Rain or Shine, This Is How to Spend the Perfect Day in Seattle

For a stroll past some trippy glass art, check out Chihuly Garden and Glass (Courtesy: Chihuly Garden and Glass)

By Lawrence Ferber

The progressive city of Seattle enjoys a reputation as haven for foodies, art aficionados, music and sports fans (home to the 12th man, the Seahawks won last year’s Super Bowl), nature lovers and those who appreciate cardio workouts while walking downtown’s steep, San Francisco-esque streets.

Here’s an hour-by-hour itinerary.

8 a.m.

Forget Starbucks (they are everywhere) and make a beeline to tiny Capitol Hill patisserie Crumble & Flake for what may be the world’s best cinnamon roll. Made with laminated brioche dough (meaning, lots of buttered layers) and a prudent smear of icing, it’s a flaky, light, not-too-sweet creation that Dominique Ansel would envy. The croissants and oversized, chewy takes on Oreos, called Cheweos, are also worth breaking your diet. (Note: C&F is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.)

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10 a.m.

For a weekend brunch, head to chef Jason Stoneburner’s Stoneburner in the northwestern Ballard neighborhood. This rustic-modern Italian-Pacific Northwest bistro — interior elements were sourced from Buenos Aires’ Italian embassy and repurposed fir trees — serves a mind-blowing lamb hash with gnocchi and poached eggs; biscuits with sausage gravy; breakfast pizza with potatoes, eggs and bacon, and loads of artisanal veggie plates — anything with kale is crazy tasty.

11 a.m.

Explore the EMP Museum in the shadow of the Space Needle. (Photo: Bala Maniymaran/Flickr)

Time to get your art on. Not far from the iconic Pike Place Market — home to the first Starbucks — is the underrated Seattle Art Museum, a.k.a SAM. Here you can catch 15 years’ worth of vibrant, anime-inspired work in “Live On: Mr.’s Japanese Neo-Pop,” on display through April 5, 2015.

Nearby is Seattle Center’s EMP Museum, a must for music and film buffs — the “Icons of Science Fiction” exhibit features props and costumes from “Dr. Who,” “Star Trek,” “Superman” and more. And the Chihuly Garden and Glass presents otherworldly, eye-popping creations by Seattle’s groundbreaking glass artist, Dale Chihuly.

Noon

Lunch at Katsu Burger. (Photo: Lawrence Ferber)

The Georgetown neighborhood has seen its decrepit, abandoned industrial landscape transform into a boho hipster haven with funky shops like the adjoining vinyl mecca Georgetown Records and graphic novel publisher’s outlet Fantagraphics Books, as well as the requisite trendy coffeehouses and bars. The only thing preventing this hood from becoming a West Coast Williamsburg is the jarring, nonstop roar of planes coming and going from the King County International Airport. For lunch, try Katsu Burger, with yummy Japanese-American fusion creations like the mouth-stretching Ninja Deluxe (pork cutlet, bacon, cheddar, mayo and tonkatsu sauce) with wasabi coleslaw and nori fries.

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3:30 p.m.

Fremont Mischief’s steampunk interior. (Courtesy: Fremont Mischief)

Seattle’s distillery scene is superb. Local Craft Tours makes three tasting stops, with a kickoff craft cocktail, snacks and a take-home gift, for $89 per person. Located in a bare-bones industrial space, Letterpress Distilling is a must for limoncello sweetened with Washington blueberry honey, while Fremont Mischief’s facility is tricked out in steampunk fashion with offerings like organic, beet-colored Rex Velvet vodka.

7 p.m.

Dinnertime! Opened last December, Miller’s Guild is a carnivore’s dream, serving wood-fired, nose-to-tail meat dishes from James Beard Award-winner Jason Wilson. The smoked steaks are particularly mouth-watering, and so are the Brussels sprouts with charred lemon. Vegans and vegetarians, meanwhile, can grab a table at Café Flora, a roomy space that puts Pacific Northwest produce to delicious use, including lip-smacking cocktails like the tequila-based Moondog with housemade pineapple syrup, lemon juice, bitters and Washington distillery BroVo’s lavender liqueur.

9 p.m.

Dessert! Erstwhile East Coaster Adria Shimada crafts everything at the ice cream shop Parfait from scratch and keeps the sugar level to just-sweet-enough. Quirky flavors like rosemary with pine-nut brittle, and a honey-lavender macaron ice cream sandwich, are revelatory and organic to boot (Shimada grows some herbs out front).

10 p.m.

Craft cider is the new IPA. A booming local cider scene (Washington’s apple crop is prolific) led to the 2013 opening of Capitol Cider and its downstairs sibling, The Ballast Bar. Some 20 tap and 100-plus bottle cider selections are available any given day and they offer a gluten-free food menu.

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STAY

(Courtesy: The Edgewater Hotel)

Situated on the waterfront’s Pier 67, with gorgeous views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound and a woodsy high-end mountain lodge aesthetic, The Edgewater (from $189) is honeymoon-worthy, while downtown’s Hotel 1000 (from $279) offers modern boutique comfort steps from Pike Place Market.

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