1225 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
We had traveled the first half of our day, had a late afternoon lunch, visited the Space Needle, and checked into our hotel all by 5pm. Katie and I contemplated just staying in for dinner or maybe getting something delivered, so we'd be fresh and ready to go for the next day. Then we shook off our drowsiness, realized that we were on vacation, and headed to the closest restaurant on my Seattle restaurant wishlist, Von's 1000 Spirits.
I'm so glad we got our second wind. Von's is situated on First and University Street, kitty-corner from the Seattle Art Museum, and a mere five blocks away from our hotel. Von's does not only carry one thousand spirits, they now feature over 1,500 and counting, which is the largest collection in the city. As if that's not enough variety for you, they also produce small batches of their own spirits.
Food? They specialize in sourdough pizza and pasta, using a 65-year-old sourdough starter. Their menu is divided into small plates, sourdough pizza and pasta, burgers and sandwiches, entree salads, and a quintet of seafood offerings. Food is moderately priced with nothing on the menu over the $25 mark. Von's offers several specials during the day, including a twenty-five percent off lunch for Washington state residents, 15 minutes or its free promotion for lunch, and happy hour specials.
We arrived at Von's 1000 Spirits right at 8pm on a Wednesday and were seated immediately. The bar area on the right-hand side of the restaurant is breathtaking, with all of their bottled spirits on display in a lighted glass case, just behind their hard-working bartenders. The left-hand side of the restaurant showcases the open kitchen and pasta-making space. We were seated in the back of the restaurant, in a darkened room, that was a little quieter than the raucous bar area. Let's check out the food.
We had eaten lunch just three hours ago, but we are never one to skip an appetizer. At Von's, we tried the Spicy Fennel Meatballs with Lusty Lady Marinara ($11.75). I believe these four golf ball-sized meatballs were made of pork, and the fennel was indeed present but not overpowering. They were fork tender and were perched in a cast-iron skillet with their house-made Lusty Lady marinara, which is named in homage to their neighbor, the Lusty Lady Strip Club, which had to shut its doors in 2010. The marinara was not spicy but added a nice acidic tinge to the rich meatballs.
I was pretty excited when Katie ordered the Tellicherry Chicken and Smoked Gouda Pasta. I can not ever recall having sourdough pasta, and it was delicious. The pasta had a little bit more chew to it than regular pasta but was al dente at the same time. A very nice balance. The chicken was seasoned with tellicherry pepper, which hung out in the background, allowing the pasta and chicken to co-star with the unobtrusive, but still rich gouda. One of the better pasta dishes I have had in years.
This Hass Avocado and Billionaire's Bacon Burger ($17.50) blew me away just as much as the pasta dish. This is one well-thought-out burger. The beef is from St. Helen's Beef and is chopped in the restaurant daily. Cooked and seasoned perfectly, the burger is then layered with sliced tomato, red onion, mayo, lettuce, provolone, avocado, and thick-cut bacon on a fantastic sourdough hamburger bun. The high-quality ingredients were evident with each bite. I loved the uniqueness of the sourdough bun, the creamy texture that the avocado brought, the smokiness that the thick bacon gave out, and the little tang that the red onion added. Due to the juiciness of the burger, it was a little hard to eat, so I left it in the wrapper for a little more help structurally. Burgers at Von's come ala carte, so I opted to forgo what I hear are some really good fries and try their side Caesar Salad ($4) instead. Another winner, the greens were dressed with a wonderful Caesar dressing that was not too tangy but still did not lack flavor, probably also thanks to the generous dusting of grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of the greens. The sourdough croutons were a nice little treat as well, way better than most.
Even though I was not as hungry as I would have liked to have been going into Von's 1000 Spirits, I ate everything here and still wanted more. That's how much I enjoyed this restaurant. Even though I had a long list of Seattle restaurants that I was trying to hit up, I was still trying to figure out a time when we could return to try their four-cheese patty melt, salmon chowder, or their bolognese. It did not happen, but Von's is the benchmark that I used for the rest of my food adventures in Seattle. The only negative I can come up with during our meal was that our server was not very friendly and left us for good stretches of time. Still, that was not enough to squash my fervor for Von's 1000 Spirits.
Out of five great blue herons, (which has been the official bird of Seattle since 2003), five being best to zero being worst, Von's 1000 Spirits gets 4 great blue herons.
For more information about Von's 1000 Spirits, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.vons1000spirits.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment