It’s been a long time. Too long.  I had a baby. My life turned upside down. Now my criteria for restaurants consists of:

1. Loud
2. Highchairs
3. No wait

Okay really we just don’t get out much. The evenings are hard. Trying to keep our child from melting down amidst many people we don’t know is really not that fun.

But brunch…brunch works for us. Especially when we can find one of those places that serve brunch until mid-afternoon, where we can slide into a cozy booth and sip a mimosa while our child tosses cheerios onto the floor.

Peace amidst the chaos.

I was hoping St. Clouds would be that place. We stopped by this past Saturday, walking through a plant-filled courtyard, to see two superman capes hanging by the door. I felt myself relax.

The waiter was a jovial man with a long beard who picked up a baby from another table and carried him around the dining table, as he asked the patrons if they needed more water. Cora smiled at him. It was all good.

They make comfort food at St. Cloud’s, tilting towards mexican. The specialty of the day was cochinita pibil, which I wanted but somehow eschewed in favor of fish tacos. I imagined grilled whitefish, but was pleasantly surprised by the crispy chunks of fish that arrived, piled with a medley of grilled corn, cotija, fresh salsa, and greens. We sipped coffee out of fiestaware mugs and admired the light, while cora threw crispy chunks of fish on the floor.

Blissful.

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St. Clouds

Madrona
1131 34th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122
www.stclouds.com

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After hearing from cakespy that Cupcake Royale had changed their recipe, I decided to give them a second chance. It was cobe’s birthday, after all. And he loves red velvet.

The word is that Jody Hall of Cupcake Royale was so distressed about reports of dry cupcakes that she brought in the heavy hitter—Sue McCown of Coco la ti da—to futz with the recipe. The whole story is in Rebekah Denn’s smartly written prose here.

The end result is that after batches and batches of cupcakes, they have something that can last the day without getting dry. I put this to the test, arriving at 5pm just in time for “cupcake happyhour”—6 for the price of 3. Dangerous when you are a little pregnant lady.

I am obsessed with chocolate these days, so I got 2 each of the triple chocolate, red velvet, and the new chocolate scorcher which features Theo‘s own ghost chili chocolate.

First off, definitely moister. In fact, really quite nice. I am a dense cake person, so I like my cake even moister than these were. A thicker crumb, if you will. But I would chalk that up to personal preference.

The flavors were charming. I loved the red velvet, with its touch of cinnamon sprinkles. The triple chocolate was almost too chocolatey, but to be fair I had it without milk—a rookie mistake. The chocolate scorcher had a buttery smooth frosting with just enough chili to give an edge.

I can safely say I would bring these cupcakes to a party. Especially since they look all pretty in their fancy box. Score one for research.

Next up: Yellow leaf and their infamous tomato soup cake

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Cupcake Royale
www.cupcakeroyale.com

Ballard

(206) 782-9557
2052 NW Market St
Seattle, WA 98107

West Seattle

(206) 932-2971
4556 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116

Madrona

(206) 709-4497
1101 34th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122

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