The grilled cheese sandwich with Taleggio and sherried mushrooms at Culture Club Cheese Bar.
The grilled cheese sandwich with Taleggio and sherried mushrooms at Culture Club Cheese Bar. Culture Club

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Culture Club Cheese Bar

From Sheri LaVigne, owner of Capitol Hill’s beloved cheese shop the Calf and Kid, comes Culture Club Cheese Bar (also on Capitol Hill), whose menu features assorted cheese boards as well as cheese flights paired with wine or beer. There’s also an indulgent, five-cheese mac ’n’ cheese and a grilled cheese sandwich oozing with mushrooms and soft, pungent Taleggio.

JarrBar

JarrBar, from Bryan Jarr (who previously co-owned the late, great Madison Park Conservatory), was inspired by the many small, neighborhood tabernas Jarr encountered during his travels through Spain and Portugal. The menu at this tiny Pike Place Market space features jamón ibérico, tinned seafood such as mussels, sardines, octopus, and tuna, as well as preserved olives, peppers, and cheese. To drink, there are plenty of Spanish wines, as well as cocktails, beer, and cider.

General Porpoise Doughnuts

The highly anticipated doughnut shop from Renee Erickson, General Porpoise, is now officially open, completing her trio of brand new businesses on Union Street on Capitol Hill. (Bar Melusine and Bateau opened quietly last week.)

Pastry chef Clare Gordon will offer four to six doughnuts daily, and the current starting lineup includes vanilla bean custard, chocolate marshmallow, peanut butter and grape jelly, apple jam, and lemon curd. There is also coffee and espresso from small-batch roasters. According to a press release from Erickson's company Sea Creatures, "sparkling wine will also be available, of course."

Seattle's Second Meat & Bread Opens in South Lake Union Tomorrow

The South Lake Union location of Meat & Bread is the second Seattle outpost of the Vancouver, BC-based sandwich shop that inspires cult-like devotion. Meat & Bread’s menu is admirably straightforward: three staple sandwiches (grilled cheese, meatball, and porchetta with pork cracklings and salsa verde), one daily special sandwich, a soup, and a salad. The new Meat & Bread, located at the 400 Fairview building, opens tomorrow at 11 a.m. There are rumors of free sandwiches.