- 2 days ago
Who doesn't love a layover in Seattle? Anthony indulges in runny and smelly cheeses at Calf and Kid, checks out the aerial view of the city from a seaplane and gets a not-so-family-friendly tour of Seattle's historical underbelly.
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00:00Do you have anything in plastic vomit or rubber crap?
00:11Why is Seattle so awesome?
00:12Every time I come here, it's better.
00:14That's extraordinary.
00:15Was somebody with an entire mud shark?
00:19Oh, that's good.
00:20You had a principal export.
00:21It was probably like syphilis.
00:23There is no culture around coffee.
00:24Coffee is a beverage.
00:25It's not a culture.
00:26Every town has its dark side.
00:30Seattle, for a long time now, one of the best and most interesting food scenes in America,
00:46period.
00:47Famously gray, quirky, whatever, it's unlike any place else.
00:52Seattle.
00:53Seatown.
00:54Emerald City.
00:55Because we're so green.
00:57Seatown.
00:58The rainy city.
00:59Rain so much here.
01:00The 206.
01:01Hate city.
01:02Because people love to hate this city.
01:07And let it be resolved here, the word grunge will never again be mentioned.
01:12Everyone always just thinks of grunge and rain when they think of Seattle and it drives us
01:15nuts because there's so much to Seattle.
01:18You get here via Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a major jumping off point for Asia.
01:23The TAC is about 13 miles from downtown, which is not bad.
01:26And you've got a lot of options when it comes to transport.
01:29Public transportation is the best way to get around Seattle.
01:31It's very easy, inexpensive.
01:33I gotta disagree.
01:34Our bus system sucks, but the light rail is pretty cool.
01:39Light rail is definitely a wonderful option.
01:41If I need to be somewhere fast, I'll use my car.
01:45Me, I've scored a loaner.
01:47They care about, like, the environment around here.
01:50And so do I.
01:51I got the internet on this .
01:53I could watch porn while I'm driving.
01:55But you need two hands on the wheel?
01:57The all-electric Tesla S. Plug it in like a hairdryer and it gives you 300 miles on the road.
02:07So I don't get it.
02:08Why doesn't everyone in the world have one of these?
02:09It burns no gas and you just run it off electricity.
02:12Okay, maybe because this one costs $100,000, but they start around $57,000.
02:17I feel socially responsible in a sporty, highly expensive way.
02:21Whenever I'm in Seattle in a layover, I drive $100,000 worth of rechargeable automobile.
02:28Seattle's a port, lying between Puget Sound on one side and Lake Washington on the other.
02:34Result?
02:35The geography here is kind of split up with a lot of water.
02:38Most people would say there's, like, downtown South Seattle and North Seattle.
02:41Up north, you have Lake City, University District, and Ballard.
02:45Ballard used to be a blue-collar, working-class neighborhood, but it's definitely a hip neighborhood now.
02:50If you go south, there's, like, Rainier Valley and Columbia City.
02:54Downtown runs along the waterfront.
02:56And then there's Capitol Hill right there, like, next to downtown, just, like, the hipster, like, central.
03:02I always stay the same place in Seattle, the strange and wonderful Edgewater Hotel.
03:07See, I love this hotel because it's, like, Twin Peaks.
03:10The lobby is totally sort of got a lumber, woodsy kind of a theme.
03:14Steeped in tradition, they hosted, among many other bands back in the day, The Beatles.
03:19I really hate this.
03:21It's, like, so Austin Powers.
03:23I literally hide them under the bed.
03:25If you're not in a wooden fireplaces and Twin Peaks motif and the cruise ship sliding past your window,
03:31you could also stay at the excellent Inn at the Market, overlooking the Pike Place Market, right downtown.
03:37Nice hotel, great views, nice location.
03:41You know, I like The Beatles just fine, but there's a Rolling Stones room.
03:46I have 48 hours to play, so let's go.
03:50Walking, walking, walking.
03:52Try not to hit the passerby here.
03:54It's like, after you work at Hooters for two years, you hate yourself so much, you move over to Cutters.
03:58You know, the story is, everybody says that the weather in Seattle sucks, but actually, the rest of the country is broiling heat now.
04:06It's like 100 degrees in New York.
04:08In fact, just about everywhere in the country is steaming hot.
04:12So, I'm liking this weather just fine.
04:15Breakfast first, right?
04:16Sea Town is one of Chef Tom Douglas' empire of really good restaurants, a particularly good one.
04:22Exactly the one I need right now.
04:25A question.
04:26Yeah.
04:27There's a famous crab and egg sandwich?
04:30The fried egg sandwich, and then underneath it says bacon, crab, or...
04:33With the Dungeness crab.
04:34Yeah.
04:35Okay, so fried egg sandwich, Dungeness crab, that sounds like a plan for me.
04:38Delicious.
04:39Okay.
04:40Do you want anything to drink besides water?
04:41Bloody Mary?
04:42We have good Bloody Marys.
04:44Awesome.
04:45Egg, cheese, crab meat, and avocado.
04:48This is Seattle in an English muffin.
04:51Here you go.
04:52Oh, thank you.
04:53Oh, that's pretty.
04:54I'm a happy man right now.
04:55All right.
04:57Yeah.
05:01It is a good combination for breakfast.
05:03Not too far from, you know, the preferred sort of New Yorker breakfast on the go of choice.
05:08The classic fried egg on a roll in the morning.
05:13So, it's somewhat more luxurious.
05:15If you're looking for something more down home, wherever home might be, you could head over to Nook in the University District.
05:21Is that for here or to go?
05:24Described as a temple of biscuit worship, they've got terrific homemade buttermilk biscuits, biscuits and gravy, sweet biscuits, and of course, breakfast sandwiches.
05:33They open at 9 and stay open until they sell out.
05:36Better get there before noon, is what I'm saying.
05:39What kind of thing here?
05:40You're right near Pike Place Market.
05:42You know, where all the tourists are going to come and go through and see them throwing the fish around.
05:47There's a lot of business around here.
05:48A lot of tourists snapping with cameras and everybody comes here.
05:50According to the normal rules of restaurant reality, food shouldn't be good here.
05:55This place is awesome, obviously, but there are a lot of really good places to eat in this neighborhood, which is yet another example of, you see it all the time in this town, food being much, much better than it has to be.
06:05One of the more recent destinations for amazing food in Seattle is Melrose Market in Capitol Hill, a collection of shops devoted to, geez, I hate to use the word artisanal, but handcrafted, carefully selected, locally made, just doesn't sound sexy enough, does it?
06:25We get stuff like Tails and Trotters from, you know, Washington raised, hazelnut finished, kind of trying to mimic the Umberco effect.
06:33Food vendors like Marigold and Mint and Rain Shadow Meats are fiercely dedicated to supporting high quality local producers, and you would be well advised, really, to go and look around and eat some stuff.
06:45Can I have a little sliver of the mortadella?
06:47Of course.
06:48This is one of the world's great underappreciated meats, by the way.
06:51We're making it appreciated, you know.
06:53Mmm.
06:54Oh, that's good.
06:55It's not a bad thing in the slightest.
06:58There is also, of course, the famous Pike Place Market.
07:02So, guys, we're in the Pike Place Market.
07:03It's the oldest farmer's market in the United States since 1907.
07:06It's been continually running every day.
07:08Center stage for the flying fish dudes.
07:11It's well-traveled ground, true, but always worth visiting.
07:15You're small as sockeyes.
07:16You're small as sockeyes.
07:17You're small as sockeyes.
07:19Sockeyes.
07:20Sockeyes.
07:22Yeah.
07:23We only throw the fish that people buy one time.
07:26All the other fish that we're throwing are fish that we purchase a lower grade of fish, and we donate them after we're done throwing them.
07:32Because, like, throwing fish is probably the worst thing that you can do to a fish, besides pulling it out of the water.
07:37Me, I'm back at Melrose.
07:39Wow, that's a very attractive-looking counter.
07:43I have an appointment with Sherry Levine of Caff & Kidd.
07:46Is there any nobler calling than making, looking after, and selling cheese?
07:50Good-looking stuff.
07:51What are we, what's going on in here?
07:53Where does this cheese come from?
07:54Focus a lot on Pacific Northwest cheese makers, though.
07:57We're representing about 18 Washington and Oregon creameries at the moment.
08:02Lots of good ooey-gooey's that are kind of really seasonal.
08:05Lots of good age stuff.
08:07From when I first started coming to Seattle, I guess around 2000, it was Brooklyn before Brooklyn.
08:13Right.
08:14There was a lot of young hipster foragers, cheesemakers out there.
08:17Why are you here?
08:18I think it's because the climate is great.
08:21You know, we've got lots of lush grazing farmland.
08:25The area's right outside of Seattle.
08:27They're underdeveloped, and there's not, there's a lot of land available, and it's cheap.
08:31And people are so into supporting local out here.
08:33So what do you have that I, I tend to like runny and smelly?
08:37Okay.
08:38Kind of Seattle's little darling in the cheese world.
08:41This is Dinah's cheese.
08:42Nice, yellow, buttery Jersey cow milk.
08:45Wow, that's awesome.
08:46I'd leave that out in the sun for a little while.
08:48Yep.
08:49This is a fabulous little sheep milk wash rind from Snowy Mountain Creamery out in Utah.
08:54That's extraordinary.
08:55This guy's called Perrydale.
08:57That was delicious.
08:58What else you got?
08:59How about something blue?
09:01This is called Two-Faced Blue.
09:03Can I get another little piece of that?
09:04Yeah.
09:05That's good.
09:06Wow.
09:07I don't care what kind of hippies made this stuff, or even if they're Dave Matthews fans.
09:10This stuff is great.
09:11I mean, really great.
09:13We make fewer and fewer things in America.
09:16You know?
09:17So if you're a, you know, a Team America type guy, you know, this is surely a good thing
09:22for the country.
09:23Oh, yeah.
09:24I mean, look, we're making stuff.
09:25And we're making stuff that the Europeans used to think they had a hammerlock on.
09:29And it's awesome.
09:30Yep.
09:31This is a goat chef chocolate truffle.
09:33These are made by Briar Rose Creamery down in Dundee, Oregon.
09:36And they are absolutely divine.
09:38Wow.
09:39That shouldn't be good.
09:40I know.
09:41But it is.
09:42Wow.
09:43I'm not a big sweet tooth, so I like that because there's a little bit of tang.
09:45That's my kind of dessert.
09:46Yeah.
09:47I'd eat dessert if they were all like this.
09:54Well, this is worse than L.A.
09:57Freeway traffic to L.A. is horrendous.
09:59But Side Street's L.A., it's stop and go, but it's not.
10:02This is all stop, stop.
10:04This thing's around about 100.
10:06Yeah.
10:07So they tell me.
10:09It's a loner, believe me.
10:11Family car for the 100%.
10:13I know .
10:14300 miles on an overnight charge, though, not bad.
10:1790 miles a gallon for this.
10:19Polluter!
10:20And it handles crunching the bones of the 99% under its wheels very well.
10:26That bumper can handle the impact of a homeless person up to like 40 or 50 miles without any
10:31visible damage.
10:32Keeps its traction even after running over gimps.
10:35On my way to Wallingford, a residential neighborhood known for sidewalk cafes and my destination,
10:40Archie McPhee.
10:43Captain Archie here.
10:45It's like a toy store for adults, kind of.
10:48It's full of lots of bins of plastic babies and snakes and tattoos and just random stuff.
10:53Oh, yeah.
10:54That'll be good.
10:55Squirrel underpants.
10:58Pickle bandages.
10:59That'll make room time fun time.
11:02Where's the antisocial and potentially disfiguring section?
11:06Syringes.
11:07Can't have enough of those.
11:08Body bags.
11:09Wow, that's great.
11:10Sort of declares your intentions.
11:12You know, it's not exactly multi-use.
11:14You know, so the thing is, with a hefty bag, you know, a big plastic bag, you know, if you're
11:18pulled over, there's a reasonable explanation for the thing in your car.
11:22Rubber strap.
11:24I don't know what you'd be using that for.
11:26I get it.
11:27Gloves.
11:28Body bag.
11:29Quick ties.
11:30All your serial killer needs.
11:32But I'm looking for plastic puke or some, you know, a big nasty Cleveland steamer.
11:36Do you have anything in plastic vomit or rubber crap?
11:39No, unfortunately we don't have either one of those.
11:42Wow, they're classics.
11:44Yeah, they are.
11:45Not into plastic poop?
11:47Easy Street Records over in West Seattle.
11:50Opened in 1988, this indie outfit grew up with the local music scene.
11:54Going into the 80s and 90s, a lot of bands came out of the West Seattle neighborhood.
12:00But you had bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and Mudhoney all living here in beautiful West Seattle.
12:06They bring in bands and they play when they release CDs.
12:10It's just really fun.
12:11It has a really great kind of city vibe to it.
12:13A lot of really talented bands happened to be in town at one time and all ended up getting labeled with some ridiculous catch-all term for what they were doing.
12:21What was that word?
12:23I forget.
12:24Anyway, I digress.
12:25Bizarro glasses, glowy stuff, body parts that swell up when exposed to liquid, organs that do the same, pickle bandages, and really it's a classic.
12:38Every little girl should have a whoopee cushion.
12:40Who doesn't like whoopee cushions?
12:42Communists and enemies of America.
12:51In any direction there's ocean or lake or a gorgeous mountain range.
12:54Mountain range.
12:55There we go, mountain range.
12:56There.
12:57You have the Olympic Mountains that are on the west side of the Puget Sound and then you have the Cascades that are on the east side of Puget Sound.
13:02You have a ton of water.
13:03You have a ton of cold water that turns out some of the best freshwater fish anywhere.
13:08Tom Douglas is a longtime Ballard resident and a fixture of the Seattle dining scene since 1989.
13:14He's meeting me at one of the very best places to explore the stunning variety of Pacific Northwest seafood, the walrus and the carpenter.
13:22The oyster bar casual restaurant helmed by Renee Erickson.
13:26So on your right side there you have your six, the Baron points.
13:31And then on your left side the six Baywater suites.
13:33Enjoy guys.
13:34Oh wow.
13:35Wow, these things are unbelievable.
13:39Why of all the places, you know, why did it happen here so early?
13:45I mean, honest to God, it's this right here.
13:47You can't these up.
13:48The number one thing you have to do as a Seattle cook is learn to let this shine.
13:53Seattle made people want stuff they didn't know they needed.
13:56And of course, we all need it.
13:58You may not know you need it, but you do.
14:01Oh, thank you.
14:02Fried oysters with cilantro aioli.
14:05I love the depth touch that they have.
14:07Those oysters are almost raw in the middle, yet super crispy on the outside.
14:11I love that.
14:12Nicely done, right?
14:13Coonstripe prawn crudo.
14:14The shells are fried.
14:16You can eat those as well.
14:21There are, however, a lot of great places to eat in Seattle.
14:25And if you're like me and have a real soft spot for a superbly well-executed old-school French bistro,
14:32Le Pichet is one of the best in the country.
14:35French dino classics like chicken liver terrine.
14:38Chef's selection of charcuterie.
14:40With Lyon-style sausages, cured beef tongue, pork rillette, or country-style pâté.
14:46Or maybe some simple grilled sardine.
14:48They're wonderful.
14:50Tonight, though, I'm having steamed clams with bacon, garlic, and cannellini beans.
14:55Oh, yeah.
14:56That's...
14:57We're gonna move those over here a little bit.
14:59Yeah.
15:00Let's put these right in there.
15:02Thanks.
15:03Yeah, see, that's perfect happiness for me.
15:06That's just delicious.
15:08We can't find what we have here in New York City.
15:11The stereotype of, you know, the tattooed artisanal cheese maker.
15:16I mean, that happened here.
15:17And that was a hugely, hugely important thing.
15:20The grunge scene, right?
15:21I mean, I'd reject the word grunge.
15:22I mean, coincidentally or not, you happen to have a whole lot of really great influential bands
15:26at the same time in one town.
15:29And that was cruelly labeled.
15:32Dave Matthews.
15:33I hate Dave Matthews.
15:34You hate Dave Matthews.
15:35I hate Dave Matthews.
15:36Is he from Seattle?
15:37You're un-American.
15:38He's from Seattle?
15:39Yeah.
15:40Oh, right.
15:41I found something about Seattle that I hate.
15:43The best time to visit if you don't want any rain at all is from July 4th to September
15:4730th.
15:48It is the loveliest place July 5th through probably September, I'd say.
15:52It's, you know, 75, 85 degrees, long days, you know, late nights and perfect weather.
15:57The joke is locally that summer here starts July 5th.
16:00The day after the 4th of July is when the sun happens and everybody kind of comes out of
16:05their shell.
16:06It's when you start to realize that there are still women in town because you can see skin.
16:10It's a particularly, some might say, unusually beautiful summer day.
16:14And I'm taking a plane ride.
16:16Oh, yeah.
16:17I always do that.
16:18Actually, no, I don't.
16:19But today, I am.
16:21Gonna fly around in circles for a little bit.
16:23Get some B-roll.
16:24Look like I'm looking out the window.
16:25Oh, there'll be some looking out the window.
16:26It seems like, Tony, can you look out the window instead of checking your email?
16:30Flip rub!
16:31Quick taxi and smooth takeoff from Lake Union.
16:33Bill Boeing flew his very first aircraft and he flew it off of Lake Union here.
16:39What's that thing?
16:40Some kind of tower or something.
16:41I forget what they call it.
16:43The space prong or something.
16:45Beautiful city.
16:46Pretty.
16:47Or if you hate planes, you could go on a boat.
16:50You could do that.
16:51We have this huge ferry system that can take you to a lot of the islands within 20 minutes.
16:57We're on Bainbridge Island.
16:58It's really nice.
16:59You can see seals and sometimes there's orcas out there.
17:03So it's a really fun way to spend an afternoon.
17:05You're gonna take a ferry.
17:06I would take a ferry to Vashon Island.
17:08That's my favorite island.
17:10It's smaller.
17:11There's less people.
17:12There is also, of course, water taxis and .
17:15I think the ride over on the water taxi gives you a phenomenal view of the city.
17:19Can't get on a ferry going to West Seattle and having to look back at the city is really great.
17:23And going to Alki walking around on the beach.
17:25West Seattle, too, is a great spot to be.
17:27And you're looking back eastward towards the city landscape.
17:30And that's a great view, also.
17:32West Seattle.
17:33The true birthplace of the city.
17:35Salty's fish and chips on Alki is fantastic.
17:38Birthplace of Jimmy Hendricks, by the way.
17:40They named a drink after him.
17:42I'm sure he would have been honored.
17:45Okay, we're coming up to the caves now, southern right.
17:50Kind of hard to see in the haze.
17:52It's coming up right before us.
17:54It's the Sea Colored Complex.
17:56You can't stand.
17:57This is a really pretty city and a beautiful area.
18:00There's a reason all those .com guys stayed here and built, you know, massive homes.
18:04I mean, above and beyond the fact that it's a cool town with great food and all the rest.
18:09It's beautiful.
18:10Tonight, dinner at Canlis.
18:15A stunningly beautiful example of non-ironic retro glamour.
18:19A kitchen with 60-some years of tradition that not only knows how to do a proper hunk of bleeding meat, but has taken on Chef Franey, veteran of New York's extraordinary Eleven Madison Park.
18:31This place you could just imagine like Frank Sinatra and Don Draper drunkenly hitting on chicks at the bar.
18:36One of the few jackets-required dining rooms in usually dressed-down Seattle.
18:40It is swinging.
18:42Chess, Renee Erickson, and Matt Dillon join me for dinner.
18:45Do you have any Pappy Van Winkle?
18:47Oh, really?
18:48Yes.
18:49Somehow I felt it.
18:50I detected it.
18:51And which Pappy would you have?
18:54It's just a single.
18:55It's a 20-year.
18:56My favorite.
18:57I will have one of those with one rock, please.
19:01A glass of champagne, please.
19:02Champagne?
19:03Yeah.
19:04Gin martini.
19:05The right drink for the room.
19:08Why is Seattle so awesome for food?
19:11I mean, what was it about this place that drew serial killers, artisans, and chefs?
19:18The obvious connection to the sound, the mountains, you know, the diversity of what's available.
19:27And it's here.
19:28Like, you don't have to look for it, really.
19:30I live in Seattle.
19:31I'm 45 minutes from skiing and an hour from surfing.
19:33Mm-hmm.
19:34That same thing happens with food.
19:36Food, yeah.
19:37We're so close to everything.
19:39Artichoke tortellini.
19:40Wow, that's pretty.
19:41Steak tartare.
19:43And douginous crab cake to start.
19:46Why all the serial killers in the Pacific Northwest?
19:48Bloom.
19:49Hideous weather all year long.
19:51It's kind of like death metal in Scandinavia.
19:54The Pacific Northwest is a particularly great, a good place to reinvent yourself.
19:59Just start over.
20:00And that's good for people who like to plant things in shallow graves.
20:05But it's also good for cooks, I think.
20:08Muscovy duck, dry-aged for 14 days, roasted whole.
20:13The breast is sliced, and the plate is dressed with orange chutney, fennel, and cipollini onion.
20:19Oh, and a Gleason Ranch monster ribeye medium rare.
20:23And an Iberico pork cheek with strawberry and fennel.
20:26This is completely awesome.
20:28Please, please attack.
20:29You could, of course, go to Matt's luxuriously delicious Sitka and Spruce for insanely high-quality, produce-driven dishes.
20:36King Bolit mushrooms with bing cherries, giblets, and feno sherry glaze.
20:42A forager's wet dream.
20:44Turnips, tarragon, and yogurt.
20:46Or shelling peas harvested from the restaurant's farm on Vachon Island, combined with chanterelle and king salmon from La Pouche.
20:53Too much?
20:56You could go to Quinn's Pub.
20:58For a burger, they do great ones.
20:59Or for pork belly and crispy pig's ears, which you know that's gonna be good.
21:03There's great local beers and the delightful wild boar sloppy joe, which they tell me is something you just gotta do.
21:10Slow-cooked boar meat on a brioche bun with crispy sage leaves, fried onions, and grilled pepper.
21:16A fried duck egg is optional.
21:19For me, that would be a must.
21:21If someone were coming here for just a few days, where should they go?
21:27You know, you only got a couple of days, two, three days.
21:29I don't know.
21:30I think eating oysters at your place is a pretty good idea.
21:34Take a ferry.
21:35You know, like, do something where you're, like, not stuck in the city.
21:38Take the ferry.
21:39Have some oysters.
21:40Go crabbing.
21:41Crabbing.
21:42Or at least eat some.
21:43Yeah.
21:44Do you still go out to see music?
21:46Hell yeah.
21:47I'm not going out to see music.
21:48That ain't happening.
21:49Nobody, people, I'd be arrested as a pedophile or something.
21:52I would be that creepy guy.
21:54You definitely, you know, you definitely don't want me in your, in your venue.
21:58If I were an appropriate age.
22:00Is this still a good town to see music?
22:01It's an unbelievable music city.
22:03Yeah, I mean, there's shows every night and there's so many bands here.
22:06For music venues in Seattle, it'd have to be Showbox, Numos.
22:09Sunset Tavern.
22:11Showbox, Funhouse.
22:12Chop Suey is a good venue.
22:14Chop Suey and Numos.
22:15The two great venues.
22:16In Ballard, you have the tractor.
22:18Capitol Hill, you have Numos.
22:20Either way, no matter who is playing, both those venues.
22:23With Crocodile.
22:24Awesome.
22:25Changed ownership.
22:26It's not quite the same anymore.
22:27It's not quite as dirty.
22:28Edit.
22:29Used to be awesome.
22:31The biggest Seattle non-eating activity is drinking.
22:40And you can do that pretty much anywhere.
22:42I drink a lot.
22:43Not a lot, Mom.
22:45We're just going to get a beer.
22:46We like to go to Naked City over in Greenwood.
22:48I'd say probably the Lava Lounge and the Five Point are my two favorite bars in Belltown.
22:53They're also two of the older, original bars.
22:56Belltown, a digestif.
22:59Rene and Matt suggest Rob Roy after my epic meal.
23:02So, what do you drink?
23:05I'm going to have the green stuff.
23:07You're going to have some?
23:08No.
23:09Chartreuse.
23:10Chartreuse.
23:11That's the greatest.
23:12Really?
23:13You know, never in my life have I heard anything positive about chartreuse.
23:17I need a second to drink.
23:18Chartreuse.
23:19Is this something I should be drinking?
23:20It's got 130 different ingredients, something crazy like that.
23:23And how do you drink it?
23:24Meat.
23:25Meat?
23:26Meat or what do you recommend on the rocks?
23:28I'll do, yeah.
23:31Chartreuse, says the man.
23:33Okay.
23:34I could have gone down the street to the Five Point, where the motto is,
23:38Alcoholics Serving Alcoholics Since 1929.
23:41It's a dive bar that opens at 6 o'clock in the morning,
23:44and breakfast happy hour from 6 to 9 a.m., which is pretty hardcore.
23:49Craft beer or like normal beer, whatever.
23:52They're there for you, whatever your beer needs.
23:55Belltown a few years ago was sort of the center of hip in Seattle.
24:00I would say now Capitol Hill on Pike and Pine is really the hippest neighborhood.
24:03So, a lot of people go down there because there's a ton of bars like within a two-block radius.
24:07For example, Unicorn.
24:09Unicorn is magic.
24:10Unicorn is the best place on earth.
24:13Carny food, super fun drink menu, and a great atmosphere with lots of dead animals on the wall.
24:20They have hipster-inspired drinks called Unicorn and My Little Pony.
24:26I don't know about you, but I'm not trying anytime soon.
24:32Yum.
24:33Oh, God.
24:34It's the greatest stuff on earth.
24:36It's almost like a French Amaro.
24:38It's got a bitterness to it that I like.
24:41I gotta tell you, this is challenging.
24:44It's so herbaceous.
24:46Who drinks this and where?
24:48I drink it every day.
24:49You drink it every day?
24:50Before or after the meal?
24:52They say that Tom Waitsons do.
24:53Pardon?
24:54Tom Waitsons to drink it.
24:55He had a lovely clear tenor prior to drinking this, too.
24:59I'm ready for an eight-hour nap.
25:01But if you choose to stay out and drink up, you may find yourself in need of late-night drunk-ass hangover food.
25:06Ladies, ladies, you know you're hungry for hot dogs.
25:08You want hot dogs.
25:09You look like you like to eat.
25:10One might patronize Comet Dog in Capitol Hill, Seattle's own shining brand of tube-shaped meat.
25:16One dog, cream cheese, onions, coming up.
25:18A Seattle-style hot dog is a hot dog or any sort of sausage device with cream cheese.
25:26You can add anything else to it, but the addition of cream cheese makes it a Seattle-style hot dog.
25:30Seattle-style, anything for some weird reason is always cream cheese.
25:34I don't get it.
25:35I think it should be salmon.
25:37Cream cheese, melted onions, and sriracha sauce.
25:41It's killer.
25:43You're drinking hard and sweating and seeing rock shows.
25:46You need to have a hot dog afterwards.
25:49Man, there you are.
25:50You're welcome.
25:51Delicious.
25:56Morning at the Edgewater.
25:58A little breakfast and time to settle one of Rock's enduring questions.
26:02Now, did it happen or didn't it?
26:05It's sort of an epic moment that may or may not have happened from rock and roll history.
26:10I'm, of course, referring to the infamous mud shark incident.
26:14The shark episode is alleged to have involved some type of sexual act with a fish.
26:19According to The Hammer of the Gods, the definitive Led Zeppelin biography, pieces of shark stuffed into the
26:26and of a semi-willing strapped-to-bed groupie.
26:29Was vanilla fudge involved?
26:31Was somebody with an entire mud shark or parts?
26:37I don't know what criminal statutes are on this sort of incident, but I frown on it.
26:43Anyway, it's a dark episode.
26:45A legendarily dark episode.
26:47Possibly apocryphal, but given Led Zeppelin's reputation at the time, generally accepted to be true.
26:55Anyway, where's my f***ing breakfast?
26:57If I were not deep into my research on this legendary tale of piscatorial genital contact,
27:02I might have gone to Tilikum Place Cafe for my breakfast over in Belltown.
27:07They got a famous Seattle breakfast there called A Dutch Baby.
27:10A cross between a pancake and a souffle.
27:13It's crispy on the outside and dense and eggy on the inside.
27:17Served usually with a little bit of vanilla, some sugar and cinnamon.
27:21And they do a version with chorizo.
27:23But not today.
27:25I'm about to tuck into some Seattle smoked salmon.
27:28We're not eating at salumi, are we, this trip?
27:30Unfortunate.
27:31That's really a station of the cross for me.
27:35Actually, it's a place you want to go.
27:38A place you must go.
27:39If you were to wait online for an hour and a half,
27:41anywhere in this world you'd want to do it at salumi.
27:43Use that time to decide between porchetta, meatball,
27:46or a local favorite, finocchiana, which is like salami with fennel and black pepper.
27:51With provolone on crusty ciabatta.
27:54The best.
27:55But come early because they sell out.
27:58Always.
27:59All right, well, I think we've learned something today.
28:02Actually, we haven't.
28:05We really haven't closed in on, we know nothing more today.
28:08It's an incident that you'll remain shrouded in mystery.
28:16What movies are in Seattle?
28:21Officer and Gentleman.
28:22Harry and the Hendersons.
28:24Singles!
28:25It's like my favorite movie.
28:26Ten Things I Hate About You.
28:28What was the one with the guys with superpowers?
28:31And they could do whatever they wanted.
28:32That was cool.
28:33And they were like, blowing stuff up.
28:35Departed.
28:36They kept blowing the space signal up.
28:38I hate the space signal.
28:39I think it's an ugly piece of architecture.
28:42It serves no purpose at all.
28:45It's a beautiful city.
28:47I think it's a blight on this city.
28:49And this thing too.
28:50The EMP.
28:51Oh, it's considered an architectural masterpiece.
28:54Built by Leonid Megma in 1979.
28:58Site of a series of murders.
29:01Is there a rock and roll museum?
29:02Really?
29:03Oh man, that's depressing.
29:05Because rock and roll doesn't belong in museums man.
29:08If I weren't stuck in this part of town, I might head to Paseo up in Ballard.
29:18Just across the bridge is Paseo, which is the greatest sandwich in the world.
29:23Probably the best sandwich.
29:24Likely.
29:25The sandwich with the cult following is the Cuban roast.
29:28Slow cooked pork shoulder piled onto a split baguette with aioli, cilantro, pickled jalapenos,
29:34caramelized onions, and romaine lettuce.
29:37Paseo a la mitad.
29:38Lunch and dinner, the locals line up for Caribbean sandwiches like onion obsession and sauteed black
29:44tiger prawns with garlic tapenade.
29:47Evidently, these sandwiches are pretty addictive.
29:50There's a guy who has a tattoo of a Paseo sandwich on his stomach.
29:58And now for a little adult edutainment in historic Pioneer Square.
30:02Who wants to hear about whores and drugs and drinking and sex.
30:06That's more like it.
30:08Whores and drugs.
30:09Travel channel's great.
30:12Underworld Tour explores the seedy underbelly of Seattle history,
30:16dating back to 1851.
30:18This particular area that we're in actually used to be a big haven for gay prostitution.
30:23The business owners, they got kind of pissed because the gay prostitutes were always scaring away their customers.
30:28So finally, they just installed the little spikes on there.
30:31But you know what?
30:32When you're taking up the all night, a little prick like that isn't going to make a bit of difference.
30:36I'm just saying.
30:37They're not pigeons.
30:38They're professionals.
30:39Yeah.
30:40Here we go, guys.
30:41Follow my lead.
30:42We literally go underneath the city sidewalks to learn about Seattle's founding fathers and whatever venereal diseases they might have had.
30:49Well, we had three crazy characters who got the town started.
30:52Arthur Denny from Cherry Grove, Illinois.
30:54He didn't drink.
30:55He didn't smoke.
30:56He didn't swear.
30:57He was a total buzzkill.
30:58Fortunately, we got the second guy, Doc Maynard, a medical doctor from Cleveland, Ohio.
31:02He was very popular, too, because he prescribed laudanum for almost all of his patients.
31:07Do you guys know?
31:08What's this guy's name again?
31:09Doc Maynard.
31:10That's a name you should know.
31:11Is he still practicing?
31:12I know.
31:13So do you guys know what laudanum is?
31:14Yeah.
31:15It's a good time.
31:16That's what it is.
31:17It's opium and alcohol mixed together.
31:19Before Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, those were the two great tastes that tasted great together.
31:24If you have less time and are looking for a more compressed experience, the Market Theatre Gum Wall is a local landmark in downtown Seattle.
31:31It's a brick alleyway now covered in used chewing gum.
31:34It's the world's second most unhygienic tourist attraction.
31:40Back underground, we learned that they had the usual problems in early Seattle.
31:44Exploding toilets, in the streets.
31:47And essentially, it became just so fully impacted with that, like a cat covering its own waist, Seattle institutionally decided, we'll just build over it.
31:56We'll just cover it up and move on.
31:58Basically, yeah.
31:59Crime.
32:00You know, one minute they're having a drink, next thing you know, they're sliding down the proverbial poop chute.
32:05And what's a red light district without a house of prostitution?
32:08So, I mean, if I understand the history of Seattle, large numbers of people coming in for relatively short periods looking for hookers and drugs and liquor.
32:17Yep, exactly.
32:18It was the frontier.
32:19This is the original, like, sort of vice city.
32:21This was where you spent your money.
32:24Exactly.
32:25They called it mining the miners.
32:26And so that's how we became the big boom town during the gold rush era.
32:29So it wasn't really a manufacturing town.
32:31If you had a principal export, it was probably, like, syphilis.
32:34Yeah.
32:35I feel like this is, like, the last frontier.
32:39It kind of shows the story of all of America.
32:41In a way, it's the last frontier before you get to Alaska.
32:44You know, I mean, this is where Lewis and Clark ended their journey.
32:48Let's see what highlights and activities Seattle might offer.
32:52Here it is, my handy dandy travel guide.
32:55In 2005, Kenneth Pinion from Seattle, Washington, died of acute peritonitis after receiving inappropriate intercourse from a stallion.
33:04The case led to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington state, really only in 2005.
33:09It's remarkable.
33:10In 2004, a man from Kings County in the Seattle area died after a lava lamp exploded and pierced his heart as he was trying to heat it on a stove.
33:18That's awesome.
33:19In Seattle, women who sit on men's laps on buses or trains without placing a pillow between them face an automatic six-month jail term.
33:26Was this law enacted after some kind of popular outcry?
33:32Did I mention that Dave Matthews is from here?
33:35In spite of that, Seattle is a fantastic place to visit.
33:38It's a wonderful city.
33:40Love it here.
33:41Avoid Denny Street at all costs.
33:48All times of the day, avoid Denny Street.
33:51I like to avoid the 99, the 99, Highway 99 Viaduct.
33:55Try to avoid the entire downtown metro area between the hours of 4 and 6 if at all possible.
34:01I'm headed south to Rainier Valley, allegedly the most diverse zip code in the entire U.S.
34:07In Rainier Valley, there is a mix of different cultures.
34:11Cambodian, Filipino, West African.
34:13Haitian food, you want Jamaican food, you want Seoul food, you want Chinese food, you want Vietnamese food.
34:19Vietnamese food?
34:20Yes, I always want that.
34:23Rainier BBQ, probably the only place in Seattle where you can get alligator or rattlesnake.
34:29But not me.
34:30You're welcome.
34:31Cheers, man. Thank you.
34:32Instead, locals Tao Tran and Kong Nguyen are going to show me their favorites at this shrine of Vietnamese home cooking.
34:39So how large is Vietnamese community in Seattle?
34:42It's about 70,000 people in the greater Seattle area.
34:4570,000, that's a pretty good number.
34:46Yeah, but they're kind of stretched out.
34:48How many non-Vietnamese people from Seattle are crazy for Vietnamese food?
34:54Is it getting more and more and more popular?
34:56You know, there's a lot more to Vietnamese food than pho.
34:59People are trying to understand the fresh, delicate flavors of Vietnamese food.
35:04Like Ong Choy, hand-shredded water spinach with sautéed beef.
35:09Let's take a little bit of this.
35:11That'll work.
35:12And then pour a little sauce over.
35:14So, fish sauce or?
35:15Yeah, anchovy sauce.
35:16Spicy pineapple, garlic, red chili.
35:19Very cool.
35:20Everything is very fresh.
35:22It's green.
35:23It's delicious.
35:24See, that's all hand-shredded.
35:26Wow, really?
35:27Nice knife work.
35:29All right, bon appetit.
35:30Mmm, tasty.
35:32Down the street, you have Somali food.
35:35Ethiopian, not too far away.
35:37Mexican, of course.
35:39There's Chinese food.
35:41Italian, too.
35:42Bao sa lalok.
35:44Wok-seared beef sautéed with wild beetle leaf.
35:48This is beef cube sautéed in lalok.
35:52It has a wonderful flavor.
35:53Just delicious.
35:54Deep-fried seasoned quails.
35:57Oh, it's huge.
35:58So good.
35:59If I wasn't already spectacularly happy here and unlikely to move for any reason, I might
36:07be tempted to try one of these dinner spots.
36:09Lake Henry's, Taiwan in the International District.
36:13Oh, yeah.
36:14It's really good.
36:15They have really good handmade noodles.
36:17This is the Carta of Oaxaca.
36:1814th and Jefferson.
36:20And I can't remember the name of it, but if you go to 14th and Jefferson, you'll get
36:26the best Ethiopian food you've ever had in your life.
36:29For traditional Thai street food, check out Little Uncle in Capitol Hill.
36:33A pint-sized kitchen right on the sidewalk.
36:36Literally.
36:37Locals flock here for curried fish fritters and the khao soi curry noodles.
36:42Also popular is the pad grapau muu, pork sautéed with grapau basil, chilies, and garlic, served
36:49with fried egg and mixed jasmine rice.
36:55Back at Rainier BBQ, I'm ready for the signature dish, sour seafood soup.
37:00Ah, that's a soup.
37:01The seafood soup is really good.
37:04Shrimp, prawns, crab meat.
37:07The soup is really sweet and sour.
37:09I mean, it's delicious.
37:10The sour element comes from tamarind, offsetting the sweetness of pineapples.
37:16The spongy stalks, taro stem, which helps soak up all those flavors.
37:21We like to see ourselves as a melting pot in New York, the great melting pot.
37:26But to a great extent, we aren't.
37:29Seattle, I think, is a place where a lot of people escape to.
37:32Sometimes it's a magical combination of nature and culture.
37:37And I think that's why I love Seattle.
37:40That's why I came back to Seattle.
37:42Hard to beat that.
37:47One more stop before I call it a night.
37:50Shorty's in Belltown.
37:52What should I be drinking?
37:53Pale Ale?
37:54Mahonies?
37:55Maybe?
37:56Pine of Mahonies?
37:59Yeah.
38:00It's always good to be here.
38:01A legendary spot that draws all types of personalities, from professional cooks to hipster s***bags.
38:08Shorty's is legendary.
38:09They have a huge pinball room in the back.
38:11Excellent hot dogs and radical pinball machines.
38:14You can't find it anywhere else in Seattle.
38:16I really love the energy there, the clowns, kind of the grittiness of it.
38:21It's kind of the essential Seattle grub scene.
38:25Really fun and really dirty and exactly what you expect in a dive bar.
38:29I can tell you about Shorty's if I could remember any time that I had ever been there.
38:34If grit isn't your thing, then there's always Sun Liquor over in Capitol Hill.
38:39There, the decor is Tiki Bar slash Opium Den.
38:42The bar makes its own gin and vodka, which goes nicely with fresh juice squeezed to order.
38:48And appropriately, they make a mean Mai Tai.
38:51If you prefer brown liquor, then Cannon is a must do.
38:54Probably the greatest whiskey and bourbon list, at least on the west coast.
38:58A self-proclaimed whiskey and bitters emporium, Cannon stocks whiskey from all over the world.
39:04Ones for mixed drinks and others like this pre-prohibition-era whiskey, Valley Forest.
39:09Is there any way you can hold like a knife to my throat?
39:12Uh...
39:14Adventures with cutlery and strangers, I don't know.
39:17No.
39:18We don't know each other well enough yet.
39:20Okay.
39:21That's my cue to get the out of Dodge.
39:25You're on the house.
39:26Oh, no, no, no, no.
39:27He really wants to pay.
39:29We love you here in Seattle, man.
39:31We're on the house.
39:32Cheers.
39:33God love you.
39:40Everyone in Seattle drinks coffee.
39:43Coffee was invented here, right?
39:45There is no culture around coffee.
39:47Coffee is a beverage.
39:48It's not a culture.
39:49Coffee, of course, is a huge Seattle thing.
39:53People take it pretty seriously.
39:55A coffee culture would be the bonding together of coffee shop owners to throw these deadbeats out in the street.
40:00There is a coffee shop on every block.
40:03It's kind of a cliche.
40:05What's the profit on a cup of coffee?
40:06Move it along, sock head.
40:08And when tourists come into the store, they always want to know where is the best coffee in town.
40:13I tell them the Chevron up the street.
40:16You're welcome to stay if you like.
40:18No, no, you're not welcome to stay.
40:19Get the hell out of my shop, baby.
40:21It's that show Friends.
40:22It really ruined coffee for everybody.
40:24I mean, I have a cup of coffee right over there off camera.
40:27Am I going to make an event out of it?
40:28Am I going to invite friends over?
40:30Ooh, watch me drink my coffee.
40:32Ooh, put on some Dave Matthews.
40:33No.
40:34I like to tell them about this little place that no one has ever heard of.
40:37It's called Starbucks.
40:39And it's a local company who I believe maybe has a few stores nationwide.
40:44A couple.
40:45Yeah.
40:46Alcohol is a social event.
40:48Because, you know, there's a possibility that you're going to get drunk and say something mildly amusing
40:53or fall down or jab yourself in the eye or have sex with somebody else at the table.
40:58I mean, there's a possibility of something interesting happening.
41:01Coffee culture.
41:06As much as I love this town, time to head to the airport.
41:11Putting away all metal objects.
41:14Belt goes.
41:17Notice the easily slipped on shoes.
41:20What I'm saying is, don't be that guy.
41:22Dwell time.
41:23Dwell time.
41:24That's the period after you get through security and before you board.
41:27I call it dead time.
41:29Spend yours at the Sea-Tac outposts of Anthony's or maybe Ivar's Fish Bar.
41:35At Anthony's, there's halibut, fresh off the grill, served with avocado, macadamia nuts
41:40on seasonal greens, or sockeye salmon.
41:43Ivar's been making award-winning chowders since 1938.
41:47Their claim to fame is the Puget Sound clam chowder.
41:50But the local favorite is smoked salmon chowder.
41:53Or grab some fish and chips to go.
41:56Passengers on me now.
41:579-5-1-3-2-4-3.
42:00Whenever possible, walk on escalators.
42:03There's an independent spirit in this town and always has been.
42:10Great chefs and great food.
42:13Every time I come here, it only gets better.
42:16Keep going shout.
42:18I'm sorry.
42:19I was trying out.
42:20Get someChrout of my mind now.
42:21Get some damage after a drink for Eiots.
42:22I'm sorry.
42:23I'm sorry, you guys.
42:24I need to know this room so I can doubt right now.
42:25Ifrance made a drink mill!
42:26I'm sorry, I'm sorry,Within Couch and theрен.
42:27Yeah.
42:28I'm sorry.
42:29I'm sorry.
42:31I'm sorry.
42:32Sorry, Isteps.
42:33Drive been killed off passive sufferings anymore.
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