Not long enough in Seattle

My coworkers and I made a quick trip to Seattle for the annual Council of State Restaurant Associations Membership and Marketing Conference. We stayed at the Washington Athletic Club and spent the majority of our time in meetings. 

However, we did have two really nice meals, the first at Assaggio Ristorante and the second at Steelhead Diner. The first night out, we hopped in a cab and told the driver where we were headed. He said, that's just around the corner, you don't need a cab for that. Well, we did. It was about a 15-20 minute walk. The other half of our party was in the cab behind us and their cab driver said, "he didn't want to take them because he wanted an airport run." 

Dinner was light and fun and we worked up an appetite hoofing it to the restaurant to make our reservation time. I ordered the pasta special with scallops, crab and shrimp and drank Aperol Spritzers with my meal. It was quite lovely. 

Sunday, I had about two hours to kill between my last meeting and dinner, so I took a walk. Across from the WAC was a really cool park with an amazing waterfall fountain and manicured flower beds. What was disappointing was the number of bums and the smell of piss which was literally breathtaking, and not in a good way. 

The second night, we opted out of going to the conference dinner, which turned out to be a great idea. The conference dinner was at Salty's on the other side of the sound and all we kept hearing was it has a great view, nothing about the food. I can get that great view on a postcard. The next day all we heard was how terrible Salty's was and how they served family style and ran out of food. 

Instead we went to Steelhead Diner which was awesome! Turns out the couple who own it are from New Orleans. The crab and andouille tater tots were slamming and the crab cakes were some of the best I've ever had. I order the cioppino which was full of clams, mussels, shrimp and flaking mild fish. My fellow diners order sole, halibut and cod. We were all highly pleased with our selections and the company. 

On Monday, we hailed a cab to the Space Needle for meetings. We were so pressed for time, we only saw the needle from the ground as we approached and didn't have time to go to the top or hit the gift shop. 

Instead I bought my souvenirs at the airport on the way home Monday night and didn't get to see Pike Place Market.