The Bite of Seattle 2013

Pictured above, clockwise, starting from bottom left:  Fresh Oregon Bay Shrimp Cocktail with Marinated Local Vegetable Slaw, finished with a House-Made Cocktail (Salty's on Alki), Roasted Spiced Eggplant, Squash & Tomatoes with Crispy Wheat Flat-bread (Shanik), Root Beer Float Cupcake (Pinkabella Cupcakes), Root Beer Glazed Pork Belly (Local 360), Slow Cooked Brisket,Sweet Corn Pudding & Blueberry Pickles (Palace Kitchen), Barbecue Pork Pastry (O'Asian), and Vegetable/Pork Wanton (Din Tai Fung).

I went to The Bite of Seattle with two goals in mind this year.  The Alley (which I have done numerous years, since I was a kid), and to try the Deep Fried Pepsi Float (which caught my eye last year, but was discouraging, because I needed to particularly save my pennies then, and the line was terribly long).

My dad came over this year, as he looks forward to this event as well.  We got up early on the grey, slightly cool, overcast day, which surprisingly had no chance of rain.

"Good," I thought, "the crowds should not be too bad, until it clears up later in the day."

I was right about that.  We just walked right up to The Alley, paid for our tickets, and got our food.  That was nice.  No long line.

I felt all the food passed out this year was equally good.  It was hard for me to pick a stand-out dish this year, but if I had to choose one, it would be the Slow Cooked Brisket,Sweet Corn Pudding & Blueberry Pickles dish from Palace Kitchen.  It had a variety of textures and flavors, had nice flavor, and was presented beautifully.

I was most concerned about the Roasted Spiced Eggplant, Squash & Tomatoes with Crispy Wheat Flat-bread sample from Shanik.  I have never liked eggplant any time I have ever had it, so I was thinking I would like this food item the least, but it stood up just as well as the others.  I bravely tried it first.  It was surprisingly  spicy, which is good, since I like spicy.  It had great flavor.  I did not really notice that it was eggplant, and for me, that was good, too.

Next thing I tried was the Fresh Oregon Bay Shrimp Cocktail with Marinated Local Vegetable Slaw, finished with a House-Made Cocktail from Salty's on Alki.  It too, was pretty spicy, but very tasty.

I believe I moved on to the Root Beer Glazed Pork Belly from Local 360 next.  Now I am not bothered by meat fat, but I know some of my friends would totally loose their appetite by just a little of it.  My slider was pretty much all fat and no meat  I am not even certain I had any meat on mine at all.  It was flavorful, yet I am not sure if it was flavor from the meat, or flavor from the glaze.  I asked my dad if there was any meat on the slider he was given.  He said that his was 2/3 meat, 1/3 fat.  So, I felt a little slighted on that, even if I did like the taste of mine.

Another spicy sample, was the Vegetable/Pork Wanton from Din Tai Fung.  I recognized them as being featured in The Alley before.  I have enjoyed other samples in past years from them, but I think this may have been their best.  I really liked it.

One of the smaller samples, the Barbecue Pork Pastry from O'Asian was noted by me as small, flaky goodness!  I could eat a ton of these, such a delicious little bite!

For dessert, a cupcake place I have raved about before, Pinkabella Cupcakes.  In the flyer, it advertised Tiger Tail Coconut Cupcake, with Fresh Raspberry Drizzle, which does sound good, but I guess they changed it last minute to Root Beer Float Cupcake which sounds even better!  It was presented cutely, with a little straw, and the icing as the "foam."  The icing was very good, not too sweet, on top of some kind of white cake.  The icing had a great root beer flavor to it.  Just perfect.

Both my dad and I liked everything we had from the Alley on Saturday.  My mom was thinking of coming too, but I honestly don't think she would have enjoyed this year's Alley as much, because of the number of spicy dishes, which were at least three.  We both agreed that the Slow Cooked Brisked dish was our favorite, but it did not surpass the others by that much.

I was so full after eating my entire plate.  I knew I still wanted to try and find the Deep Fried Pepsi Float, so we got up to walk off our meal, and see what else there was to see.

The most popular food item for vendors this year appeared to be sliders of all sorts.  There were beef sliders, chicken sliders, lamb sliders, steel-head sliders, and even oyster sliders!  Oyster sliders?  No thanks!

There were tons of odd deep-fried food items this year.  The deep-fried mac & cheese booth was still there, and I remember that was good when I have had it before.  There was deep-fried lasagna, which did not sound appetizing at all to me.  Deep fried pickles, which maybe someday I will try, but really not feeling up to it this year.  It seemed like we could find everything but the Deep Fried Pepsi Float I was looking for!  I was so disappointed, I wanted to try it!  I understand they take the Pepsi and turn it into a dough, deep fry it, and cover it with ice-cream.  I am not entirely sure if this is the process, but I was eager to find out and taste it.  Now, I may never know.

Walking around, it seemed like there was quite a bit less to see than in previous years.  My dad seemed to agree.  There were more food trucks than normal.  Some decorated quite fun and interesting: 

I love this Godzilla-like hot dog image on the Tokyo Dog food truck!  Very fun!

 I almost had a Tokyo Dog, but at $8 on a full belly, I decided against it.

The image of the My Chef Lynn food truck instantly caught my eye!  

This food truck was clever, as well as funny.  

Unfortunately, I don't remember who it was for!

Nothing else was really drawing us in to stay though.  In previous years, it seemed like there was always something entertaining enough to make us want to stick around for awhile.  Both my dad and I felt this way.  We decided to grab a cup of crab and shrimp chowder once our tummies settled, then we were on our way home.

A cup of Crab-and-Shrimp Chowder from 

Pat's Philly Steak Sandwiches booth, really hit the spot!

Of course, we did stay a few minutes to watch the Dock Dogs practice.  It is always fun to see them, but we have watched them several years before, so after the practice, we were on our way.

The background of the EMP shows nicely as this dog did a practice jump for Dock Dogs last Saturday.

The Alley has been hosted by Tom Douglas for the past 8 years.  The Alley began in 1987, and was known as John Hinterberger's Alley, until Kathy Casey took over, after which Tom Douglas came in.  A share of all proceeds go to Food Lifeline.  Their goal is to end hunger in Western Washington, providing nutritious meals to hungry people.  This is Tom Douglas's last year for the Alley, but it will be back, next year, hosted by Jason Wilson.