Food
Year in Review - 2025
Good Eatin’ - At home and Abroad
In 2025 I had the amazing experience of visiting France for the first time and Switzerland for my second time! Along with the many adventures to be had and sites to be seen was, of course, a myriad of great eats. As you’ll read more below, I was graced with great cheese, elegant dinners, and an even greater love for steak.
Back on the homefront, the food was pretty fantastic as well. The best thing I ate in 2025 was the Fried Chicken sandwich from Impeckable Chicken via their food truck outside of Urban Family and Bale Breaker breweries respectively. Sandwiches were a big theme for me (when aren’t they?), particularly breakfast as I dabbled with Ben’s Bread and homemade bagel sandwiches with bagels from Backyard Bagel. To wash it all down? My obsession with Cold Brew continues to grow, particularly Seattle Strong’s unbeatable Light Roast and Classic Roast.
Come along with me as I reminisce about my favorite eats!
Le Relais de L’entrecote
Where: Paris, France
What: Steak Frites
Please don’t ask me how to say the name of this place, my French is abysmal… but by god I’ll vouch for the food. Mara and I waited in line for over an hour to get seated at this famous French spot, but it was totally worth it when we were placed at the table right at the front of the restaurant. Le Relais only does one thing but it does it really well - Steak Frites! Everything was delicious, so much so that Mara made their signature sauce back at home and reminded us of just how good this experience was.
Backyard Bagel
Where: Seattle, WA (Fremont)
What: Bagels - Sea Salt, Onion; Cold Brew
2025 was absolutely a year of bagels making a resurgence in my carb rotation, and a lot of that has to do with Backyard Bagel (or as I would often mistakenly call it, Kevin’s Bagels) opening up near our house on Fremont Ave.
My Saturday morning routine would be to run over to their shop, right at opening at 8am, and grab a handful of bagels and their delicious cold brew. Then, I’d slice them open at home and top them with eggs and bacon. I was spoiled for breakfast!
Outsider BBQ
Where: Seattle, WA
What: Sausage (Regular and Jalapeno Chedder), Brisket
I love a good BBQ spot, and truthfully Seattle hasn’t had many of them in the years I’ve lived here. I’m also a bit funny when it comes to BBQ - smoked sausage is by far my favorite thing to get! For that reason I picked Outsider BBQ for my Birthday Dinner and was not disappointed by their delicious medley of meats.
My favorite touch is the BBQ sauce and mustard they use, which brings the meal to another level! The challenge? It can be so much food if you aren’t careful with your order, so I’ve had to cut back to make sure I literally don’t bite off more than I can chew.
Great Notion
Where: Seattle, WA (Ballard)
What: Beer, Smash Burgers, Hush Puppies
Great Notion was Mara and I’s cozy Friday spot, the place we could go to at the end of every week and know we could get a table, a delicious beer, and one of the more under-rated smash burgers in the city.
Great notion has some off-beat beers, including their Blueberry Muffin Sour which I highly recommend, even if you don’t typically have a sweet tooth.
While I love Reuben’s, Great Notion is kitty corner and doesn’t always get as much traffic, meaning you’ll get lots of care from the staff.
Ben’s Bread
Where: Seattle, WA (Phinney Ridge)
What: Sourdough Bread, Breakfast Sandwich w/ Bacon
Ben’s Bread was one of 2025’s standout spots and got a lot of social media buzz. So the first time I tried it, as expected, there was a long line out the door and around the corner. I’m happy to say it was well worth the wait, and I try to make semi-regular trips back for the breakfast sandwich but particularly their sourdough bread, which was a wonderful flavor.
Of course now I know to go on off-hours or earlier in the morning, and lines have rarely been an issue since!
Local Tide
Where: Seattle, WA (Fremont)
What: Smash Burger
I was pleasantly surprised that Local Tide, primarily known for its seafood, had a smash burger that people have been raving about.
It was Mara’s lucky day when we did finally show up as they were doing a Shrimp Po’boy special, which she insists was excellent! The smash burgers absolutely delivered, I would even say exceeded, on expectations and went great with a crisp beer from Pfriem.
What’s cool about this spot is that it is right next door to Aslan brewing, and so you can either eat there or head the brewery next door and put an order in. Certainly a great spot in Fremont if you happen to be in the area, though reservations are recommended!
I ate two…
Seattle Strong
Where: Seattle area grocery stores (Fred Meyer)
What: Cold Brew - Classic Roast, Light Roast, Bold Roast
This here might by my MVP across all food and beverage consumed in 2025. I had at least one of these every week, and sometimes two; so much so, that when Mara checked her grocery stats at the end of the year (yeah Fred Meyer does that, who knew?!), this was our number one purchased item.
I drink a lot of cold brew, including my own home brewed, but nothing matches the flavor or quality of Seattle Strong. If I had to point to one aspect, it’s the smoothness of the drink that really keeps me coming back.
Hey! Bagel
Where: Seattle, WA (U District)
What: Half-Dozen Assortment
Though a little farther from me than the above Backyard Bagel, Hey! Bagel in University Village has been another standout bagel spot this year that I just couldn’t go without mentioning. It always hit the spot on our “mall days” where Mara and I had an errand at U Village and wanted to get some breakfast first.
What I love differently about Hey! Bagel is how delicious they are hot out of the basket. These are bagels that I immediately want to rip open while they are steaming and throw some schmear on. If I’m being totally objective, I think I have to say I like the flavor profile here more than Backyard (but don’t tell Kevin!).
Impeckable Chicken
Where: Seattle, WA (Roaming Food Truck)
What: Fried Chicken Sandwich
As I already spoiled above, this was the best thing I ate in 2025! Chicken sandwiches have never really been a go-to item for me, as I typically prefer a burger. I love friend chicken, but I often find that chicken sandwiches are more soggy than crispy, and I’m all about the texture.
Impeckable completely broke that mold, delivering on a chicken sandwich that is incredibly flavorful AND crispy! It comes with a side of fries that are very solid, but clearly not the star of the show. I’ve only had the classic sandwich so far, so next time I may have to try one of their specials.
Switzerland & France Highlights
Zurich Bakery
One of many bakeries we found ourselves at during the trip. Delicious croissants, cinnamon pastries, coffee, and sandwiches.
Pasta in Lyon
This truffle pasta was to die for! And I’m saying this even though it was Mara’s pasta, I ordered something different (and was quickly very envious).
Swiss Picnic
Grabbed some local fare from a Swiss grocery store. Thus begun my obsession with soft cheeses (Camembert and Brie). We also came across these really cool local market sheds on our walk where you could purchase venison jerkey and apple juice!
Swiss Sausage
The Swiss take their sausage seriously and I am ALL ABOUT IT. I was sad I only went here once; so simple, but so perfectly executed.
Andouillette in Lyon
Andouillette is a Lyon culinary staple with humble origins. The working class were often left with the animal scraps the rich didn’t want, which led to dishes like this. While I appreciated the hard scrabble origin, there just wasn’t any way of preparing intestines that I could get too excited about… a handful of bites in, and I was content to say I tried it.
Snails & Beef Bourginon
Ending on a high note, Mara found this delightful and intimate French bistro tucked away on a small street in Paris. Wow the city really lives up to its reputation. At this seemingly hidden gem, we were lucky enough to discover a daily special of beef bourginon that sounds (and tasted) so good that we both ordered it! Ahead of that, I tried snails for the first time and really liked them! Certainly an unusual texture, but they were prepared in a really memorable and flavorful fashion.
I thought the best way to round out this reflection would be to look back at all the great food Mara & I had in Switzerland and France. As expected, it was a culinary adventure and delight, and every day had something memorable. Almost all of that was positive, with the one exception of Lyon’s unique Andouillete (intestines) that I was brave enough to try, but not brave enough to finish. That detour aside, here were my favorites from 2 weeks in Europe: