If youve never eaten outside at Rays Boathouse, today would be a good day to try it. Theyre open from 4 pm to 9:30 pm on Mondays.
If you've never eaten outside at Ray's Boathouse, today would be a good day to try it. They're open from 4 pm to 9:30 pm on Mondays. Courtesy of Ray's Boathouse

Wallingford Restaurant Tilth Turns 10 This Week
The James Beard Award-winning chef Maria Hines' beloved restaurant Tilth, the "first local restaurant of its reach to be certified organic," turns 10 later this week. Tilth is hosting anniversary dinners on September 1 and 2. "For $150, diners get 10 courses with wines (to include St. Jude’s albacore, King’s garden melon, Skagit River pork belly with roasted apples and padron peppers, and much more), along with a 15-page scrapbook profiling the producers that helped build Tilth’s first decade," reports Seattle Met. More info here.

The First Hill Whole Foods Is Officially Under Construction
It's right on the border between First Hill and Capitol Hill and it will have 265 units of "luxury apartments" above the 40,000-square-foot, two-story grocery store.

Heres what the construction site looks like as of this morning.
Here's what the construction site looks like as of this morning. Christopher Frizzelle

The Whole Foods building will be 16 stories tall. Capitol Hill Seattle blog has been on this story from the beginning and they have more details here.

The Pink Door Brings Back a Pasta Dish and Donates All Proceeds to Earthquake Relief in Italy
The Italian restaurant with a gorgeous deck looking out over Puget Sound is "bringing back a signature dish from the Pink Door’s 1981 menu: bucatini all’amatriciana, or Amatrice style," reports Seattle Met. "This pasta sauce comprising of fresh tomatoes, cured pork cheek, and pecorino romano cheese hails from Amatrice. And starting today through September 15, 100 percent of the proceeds from this dish will be donated to the Italian Red Cross, aka Croce Rossa Italiana. It’s $17 more than well spent."

Speaking of Beautiful Places to Eat Outside—Um, What Are You Doing Inside?
Most of this weekend I sat on sunlit patios and ate and drank. It's a rough life. Thanks to that extremely grueling research, and in light of the fact that summer's not going to last forever, I compiled a short list of my favorite Seattle patios for your drinking, dining, and basking pleasure. Pink Door's a great one. Here are five others:

Ray's Boathouse
Though a stunning water view is not required for my list here, it's definitely a plus. The upstairs cafe at Ray's Boathouse boasts one of America's most scenic views (confirmed by OpenTable.com), and is rightfully deserving of a nod. Yes it's an established dinosaur of a restaurant, but the cafe's food is the same reliable PNW-seafood fare as always, and their happy hour is quite reasonable. Plus, when the sun begins to set and the cold creeps in, they bring you blankets. Yes, that's right, tableside blanket service. There's something truly wonderful about wrapping up in a blanket, digging into a steaming bowl of shellfish, and watching the sun set over Puget Sound.

El Sirenito
Fonda la Catrina's little sister has a killer fish-forward menu, and a killer patio upon which to enjoy it. Their ample fish tacos are a delight, but it's really all about that ceviche. El Sirenito's ceviche is no joke, and ceviche is a patio must-have. So is the Rosita cocktail, a tequila Negroni with a couple tiny tweaks. Pro tip: the sun seems to hit this patio just right at around 4 pm, give or take. Settle in, order some chips and guac, and watch the planes that make the world's commerce work arrive and depart from Boeing field.

Agua Verde
Agua Verde has a helluva view of Lake Union and Portage Bay. The restaurant also rents kayaks and paddleboards from their basement, which makes for endless entertainment. Watching people struggle to find their footing on a paddleboard while sitting in the sun, lazily sipping pink grapefruit margaritas and eating $4.50 happy hour nachos, is a supremely satisfying experience.

Paseo SoDo
The view isn't exactly scenic, it being SoDo and all, but you can't argue with those thighs. The Smokin' Thighs chicken sandwich, that is—a pinnacle of textural perfection. In addition to the luscious, life-affirmingly good sandwiches that earned Paseo its fame, they've got several sets of cornhole, that endlessly entertaining lawn game. Perhaps it's the $3 Tecates talking, but I can think of few finer ways to burn a sunny afternoon than gorging on delicious Caribbean sandwiches and tossing beanbags long distances into tiny targets.

The Harbour Public House
The best thing about the patio at Bainbridge Island's Harbour Public House, besides the three types of poutine and the breathtakingly gorgeous view of Seattle framed by the harbor's gently rocking masts, is that you're not in Seattle. I love this city, but I also love taking a break from it, especially when that break involves fancy beers and fried fish. You can walk to the pub from the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal, making this an accessible option for those of us without cars. Stop by Hitchcock on your way, where they have noted car-hater Charles Mudede's excellent essay on cured meat prominently displayed, and grab yourself some of their celebrated porchetta for tomorrow's lunch.