Eltana Bagels delivers new colorful version:

Their rainbow bagels are usually available only in-store on weekends but they are now making them available for all our neighborhood delivery customers.  These are extremely popular with kids and also just in time to celebrate Pride month in June.

You can add them to your neighborhood delivery order here (delivering in Edmonds, Shoreline or Lake Forest Park on June 17).

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Support: How our local restaurant community rolls

Conor O’Neill, owner/baker at The Cottage Community Bakery, recently shared his gratitude:

“I am blown away and humbled by the support of our tight knit community as The Cottage navigates through a few trials and tribulations.” He went on to share that Bistro 76 has allowed The Cottage to use their kitchen and prep space during their off hours.

“The Cottage staff and I are very grateful to them for providing space for us as the storefront nears completion. Until we transition into our new location, we will be launching an online ordering platform. This will allow us to continue doing what we love and providing the community with fresh baked goods.”

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B-3 Breakfast and Burger Bar, located at 4027 196th S.W. in Lynnwood is currently  highlighted on the Lynnwood Restaurant Showcase, is a great choice for breakfast or lunch items that are served up all day.

Dine in, order to go or utilize one of many delivery options — see links on their website. Please check before you visit as they’ve revised hours of operation. Currently, hours are Monday – Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

I sent the menu link in a text to my hubby and asked what he’d like to order. His response: “A Bloody Mary and a Bloody Maria!”

While their menus extensive list of premium mixed drinks and brew choices is impressive, B-3 isn’t a bar masquerading as a breakfast joint. The interior inviting and comfortable, wide windows create light atmosphere, booth dividers and open tables are distanced in a creative ways, and not a bar stool in sight.

Let’s get to food on this menu. I’ll start off with a Sesame Street rift on their name- B-3. (Imagine, please a Cookie Monster voice)

“What starts with the letter B?”

Bacon, brioche buns, braised strips of fat pork belly. Burgers made of quality ground beef, still slightly pink in the middle, to my taste are just perfect.

“Hey that’s more than three,” said my son. He was right and also agreed — the menu is a delight to read.

Eclectic names on menus always get my attention. I absolutely had to order a sandwich called The BELTCH. I’ll decode for you: B is bacon, E equals eggs, L for leaves of lettuce, T – tomato, C- say cheese and H- hams it up.  If one were to burp, after a few bites it would be a sign of approval, on par with proper etiquette in some cultures.

BELTCH is one of those sandwiches to order when indecisive. You kinda want breakfast but not bacon and eggs on a plate — this item fits the bill and all ingredients are tucked into a brioche bun.

FA-GETTA-BOD-IT? Your truly begs to differ.  I can’t forget about this fabulous burger. Prime beef grilled perfect — a hint of pink in the center. A thick pile of sliced ham, a fried egg the yolk still oozing gold, glossy yolk, mozzarella melting all over the mix of meats, tucked into a tender bun. Topped off with sliced tomato and basil aioli, the flavor vibe guarantees it’d be ordered up by Donnie Brasco if he stopped in for a bite.

How does one improve on a grilled cheese sandwich? Add a slab of sizzling pork belly and some oniony sweet jam and call it a PB&J – Pork Belly and Jam. The menu lists it innocently as Pork Belly, but baby this sandwich is addictive.

Each bite brought back memories of Skillet — Seattle’s innovative food truck that plied their trade out of a vintage Airstream trailer. Skillet prepped their street food operation out of a kitchen, located in the bottom floor of the Seattle Design Center’s building. Bacon jam fumes wafted up the elevator shaft and the delicious aroma would flood our senses every time the door opened on our floor. Fortunately, the kitchen did open on Market Days so we could purchase some of their savory fare. Just can’t beat the combination of salty pork and sweet-savory jam.

Burgers and sandwiches are served up with your choice tiny fries, sweet potato fries, soup or salad. Gluten-free buns are available and, for a trifle more moola, truffle fries or onion rings can accompany the order.

House-made potato chips, which received high praise in past, are not in production again “post-COVID” but the delightful woman on the phonewho took my order promised “Soon.”

Onion rings are worth the extra $2 — a generous portion, which even after a car ride in heavy traffic were still crispy and toothsome.

Ditto the fried pickles:

Crispy coating and crisp snap of the dill encased inside. I’d love to get a recipe for the sauce that accompanied — loads of dill and other herbs in a mayo that had just the right amount of sweet to counter the salt in the pickles.

Soup was clam chowder the day we ordered. The cup’s combination of creamy liquid, tender chopped clams, onion and celery was seasoned just perfectly.

Please note that chicken breast or veggie patties can be added to any sandwich or burger.

More healthy options in the salad department:

Burger Bowl is sure to please those dodging carbs:

Tossed mixed greens, grape tomato, cucumber, prime beef patty, avocado, all dressed with a honey mustard.

Quinoa Power salad drew rave reviews at our table: Crisp spinach, arugula and tender grains of quinoa are topped off with avocado, grape tomatoes, red onions and garbanzo beans, dressed with classic vinaigrette.

All of this is on the lunch menu.

Here is a standout list of the “B’s” that fill out the breakfast side of the menu:

Brioche French toast, Banana Nutella Crepes, blueberry-topped lemon ricotta pancakes, and of course the biscuits and gravy.

Lastly a triple dose of the letter B: fresh berries and bananas top off a Belgian waffle stuffed with walnuts. Wow!

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Lynnwood Restaurant Showcase lists an additional outstanding spot to dine: Sam Oh Jung Restaurant, located at 17425 Highway 99 #A, in Lynnwood. A favorite dine-in experience before COVID times, I am happy to see it back open, and share with readers their excellent and truly authentic Korean fare.  How authentic? Well… their webpage is not in English. https://sam-oh-jung-restaurant.business.site/

On any given weekend, especially on Sundays after local worship services are over, the place is packed with families. We have fond memories of being witness to multi-generational celebrations. Clustered tables of folks, from babies to aged grandparents, the latter entertaining little ones with paper birds formed from gift wrappings or bouncing on their knees, while parents and older siblings enjoy their meals.

Banchan — the name for the collection of small dishes that contain tastes of items like kimchi, pickled veggies, and more — are set in the middle of the table to be shared as one awaits the main course.

Wait staff keep tabs and if they notice an empty dish, inquire if we’d like any refills.

“Yes!” especially for the kimchi and the pickled romaine version too. It’s a tricky dance to enjoy the Banchan and save room in your tummy for the main meal.

An absolute favorite is the Korean Seafood Pancake.

It’s a given that this will be ordered, even if much of it goes home for a late night snack. A confession: I liberally season the savory wedges with the red spicy sauce, which I have dubbed Korean Ketchup, meant only for the Bibimbap.

A bowl of thin, soy-based broth is served alongside the pancake. I cheerfully ignore this and wait.

Since I order the intended dish, the squeeze bottle of the desired condiment shows up at the table…eventually. One cannot request Korean Ketchup ahead of the Bibimbap dish. This I have experienced at many Korean restaurant locations, a passive/non-aggressive way to coax me to use the proper broth, I guess. As we pack up extra portions of seafood pancake to take home, I am quick to fill the corner of the container with sauce, before the bottle is collected by the server.

Oh, the joys of properly prepared Bibimbap.

At Sam Oh Jung, there is no need to discuss the egg that tops this dish. The sunny-side-up egg glistened, topped with slivers of toasted Nori seaweed. A few quick twists of the bowl’s contents distribute the yolk, gently brought to temp by the hot rice and veggies. The sounds of sizzle in the cast iron bowl meant that with patience, the bottom layer of rice would soon be crisped and golden brown. You just cannot replicate the “hot stone” concept in a to-go order.

Soon Dubu Chigae — tofu soup containing egg and Hubby’s choice — mushroom — delighted. He counted several varieties in each spicy spoonful:  “My kind of Korean comfort food.” Accompanied by steaming brown rice, he felt satisfied.

Lastly, a favorite part about dining inside, at Sam Oh Jung is the authentic Korean coffee machine.This wonder dispenses unlimited tiny cups of milky, sweet coffee and Job’s tears tea for free, at the touch of a button.

My honey queried me on the drive up Highway 99. “Do you think they will have the machine going, or will this be another COVID disappointment? It seems the pandemic’s prevented a return of old favorites to menus.” Ah yes, those house-made potato chips!

Elated to see the machine, and its lights indicated it as operational, he paid the bill, stepped over and pressed the button. Like a kid on Christmas morning, his big smile lit the room.

The cashier smiled too. Seems he’s not the only one…

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Fathers need to feel the love. While they do seem to enjoy manning the grill, I’ll bet most would love to sit down and be served. Lucky for them and the rest of us too… the opportunity has truly opened up!

Get out there. Enjoy a meal, seated at a table with your family or a few friends, served on real dishes, eaten with silverware, and drinks sipped from a glass.

Happy Father’s Day, Happy Summer, and soon to come: Happy Fourth of July!

— By Kathy Passage

A specialty gourmet food broker for over 30 years, Kathy Passage has in-depth knowledge on food and the special qualities of ingredients used in the exquisite products she helped bring to market. Kathy brings this unique perspective from the “other side of the plate” to writing about the food and restaurant scene in Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.