A Walk in the Park. by violet

There are days when my job definitely doesn’t suck. One of my new duties is planning the end of year (holiday) party for the office. I, of course, don’t have total control over the party – there is a team of people who have to approve everything but I like to pretend I am master of the universe.

One of the spots I’m looking at is SoDo Park by Herban Feast. They invited me and my plus one, (you are welcome, J) to an open house to check out the space and try the food. Now you are beginning to see why my life doesn’t suck.

The space is awesome. Although it is a converted warehouse, it’s got all this reclaimed woodwork for the ceiling which gives it an almost rustic feel in the middle of industrial Seattle. And even though it’s one large room, there are plenty of little corners to hide away in.

And of course the food and beverages. We were greeted by a tree of grilled lemon-basil martinis that were delicious - sweet without being overpowering and tangy without being sour.

We did a lap with wine in hand to get a feel for the place and a layout of the food they had to offer. I tried to take little samples of everything so I could get a good feel of the range of their food.

In this photo: Cider glazed roasted vegetables, organic greens, pear and apple salad, savory herbed market fregola, crispy quinoa cakes, rosemary scented brown butter chicken, miso-soy marinated roasted black cod and herb crusted tender beef loin

In this photo: Brown butter potato gnocchi, butternut squash ravioli and mulled cider punch

The scene stealers of the night were the signature sweet potato and Dungeness crabcakes and the truffled mushroom mousse herbed choux puff. I didn’t get a picture of the crabcakes because I ate them too fast and the server who had them ran away. Well, she got pulled away, those puppies were in high demand.

And then, honest to goodness, the best cupcakes I’ve ever had care of Sugar Rush Baking Company. Clearly, I’ve been getting my cupcakes on the wrong side of California Avenue.

All in all, the venue, the drinks and the food totally won me over. Now, I just need to make my case to the rest of my team.