Fat’s Expands its Hours
Fat’s Chicken and Waffles is adding breakfast and happy hour to its offerings. Breakfast/lunch service will run Tues-Fri, 9am-4pm, and happy hour will be 2-6pm those same days. Breakfast will have some hits from the weekend brunch menu, like shrimp and grits and biscuits with Andouille gravy. Yes please!
The funky little corner store on Bellevue and Mercer that held down the North Capitol Hill neighborhood for years has been reborn as an airy, chic cafe. Owner Julian Hagood described it to CHS as “bistro-esque” and said that, while he definitely plans to stuff the Hill’s denizens with plenty of gourmet granola, he’s keeping Harry’s cooler and will continue to sell “cigarettes and toilet paper.” Good man.
Pasta for the Paleo Set
Dueminuti Healthy Pasta opened its doors on Broadway this weekend, promising diners that they’ve “never tried pasta like this.” What does that mean? It means that they’ve “developed a proprietary pasta formula based on a mix of natural flours” that is “lower in carbs and higher in proteins, fibers, vitamins, and minerals.” The spot is run by a couple of extremely educated dudes, and serves what is likely the techiest pasta you’ll ever sink your teeth into. Personally, you won’t catch me cheating on Il Corvo with such newfangled blasphemy, but Dueminuti’s website does tout “simple dishes and obsessive focus on ingredients quality rather than elaborate preparation,” which is Mike Easton’s winning formula, almost word for word. So, who knows?
Squirrel Chops
If you’ve been longing for a place where you can get top-notch Third Wave coffee along with your haircut, long no more. Squirrel Chops Coffee and Cuts celebrated their grand opening Sunday, in the new development on Union between 22nd and 23rd. I can assure you that there is a log slice with a coffee-drinking squirrel branded into it, in case you were worried this wouldn’t be a complete squee-fest.
Teku Tavern is Techie, Say That Five Times Fast
South Lake Union's latest beer bar will feature a “Digital Pour beer inventory system" that displays, in real time, how much beer is left in each keg "so you’ll never miss an opportunity to get the last pint of the precious beer you’ve been hunting,” according to the Washington Beer Blog. “Information about the availability of beers on tap and in the coolers will be available via table-top digital kiosks and on the tavern’s website.”
Teku is in techbropolis, and it’s clearly all about the digital future, so I’m going to venture a guess and say that there will probably be a lot of dudes wearing ID badges here. That said, the owners are noted home brewers and beer bloggers, and the selection is likely to be fabulous. To wit, the name is an homage to the TeKu glass—deemed to be the best beer-tasting goblet in the game—a bit of beer nerdery that gives their pedigree away.
Hood Famous Bake Shop Has an Actual Shop
The pop-up behind our city’s beloved Ube Cheesecake found themselves a brick and mortar location. It’s over in Ballard on Market, and you’re psyched.
More BBQ for the South End
Hillman City gets a new BBQ joint, Emma's BBQ, named for the owner’s mom, reports Eater. It’ll have all the good-but-not-good-for-you things you expect from a BBQ place.
Who's at The Helm?
There’s a new nautical-themed bar in Fremont. Did the liquor board start requiring proof of a wall-mounted ship's wheel to get licensed or something? Anyway, The Helm is offering various seafood comestibles and craft cocktails courtesy of chef Travis Stewart and barman Kyle Takacs, respectively. Stewart hails from Canlis and Takacs from Kirkland craft cocktail bar Bottle and Bull, and the venture is backed by the same folks that throw many of the region's fun booze festivals—Kirkland Uncorked, Seattle Scotch & Beer Fest, Fremont Oktoberfest, to name a few. There will be happy hour and a deck, so that's chill.
OMG: Volunteer Park Cafe, Happy Hour
Volunteer Park Cafe will now offer happy hour, reports Nosh Pit. VPC’s Ericka Burke just shut down Canal Market and Chop Shop, so it’s not surprising she’s focusing back in on her flagship. This is wonderful news, as it means their delightful pizzas are that much more accessibly priced, and there’s yet another wonderful excuse to get tipsy and take a wistful, tortuous early evening walk through Volunteer Park. Happy hour is Tue-Fri, 5:30-6:30pm.
OBLC Hibernates
Old Ballard Liquor Co’s cafe is switching to winter hours. This means Fri-Sun 11am-7pm, but it also means brunch. I have no clue what Scandinavian brunch is like, but given OBLC's great review in the Seattle Times, and the mind-melting things I ate at its owner’s last pop-up, I’m sure it’s gonna be dope. Brunch will be 11am-2pm on the weekend days, and will feature “Scandinavian staples like house made museli and buttermilk served hot or cold, savory pies and open faced sandwiches.”
Rejoice, Cheapskates, It’s Restaurant Week
It’s time again for our city’s annual prix fixe extravaganza. Restaurants across town will offer three courses for a mere $32 through the 13th, and again Oct 16-20. Some will also do lunch service for $18. The list of participants is here, and goddamn if this thing doesn’t keep expanding every year.
The idea of the event is to lure the type of diners who don’t normally make space in their budgets for gastronomical excess. It’s definitely a loss leader, designed to lure diners in with a cheap feast, get them hooked, and convert them into long-term income sources. Viewed through more rose-tinted lenses, it’s also a great way for you to try out some places you’ve probably been curious about but loath to set aside $200 for. Lark, Tilth, and Marjorie all come time mind.
Remember, as my venerable predecessor Bethany Jean Clement used to say every year, “Tip well, these things are hell for servers.” Having worked a few restaurant weeks myself, I can assure you she’s right.
