Seattle Bon Vivant

The Best Kept Secret in Seattle: Sweet & Savory in Mount Baker

Serendipity is a beautiful thing.

Nicole Francois's email popped up on my Sidekick as I was getting ready to drive down Montlake, on my way to lunch in Madison Park:

"I suggest wandering a little father south to Sweet & Savory on 31st Ave. S. Great homemade soups and noshies for lunch and to-die-for pastries for dessert. The owner trained at the Ritz bakery in Paris. Sweet & Savory is yet to be discovered by those outside of the neighborhood. It's the best kept secret in Seattle!"

So I did. Since I had a couple hours before I had to return to work I took the road less traveled: meandering the curvy, tree lined streets, impressive homes, gardens and lovely views of the Cascades and Eastside, driving through Madison Park, Madrona and Leschi.

Lucky! It seemed I had just managed to grab the only parking space available in the area --near the sign that marks the spot where the Mount Baker Ridge Viewpoint Park will be located, perched high up on the hill, between Mount Baker and Leschi. 

And there it was, across the street, hidden almost from view, a small sign in beautiful cursive that read Sweet & Savory, Hand Crafted Pastries.

I went in and found a seat right away. It was a cold December afternoon but the warmth of the sun and the gorgeous light filtering in filled the cozy and lovingly appointed room (with a few small tables and chairs and a long counter with stools, vintage lamps, fruit and cookie platters, antique cake stands and shelves brimming with cooking and baking books, Harney & Sons teas and local honey from Moon Valley) with a beautiful glow. 

"What's good today?", I asked. There were two kinds of sandwiches, a tin full of festively decorated cookies, orange date scones, pain au chocolat and a soup du jour.

It was while reading the menu board that I spotted the "Housemade French Hot Chocolate". I quickly ordered a cup and watched closely how they prepared my beverage, stove top, slowly and carefully, aided by what seemed like an improvised bain Marie. 

"Here you go. Enjoy!", the friendly server said.

Bliss! This hot chocolate--served in a demi-tasse, with accompanying dish of fresh whipped cream-- was thick and intense, with a hint of spice. A bit of heat even (cayenne, perhaps?).

"The last time I drank hot chocolate this good was in Paris, three months ago. This is amazing!"

The amazement and delight did not stop with the made to order chocolate. The soup was also divine (roasted cauliflower) and so was the pain au chocolat I took home with me. 

It has been three months since Nicole's email. Three months of weekly visits tasting as much as I can of the ever changing array of beautiful pastries, tarts, sweet and savory croissants, sandwiches and cookies that owner and head pastry maker Cynthia Brock and her staff bake every day.

Ever since then, there have been lots of little conversations about food, books, pastry, Paris, baking, Seattle neighborhoods and restaurants, new kids on the block, the challenges of the independent. local owner.

Over many short chocolate and tea breaks and late lunches, bagels (the best I've had in Seattle), croissants, soups, sandwiches (the Salami is amazing) scones and cups of tea, I've learned so much about what makes this little shop so special, so endearing to the community--yours truly included.

Cynthia Brock, the owner of Sweet & Savory has been in the food business for over 30 years. And she's done it all: from personal chef to prominent Seattle families, caterer, offering home meal services before anyone else was doing it in the city, to owning the previous incarnations of Sweet & Savory in both Bainbridge Island and Ballard.

But it is her impressive hand at pastry making (and did I mention the French Hot Chocolate?) that sets her apart from the rest. 

You see, she studied (the friendship continues to this day) under the careful eye of a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (or MOF, Best Crafts Worker of France), Monsieur Bernard Burban (éminent professionnel, anciennement professeur à l’Ecole de Boulangerie de Paris, reçu MOF Boulanger en 1979 et créateur de la boulangerie du Ritz), author of Pains et Fantaisies, and former head baker at the Hôtel Ritz in Paris.

It is a credit to both teacher and student that I have been unable, try as I may, to select just one thing to mention for this years's edition of the Independent Food Festival and Awards.

Every croissant and every tart and every tiny cup of chocolat chaud I have at Sweet & Savory is redolent of all that is delectable, special and dreamy about French bakeries and chocolate shops, the Parisian ones in particular, the ones I keep going back to year after year.

I must admit the pastry, chocoholic and perennial Francophile in me has been utterly smitten. Every single thing I've tasted, whether at the shop or at home (a couple pastries to take home are de rigueur whenever I drop by) has been superb.

And every time I leave the shop I find myself thinking of opportunities to stop by for their French Hot Chocolate. And dreaming of Paris.

Not only is Sweet & Savory a real gem, hidden in this lovely corner of the Mount Baker neighborhood--for the past year and a half-- but just like Nicole wrote," the best kept secret in Seattle".

Well, perhaps not so much a secret anymore...

 

Sweet & Savory on My Flickr

Sweet & Savory
1418 31st Ave S.
Seattle, 98144
206.325.2900
Tue-Fri 6-2
Sat-Sun 7-2

1st Annual Independent Food Festival and Awards: The Best Ficelle this side of Paris

Bread. Water, flour, salt and yeast. One of the constants of civilization's culinary history. Such a basic of human existence, a gift from our ancestors, a staple food present in most every culture around the world, an unifying element in many religions, symbolizing both life and salvation.

When I think about food items I am truly passionate about great bread comes to mind almost instantly. Whether a rustic country loaf, a sturdy rye, a sourdough boule, a golden brioche, a beautifully braided and eggy Challah or the smallest of dinner rolls to accompany a bowl of soup or green salad-- fresh bread, aromatic and crusty, still warm, just out of the oven, is a thing of beauty.

We are never without good bread at home and whenever we travel it is one of the first food items we seek out  to explore, wherever it is we happen to find ourselves at, especially whenever that place happens to be Paris.

My love of everything bread is precisely the reason why I could never go on any of those horrid carb-phobic diets. How could anyone in their right mind give up this amazing aliment of the utmost importance in the food chain?

I grew up with wonderful bread at home. My father would go pick it up at the local bakery early in the morning and bring it home for us have with our coffee. Sunday breakfasts were never without it. In fact, I can't really think of a time when there wasn't some fresh bread around.

This bread, just baked, would arrive home still warm, sometimes even hot to the touch--one of the benefits of living a few blocks from the bakery-- in its plain white paper slip. The bread was so tender, the crust so soft and inviting that it just begged to be torn bit by bit without by hand without the need of a serrated knife.

On most days the loaf would arrive with one of the ends already missing and of course we always knew who the culprit was. It was just absolutely impossible for dad to wait until he got home to have some bread. And on days when I was up early enough to go with him to purchase the morning bread, I too would share in the early previews.

One loaf of bread would be enough for our family of four, two or more if we had friends or family over. If there was any left by noon it was quickly consumed with or as lunch. A fresh avocado or perhaps a banana would end up sandwiched between two slices of the morning's leftover bread.

Hot chocolate, dark and thick was prepared just as a vehicle to dunk chunks of bread that could not go to waste. In a hurry, a few tomato slices and some cheese would top a slice or two and broiled quickly in the small counter top toaster oven. 

Over the years I've tried plenty of times to make bread at home. I've tried many good recipes and for the most part failed miserably at it. The loaves came out too hard, did not rise well, had too much of a yeasty smell, with a crust that was too hard and too crusty, the aspect of the bread uneven, too thin or too wide.

Which is why I decided a long time ago to leave the bread baking to the experts and support those making fabulous bread in Seattle but especially in our neighborhood.

So, when fellow Seattleite Hillel Cooperman of tastingmenu.com kindly invited me to participate in these, the first annual Independent Food Festival and Awards I knew exactly where my vote would go.