Livin' the Hi Life

I love the Hi Life in Ballard.  It is one of the two favorite restaurants when our family eats out as a whole.  They serve fresh local food with a menu that updates about every three months with seasonal foods or regional cuisine as an inspiration.  They make great cocktails too.  Their servers are friendly, helpful but not overly clingy and they are exceptional with the needs of people dining out with a family.  They are nice to the kids, don't fuss about a little extra table mess, load you up with napkins, and get the food on the table quickly.  If you eat out with kids, you know how important these things can be. They've recently revamped the kid menu too so it includes some smaller servings of less typical kid foods.  I imagine they're also delicious since they have tasty food over all. Given that our children know the Hi Life as "the mac and cheese place" due to their addiction to the creamy homemade macaroni and cheese, we have not yet strayed from their favorite menu item.  (No, this is not a restaurant review and I have not received any compensation, not even in the form of an extra delicious cocktail to write about their establishment, but I thought I should set the scene for this next little story.)

One of the more recent innovations in their kid-friendliness was the addition of a "decorate your own cookie" dessert to the menu.  The genius of this is that they have devised an egg-free dough that is delivered to your table while you wait for your food.  This is accompanied by a small serving of mini chocolate chips, one of sprinkles and one of red hots.  So, while you get to sip a cocktail and chat with your spouse, the kids are happily occupied with the creation of their dessert.  When they are done, just about the time the food arrives at the table, the server delivers the decorated cookie to the kitchen to be baked.  It is then delivered fresh from the oven when it's time for dessert.  Fantastic.

On the way to dinner, the boys started asking if they would be allowed to order the cookie.  Once they were told yes, they voiced a secret desire.  They wanted to eat the dough.   Raw.   Fine with us, it won't hurt them, they just need to understand there will be no other dessert.
At the table, Mr. Dog and I were happily chatting and sipping our drinks, when Mr. Dog looked at Little Dog's cookie that was being decorated as a smiley face with the chocolate chips making the eyes nose and giant grin.
"What's that?" he asked, looking at the brown flecks on the "cheeks" of the cookie that were neither chocolate chips nor sprinkles.
"Chicken Pox," answered Little Dog.
"I think they're chocolate chip rubble," I answered.
"Chicken pox," says Little Dog again, not even looking up from his work.
"Well, that does make sense," said Mr. Dog, suppressing a chuckle.
"Yes," says Little Dog, still focused on the cookie decorating. "Now I'm going to eat the patient."
I sure hope he doesn't go into medicine.

If you work at the Hi Life and happened to come across this, the crazy table with the two little boys says "Thanks!"