Sushi Kashiba is located adjacent to the Pike Place Market. When I was doing research on restaurants to try out, I learned that Chef Shiro Kashiba trained under Jiro Ono (Jiro Dreams of Sushi). I also learned that Daisuke Nakazawa (chef of Sushi Nakazawa) also worked under Chef Kashiba. Online, everyone raved about how delicious the place was, so we decided to try this out. I made a reservation for 5:30 PM for a Friday evening, and they actually seated us earlier.

Altura is an Italian fine-dining restaurant in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. It comes from Chef Nathan Lockwood who has worked in San Francisco’s Acquerello, which eventually earned a Michelin Star. He ended up coming to Seattle to lead and head this restaurant. Having done a lot of research on Seattle fine dining scene, I ended up on this restaurant to give it a try. Reviews mentioned that it was consistently good and nearly up there with some of the better U.

Trace Market is the downtown Seattle Marriott’s available breakfast/brunch restaurant. Compared to NYC breakfast scene, I had very low expectations. I was a little irked by their hours opening at 7 AM (which seems late to me), but I understand that the west coast crowd don’t really wake up that early. In NYC, breakfast at these types of cafes can open as early as 6 AM. Regardless, this is a breakfast place that I frequent in the mornings when I travel to Seattle.

The George is a restaurant located in the Fairmont Hotel right across the street from the downtown W Hotel in Seattle. The hotel has a somewhat pretentious exuberance to it because it has a lot of that old Ritz Carlton feel when you walk in. I was in a predicament where I had to stay in this hotel for just one night, but I was excited to see how this differed the modern feel of the W Hotel.

I’ve been coming out here for work, and it’s been challenging to find a time when I can document food that’s not in a big party atmosphere. This is one of the few times, where I can actually try and ponder over the food that I’ve eaten. We picked this place because it’s near the touristy areas of Pike Place Market and is next to a ton of seafood based restaurants on the waterfront.