LATEST

This Is Mountain Food

We’re talking gourmet meals, not trail mix.

Shepstew sozz0p

WHAT  Sherpa Stew

WHERE  Wild Berry Restaurant, Ashford

WHEN  After—or during—a rainy Rainier camping trip

WHY  The rich beef-and-dumpling soup has real mountain bona fides—the eatery’s owners are Sherpas who hail from the foot of Mount Everest.

* * *

Bread cheese qtx0ti

WHAT  Sea Salt Baguette and Homemade Goat Cheese

WHERE Mazama Store, Mazama

WHEN  For lunch during a Methow Valley bike ride

WHY Chow down picnic style in the garden, the social center of Mazama (population 208).  

* * *

Roll srexsz

WHAT  Cinnamon Roll

WHERE  Skagit River Resort, Marblemount

WHEN  For breakfast on a cross-Cascade scenic drive

WHY  Owner Tootsie Clark, 93, bakes these soft rolls for the road crews that clear Highway 20 every spring, and they’re as big as grapefruits. Forks are not optional. 

* * *

Shake ez9zyz

WHAT  Huckleberry Milk Shake

WHERE  Alpen Drive-In, Sultan

WHEN  Going either direction across Highway 2

WHY  The kitsch is strong with this one: There are as many colors on the bright picnic shelters as there are flavors on the encyclopedic milk shake menu

* * *

Burger beer hinb3u

WHAT   Mookie Burger and Beer

WHERE  North Bend Bar and Grill, North Bend

WHEN  After a Snoqualmie Pass hike, to offset all that bloody exercise

WHY  Tillamook cheddar is stuffed into the burger patty, and the tap list includes Georgetown favorites and, of course, Rainier.

* * *

Pie utclj8

WHAT  Blackberry Pie a la Mode

WHERE  Copper Creek Inn, Ashford

WHEN  Anytime you pass it. Every time you pass it. 

WHY   The Rainier-area eatery has been open for 60-plus years and famous for its sweet, gooey berry mess almost as long. It’s tradition. 

Published in the 35 Outdoor Adventures issue of Seattle Met.











Allison Williams
Allison Williams
Since joining Seattle Met in 2011, Allison Williams has overseen the magazine’s travel and outdoor coverage, including deep dives into Olympic National Park, the Columbia River, and a Burger King drive-thru in Canada. She edits the travel-focused blog Tripster and contributes service, news, interview, and narrative pieces to the magazine, including long-form features about mountain mysteries and puppies in prison. She’s earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and been nominated for a City and Regional Magazine award.  Allison was raised here in Olympia and studied writing at Duke University, Oxford University, Columbia Journalism School, and University of Alaska. She began her career in New York City in the newsrooms of Metro newspaper and Time Out New York, then hightailed it back to her native habitat so she could write guidebooks and climb mountains.