A visit to Delancey...
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I love to read recipes...and read books by people who are lovers of food. There's just something wonderful that happens around a table and I love to read the stories by those who feel the same way.
I wouldn't consider myself a "foodie"...or even remotely consider myself a fabulous chef by any means. Most of the food I cook is pretty simple...comfort type food, just like my mama. But that doesn't stop me from being inspired by those who cook scrumptious things and write about them. As I read along, I can almost smell and taste the wonderful concoctions the authors are writing about.
Last fall sometime, my brother recommended a book to me, "A Homemade Life," by Molly Wizenberg.
My brother, Jonathan, is an avid reader and I always value his book recommendations. When he told me the author, Molly Wizenberg, was a Seattle local and had a blog named Orangette, I was even more intrigued. Ordered it immediately from Amazon and I loved it! Molly is gifted writer and her stories of growing up in a family that loved good food and living in Paris for a season were delightful. She then told of meeting her husband, a New Yorker named Brandon, through an email he sent her through her blog....amazing love story! So enjoyed reading about her wedding, officiated by another favorite author of mine, Shauna Niequist. Throughout the book, she sprinkles her recipes...which I sadly admit I have yet to try...sigh. (Just bought the ingredients for one of them, though, so I hope to post about that soon).
Once I finish a good book, I always look to see what other books the author may have written and saw Molly had recently published a sequel, called "Delancey."
Again, ordered the book right away and loved it too! Molly writes about the pizza restaurant (named Delancey) her husband opens, with her support and help. What fun to learn that Delancey was located right in the heart of Ballard in Seattle! Speaking to my older sister who lives in Ballard, I mentioned the restaurant and she said she had been there several times and that it was located just a few blocks from her house. She said Delancey gets crazy busy on weekends and if you are not there when they open, you can wait a long time to get in. Well, I mentally put it on "bucket" list...life got busy...and it slipped to the back burner.
But, when my sister's birthday was coming up, I thought it would be a perfect place to go...good food and close to her home. Picking up my younger sister on the way, we stopped to get Vangie and off we went! Arriving right when they open at 4:30, we were sure to get a table...and we did. The outside of Delancey is very nondescript and humble...I almost drove right by.
You see the informal bar seating when you first walk in (top photo), and then move into the main seating area...again, very simple, yet charming.
We were the first ones seated...yea! Within about 30 minutes, the place was full. My sisters and I each ordered our own pizzas....which were much too large to consume in one sitting, but it gave us a chance to try three different varieties.
Naomi had the Crimini Mushroom...
Evangeline had the Sausage with fennel...
And I had the Bacon and Onion...
The pizzas were simply melt in your mouth delicious! After reading about Brandon's quest to come up with the perfect pizza crust in the Delancey book, I can say that he nailed it! Thin, cracker like, just like I the pizza I've had in Rome and Venice, Italy.
Naomi also introduced me to a beverage made by another Seattle local, Ginger Beer (non alcoholic version) by Rachel of Montana bar fame on Capitol Hill. If you love a good Ginger Ale, you would love this too.
The evening was delightful...and I ate far too much pizza. I highly recommend Delancey...who knows, you might even run into Molly or her husband, Brandon, if you go! Hope your week is going well. Thanks for reading along, friends. Warmly, Gracia
