Seattle: NCECA Day 1, March 28

Day 1: E-ville to Seattle

Weather: Overcast in spots, getting cool in evening in Seattle

Pics: Two restaurants, various pieces we saw during the day of hopping around, two pieces we own (Stephen Braun, Margaret Ford) and in the loft in E-ville

We’re at NCECA, annual ceramics show, with E&J. We’re not actually going to the conference, just everything around it: galleries, exhibitions, shows, museums, all hosting ceramics.

After arriving before noon, first priority is finding a spot to eat near the Design Center and DB uses a handy-dandy I-pad app that shows spots nearby and Yelp ratings. We eat at the Lucky Chinese Restaurant, a dive we would not normally even glance at. Spicy soup for THB, cabbage and pork soup for DB, Mongolian beef for E and chow mein for J. All (even THB and DB) get a small bowl of soup first. Lives up to its 4 star rating, with serious fortune cookies (double portions, we need all the help we can get; what did THB’s fortune say again…something about practical matters count a lot?).

Spend 2.5 hours touring the various exhibitions in empty design center spaces. It is a lot of ceramics! See some stuff we like, some work we’re familiar with, and nobody we know in person.

Check in to the Alexis, DB is a member, and we are upgraded from a suite to a very nice two room suite. Very nice!

Take a rest and then off to dinner at Cantinetta with E&J and Meg Ford, a local artist who made three pieces we own, including one that she spent a week “in residence” fixing (see pic of wood and ceramic wall piece). We ate here the last time we were in Seattle.

Cantinetta. Another treasure!! Fava beans with shaved pecorino, rhubarb with gorgonzola and almonds, and three pastas: tubes with garlic, chard and chilis; linguini with meat balls; and tortellini with pork filling and charred ramps in broth. Why did we have three pasta dishes? Because they brought the linguini by mistake and THB tried it before deciding it wasn’t what he ordered. All great!! For dessert, warm doughnuts filled with hot liquid chocolate. All these dishes were superb!! Bottle of wine, total $120.

Wait: this is what THB and DB had when they ate at Cantinetta in 2011…
This time, among the five of us: baby artichokes with lemon (THB), pecorino and toscano; aragula with same toppings; calamari stuffed with patate and porcini mushrooms (very unusual and very good); Kushi oysters; wild boar cappeletti; potato ravioli with burrata and rapini cream; black cod with tomato, olives and capers, gnocchetti alla Nettles (THB) with lamb ragu and fungi; and again the warm doughnuts filled with hot liquid chocolate (split 4 ways this time) and citrus sorbet; bottle + one glass of the house sauvignon blanc and one lemon drop, one tea, $240 for five. And as good or better than last time!