sandpiper

I think the flavor of abalone and sauteed geoduck are similar. Both sweet meat, with the additional taste of the sea. Raw geoduck sashimi tastes similar to and has the crunchiness of cucumber with the flavor of the sea. Geoduck is much sweeter than Pacific razor clams, for instance, which are also tasty. If you don't like clams in general, you will not like geoduck. I will spare you all my photos of digging, cleaning and preparing geoducks.

In Seattle: For Salumi...to avoid the crowds and get a table (especially for a group), we are there at 11am when they open. They have just started selling their salumi at my neighborhood grocery store, Metropolitan Market, so that makes me happy. If you like Vietnamese, Seattle is strong in this area. Monsoon for upscale, Tamarind Tree is more casual and authentic and has good 7 courses of Beef, and Green Leaf is more casual yet, but really excellent. Their bahn xeo is the PNW foodie group's favorite. Tom Douglas' restaurants can be hit or miss, but are a good example of Seattle cuisine. Lark is another favorite, as is Union for wonderful food. I regret I have no recent info on Portland, but 2 websites/blogs that are very Portland centric are extramsg's blog and Jim Dixon Real Good Food

Thanks for the heads up on this show I wanted to see. Seriously! Made a note it's on July 19. Bourdain also did a show on geoducks when he was in the PNW, but I have not seen it, either. I noticed a lot of jokes about geoducks today or recently, but I'm hear to tell you that geoducks are fabulous tasting. I slice the necks thinly to eat as sashimi, and cut the rest in stips to bread in egg and panko, then quickly fry, and serve w/ tarter sauce. They are so sweet and delectable! A family favorite (I live in Seattle). Taylor Shellfish is growing millions of them on the beach in front of our vacation home on Puget Sound area.

Thank you everyone for all these wonderful and helpful suggestions.

I'm looking for cheap eats in the Smithsonian Museums area (particularly close to Air & Space Museum) for a friend and his kids who will be visiting several museums next week. I've found some ideas for lunches and dinners (mostly using metro), but have not found anything for breakfasts. Any ideas on an inexpensive breakfast or would they have to take metro for that as well? And where? They are staying at Holiday Inn Washington-Capitol, 550 C St SW, Washington, DC, 1 block from Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and 1 block from Metro., map is Here Also I have learned his 12 year old daughter is somewhat of a picky eater, making lunch and dinner options more challenging. She likes macaroni & cheese, and chicken fingers/tenders (like most kids)... so does anyone know of a place nearby the Air & Space museum, or the other museums in the neighborhood, she could find them (and reasonably priced)? Thank you.