Our Culinary Adventures!

I have cooked a lot of our meals at home, and we have been pretty healthy eaters this Summer.  There is a very nice market close to our apartment called Nu Sagaaya, and it is a little bit like a Central Market (only much smaller) where they have wonderful produce.  So we have had fresh fruit and salads almost every night.  Last night I made homemade chicken teriyaki, and we added some Vietnamese Egg Rolls from the Pho restaurant down the street for the side (I have not been brave enough to try anything like that!)

But, I must confess, we also like dives (I am apologizing to my mother-in-law right now).  Our favorite restaurant in Anchorage thus far has been Tito's Gyros, on 6th Street, right next to our favorite museum.  As you can see from the photo, it isn't much to look at from the outside, and there is only enough seating for 20 folks (max) inside, but the food is AWESOME!  We have been there several times, and the gyro plate and greek salad are magnificent -- good and hot each and every time.  But the most magnificent meal of all came the other day when we were in Seward.

The secretary at Time For Speech is a gal named Ann, who has been here for 38 years (thus making her the closest thing to a 'true' Alaskan I have met) and she knows a lot about all parts of Alaska.  Her husband grew up near Seward, and so she is particularly knowledgable about that little town.  When she heard we were going, she told us we had to eat at Thorn's.  'Try the Halibut basket, you will love it', she said...so when we got to Seward, we were looking at all of these nice restaurants and making our choice (we couldn't remember the name Ann had told us), and we were about to pick one, when we ran across Thorn's, and I said, 'That's it...that's the place Ann told us about.'  But we went inside, and it smelled like cigarette smoke and we looked like tourists, so we walked back out again.  I was planning on taking Natalie to one of the 'better' places in town, but she said, 'No, we want to experience Alaskan culture, and that is where the locals go, so let's try it.'  She really didn't give me a choice in the matter, so I relented.

We went inside and had a basket of fried Halibut that was caught right in the bay next to the restaurant.  And it was glorious.  Plus, we were the ONLY non-locals in the restaurant (we knew this because they greeted everyone else who entered by name).

We had Alaskan beer, french fries and halibut, and I must say, my wife was exactly right...it was clearly the best choice in town.  Not cheap, but very, very good.  And we got to experience a little 'culture' while we were at it.

However, just so you know, tomorrow night I am making homemade chicken and potato soup and Friday night we are going to one of the nicest restaurants in Anchorage, called 'The Bridge'.  We have a 6:30pm reservation for a window table and my wife has requested that we order Alaskan King Crab Legs.  And so it shall be.  We will get dressed up and hit the town for our last night in Anchorage.  Hope everyone is doing well...our time in Anchorage is growing short...looking forward to seeing many of you in the near future!