Oysters reign supreme in the Seattle food scene this week, as local culinary heavyweights Tom Douglas and Brendan McGill debut new oyster bars and the L'Oursin sibling Bar Bayonne introduces a daily oyster happy hour. Plus, Dough Joy and Situ Tacos launch brick-and-mortars in Ballard and the team behind Ba Sa brings their new restaurant Ramie to Capitol Hill.
NEW OPENINGS AND RETURNS
Dough JoyLikeList
Psst: A little birdie told us that the popular queer-owned vegan doughnut shop and espresso bar opened its new location in the former space of Cupcake RoyaleLikeList's Ballard outpost today.
Ballard
GuillotineLikeList
Off with their heads: Seasoned bartenders Colin Smith and Andrew Larson opened this new bar and restaurant touting "wellness and more" in the former WitnessLikeList space on Capitol Hill last week. The spot features upscale menu items like "seacuterie plates," oysters, beef tartare, battered foraged vegetables, and trout almondine pasta, as well as classic co*cktails like Negronis and gimlets.
Capitol Hill
Half ShellLikeList
Tom Douglas's casual barbecue joint Etta's Mountain BBQ reopened on Sunday as a new seafood-inspired concept called Half Shell, featuring oyster, crab, salmon, seafood towers, fresh local catches, steaks, and burgers. Their "Pearl Bar" serves martinis, spritzes, and other co*cktails. I'm particularly intrigued by the savory "dirty martini dip" (Castelvetrano olives and blue cheese with a side of chips).
Pike Place Market
Oyster CellarLikeList
Even more oysters! Hitchco*ck Restaurant Group chef/owner Brendan McGill recently reopened his downtown pizzeria Bar Solea as a bivalve bar inspired by the bygone "oyster cellars" of New York City, with a selection of shellfish sourced directly from local farms and a range of co*cktails and wine.
Downtown
RamieLikeList
Trinh and Thai Nguyen, the siblings chef/owners behind the Vietnamese restaurant Ba SaLikeList on Bainbridge Island, will host the grand opening of their new restaurant in the former Omega OuzeriLikeList space on Capitol Hill next Wednesday, May 22. The concept is inspired by the duo's travels throughout Vietnam and the culture of nhậu (loosely translated as the "art of eating and drinking with no particular purpose"), with interpretations of dishes like bánh tiêu, bắp cải cuộn, and giò giả cầy. I got to stop by the media preview tasting last night and especially liked the gỏi cá (hamachi crudo with lime leaf, herbs, ramps, stinging nettle oil, thinh, and garlic chips with kumquat nuoc cham) and the longan rose co*cktail (nhãn-infused iichiko silhouette shochu, rose, kumquat, lemon bitters, and soda).
Capitol Hill
SeasmithLikeList
Matthew Wendland, the owner of Burien PressLikeList, Moonshot CoffeeLikeList, and FableLikeList, debuted this new coffee shop above Capitol Hill Station this week. I'm excited to have a new WFH cafe option in the area and dropped by yesterday—I'm a fan of the lavender latte and the Fruity Pebbles cookie.
Capitol Hill
Situ TacosLikeList
Local drummer Lupe Flores (who plays in Wild Powwers, Tacos the Band, and LORBO) reopened her acclaimed Lebanese-Mexican taco operation (formerly based in Belltown's Jupiter BarLikeList) in the former BitterrootLikeList space in Ballard this week. Strangercontributor Caro Myers previouslywrote, "Lupe’s menu is simple and her tacos taste unlike anything I've ever tried.”
Ballard
Stone Way CafeLikeList
After a 20-month-long hiatus due to its original location's demolition, this beloved Wallingford cafe reopened its doors in a new nearby location on Wednesday.
Wallingford
CLOSURES
Eight RowLikeList
This James Beard-nominated restaurant plans to close in June due to its lease ending; Seattle Met reports that the owners hope to reopen in a new location eventually but have not yet secured a space and are uncertain of the timeline for a possible return.
Green Lake
POP-UPS AND EVENTS
SATURDAY, MAY 18
Book Signing with Kat Lieu Past EventLikeList
Seattleite Kat Lieu, also known as the founder of the wildly popular Facebook group Subtle Asian Baking and the author of Modern Asian Baking at Home, is back with her second cookbook, Modern Asian Kitchen. The book aims to empower home cooks to create myriad meals from a variety of Asian cultures, including air fryer Taiwanese popcorn chicken, Sichuan-style fish-fragrant eggplant, homemade pho, weeknight bibimbap bowls, and much more. Lucky Envelope will release a special Gochujang Chocolate Cream Stout brewed in collaboration with Kat (inspired by her gochujang chocolate mochi cake recipe), and she'll be at the brewery to sign copies of the book. Plus, Octopus Knitting will sling knitted and cross-stitched goods, and JD Duong will sell baked goods.
Lucky Envelope Brewing, 4-6 pm
Book Signing: The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl Past EventLikeList
As a restaurant critic for the New York Times in the 1990s, legendary food writer Ruth Reichl gained renown for her acerbic observations and penchant for donning disguises to maintain her anonymity in restaurants, and she went on to become the editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine. Reichl has since penned five best-selling memoirs as well as a cookbook and a novel, has won six James Beard Awards, and is known for her warm voice and fierce advocacy of home cooking. In her latest fictional work, The Paris Novel, she tells the story of Stella, a woman who receives a one-way ticket to Paris after her estranged mother dies. Of course, Reichl's cozy ode to the City of Light is full of sparkling descriptions of decadent French cuisine, vintage fashion, and dazzling art, making it a perfect escapist romp for when you're consumed by wanderlust.
Book Larder, 2-3:30 pm
MONDAY, MAY 20
Cookbook Dinner Series at Delancey: Rooted Kitchen, Ashley RodriguezRemindLikeList
Perhaps you've picked up a copy of the cult favorite mushroom field guide All That the Rain Promises and More or spotted Alexis Nikole's delightful foraging videos on YouTube before and thought to yourself that you'd like to try your hand at tracking down your own food in the wild. After all, we do live in the bountiful Pacific Northwest. Local food writer Ashley Rodriguez, creator of the award-winning blog Not Without Salt, is here to help your dreams become a reality with her newest cookbook, Rooted Kitchen, which contains a gorgeous collection of recipes that promise to help you connect to the natural world, along with preserving, fermenting, beginner foraging techniques, and mindfulness activities. She'll join the acclaimed pizzeria Delancey for a five-course spring meal inspired by the book, with wine pairings included.
Delancey, 6-9 pm
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
Scoops at StoupRemindLikeList
Ice cream and beer may not be a combo that immediately springs to mind when you think of iconic pairings, but why not? Stoup Brewing will aim to change your mind with the second edition of "Scoops at Stoup" event, which will feature the plant-based creamery Frankie & Jo's classic brown sugar vanilla flavor in fizzy, creamy floats made with your choice of Stoup's beer or root beer. Not into beer? An affogato option with coffee will also be available.
Stoup Brewing, 6-9 pm
MAY 17-24
Seattle Beer Week 2024RemindLikeList
Seattle’s craft-beer scene is always alive and bubbling with activity, but during Beer Week, that geeky enthusiasm gets kicked into high gear, with a stacked lineup of beer dinners, festivals, socials, pub crawls, and releases galore. A handful of this year's highlights include Cask-O-Rama (12 casks from Seattle breweries on the bar top) at Beveridge Place Pub on May 17, Stour Fest (a dual celebration of stouts and sours) at Brouwer's Cafe on May 18, a beer can derby at the Pine Box on May 19, and a wing sauce tournament at Queen Anne Beerhall on May 22.
Various locations
SPECIALS
Bait ShopLikeList
The nautical-themed Capitol Hill favorite introduced a brand new co*cktail menu on Wednesday, with intriguing drinks like a savory everything bagel-inspired martini, Szechuan Aperol spritz, and "Alexander the Grape" (made with melted grape popsicle syrup and garnished with gummy fruit snacks).
Capitol Hill
Bar BayonneLikeList
Last oyster-related tidbit, I swear: L'OursinLikeList's Basque-inspired sibling just added a new daily happy hour deal with a cold dozen of oysters and a bottle of organic Cava or Basque orange wine available for $50 from 12-4 pm daily.
Central District
LikeList
The acclaimed Georgetown bakery announced that it will be making as many of its fan favorite Girl Scout-inspired Samoa cake slices as possible this week and that 100% of proceeds through Sunday will be donated to the FAJR Scientific and Operation Olive Branch Perinatal Project in support of Palestine. Every dollar raised will be quadruple-matched (!!!) so you can have your cake and know that you're making the most of your donation, too.
Georgetown
