Breakfast in America

[akirlu]

Screw the cut tag, nobody seems to be clicking through anyway.

Know thyself, and all that. So it wasn't a great surprise to me when Day 1 of our road trip dawned with me trying to do a week's worth of laundry and chores in a day. And it was no surprise at all that with all that 11th hour catch up, we hit the road a lot later than I hoped. Luckily, I had planned for it. So our first leg was just a quick jaunt up to Bellingham, with a (late) dinner stop in Seattle.

In the morning, we ventured out to seek breakfast and a little American touristry in Fairhaven. Bellingham, you see, is really the confluence of about three smaller towns that merged. Our favorite bit of Bellingham is the former Victorian port town of Fairhaven. It's kept a lot of its old original buildings, and turned into a funky arts and dining district, with galleries, bead stores, book stores, gelaterias, pubs, and the like. A fun place to browse through, as long as you don't mind a bit of hill climbing. We usually stop for tea in The Abbey Garden and browse the blond-wood shelves of Village Books, between stints in woodwork, pottery, and glass galleries. What we don't usually do is get to Fairhaven early enough to eat breakfast. And a lot of the eateries in the area tend to be pubby, lunchy, dinnery sorts of joints.

Luckily we spotted the Harris Ave. Cafe, whose posted menu did indeed include normal breakfasty things like eggs and toast. And pretty swell breakfasty things, as it turns out. My orange-infused blueberry french toast was, alas, too dry to skip the syrup, but it was a revelation once the syrup was added. And it came with possibly the prettiest side of fruit I've ever had. The real winner was Hal's omelette, where the blend of smoked Keta salmon, feta, roasted garlic, and pesto was so marvelously balanced that all the flavors came through in concert. Close to perfect fried spuds with chive, too. Lovely.

The cafe itself is brightly painted, sunlit, and popular, with the kind of happy buzz that you find in a local favorite. As an added bonus, across the street you can see the second story windows of an office that sports the legend Spade and Archer -- which lends just the right frisson of Through the Looking Glass to the proceedings. (The office is apparently the former digs of local author Steve Martini, and the new occupant decided to keep the signage. Yay, new occupant.)

Overall, lovely place for a meal, especially if you can get in between the breakfast and lunch rushes.

Comments

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Damn, now I want that omelette. My mouth is watering. Seriously.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It was a completely amazing omelette. Particularly because all the flavors showed up distinctly and harmoniously, instead of one or another overpowering the rest. By itself, a good reason to have breakfast in Bellingham.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

The last time I was in Bellingham it was to visit my sister on my way to Vancouver with Dave Clements to see the Visible Targets open for Simple Minds. Pre-Breakfast Club. So you know, I'm overdue.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I want to eat that picture!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, it's an easy day trip to visit Bellingham from Seattle. If you're in town anyway, that is.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe you should join us the next time we make a pilgrimage to Skagit River Brewing for the Trumpeter Ale, once winter ales are in season.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes, please! Just bought a bottle of last winter's Dick's Double Diamond to set aside for further aging.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll mark you down for the next road trip to Mt. Vernon, then.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Oh, I saw that picture of fruit on Flicker and wanted it. I don't know why restaurants don't offer more fruit.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Part of the fruit thing may be regional and/or class related, but also there's the question of prep time versus freshness. Most restaurants like to do their prep for things like fruit and salad before they open when there isn't the traffic of hot food being cooked and plated interfering with the prep time. But a lot of fruit doesn't hold up that well to sitting around all day after it's been sliced, so you generally only see it in places that feel like they can charge higher prices to cover just-in-time prep, or who do a large volume of breakfast business that orders fruit.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure that milkshakes are included in the repertoire of the cafe at Village Books.