Dinner Club-Volterra

I'm lucky to have a group of friends who love food as much as I do. Recently, my friend Liz started a dinner club with my coworkers from Crew Cuts. We plan on going to a nice restaurant once a month and go all out. Appetizer, cocktail, entree and dessert, the whole shebang! I missed the first meeting (at Chez Shea) while I was in Boston so I cleared my schedule to make sure I would be able to attend the 2nd meeting at Volterra! The restaurant is named after an Italian Village that the owners got married in. It was a wonderful experience. Our waiter was so friendly and had great suggestions for us. He actually was a patron first at the restaurant and as soon as he heard that there was an opening at the restaurant, he quit his job of 7 years to work at Volterra!

Our Appetizers
Polenta with Wild Mushroom Ragu


Caprase Salad with Smoked Trout


Tart with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes


Salads
Roasted Beets, Arugula and Walnuts (this was mine and was my favorite! I love roasted beets)


Cannelloni Salad


House Salad


Entrees
Pork Jowls and Wild Mushroom (this was my dish and it was so good)

I loved the rustic fat spaghetti noodles in this dish! Spicy tomato sauce with goat cheese and pulled pork

The Wild Boar! Liz was adventurous and went with the recommendation of the waiter. It was also the dish that made him jump ship and work at Volterra


We were so full at this point that we shared 2 desserts. A hazelnut honey panna cotta and a rich chocolate orange cake.



I love the ambiance of the restaurant and the food was delicious. I can't wait to go back and try some of their other dishes. Also a great plus that the menu changes all the time so there is always new things to try.

**All photos taken by L.Lee

first hike of the season

I think like much of the US, the weather patterns has been a little off this year. I know Seattle has very mild summers but this year it was been slow to warm up. Even though it was still a little damp on Saturday, I still went on a 3.5 mile hike on the popular Mt. Si trail in North Bend. We only went up a little bit of the Mt. Si trail before we veered off onto the Talus Loop. It was a very enjoyable slightly strenuous hike. It was nice not being on the main trail, we only shared the trail with about 6 other hikes.

On our way back down the mountain, I had to constantly step aside to let hiking going up the mountain pass me. Even though we started our hike at 9:30, it was still a little chilly and the entire mountain was covered in fog. Towards the late morning, it felt like I was walking in a greenhouse, so much moisture in the air!



Overall, it was a great hike less than an hour away from the city. I can't wait to go on more hikes. I am always in awe of how GREEN Washington is.

Grim's

I've been trying to limit myself to only eating out once a week. It's been hard not only because it's the easiest way to lure friends out to hang out but also because there have been a plethora of new restaurants in the Seattle area. Earlier this week, I went to Grim's on Capital Hill, which is advertised as "steam punk meets silent hills". Not quite sure what it means but I loved the vibe of the place. Inside there were a couple rows of reclaimed old fashioned cafeteria tables, the kind where the stools are attached on a swivel head. It's pretty easy to lose your balance on the stools so I can only imagine what would happen after a couple drinks!



I've heard from various people that they have really good grilled cheese sandwiches so that's what we ordered! I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the food but no worries, I'll be back there soon enough to document. I know all the new restaurants are using mason jars but I still love seeing them.

I'd definitely come back to try the other menu items and people watch.

hex nut bracelet

I've been seeing this diy tutorial float around the blogosphere and decided to make my own out of neon pink twine from Home Depot.


Ignore the scary mannequin hands (how do people take pictures of bracelets?!) I love the gold against the neon pink and the whole project only cost me about $4 to make!

Adventures in May

In the month of May I went to:

Chicago

To hang out with my one of my closest high school friend who got engaged this year! We had so much fun catching up and exploring the Oak Park neighborhood that we were staying in. It was walking distance to the Frank Lloyd Wright museum and we saw many of his designs in the neighborhood. It was much too short of a visit and I can't wait to go back to explore more of the city.

Boston


To help move Kate (of leblogdekate fame) back to Seattle! It was another quick weekend trip but we also went on a soccer adventure! Team USA vs reigning World Cup champs Spain. I didn't expect the US to win but it would have been nice to see US score a goal. I can't wait to go to a real USMNT game!