a date in madrona

The ice cream cone has often played a romantic yet precarious role in the history of dates. Your author, in fact, very clearly remembers asking a boy out for ice cream in high school and making the regrettable decision of ordering a scoop of mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone on a warm spring day. While I tried to manage the neon-green liquid running everywhere, my date said, "you're grossing me out, Emilia" as he neatly ate his ice cream from a cup with a spoon.

Charlie and Rumi, our Wallingford kitchen manager, faced a similar dilemma of to-cone or not-to-cone on their first date last summer, before Rumi even joined the #mooncrew. The story of Rumi and Charlie's first date is a sweet one, for sure! They started their date at Capitol Cider on the Hill and after having a few drinks there, Rumi suggested a walk. Charlie asked if she wanted to get ice cream at Molly Moon's.

Rumi picked out Earl Grey ice cream in a cup. Charlie went with chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. "He was afraid of spilling all over himself, but just couldn't pass up the cone," Rumi says with a smile.

"We had a great time, but it didn't feel very date-like so I wasn't sure it was one," Rumi says. After many more successful dates, Rumi brought it up and Charlie's response was, "I took you out for ice cream! Of course it was a date!"

Fast forward to the present when Charlie and Rumi went on another cider/ice cream date ... this time on a rainy fall evening in Madrona, one of Seattle's sweetest little neighborhoods on the edge of Lake Washington.

Chuck's Hop Shop
One of the awesome things about Madrona is its proximity to great eats and drinks in the Central District. Rumi and Charlie started their date at Chuck's Hop Shop on East Union, where they each got a new cider flavor. Chuck's was crowded, but they managed to find seats at a counter by the window, where they had a cider taste-test. "It was cloudy and drizzling outside so it felt especially cozy."

Wood Shop BBQ
For food, Chuck's has a rotating roster of food trucks, and the selection is insane, from Snout & Co and their Cuban-style pork to Napkin Friends and their messy/tasty latke sandwiches. (When you go, check their website for the calendar so you can pick a night when they're serving your favorite kind of food!) For Rumi and Charlie's date night, Wood Shop BBQ was on hand to dish up delicious hickory-smoked meats. Charlie had ribs and Rumi got a brisket sandwich, which they serve on brioche with buttermilk coleslaw. "Both were delicious and there were no messy spills!" Sounds like a successful dinner date to us!

Molly Moon's
"Charlie was THRILLED that the Madrona location has the ice cream cookie sammies as that's one of his favorite desserts," Rumi says. "He especially loves the cookies!" (The Parker Praline ice cream sammy is something we only do in Madrona, since their freezer is too small to have all fourteen flavors at once!) Rumi went with her favorite cone: Melted Chocolate with hot fudge in a waffle cone.

"We had such a fun night!" Rumi says. "Since Charlie's going through grad school and our time together can be limited. So it was really nice to have a night together that was low-key and yet still fun and delicious!"