Jessica Baxter

JESSICA dips her toes in many entertainment-related waters. In addition to her work with Not For Tourists, she reviews movies at Film Threat, blogs at her site, Effed By the Wind & assists with music videos & documentaries for King of Hearts Productions. She’s written & directed several award-winning short films, including the horror-comedy, “Snow Day, Bloody Snow Day”. Each day, she must also keep a tiny human amused. In her spare time, she enjoys karaoke & Seattle’s many amazing restaurants.
Neighborhood:
Green Lake / Roosevelt,  Seattle


10 NFT Questions:
My Day Job:
     The unconventional joys of freelancing.
What I'm listening to:
     Mostly Built to Spill.
What I'm reading:
     Re-reading "The Areas of My Expertise" by John Hodgman, whenever possible.
What I've just seen:
     The sun return to Seattle! It really brightens up the place.
What I believe in:
     Douglas Adams' view of the Universe.
What pisses me off:
     Closed-minded hypocrites, Seattle drivers.
What I really think of NFT:
     It's the most liberating job I've ever had.
The question I really wanted to answer was:
     Q: What is your favorite mythical beast?
    A: So hard to choose. Either the unicorn or the fawn.
Further contact info:
     http://www.linkedin.com/in/thebaxter, http://www.facebook.com/thebaxter
What sanctifies me:
     A so-bad-it's-good horror film. A Bob Fosse musical number.

Jessica's Photos


Jessica's Features
Road Dog's Brewery Tours
Where we're going, we need roads.   
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A (Karaoke) Place to Call Home
Eight years ago Jessica Baxter walked into an empty bar in Seattle to "sing" Daydream Believer in front of 3 friends and 6 wasted, possibly dangerous strangers. She wanted more. Now she's a bona fide karaoke expert.   
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Custom Mapguides
New York Trip 2012
My Seattle

Favorite Local Services
Hair
Name: Levi @ Derby Salon   
Phone: 206-526-1470
Street Address: 6315 Roosevelt Way
Cross Street: NE 63rd St
Somehow, this bald man knows exactly what to do with the difficult, straight hair of a woman. He also gives the best head massages and has a great sense of humor to boot!

Jessica Baxter's Reviews & Comments
A La Mode Pies 1/17/2012
Cream of the Crop 2011 was the Year of the Pie, with shops springing up all over Seattle. Our offerings were even featured on a Food Network special about the rise of the pie across the country. The people had spoken. Cake was dead. They wanted crust and fruit filling and mounds of cream. A la Mode gave competitors a big run for their money. While pie men came and went (R.I.P. Piecycle), they expanded, going from just an online retailer (with home delivery) to brick-and-mortar when they opened their café on Phinney. Now you don’t have to give 24-hours notice to enjoy their incredible desserts, which include crumbly French Apple, Mexican Chocolate Mousse, Bourbon Butterscotch and a Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tart that renders your fork useless with its gooeyness. See their website for more mind-blowing regular flavors and check with the café often for their rotating flavors. Sour Cherry was a recent gladiator in their grand pie arena. You can still order whole pies online for a very reasonable $25, but it’s a lot more fun to mix-and-match slices for the complete a la Mode experience. Don’t forget a quart of Bluebird ice cream from their freezer to fulfill your pie destiny.
Holy Cannoli 1/10/2012
Like a Prayer You may not have been aware of this, but for many years now, there has been a tube-shaped hole in the Seattle pastry scene. Fortunately, Detroit transplant, Adrienne Bandlow, has just the cylindrical pastries to fill it. Namely: Four varieties of cannoli (traditional Detroit custard, mocha, chocolate and rum raisin) and three different Stromboli (hog, chicken and vegetarian). They’re pretty small, so you’re going to need to buy a couple of each. Fortunately, they’re also crazy cheap (plus, you get price breaks for half and whole dozens). Let’s face it, Seattle is so hurting for cannoli, that they don’ even have to be that good to make me happy. But they are good. They are excellent, in fact. A word of warning for Sicilians: Bandlow does her cannoli Motor City Style. That means custard instead of ricotta and marscapone. But don’t worry. They will still hit your Italian spot. There are also a couple of salads and sammies on the menu if, for some insane reason, you’re not there for the star attraction. All this, plus extremely friendly service will make you a loyal customer after one visit. Bandlow should be canonized for ending the Seattle Cannoli Famine. Holy Cannoli indeed.
Rat and Rave 9/25/2010
In the interest of retaining my integrity as a reviewer, I must retract my statement about the Rat and Raven's food. Since I wrote this Radar, they have changed their food menu. They still have the cheese curds, but they got rid of most of their specialty burgers and, it seems, changed their veggie burger recipe. (It's now identical to a Garden Burger though they still claim it's house made.) Their meat burger isn't anything special anymore either. The atmosphere is still the same, but their pub food is now entirely unremarkable, if not sub-standard.
Down-Home Goodness 4/21/2009
Their mac and cheese is out of control delicious. Also, if I ever decide to go off the vegetarian wagon, it will with their fried chicken.
Not For Tourists (or Tom Douglas) 4/7/2009
We had no trouble with the service. Our waitress was fine and the Sommelier talked to us for several minutes about our preferences to make sure we were getting a wine we would like. Also, I don't like to judge a place based on one waiter/waitress. Maybe they are having an off day or don't represent the establishment as a whole.

Jessica Baxter's Radars A La Mode Pies
Cream of the Crop
1/18/2012 Restaurants, Greenwood / Phinney Ridge — 2011 was the Year of the Pie, with shops springing up all over Seattle. Our offerings were even feat...

Holy Cannoli
Like a Prayer
1/11/2012 Restaurants, Belltown — You may not have been aware of this, but for many years now, there has been a tube-shaped hole in th...

Nook
All for the Nookie!
6/5/2011 , U District — Seattle was once known as a granola hippie town. Now, it's all about flour and butter. Following the...

The Piecycle
Pie Times
4/11/2011 , U District — This is the tale of the young pie maker named Max. Max baked the finest dessert pies in all the land...

Savatdee Thai
One In A Million
11/30/2010 Restaurants, Green Lake / Roosevelt — Look, I know there are about a million Thai restaurants in the Seattle metropolitan area. So when Sa...

Submitted Listings

Seattle
101 Restaurant & Lounge Emphasis on the word "lounge."
11th Ave Inn Flawless B&B with a shockingly low price tag.
148th Ave Coffee Shop Spacious non-chain option.
1Hundred Bistro & Bar A little bit of Bellevue in South Lake Union.
3.14 Bakery You don't have to be a math wiz to guess their specialty.

Other Cities
Street Treats The neighborhood ice cream truck just got schooled.

Portland
Darcelle XV Showplace The classiest group of ladies with penises you will ever meet.
Jupiter Hotel Spend the night in the swingin' '60s...The 2060s.
Magic Gardens Time seems to stop in this tiny, surreal Chinatown skin joint.
McMenamins Kennedy School Former elementary school turned hipster hotel. As rad as it sounds.
McMenamins Kennedy School First-rate, second-run theater with grownup drinks and couches!