Images from Dale Chihuly’s Collections Cafe Restaurant

A few weeks ago I was in Seattle for a friend’s wedding with Muma, Daddo, Sisser and Jimmy Jimster. It was an adult only wedding so The Hubs stayed home with Turtle and Bean. It was the first time I had been away from Turtle overnight and the first time I had been away overnight from Bean for pleasure (I’ve gone away for work a few times.) It was bittersweet being away from my kiddos and The Hubs but it was nice to enjoy some adult time. We spent the night in Seattle (I bunked up with Muma and Daddo since I was the 5th wheel) and on Sunday got up and spent the day at Chihuly’s Glass and Garden Exhibit. I shared images of the glass from the Chihuly exhibit last week, so this week I thought I would focus on images from Dale Chihuly’s Collections Cafe Restaurant.

If you’ve spent much time around Sew Creative you know that I love food, vintage and creative people so Chihuly’s Collections Cafe was like my dream restaurant. Dale Chihuly has been curating collections since his childhood. Our waiter told us that he has warehouses full of vintage items that he has collected from vintage televisions- to retro cameras- to old fashioned bottle openers.

When you walk into the restaurant this is the site that you see. Vintage  accordions suspended from the ceiling. The accordions are suspended above the entire length of the restaurant. In the left hand side of the photo is Dale Chihuly’s artwork which is back lit so it glows. It is truly breathtaking.

Each of the tables is a display case for a themed collection. I loved the vintage color palette of these toy trailers and cars. I commented to my family that I wished that we were the only people in the restaurant so that I could look at each and ever collection and photograph them all. Alas we were not.

I collected windup toys when I was a kid. I had big Adam’s peanut butter tubs full of windup toys. They were plastic ones though not cool tin windup toys like the ones that Chihuly has collected displayed in this table.

I’ve always thought that retro cameras are fascinatin. Photography has changed so much since it’s creation. It would be interesting to learn how each of these cameras worked and the differences between each of them.

Whenever a table of customers would leave the restaurant I would jump up, run to their table and photograph the collection inside. These handheld radios were one photo that I snapped between the time that diners left and the new diners were seated.

There were also collections on shelves on the walls. These retro radios were above our table. It made me want to go on Etsy and see what vintage radios were available to buy online. Both of my parents reminisced about their parents and grandparents having radios similar to the ones on the shelf above us.

This post obviously would not be complete without mentioning the food… oh the food. It was delicious. For $39 a person you can buy a ticket that includes a 3 course brunch and a ticket to the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit.

Our meal was out of this world Chefs Jeff Maxfield and Ivan Szilak have put together a carefully selected group of dedicated ranchers, fisherman, foragers and farmers that supply the restaurant with the best that the Northwest has to offer. The food is fresh, flavorful, delicious and local!

The brunch is 3 courses and there are a variety of items that you can chose from for each course. The menu changes seasonly. My meal started with (top left) a watermelon gazpacho, I think it was the most delicious soup that I’ve ever eaten. I wanted to lick the bowl when I was done. My main course was (bottom left) steak, a Yukon potato rosti and eggs atop fresh mozzarella. The steak was beautifully seasoned with thyme sea salt. For dessert (bottom right) I selected the salted caramel brownie. On the top right is a photo of Daddo’s breakfast, a salmon benedict… yum. Muma and sisser had the shrimp and grits which is what I would order the next time I visit Collections cafe. I also had a strawberry lavender mimosa… because no brunch is complete without mimosa (especially when they are only $3.00!)

The food at Dale Chihuly’s Collections Cafe was delicious. I would recommend that anyone who makes trip to Seattle visit both the Collections Cafe and the Garden and Glass Exhibit.

The ambiance at Collections Cafe is unlike any other restaurant I’ve ever been to. It was such a delight to get a glimpse into Dale Chihuly’s private vintage collections. In my dream of dreams I would one day be able to visit one of the warehouses that Chihuly stores his vintage collections in. LOL. Well, it’s good to have dreams.

This is not a sponsored post, my ticket to the exhibit and my meal were all paid for by myself. I am writing about this experience for no other reason than that it was a once in a lifetime experience that I want to share with my readers. I can’t wait to go back again!

Tell me… What is the most visually interesting restaurant that you ever ate at? Did the taste of the food match up to the visual appeal of the restaurant? Have you ever been to Seattle? Have you seen any of Dale Chihuly’s work?

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