Portage Bay Cafe (www.portagebaycafe.com)

Ok, so there aren’t a thousand toppings, but Portage Bay’s toppings bar is what they are famous for. You decide what you want on your breakfast here, and the combinations and options are nearly endless. Order pancakes, waffles, french toast, or oatmeal and you get free dibs to the toppings bar, where you’ll find blueberries, strawberries, blackberries,pretty much every berry, as well as a bunch of nut options and syrups! The rule, take all you want, but eat all you take.

Other very, very notable menu items for those, like me, who aren’t a big fan of bready breakfasts are:

• Migas – A warmed-flour tortilla stuffed with three organic eggs scrambled with smoked chipotle peppers, organic medium and sharp cheddar, cumin, fresh basil, homemade pico de gallo and sour cream. Served with fresh avocado.
• Portage Bay’s benedicts, like the crab cake benedict (no english muffin), or my favorite, the southwestern benedict which has jalapeño cornbread instead of an english muffin and is topped with a flavorful salsa instead of hollandaise.

I also love the fact that Portage Bay Cafe is dedicated to sustainability, sourcing as many of their ingredients as they can locally and organically. Basically, the food is tastier & there’s less carbon eating up the ozone than at other breakfast joints!

Portage Bay Cafe has locations around the city – in the U District, in South Lake Union, and in Ballard. They are open 7:30am – 2:30pm every day.

Urban Farming with Alleycat Acres (www.alleycatacres.com)

When you’re living in the city it can sometimes seem like there just aren’t as many chances to garden. With city P-Patch waitlists at 1-3 years, and tons of people in the city living in apartments or condos, it’s difficult to have the space or chance to grow your own food. For some, gardening is something interesting they’d like to try their hand at; for others, gardening could provide their family & friends with amazing local, organic produce without the ridiculous costs of the supermarkets. No matter the purpose, urban farming has started to pop up in Seattle, and let me tell you, it can be the most fun you’ll have doing hard work.

Alleycat Acres is a fairly new organization that transforms vacant spaces in the city into urban farms with the purpose of cutting down the amount of “food deserts” in Seattle and eliminating food insecurity in many of our neighborhoods. Right now they have a farm they’re already harvesting on Beacon Hill, and another just in the planting stages in the Central District. Once produce is harvested, Alleycat Acres delivers it (via bike!) to people in the neighborhood for free.

But this isn’t a charity service, which is where you, me and everyone else come in. The goal of Alleycat Acres is to partner with other organizations and people in and around these neighborhoods to maintain their farms. They want these plots to become labors of love for those surrounding it and reaping its benefits. If there’s anything this world needs now, it’s stronger community. I bet you’d be hard pressed to tell me 5 of your neighbors names, much less any details about them. We isolate ourselves in the city, and it’s time we come out of our holes and get to the know the people who live around us on a daily basis. Urban farming — through Alleycat Acres or not — is a great way to do this!

Now that the weather is nice, wouldn’t it be fun spending a couple hours on a Sunday meeting new people and planting things that eventually you’ll be able to take home and chow down on? Whether or not you live in Beacon Hill or the Central District, you are always welcome to come out and help! Crop Mobs, as the work parties are typically called, happen most Sundays as well as Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Check out the updates on their website, get in touch with Tori, their volunteer coordinator, for specific days and times and/or drop by 22nd & Union or 3656 24th Ave S.

Alleycat Acres also does a lot of cool events, so be sure to keep in touch with what they’re doing on Twitter!

Number 1: Indoor Rock Climbing

Now is your excuse to finally use all the indoor rock climbing facilities we have in the city. You have the time, it’s not like you’re going to be doing much outdoors (unless you’re a tried & true Seattlite), and you know you’ve always wanted to.

You can find indoor rock climbing at the following locations:

• REI Pinnacle – South Lake Union

65 foot tall, realistic four-story rock sculpture with routes ranging from 5.4 to 5.11. Gear and belay is provided by the store staff.

Hours are Saturday from 10 am – 9 pm & Sunday from 10 am – 7pm. Not sure about Monday.

Note: Advance reservations are strongly recommended and may be made by phone or in person. All reservations are prepaid.

• Stone Gardens – Ballard

14,000 square feet of climbing walls. Over 100 quality routes from 5.5 – 5.13 and 3 auto-belays

Find more places to climb in Seattle & surrounding areas here.

Number 2: SIFF Films

You knew I was going to mention this one, didn’t you? What better time to watch some amazing films than a rainy long weekend, right?

We still have 85 films playing this weekend, from right now through the end of Monday. Crazy, huh?

My recommendations would be The Hedgehog, Winter’s Bone, & the Topp Twins.  There are also a bunch of late night & midnight screenings of ridiculous and/or bizarre movies like Splice and Amer. Or maybe you just want to meet America Ferrara? Then you should definitely go to The Dry Land.

Check out the full calendar for SIFF on their site.

Number 3: Board Games over Beer

If you don’t love board games, I’m sorry. I’m a big fan of Yahtzee, Scrabble, Boggle, Pictionary, that one where you write fake definitions and try to guess the right one (Balderdash??) and… uh… pretty much everything else.

And I also love beer.

To me, being able to play a board game with friends and also get beer outta the tap is pretty much the best combination ever.

Here are the places yelp recommends via a “Bars, Board Games” search & a little sifting.

Beveridge Place Pub

Hooverville Bar

Vermillion

Stumbling Monk

9lb Hammer

Have a great long weekend!

Today is the first day packed with films — 23 features in total, although the count is even higher because a couple of those are packed with short films. Below, you’ll find what I’m planning to see this weekend, PLUS my top 5 picks for the festival over all (so far).

(PS: “Not to miss” films have a * next to them)

May 21

The only film I’ll probably see today is A Little Help.

A Little Help stars Jenna Fischer (Pam from The Office), and she is expected to be in attendance. I have to admit that I don’t know whether she’s going to be there tonight or at tomorrow’s 11am screening but I have a feeling it’ll be tonight.

You can read the full, much better, blurb on the SIFF website (follow the link above), but here’s the shorter blurb from the guide.

A warm-hearted dramedy that follows Laura through a trail of lies as she reconnects with her son and an old flame — her sister’s husband. World Premiere.

So I admit, I’m mostly seeing it because I like Jenna Fischer. It was on my maybe list, but ended up being the only movie on my schedule today, so I thought I’d go see it. It sounds like it’ll be a good movie & a nice way to start off SIFF.

Other movies today I’ve heard good things about: Bass Ackwards, Opening Night of Shortsfest *, Castaway to the Moon, Letters to Father Jacob, Soul Kitchen

Follow the links for full blurbs & trailers. I saw Soul Kitchen at a Press Screening and it was a lot of fun to watch. Whimsical characters ever-pushing themselves deeper into the messiness of life, with a soundtrack of funky, cool music from the last 3-4 decades.

May 22

Saturday I’m scheduled to see Amplified Seattle and Nowhere Boy.

Amplified Seattle is

Intimate portraits of 12 Seattle bands as they reveal their background stories and delve deep into the creative process. Created as complementary pieces to MTV’s “$5 Cover: Seattle series” World Premiere.

This was also on my maybe list, but with time to see it I think I’ll go as it sounds like it’ll be very interesting and really insightful as far as Seattle’s current music scene goes. I’ll probably try to watch some episodes of $5 Cover beforehand though!

Nowhere Boy is

A highly entertaining and witty glimpse into young John Lennon’s life and the complex relationships that determined his future.

This one has been really popular with ticket buyers and sounds like an excellent movie!

Other movies I’ve heard good things about playing that day: Holly Rollers

Top 5 Picks (so far)

1. The Hedgehog * (which I talked about in my last video)
2. When We Leave *
3. ReGENERATION
4. Double Take *
5. The Dry Land (the trailer for this one is pretty bad, but I saw the movie at a Press Screening & it’s very good!)

My Initial SIFF Recommendations from Lola Local (aka Kristy) on Vimeo.

Closing Night Gala – Get Low + 2 drink tickets!
Sunday, June 13th

Edward Norton Tribute – Leaves of Grass + Q&A w/ Eddie!
June 4 7:00 PM – Egyptian Theatre

The Hedgehog
May 28 7:00 PM – Uptown Cinema
May 30 4:00 PM – Uptown Cinema

The Maldives perform Riders of the Purple Sage
May 25 7:00 PM & again at 9:30 PM – The Triple Door

Ahlaam
May 30  1:00 PM – Pacific Place Cinema

Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
June 5 4:00 PM – SIFF Cinema

Howl, starring James Franco
June 12 7:00 PM – Egyptian Theatre

What movies do you really want to see?

The Kingfish Cafe (www.thekingfishcafe.com)

Ok, I should admit that he was the one who found the place — I told him I’d take him anywhere he wanted to go, and this was his choice. And it ended up being a brilliant choice!

The Kingfish Cafe is located on Capitol Hill, but on the 15th side, not the Pike/Pine corridor. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably left this side of the hill a little less explored than anything on or near Broadway. I’ve been slowly learning that this part of Capitol Hill is a hidden gem in the city — some of the best restaurants can be found in there, and the Kingfish Cafe is no exception.

This restaurant specializes in two different types of food, with African / African American roots:

• American Southern favorites like Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Gumbo, Hush Puppies & Fried Green Tomatoes
• Afro-Caribbean fare like Citrus Jerk Wings, Blackened Salmon, and a special house Seafood Curry

We started off with hush puppies & fried green tomatoes — they were AMAZING. Then I got the curry, which was great, and the Boyfriend got the catfish with grits, which was fantastic. The drinks are served in mason jars (adorable, right?) and although I didn’t have any, their names and descriptions sound fun & tasty. We didn’t have room for dessert, but they had a huge selection of pies that sounded good, which you can also order whole for events or gatherings. And just for this post I have discovered they serve brunch, which really may be the most exciting part of all!

It isn’t the cheapest place in town, but we got out of there having had an app, 2 main dishes, a glass of wine & a beer for under $50.

Other quick highlights worth mentioning: the diners were diverse and the wait staff were very, very friendly and helpful. Definitely a place you need to eat at — and soon!

Seattle International Film Festival from Lola Local (aka Kristy) on Vimeo.

The Festival has some amazing films this year — looking through the catalog only makes me more and more excited. I definitely recommend browsing through the free guide, and then checking online (or better yet, getting a catalog) to find out more about the ones that sound interesting.

Next week I’ll bring you my initial picks, but in the meantime you should check out the website or guide, as well as the awesome passes that SIFF offers (listed below).

And don’t forget: every 10th person who buys a SIFF ticket from me gets it FREE. But for those of you who are reading this in addition to the video, there’s one more part to the giveaway. If you buy a catalog while I’m at the box office, you’ll be entered to win something absolutely amazing at the end of the festival!

(Please remember that this is only valid when I am at the box office — no one will know what you’re talking about if you tell any other person that you’re an Eats & Interests reader, haha. I will be tweeting when and where I am selling tickets each day ’til the end of the festival.)

Passes:

Full Series Pass
2010 Seattle International Film Festival
Admits passholder to all regular Festival screenings including press screenings. (Excludes Galas, Secret Festival, Forums, and special events). Seating is not guaranteed.

Weekly Passes (1, 2 or 3)
Admits passholder to all regular Festival screenings including press screenings for that week. (Excludes Galas, Secret Festival, Forums, and special events).

Cinematic 6-Pack or Film Buff 20-Pack
Good for six (6) or twenty (20) regular screenings priced $11 or less, depending on individual ticket availability. There is a two (2) ticket per film limit, Gala Screenings, Conversations with…, and other special events are not eligible for ticket package discounts.

Student & Senior Packages
$35 for 5 regular prices screenings. Films must be chosen when package is purchased.

Her blog just turned 1 year old (so did this one, Leslie!), and maybe we can say that in the spirit of celebrating both these anniversaries I wanted to repost her list of the 27 Free Things she’s done in Seattle over the past year. In her words, “I could sit around feeling frustrated about what I couldn’t do or I could make as much fun as possible out of what I had available to me.” Amen!

Without further ado, here is an excerpt from her blog post today.

In the past year, this is what kind of stuff I was able to do for free.  There was lots of nature, food, culture and education…

1. Beach bird walk
2. Native plants walk
3. Mushroom walk
4. Arboretum walk
5. Various local personal birding expeditions at spots like the Union Bay Natural Area, Magnuson Park, and others.
6. Talk on crows from Crow Planet author Lyanda Haupt at Seattle Audubon talk at REI
7. Nature photography lecture at REI
8. Short, beautiful jaunts through the South Seattle Community College and Highline Botanical Gardens
9. Passover foods tasting
10. Free wine tastings at Esquin (but there are loads of places to get some freeno)
11. Canning class through Seattle Free School
12. Cheese making class Seattle Free School
13. Indian cooking class
14. Somali cooking class
15. Russian cooking class
16. Volunteering at Dog Mountain Farm dinner, got to try some of Josh Henderson’s food
17. Herb gardening class
18. Caffe Vita’s Public Brewing Class (next one is May 15! Recommend signing up if you love coffee!)
19. Italian for travelers language class at Rick Steves
20. Ethiopian culture night at the Northwest African American Museum
21. Polish, Latvian and Turkish cultural festivals
22. Japanese woodblock exhibit at Seattle Asian Art Museum
23. World folk art exhibit at WA State History Museum
24. A couple lectures about genome sciences
25. Lecture about NOAH and sustainable fisheries
26. Class to learn about the free magazine and newspaper resources we have available to us through the SPL
27. Talk on the latest developments on lung cancer (something that has recently affected my family although everything’s looking okay now, thank goodness!)

And all this was without even really trying that hard, just from seeing them when adding to the calendar.

Now, for Freeattle’s 2nd year, I am more ambitious! I’m aiming to try to do at least one free thing a week for this next year. Already on the agenda is a lecture about backpacking, a wildflower walk, a Spanish cuisine cooking demo, coffee and tea events, a nature walk about swallows, a class on starting a business and some food-related volunteering.

Some weeks, though, it might just be about getting out to do some birding at the lake or a walk around a park, especially with the lovely summer months ahead. The main point it to continue to fully enjoy this town and all it so generously offers to us for free.

Know of some awesome free activities in Seattle for Leslie and her blog subscribers (including me!)? Send it her way! You can also become a Facebook Fan and follow Freeattle on Twitter.

Brouwer’s (brouwerscafe.blogspot.com)

If you like your beer in variety it’s time to head to Fremont, because Brouwer’s is for you! With “64 Beers on draft, over 300 Bottles, over 60 Scotches & Great Food” how can you go wrong? Brouwer’s has beers from all over the PNW, US & the world, and their bartenders & wait staff are very knowledgeable, so you are guaranteed to find something you’ll like (even if you aren’t a beer person).

As far as food goes, theirs is incredible. Their fries are the Boyfriend’s favorite in the city (I love them too, but my fry loyalty is to Honey Hole) — they are crispy & delicate on the outside, with warm, “just right” centers. Their mussels will never steer you wrong; in my opinion they are a must-eat here, and they have 3 kinds of sauce to choose from. The other day I had the Eric’s Special (aka Chef’s Special) during Happy Hour and for just $5 we got 3 delicious king salmon tacos dressed up just right. $5 tacos & $3 frites are typical prices for happy hour here, making it one of my favorite HHs in Seattle.

Hours & Location

They are open 11am-2am, with the kitchen closing at 10pm most of the week (11pm on Fri & Sat).

Happy hour is from 3pm – 6pm every day.

My Drink of Choice

Perks & Additional Notes

• Outdoor seating on their patio when the weather is nice!
• Great happy hours, like I mentioned above
• They are always having some kind of beer or scotch event or festival — check their righthand sidebar for an events calendar
• Large and small tables, making it pretty good for groups or just a date