Burien Press

I was happy to see they had Kouign-amann pastries at Burien Press. 

Many people think about coffee when someone mentions Seattle. After all, Starbucks began here. There are Starbucks around every corner, but if you look a little harder, you'll find lots of independently owned coffee shops.

Burien Press is one of them. They're located in downtown Burien, which is about 11 miles from Seattle. Not only do they serve high quality coffee, but they also have beer and cider. For something sweet, there's cookies and pastries. The cookies are from Lowrider Baking Co, our favorite cookies in Seattle.

But the best part was seeing the Kouign-amann, a pastry I'd been wanting to try. These round and buttery pastries are originally from the Brittany region in Europe. They have lots of layers of butter and sugar which are folded in, then they're baked until the butter puffs up the dough. The top caramelizes, resulting in something similar to a muffin-shaped, caramelized croissant. And yes, they taste just as good as they sound. Mine should have been warmed first, but I wasn't thinking and the nice girl helping me didn't ask.

To go with my weekend treat, I chose a Soy Vanilla Latte. The barista created some lovely latte art, a cool looking heart, that I always appreciate them doing. The coffee shop has a lot of seating and even some tables outside. I appreciate Starbucks for what it is. It's easy and I always know what to expect. But walking into a new coffee shop is a little more adventurous. Sometimes its fun to try something new!