I was in Seattle for work, so they provided us boxed lunches during our training. The first day was from Gretchen’s Shoebox. It’s a cute name. It’s a jam packed box. This was a turkey sandwich with swiss. There wasn’t enough turkey and the sourdough bread was a bit on the tough side. It was hard to eat and rather boring. Also included were some Tim’s chips, a fruit salad, bottled water, and a cookie. I preferred everything aside from the sandwich.
The next morning, S brought in some donuts from Top Pot. It’s a local Seattle chain.
My goodness. I did not even try any of these because they look too darn hardcore for me. I actually prefer very simple donuts, like just plain cake or plain cinnamon. But everything in this box had a thick shellac of glaze or frosting or chocolate or cream and it just scared me. It probably would have given me a heart attack. So I skipped it, but it does look intense!
This day’s lunch was from the Firestation Deli. This boxed lunch was so much better! This sandwich was the california turkey: served on soft sourdough with turkey, home made ranch dressing, bacon, avocado, shredded lettuce, and tomato. I absolutely loved this sandwich. I devoured it! It also came with Tim’s chips, a cookie, bottled water, and apple slices, along with a germ x soft wipe, which I thought was a most excellent touch.

As an amateur local food blogger, on random occasions, I get invited to things. Trust me, it happens rarely, but when it does, sometimes I go. So this is how I ended up at a most random lunch, hosted by Chevrolet, for the launch of the Cruze, a new car on the American market. They decided to combine cars, cupcakes, and bloggers. Random, I know! But it was a great day. I got to drive this zippy little car to center city where they were having people take the Cruze for a drive, and then they got a free cupcake! Cars and cupcakes, who would have though? They partnered up with Buttercream, Philadelphia’s original cupcake truck. I love that Kate gave up a career in law for a career in cupcakes. Not a bad trade in my book! More on the actual cupcake at the end of this post, because I didn’t spoil my lunch by eating my cupcake first!
They took a couple of us food bloggers and a couple of non-food bloggers for lunch at the Kite & Key. I actually remember when this place opened and had been wanting to check it out, so I was super excited when they told me this is where we were going. H, the other food blogger with us, had suggested it. Thanks H!
The soup special of the day was this creamy cauliflower and bacon soup. Mmm… a vegetable along with bacon. Kind of takes the health out of it, but it was delicious! And the bread that they served with it? Perfect. It was just perfect.
The gnocchi appetizer… I can’t exactly remember how this was prepared but it had cherry tomatoes and cheese, obviously, but what I remember is how good it was. The gnocchi was thick, dense, chewy, and delicious.
Since I got the soup, I decided to get an appetizer and not an entree or sandwich. Here are my crepes de bouf. Holy sh!tbirds, this was good! There are crepes stuffed with braised short rib, caramelized onions, and gruyere cheese. It was a sweet and savory flavor bomb. The short rib and cheese were savory, the crepe and onions were sweet, and together, perfect freakin’ harmony. Seriously guys, this was good. H thought that I picked the best dish of all. And I can’t disagree.
Let’s move on to the bigger plates. Here’s the PBBLT, the pork belly, bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, served with rosemary mayo and potato chips. There’s a big pork belly theme going on at the kite & key, and I’m a fan of any place who loves pork belly this much.
This veggie burger is also quite impressive looking. We have shredded cabbage, asparagus, red pepper, shitakes, carrots, swiss cheese, alfalfa sprouts, and horseradish mayo on a brioche bun. Served with these ubiquitous potato chips. This ain’t no boca burger!
But as far as impressiveness from size goes, the fish & chips wins, hand down. Here we have two ginormous pieces of Yards beer battered fish, piled on top of a plate full of fries. Really though, who can actually eat all of this in one sitting?
Finally, it was time for dessert. I don’t know how much the kite & key appreciated that we brought our own desserts, but they didn’t say anything to us. Buttercream has quite a selection of flavors, but I was immediately drawn to the red velvet with cream cheese frosting. Whoa. What really blew me away was the frosting. I am not a frosting girl. In fact, usually when I eat cake, I scrape most of the frosting off. It’s typically too sweet or too thick for me. I like my cake to frosting ratio to be relatively high. But man, this frosting is delicious. It has a light and airy texture, which is the first thing I noticed. And there’s not too much of it. And it has a great flavor without being overly sweet and sugary, to the point of being way too much. Eating this frosting doesn’t immediately make me have to chug a glass of water. The cake part was good too! But not nearly as good as the frosting. This is definitely a first for me! I am a fan! And they have tons of other unique flavors that I will have to check out. Thanks to Chevy and the Cupcake Lady for a fun lunch!

After some more exploring in Short North, we got hungry again and stopped by Tasi for a late brunch. It’s tucked away in an alley off of the main High Street strip. It is a casual place where you order at the counter and they bring the food to you when ready. They aim for seasonal, all natural, and healthy dishes. They also have a variety of breads and pastries baked daily.

The bro’s Italian Stallion sandwich! Mortadella, salami, coppa, sweet peppers, onions, and tomato aioli served in an olive oil loaf.  A delicious italian hoagie-like sandwich!

My ma’s toasted croissant sandwich with fried egg, canadian bacon, and swiss cheese, served with a side of fresh fruit.

My Huevos Rancheros with black bean cake. These black bean cakes were basically quesadillas, but instead of being filled with cheese and chicken or something, it’s filled with a little cheese and crushed black beans. What a fantastic idea. And instead of being eaten with salsa, you eat it with the accompanying poached eggs and sauce, gravy, or whatever you want to call it. I don’t know what this stuff is, but I know it tastes good and I loved it. The whole dish was new and great. The staff is nice and friendly. There’s little interaction with them since it’s a get-a-number and mostly serve yourself kind of place. W found this gem from a local Columbus blog, and we’re glad she did!