bridal party brunch.

let's take a little break from food talk (i promise i'll put plenty of foodie bits in here!!!) and talk about my personal life. my roomie [m] and i went to high school together and roomed together our freshman year of college. in extremely close quarters that could have driven even the best of friends to loathing--we flourished. pardon my emotion, but i found a sister in that tiny dorm room. i think anyone who has ever had a roommate (or two, or more!) can agree that even the most unlikely of pairs can be amazing roommates and the seemingly perfect pair can be a disaster under one roof. well, m is my "it just works" and i'm about to give her up to e, her fiance and mate of 5 years. it's sad to see her go and to know that i'm on the hunt for my perfect roommate match again. but at the same time, i'm beyond thrilled for her to start this new chapter of her life, especially since watching it unfold over the last couple of years. and (drum roll please) i get to be a BRIDESMAID! i've never been one before, and being asked is one of the most touching conversations to happen in a friendship. i'm so excited to be a part of her big day.

ok, you've got the mushy back story. now, being a bridesmaid comes with lots of fun trips and tasks: trying on dresses, looking at tons of internet pictures, deciding on make-up, endless talk of shoes, crafting wedding decor. all of this is right up my alley, but you can guess from the title of this blog that i may just be jazzed about any excuse to have BRUNCH! there are three other bridesmaids. m's younger and older sisters and our friend n who we met in college as well. n lives in new york now, so when she was in seattle to visit family we hopped on the opportunity to try on some dresses and catch up over the greatest meal known to modern man.

m's sister chose the spot, and the tilikum place cafe was the perfect place for us gals to meet, dote on the bride-to-be, and (most importantly) have some awesome food. tilikum is the perfect reason to visit belltown by day and boasts an extremely impressive brunch selection. bloody marys and americanos lined the table and us ladies enjoyed some serious brunch munching.

i was super happy with my choice (which was matched by the mother of the bride) of the baked eggs. served in a mini cast iron skillet and garnished with sage cream, the eggs were baked in a hot oven with spaghetti squash and greens and seasoned perfectly. despite the rich cream on top, the dish felt light and satisfying. everyone around the table definitely snuck a little taste of a completely unique dish. the bride and n had versions of a proper english breakfast which included tomatoes, breakfast meats, eggs, toast, and baked beans. YES. baked beans for breakfast. i learned about this delightful little addition to a morning meal while visiting my boyfriend in england, and it is quite possibly the greatest culinary gift the english have given us. try it. i swear it's good.

next time i go back to tilikum for brunch, which i hope is sooner rather than later, i will most definitely try one of their dutch babies. this should-be breakfast standby is an eggier, denser version of a classic pancake that comes baked in the same skillet that my eggs came baked in (and is pictured as the photographic star of this entry). tilikum offers a sweet and savory version which seem to cater to what they have on hand and what is seasonal. whatever the accent ingredient, i think a dutch baby would be delicious with just about anything on top (baked beans, anyone???) and everyone looked at the maid of honor's dish with envying eyes.

also on the menu are pancake specials (still baffled that none of us succumbed to the lemon poppy seed that were beckoning to us from the daily specials board), quiche, and warm bread with nutella is available a la carte. yes please. this brunch definitely celebrated my acquired sister amazingly, and any return i have in the future will always give me great memories.

simple, comfortable, and friendly.

these are words that could describe lots of things. a living room, perhaps. a neighborhood bar or coffee house. maybe even the giant, reliable station wagon that your grandma drove when you were a kid. these words, however, don't often come together so harmoniously for upscale diners. restaurants can be stiff, pretentious, or even boring...and everyone who has worked in the service industry knows that each and every interaction with a patron can tip the scale in one direction or the other. restaurateurs are always trying to toe the line between simple and sophisticated, between friendly and overzealous. i've just had my first experience where these descriptors came together seamlessly, and i'm happy to recommend stumbling goat bistro to all of you.

first off, the service was impeccable. when my mama and i arrived about 5 minutes early for our 6:45pm reservation we were greeted by a dressed down woman with a cute pair of horn rimmed glasses. she let us know that they had planned to seat us in a middle table (and gestured toward it) but asked if would we like to wait about 3 minutes as the couple cleared out of the window table? DUH. it doesn't take a food critic to know that everyone wants to sit by the window at any restaurant...even denny's! so we thanked her flexibility and kindly waited for the window table, which was wiped down and re-watered and ready for us in the 3 minutes promised. it felt good that she had gone above and beyond to make our dining experience delightful.

this visit took place during dine around seattle, so my mom and i were both definitely going to order from the prix fixe prepared menu. we were checking it out when our super friendly waiter (dressed to my liking in a blue floral button-down) let us know that there were specials for the night that were included on the dine around seattle menu. in my experience, this has never happened before. if anything, a waiter will inform you that they are not making the dish that you read about online and salivated over and are instead making another dish (which i'm sure is just as good, but has none of the build-up!). in this case, our waiter shared with us a whole other option for each course...leading me to change my mind about what i had intended to order. keep in mind, most other restaurants offer 3 choices for each course standard and stumbling goat was already offering 4-5. i was giddy with the choices and high on options. always a good start to a meal.

you know what else is a good start to a meal? COCKTAILS! and my mama and i love to try different one's when we go out to eat together. this time i had a muddled basil and pomegranate number that was nice and strong but not too sweet. my mom had a blood orange and grapefruit vodka cocktail that was super strong and tangy to boot. these were sipping drinks, and lasted both of us through our entire meal.

appetizers came out quickly, delivered to us by someone other than our waiter, who was equally friendly. we both went with soups. my mama (the vegetarian) had the cream of parsnip soup (which went amazing with the left over bread on the table) and i had a corona bean and pork jowl soup that was one of the specials for the day. my soup was rich and hearty but didn't feel to heavy. it came with a little cheesy biscuit on the side which i would have loved to see more of!

we both went with vegetarian options so that we could preform our favorite dining act: the mid-meal plate switch. mom had the vegetarian heirloom bean cassoulet and i had the truffle risotto (another special!). a cassoulet is a rich stew or casserole that is typically some combination of beans and meats. it is a french dish that is generally slow cooked. i get the impression that it's totally peasant food. but, peasant food is commonly nutritious and delicious. my mom's cassoulet came with beans (mostly chickpeas) and veggies galore. it was hearty and gave the impression of slow cooking. my risotto was plate licking fabulous. i don't normally order risottos because there is only one thing to eat on your plate...but it just sounded so good i couldn't pass it up. i was thrilled with the texture, delighted by the subtle truffle flavor, and my mom was super happy when it came time for plate switching!

for our dessert course we were stuffed full, but ready to go for it with our desserts. this is another point i will commend stumbling goat on. sometimes, restaurants give you such ridiculous portions you can't even think about really enjoying your dessert. this was not the case. we were satiated, but not past the point of indulging in something sweet. i had the brown sugar panna cotta with rhubarb compote. you may remember from previous posts that if you put rhubarb on something i will order it. this was no different and i was really happy with my choice. the brown sugar flavors came through, but were a supporting act to the star of the rhubarb. bravo. the cocoa nib brownie with fresh mint ice cream that arrived on my mother's plate was super average in looks, but definitely not in taste!! the cocoa nibs were peppered through the brownie, giving it fun texture and great crunch. the mint ice cream tasted nothing like that bright green mint chocolate chip you get at the grocery store. it was like biting into a sprig of fresh mint, and was very refreshing with the chocolate. all and all, we were happy with our choices and would love to return to stumbling goat again soon!!!