Find a hidden treat

at Swanson's Cafe

Festivities Garden Caf/

Swanson's Nursery

9701 15th Ave. N.W.

789-1163

Open daily, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Lunch served until 4:00 p.m.

By Patricia Devine and Jim Anderson

Eating cute little sandwiches in the midst of opulent greenery and pretty carp swimming in a pool evokes memories for us of grandma-style outings.

At Festivities Garden Caf/ at Swanson's Nursery in NoBal (North Ballard), seasonal ingredients and pleasing presentation help make trips to the garden store more than just a search for something to put in the ground. Nothing works up a hankering for a focaccia BLT quite like shopping for the latest variety of osmanthus, and you'll find it at Swanson's.

It's the best place in town to wear those weird brightly colored gardening clogs out to lunch.

Tucked into the sprawling new atrium, Festivities serves up fresh and imaginative food accompanied by the sound of water, soft music drifting down thorough the palm fronds and kids laughing as they eyeball the large pool teeming with colorful carp. A few of the carp are bigger than some of the children, and while this gave us pause, none of them were pulled into the pool by the fish.

Here, the very old intermingle with the very young, leaving the friendly high schoolers to take orders, cook and serve the food. It is hard to imagine a place that teens would find more boring and stuffy than this, but for diners over 40 and parents of young children, this is a calm and relaxing oasis.

There's plenty of room for strollers next to the tables, and toddlers won't bother anyone because they are so entertained watching the fish in awe.

The vegetarian sandwich ($6.95) is pretty-as-a-picture, with colorful and chilled cucumbers, ripe tomatoes and fair-style saut/ed onions nestled into dense, thinly sliced whole-wheat bread. This winning offering sparks memories of early hippy-era sandwiches of the 1960s, when piling nothing but vegetables onto whole wheat bread seemed delightfully revolutionary.

The BLT ($6.95), served on fresh focaccia, is a nice contrast to the vegetarian sando. Cushioned by soft and deep green avocado and herbed cream cheese, crisp and crunchy bacon balances the juicy tomato, creating one of the most tempting BLTs we've encountered of recent. The same focaccia bread and herbed cream cheese spread comes as a side with the seasonal soups.

Salads are of course top-notch here, and are the life-blood of place like Swanson's, with the abundance of health conscious eaters. While undeniably inevitable, the generously portioned walnut and gorgonzola salad ($5.95) dazzles with its herbed dressing and light touch. The more robust potato salad ($3.95) is nicely flecked with fresh dill, maintaining a smooth and creamy texture without causing us to look up the number for our cardiologist.

Festivities puts forth the effort to make the food special, with an eye toward design. Whether attractively and thoughtfully laid on plates or in crafty little baskets, it's clear that they care about the food enough to make it look good on your plate.

This is upscale comfort food, but still priced to move. The family-friendly menu also offers varied and diverse fare like chicken enchiladas, mac n' cheese, hot soup, and a variety of bountiful and inviting desserts.

Espresso drinks are available, too, so this is a great stop on a morning walk.

With the flagstone-style floor and plants hanging low all over the room, the environment hints at the Northwest Hacienda tradition. Adding an Asian touch are the carp, which opened their mouths rhythmically and appeared to be mouthing some words. We weren't sure, but at one point one of the carp appeared to be looking right at us and mouthing "please give me some of your sandwich."

We've heard rumors before of the talking carp at Swanson's, and this incident added lightness and humor to our delightful, relaxing and nicely-priced meal.

Patricia Devine and Jim Anderson are long time Ballard residents, and have been writing about politics, music, art and food since 1980. Their work has appeared in the Rocket Magazine, The Seattle Weekly, the Stranger, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Ballard News Tribune. They can be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com.