Food and Gays and Bears... Oh My!

Guest Posts

Jul 31

Written By

[Hey, this is Adam The Amateur Gourmet. I'm on vacation in Barcelona, Spain and while I'm gone I've asked some awesome people to fill in for me. Today is theater legend day and our first post comes from one of my absolute heros, Mr. Hunter Bell, Tony-nominated book writer for the hit Broadway show, [title of show]. Last year, Hunter told us what Broadway stars eat backstage, and this year Hunter takes us on a cruise with Rosie O'Donnell. Except Rosie wasn't on the boat with him, but we'll let that go. Take it away, Hunter!]

Hello food nerds or f’nerds. Hunter Bell here and I am honored to be a guest blogger. A year ago I guest blogged about pre-Broadway show eatin’

[See here!]

Well now, my [title of show] peeps and I have taken the show on the road, or on the water rather. We had the good fortune to write and perform a new show we debuted on the most excellent r family cruise.

For those of you not in the know, the r family vacas provide kick ass adventures for the LGBT community and their families. It is an amazing atmosphere and this vacation was a cruise to Alaska.

So, not only were there bears in the woods, but there were bears on the boat too. Rim shot. But what does this have to with food Hunter? Well, as you probably know. Cruising=eating. Eating 24/7, and our boat had some good eats. I would wake up, rock the breakfast buffet and by the time we finished breakfast, they had started the lunch buffet so I’d exchange plates and just go for that as well.

Other food highlights include Alaskan Crab legs and the Chocolate buffet. Rows and rows of tables with treats and chocolate fountains. I liked that the staff did not blink when I took some chocolate cake and asked them to “go ahead and dip the cake in the chocolate fountain.”

Luckily, there were hikes and a gym so I did not completely match the weight of the Orcas we saw daily. Side note: Seeing wildlife in the wild, like whales and seals, and eagles and bears...is nutty and awesome. It’s like the Discovery Channel but for reals. But I digress. So once we’d finished our awesome food filled cruise, I had a few days in Seattle.

First time there and we had beautiful weather and more good eats. Saturday night was one of the best burgers I have ever had at Red Mill Burgers. If you are in Seattle this burger is a must (as are the onion rings and shakes.)

Quality meat, fresh ingredients and lots of locals, which is always a good sign.

Seattle day was spent at Pike Place Market. Unbelievable produce, flowers, and of course sea food!

Who doesn’t want their crabs cleaned for free?

Dinner that night was downtown at Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge. Yummy. We started with the Sea Bar Sampler, and for an entrée I had the Alaskan halibut as a tribute to my recent cruise and because it came with a side of buttermilk spatzle. How can you say no to spatzle? Dessert...doughnuts with apricot jam and vanilla mascarpone. By this point, I am moving closer to Orca-size. But the Pacific Northwest eating did not stop there. Brunch the next morning was at Coastal Kitchen.

Hip and yummy. Coffee cake du jour was peanut butter/banana.

It went from this:

To this:

And I chased it with the gingerbread waffle...no judging people...vacation mode eating!

So, now it is back to NYC. Back to treadmills. Back to no chocolate fountains or being surrounded by seals floating on glaciers and meeting so many amazing gay and lesbian couples with their awesome kids! And for you guys, eventually back to your regularly scheduled Adam. Thank you for following my little guest/food blog from Broadway