by the Ballard website was explained by Yelpers as justified due to the more exotic choices of meat as well as the higher quality than a typical burger joint supplies.   Yelpers also argued against the complaints about the food being too greasy by defending the grease as the reason you visit a burger place and claiming that the entire flavor is in the grease itself.  These completely opposite positions were reason enough to pay the place a visit. 

I arrived at 6:15pm on a weeknight which turned out to be the optimal time as there were only two customers ahead of me and no one waiting behind me so I could figure out the ‘system.’  Yes, there is a definite system to the place.  There are daily specials posted but its more fun to create your own burger vision.  A large board outside helps you build your burger by labeling the steps.  Step one is to choose your meat, which is not as straightforward as it sounds, not when the choices range beyond ground beef to prime rib, the aforementioned dork, buffalo, durken (duck and turkey) though the latter was not on the board the night I went. The next step is to choose the type of cheese, another complex decision as the choices include feta, gorgonzola, and havarti in addition to the usual cheddar and Swiss.  However, my favorite step was number three, choosing a sauce or two sauces if you prefer.  This is where I spent the most time pondering.  Varieties such as Jalapeno Ranch, Basil aioli, 7 pickle dill tartar sauce, sweet and sour pineapple kept me standing lost in thought for several minutes.  If you are the type of person who goes out to Baskin Robbins and orders vanilla ice cream, there are bottles of ketchup available too.  For French fries you can choose because skinny, sweet potato and tater tots and then choose a flavored salt.  I was torn between the bacon salt and the rosemary.  A custom blend of ice tea, which I was glad included refills, was my drink of choice, although there was an extensive menu of shakes with similarly exotic flavors. 

The portion size of the food brought to me was more than adequate.  I did understand the comments made about the amount of grease as the burger was literally dripping when I picked it up in my hand.  The cheese had the glossy greasy feel, but maybe Havarti doesn’t have the same melting ability as other types of cheese?  The burger was good, but was it almost $10 worth of good?  Personally I feel that’s a stretch – I think somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 would be appropriate.  The surprise was liking the fries even more than the burger, plus at $3 they were a better value.  I usually don’t like skinny fries as I don’t like mine too crisp. However, the fries reminded me of the ones I have had in countries like the Netherlands, where they are cooked to just the right amount of crispness on the outside, but are soft and fluffy on the inside.  The magic may also have been in the bacon salt I chose.    I would visit again to order the fries again and maybe even try another salt flavor.  I also hear the chef makes a mean macaroni that I would be tempted to see how it compares to Beecher’s.  Hailing from the Midwest, I appreciate a great Mac and cheese.  

So in the end who got it right?  I think this is a case where the only way to know is to try it for yourself. 

Perched beneath the shadows of the Ballard Bridge like an anchored looming pirate ship, is the Jolly Rogers Taproom, adorned with skull and cross bone flags and a fortified iron-gate patio for the summer patrons. When we spotted a lively bunch of Ballardians enjoying the summer evening out on the terrace, we knew we would fit in well here. 

Home of the Jolly Rogers Winter Ale, loaded with 9% alcohol and guaranteed to make your eyes drift in opposite directions and snarl at strangers, the Taproom hosts 14 freshly brewed uniquely Northwest Maritime ales and lagers. Also fresh is all the produce in the menu; the onions and pickles are chopped in the Taproom’s kitchen before they’re drowned in deep-fried deliciousness. We recommend the onion rings; they’re so huge and thick you could plop one on your head and it’d pass for a yarmulke.  

Even though we were the obnoxious drunk girls talking too loud on our cell phones, no one punched us out, and to us, that is good service and good people.

Jolly Rogers Taproom

1514 NW Leary Way

Ballard WA 98127

www.maritimebrewery.ypguides.net

You’ve probably driven by this unassuming little fruit stand on 15th, right across from Ballard High School.  You’ve maybe even giggled at the name, Top Banana.  But have you stopped to check out the selection of earthly delights?  Not only are their hanging flower baskets lush and full with tons of blossoms, the few pre-packaged items inside include handmade tortillas and jars of local honey.  There a small cooler in one corner in case you forgot that you need milk or sour cream or want that natural yogurt for your fruit salad.

The peaches are in right now, going for a very reasonable less than $2 a pound.  Fresh green beans and snap peas, rows of vine-ripe tomatoes, canteloupes for less than a dollar a pound…  I’m in heaven while I make my choices for the week.  This is my favorite Sunday ritual!  Yesterday morning, I grabbed the following:

1 LARGE red bell pepper for mum
1 huge head of cauliflower (delicious steamed and mashed with butter and pepper)
little over a pound of tiny cukes to make fridge pickles
bag of peeled baby carrots
bunch of organic bananas
about a pound of small red potatoes, to be skewered and grilled tonight
3 huge plums
4 huge peaches
a large english cucumber
a bunch of green onions

Total? $20.26.  I can deal with that.  They do take credit cards, unlike most farmer’s market booths.  There’s a decent sized gravel parking lot and they’re more than happy to help you get items to your car.  Like maybe those giant watermelons?  Although they have plastic bags (but they’re sturdy for re-use!), the clerks are more than happy to evenly distribute your items in bags that you’ve brought.  And they don’t put the easily squashable items on the bottom, as has happened to all of us at the grocery store sometimes.  So come check them out and plan a delicious dinner tonight.  Invite friends over and share the secret when they ask “Wherever did you find such wonderful-tasting fresh veggies?”  “Why, Top Banana, of course!”

Top Banana, 6501 15th Ave NW Seattle, WA 98117 (206) 783-7786, Mon-Sun 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.

(and they have fresh-cut trees in the lot over the winter holidays.)

I’m really bad with accents. Call it ignorance, call it American, call me hard of hearing – it’s something I struggle with. Especially at Thai restaurants, when I typically resort to pointing at menu items instead of insulting a beautiful language with my ugly attempts at pronunciations.

One such case where this is not necessary is Mae Ploy on 15th Ave and 65th. This little rinky-dink Thai assemble just passed its annual and seems to be holding down the fort as far as Thai goes in Ballard, despite their handful of tables that are rarely full even during peak rush hours. 

Inexpensive, fast, flavorful and above all friendly to non-Thai speakers, Mae Ploy offers family-style eats in not only the portion sizes of their entrees but in the way that the family owned restaurant is ran every minute their doors are open by every member of the family. Not once have I been there – be it Saturday night or Wednesday for lunch – when at least three members of the family also have not been there. I hope they love their jobs. 

The Fam also allows you choose “Thai spice,” something us sensitive-palated people have never done nor plan to but for those of you who load up your Saracha, going with the under-the-table double spices is advised. 

As far as the food goes, three words – Tom Kah Soup. The coconut based delicacy goes down like water. Toss some brown rice in there (available with no additional cost, surprisingly) and you’ve got a coconut-curried- meat of your choice bowl of amazingness. A couple other words to remember – Swimming Rama, any of the satay appetizers, the classic Phad Thai and any of the available curries (my favorite is the red but it’s hotter than you’d expect). 

One thing to ignore – the horrible, 90′s cover music of popular songs from your past (e.g. “Unchained Melodies” and “Sweet Caroline”) blare from a retro boombox that makes even the original i-Pod cringe. The aesthetics of the restaurants look like the children of the family just got back from arts and crafts camp and there wasn’t enough room on the fridge for their creativity. The restaurants was then punished with the decor. 

A final word of advice – come hungry or don’t come at all. The Mae Ploy Fam is not joking around with their platters but will happily box it up for you to take home.