Seattle loves its food and prides itself on its variety of restaurants and the seriously innovative chefs that make a name for themselves in town. In fact, you can get a great idea of what food Seattle has to offer just by staying in the Bell Town and Pike Place neighborhoods.

"Ahh - Lapsang Souchong," says Brett, an enthusiastic tea salesman at Queen Anne Teacup Tea Market, who relishes my selection of a black Chinese smoked tea.

It's a small teahouse situated along Queen Anne Avenue that would probably be mistaken for a standard café were it not for the wall of metal drums that line the south wall and filled with hundreds of pounds of loose leaf tea. Brett takes the time to write out the name of the tea in Chinese script underneath its English name. A bit showy, but it's a nice touch and instills within me a sense of confidence.

Seattle is a beer city. Besides the well-known and large scale breweries such as Pyramid and Redhook, you can't swing an empty pint glass without it smashing against a local brewpub. Yet, if the lure of locally grown hops and grains isn't enough to satisfy your taste buds, you can try your non-glass shard wounded hand at the expanse of esoteric beer venues in Seattle.