March 13: Lady Yum

I've never had a macaron before, so I enlisted the help of my daughter, who is home from college for spring break and adores macarons. She's had them before from Jean Philippe Patisserie at Aria Las Vegas, and from Macaron Station in Tacoma, which closed just three weeks ago.

I surprised her with a 10-pack of macarons from Lady Yum, implying that she should share with her mother. It helped that I also surprised my wife with a 50-pack of frozen xiao long bao from Dough Zone, implying that she should share with our daughter.

Ordering was a tiny bit confusing. I arrived at the slow part of the day, with three staff each performing non-checkout functions. Each time one started to help, another said they'd do it, and then they conceded to the other, and then two more would try. We got it sorted out, and I ordered "two of those, and two of those, and two of those..." pointing and naming the ones I wanted. I asked for eight, but they upsold me to 10, pointing out that a 10-pack comes in a case that'll better survive the commute home.

So, at home, we dug into the choices. I jumped in with both feet, having the lemon one. Its smell overpowered the rest of the macarons in the pack, and after biting through the cookie's firm outer shell into its chewy center, and then into the zesty lemon filling within, it had me puckering. That's a lemony lemon cookie.

My daughter started with the the raspberry chardonnay macarons, which started with "wow", but ended with "good, but the raspberry filling was a little too seedy". She then remarked on the forward flavor of the vanilla bean macarons (and the "nice firmness" of the cookie). Nevertheless, she ranked Lady Yum as third out of the three macaron bakers she's tried. She implied the flavors were slightly too aggressive. "The strawberry would be a good medicine flavoring," she said, adding that it tasted like they really ground down a lot of strawberries and concentrated them.

She's yet to try the "shindig" flavor, topped with Fruity Pebbles cereal. She's also waiting on the salted caramel, which she noted has a very sticky filling, and which caused me to ponder the cost of replacement dental work.

It's definitely not a negative review; the cookies are still decadent and flavorful. I expect most of them will be eaten by tonight. If you like macarons, I'd bet that they're the best in town.

And now my daughter is texting me with macaron locations near her upcoming summer internship location. What have I done?

Mr Saigon's bánh mì is on the way (plus a few updates)

Did you know there was a fourth space available for a restaurant in the building? Me neither. Cherry Street took one section, then Źóćáló, and then Mod Pizza ... but I was surprised to hear today that Mod Pizza isn't taking over that whole space. There's one more spot in the northeast corner.

A little bird tells me that it'll soon be the latest outpost of Huy Tat's burgeoning bahn mi empire, Mr Saigon. Seattle Met reports that he's just opened a spot near 2nd and Pike, and that he's got a Pioneer Square location coming soon. My tipster says that it's in our building.

Back in our Federal Way days, I'd occasionally veer way from the phở at my frequent lunch spot and have a bánh mì sandwich. It's a small baguette, meat (I go with chicken), and veggies (cilantro, cucumber, carrots, cabbage).

Mr. Saigon's sandwiches should be cheap, too, especially compared to Grand Central and Delicatus. An undated review of their Central District location -- and the background image on Mr Saigon's web site -- shows prices as low as $5.50 for a classic bánh mì. Fast? Cheap? Tasty? Not pizza? Sounds like a good fit.

There's been no timeline announced for opening, which is admirable. Most restaurateurs seem to throw out a best, soonest possible opening date, and then disappointingly miss it. Better to under-promise, or make no expectations at all.

Otherwise, the neighborhood's been a bit slow. Three things I've noticed:

• Yeah, JuJuBeet opened this week in the old Taco Del Mar space. That's like healthy fruit-and-vegetable juice cleanse voodoo vitamin stuff, though, so you won't catch me near there. 

• Mod Pizza's construction is in full swing; they announced last year that they're targeting an April 2019 opening. I ate at their Union Square location two years ago and said it was "the way I like it: crispy, messy, made to order." I prefer a pepperoni cleanse to a juice cleanse any day.

• Lady Yum and their macarons opened last month, just across the street. It took longer than expected (window signs said Summer 2018), but they made it. I'm waiting a few days until my professional macaron taster arrives in town for a proper review.

And one more nibble: Like Il Corvo? I sure do -- enough that it inspired my cat's name, but not enough to wait in that block-long line. Several sources (the Seattle Times, The Stranger, Eater) are reporting that a dinner version, Il Nido, will be opening near Alki Point next month. That's a bit far for an after-dinner walk, but if you're in that area, well, get in line for dinner.