Behind the Sign

I vividly recall my first encounter with Turkish coffee. It wasn’t in Turkey, but in Athens, Greece. I ordered a coffee at a street cafe, expecting the usual steaming hot mug of percolated joe that I’d come to know and love in the good ole USofA. Instead, to my astonishment, I was served a demitasse cup that looked straight out of my kid sister’s make believe tea set, filled with an aromatic brown sludge. That first sip forever changed my perception of coffee, and after my initial shock wore off, I discovered that I really liked it. I still do. Which is way I was so delighted to discover the existence of the Corner Caffé in Anacortes. 

If you really love ice cream, the Boehms Bar could become your gold standard when it comes to frozen confections on a stick. We're talking next level stuff here, and it has a great origin story as well.

You don't have to book an international flight to experience breakfast in Bangkok. It's actually as close as downtown Mount Vernon, thanks to Thai House and its gutsy owner, Jessie Wongkaew. It's a shame Somerset Maugham never made it out here. You'll understand what I mean when you read this story on a new Magic Skagit breakfast option.

I will never forget my first mangonada. It was at the Skagit County Fair three years ago. I’d seen Hispanic families walking around with these amazing looking “smoothies,” and I was pretty sure were made with mango. I’ll admit that the mango spears sticking up from the colorful melange were something of a giveaway as to main ingredient. Looking over the menu at a Mexican snack food stand one afternoon, I was able to identify the mystery mango smoothie as a mangonada, and I promptly ordered one. It proved to be a life changing experience.

Martini Brunch lays claim to a unique culinary genre in the Skagit Valley’s restaurant scene: an “adults-only” party breakfast and lunch venue. Located on 2nd Street, just a few blocks south of Mount Vernon’s downtown core, the bill of fare includes scrumptious eggs Benedicts, buttermilk biscuits and gravy, a “not-so-classic” breakfast plate with spicy pulled pork and giardinera (pickled vegetables), and many more brunch plates that put an entirely new spin on the concept of “scratch cooking.”

Our most recent Thai food discovery has been Taste of Thai by Wipa, and it’s quickly become a favorite. We had driven past its location for years (right off Burlington Blvd. next to the Fred Meyer), but it was word-of-mouth that finally convinced us to give it a try. I’m thankful that we did. Read on and discover why.