Seattle: Dahlia Bakery

Over Christmas, my family took a mini road trip up to Seattle to visit some friends.  Actually, the truth is that my father wanted to scout out the area as a potential dream retirement location.  Something about getting a house by a stream with a large garden away from the stress and pressures of city life.

I, on the other hand, was there for the food and the food only.

We drove up Christmas day.  Good thing we packed some food Chinese style (meaning marinated chicken wings, chicken feet, and eggs) because outside of California, not a single fast food joint was open.  Guess Christmas is sacred to everyone but Californians.  We left our house at 4:00am and got to our friend's house just a bit south of Seattle just a tad short of 4:00pm.  

My dad is a speed racer.

We had dinner that night at our family friend's house.  The next morning, we left bright and early for our Seattle food tour.  First stop, Dahlia Bakery:

Tom Douglas is the celebrity chef genius behind over a dozen restaurants in the area.  My parents aren't big on fancy, expensive meals, so I figured Dahlia Bakery would be the perfect introduction to Tom Douglas without all the dollar signs.

The bakery is small and intimate:

Very small and intimate.  So small and intimate that it's basically a box.  A box with a glass counter and a wall filled with all sorts of scrumptious-looking baked goods:

There's also a menu posted with offerings that aren't visible in the display cases, such as all the sandwiches.

If you order a sandwich, you have to wait a bit because they're fresh and piping hot when you get them.  We got the bacon and egg sandwich ($6.50):

Bacon from Bavarian Meats (a local German deli), fried egg, arugula, and cheddar...all tucked in one of the most amazing English muffins you'll ever find.

We also ordered the meat egg sandwich (we picked ham over sausage) ($6.50):

Ham, fried egg, gruyere, and here's the clincher...dijon mustard.  The dijon makes the sandwich.  So freakin' delicious.

One of Tom Douglas' restaurants, Lola, is known for its donuts.  You can have them there or you can get them at Dahlia Bakery ($7):

These soft pillows of dough goodness come in a bag of seven and sides of vanilla mascarpone and seasonal jam:

We got a tangy cherry jam that day that went perfectly with the smooth mascarpone and the donuts.  Load each individual donut with the mascarpone and jam for the optimal bite.

Tom Douglas is also known for his triple coconut cream pie ($6.50 per slice):

Definitely coconut-y.  And creamy.

While the pie was yummy and all, the real gold star of the sweets that day was the maple eclair ($4.50):

Ohmygawdthateclairwasridiculous:

When my sister first said she wanted one, I was a bit skeptical.  I was afraid that it would be overwhelming sweet.  In the end, it was just overwhelmingly lovely.

LOVELY, I SAY.

If I lived in Seattle, I would be at Dahlia Bakery every weekend.  There's just so many things to try.  And so many maple eclairs to consume.  I would probably be broke by the end (that stuff ain't cheap!), but it would be oh-so worth it.

If you want a English muffin sandwich or some donuts, make sure you go during breakfast hours.  Dahlia Bakery also offers lunch too, so maybe the best time to go is right at the end of breakfast and the start of lunch so that you can stick around for the best of both worlds.

Or just go whatever time of day you want and get a maple eclair.

MAPLE ECLAIR.


Dahlia Bakery
2001 4th Ave
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 441-4540
http://tomdouglas.com/index.php?page=dahlia-bakery