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Wow. Considering the allergy thing, this is quite the undertaking, Kenji. I'm super curious to see how it goes. Good Luck!

I'd skip the Gelpro and just visit your local restaurant supply house and see what they have to offer. Gelpro seems a little Paltrow-y.

Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich is THE SHIZZ. I'm from Seattle and i make a point of going there every time I'm in New York. I seriously have been carrying their card in my wallet for years just cuz. The first sandwich I had there led me to finding a Vietnamese chef to work for in Seattle at a banh mi shop just so I could learn the recipes. (Eric Banh, Baguette Box, Monsoon, Ba Bar)

HA! Never thought I'd see haterade for Cakespy! Hilarious!

4chan wants their meme back.

McGee
The French Laundry cookbook

and a trip to Australia...

For a westernized banh mi, try Baguette Box on Capitol Hill and in Fremont. Run by Chef Eric Banh of Monsoon.

Yes, go the Pike Place Market. Coming in October will help you avoid being caught up in the ZOMG THE FISH THROWING GUYZ TAKE A PICTURE OF ME WITH THEM1111 crowd, but not too much. Things to get here, tourist edition: punk rock fresh fried mini donuts, hum bao, Beecher's cheese, samples from the vendors, and if you really have to you can WALK BY the original Starbucks, but please, as far as coffee in Seattle goes, SB is McDonalds. Try Vivace or just about anywhere else.

I second the rec for Tilth. Maria Hines is the best chef in the city right now. This place is the crown jewel of the NW local/seasonal/organic/slow food movement. It's in the Wallingford neighborhood, not the University District as mentioned above. Get a reservation.

I'd say a stop by Paseo is a must. It's an amazing Cuban sandwich joint (well, two, one in Fremont, one in Ballard) that cannot be beat. On the sandwich tip, I second the rec for Salumi, but, yeah you gotta wait in line...

If Asian cuisine is your thing, you gotta hit the ID, like @czken said. Off the top of my head: Maneki- a really old and well regarded Japanese place, Samurai Noodle-great little ramen shop which is outside Uwajimaya, a big Asian market that is fun to explore in itself.

RE: Ivar's, Anthony's, touristy waterfront places
If that's your thing, great, go have some chowder or whatever. But it's like a hot dog at Coney Island...it's just a hot dog and you look like a tourist. If you're looking for the NW seafood experience, check out Etta's or Steelhead Diner in the market or..... Blueacre Seafood, a new place just opened by the same chef, Kevin Davis.

You've already got the standard Tom Douglas suggestions, so I'll give props to another great NW chef, Matt Dillon. His restaurant Sitka & Spruce just moved into a market-type space that is also home to a sustainable butcher, local cheese shop, NW wine bar and a bunch of other cool stuff. He also runs the Corson Building, which is a prix-fixe, community table, chef-cooks-what-he-wants-family-style dinner "experience". Pricey, reservations required, and I don't know if he does it in October, but worth it.

The only real kitchen superstition I've seen cooks hold to involves predicting the flow of business before service. It's always bad luck to jinx the service by saying "it's gonna be slow tonight". Never say that. It always means you will spend the night in the weeds, especially if you've been lazy and only prepped enough for a slow service.

@simon--You're probably right. I couldn't afford it even if it was $200 right now but...damn. I went from having the skeptical attitude of the Gawker article I linked to this morning to DROOOOL I CAN HAZ NOWW????

Xmas wish list item #1.

@simon--I'm sure it would be great inspiration and knowledge for quite awhile. Having access to that kind of equipment is another thing altogether. Yeah, I'm a chef, but not one that has the clout to even dream of purchasing MG stuff. I have a hard enough time getting my GM to pay for regular old pots and pans. And to speak to your handbag/shoe analogy, I'm wondering if MG cooking is another fad or something that will integrate itself into mainstream kitchens, such as mine.

Flour and Water
Nopa

Well, America is into faddy everything, right? So with food now being fashionable, we have fads right along with it. I'd also say it has something to do with internet/information access/short attention spans/memes, but I'm too heavily afflicted with cultural ADD to flesh that concept out.