Art makes me hungry. There's just something about the delicate lines of a 17th-century Dutch portrait that makes my tummy rumble. A couple of Rothkos and I need a candy bar. And just the anticipation of seeing a De Kooning makes me want a glass of wine and a five-course meal. It's a terrible condition to have one's aesthetics bound and linked to one's appetite.
Christian French
Serve it again, SAM: Ming camels and stacked meats.
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Fortunately, Seattle's finer museums also house some of this area's more unique cafe experiences: The Kado Tea Garden in the Seattle Asian Art Museum; the Cafe at the Seattle Art Museum; the Gallery Cafe at the Frye Art Museum; and La Batelle in the Bellevue Square food court—the closest thing to a museum cafe at the Bellevue Art Museum. Join me on a tour. . . .
Kado Tea Garden
1400 E Prospect St
Volunteer Park, Seattle
Thu-Sun 11-4:30
The Cafe at the Seattle Art Museum
100 University St
Downtown, Seattle
Tue-Sun 10-5, Thu 10-9
The Gallery Cafe at the Frye Art Museum
704 Terry Ave
First Hill, Seattle
Tue-Sat 11-4, Thu 11-7:30 (tea time, 2-5), Sun noon-4
La Batelle at Bellevue Square
126 Bellevue Wy
Bellevue Square
Mon-Sat 8-9:30, Sun 9-7
Kado Tea Garden
After taking in Eugene Sung's collection of Chinese snuff bottles, a cup of Wu Wei really hits the spot. The Kado Tea Garden is a small room that's a short flight of stairs from SAAM's main entrance. For me, "Tea Garden" conjures up an image of pseudo-Asian decor—paper lanterns, ceramic Buddhas, painted silk screens. The Kado avoids this clich鬠albeit at the expense of any decoration at all. The windowless, linoleum-tiled room feels like an institution. A couple of paper butterflies hangs from the ceiling and a series of 5-inch-by-5-inch collages are exhibited on the wall, but the fake plants and cheap track lighting take away from any ambiance the room might have.
That said, I urge you to go. Whether you are a tea-drinking diehard or an occasional sipper, Kado offers one of the largest tea selections in all of Seattle. The menu is loaded, with more than 70 varieties. A pot of tea costs around $3, and other yummies—the lavender shortbread, for example, or the humbow with dipping sauce—are equally well priced. The menu is small and not very accommodating if you're looking for lunch, but it's great for a light afternoon nosh. The staff is knowledgeable and prepared to make recommendations.
The Cafe at SAM
The architects of the Seattle Art Museum should receive a prize for their design of SAM's cafe. Halfway up the grand staircase between the main entrance and the exhibition floors, the cafe sits on a mezzanine among Ming dynasty statues of camels and warriors. The museum's south wall is glass, affording the cafe plenty of light.
The cafe offers a seasonal menu of hot and cold entr饳, sandwiches, and various desserts, cookies, and biscotti. My partner Chris and I went for a quick weekday lunch and were surprised at the cafe's speedy turnaround. Even at the busy lunch hour, not more than 10 minutes passed from the time we ordered and the time our meals arrived.
I ordered the alder-smoked salmon chowder and the turkey on nine-grain with fresh mango and cilantro mayonnaise. Chris ordered the link sausage sandwich with peperonata on sun-dried-tomato bread. Our sandwiches were presented neatly on a plate garnished with a wild rice and barley salad. My chowder was thick and creamy, full of flavor, and filled with chunks of salmon and potato. The turkey sandwich was a little intimidating at first. The SAM slices its bread thick and stacks meats and other assorted goodies high.
Of all the museum cafes we visited, the Cafe at SAM feels the least connected to its museum. Yet the disconnect is welcome, with the cafe's energy being a nice contrast to the calm of the galleries. Because of where it is on the staircase—the main route to and from the exhibits—it is a great spot for people watching. (This can be a mixed blessing, though; on the day of our visit, a few hundred high school students were making their way up and down and sometimes back up the stairs.)
Lunch for two came to around $20, and members receive a 10 percent discount. The weekend is busy—expect to work your way through a healthy line.
The Gallery Cafe at the Frye
The Frye Art Museum is located on First Hill between Swedish Hospital and Harborview Medical Center. At lunchtime on weekdays, the cafe is packed with nurses, doctors, and other assorted medical staff. Hospital gossip is high. At noon, the line to order is a little long. Diana, a medical secretary and my lunch date, suggested we mull about the museum a little and wait for the line to ease up a bit.
One of the perks of the Frye is its free admission. One of the downsides is that the paintings tend to be a little boring. Don't get me wrong—I loved the Steven Assael exhibit, his portraits of New York street life, his bold use of light. But 19th-century landscapes, of which the Frye has an endless supply, are hardly the kind of paintings that stimulate an appetite.
