Category Archives: Food & Drink

The Pike/Pine party clock starts at The Rhino Room

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12985489693_76f507acbd_b 12985722734_b6de08db41_b12985496383_7b32909b3b_b 12985794384_9434709c0d_b 12985336435_78c3c08b4e_bLooking much too nice for what could end up being only a few years’ stay, the latest addition to the Pike/Pine nightlife entertainment district quietly opened Thursday night.

The Rhino Room is a bar located in a former bicycle shop at 11th and Pine from a group of familiar faces in the Seattle food and drink scene. Its name is a goof inspired by a random rummage find by one of the owners. CHS talked with them in the early stages of the “Big Fun” project last summer:

Gabre-Kidran, a food and drink entrepreneur who helped create The Book Bindery, Anchovies and Olives, How to Cook a Wolf and Tavolata, comes to Big Fun after stepping away from the day to day for two years in the restaurant design and contractor business.

 

Emma Schwartzman and Chris Rice have probably poured you a drink on Capitol Hill at some point in the last five years or so. They also recently generated some buzz with their Summer Dog Lake Union-based floating hot dog cart. Industrial designers Jacob and Lucas Mihoulides — Lucas goes by IL now, apparently — round out the band of five. CHS found them all at work in the former Velo space earlier this month tearing down crap and getting ready for a buildout.

“We’ve all done this before. It’s just dumb it’s taken this long to do it together,” Patric Gabre-Kidran told us then. He’s been typically busy since helping complete the buildout of Nacho Borracho which opened on Broadway last month and planning another Pike/Pine food and drink venture.

The Rhino Room will boast lots of canned beer and single-serving bubbly. It also turned out fancier than expected, reports Seattle Met:

The plan was an unfussy hangout space, but this group has a lot of design and build knowhow, and Gabre-Kidan allows that the end result, with its brown leather booths, mirrored support posts, glossy black trim, and a U-shaped resin-topped bar “turned out a little fancier than we were hoping for.”

The Rhino Room, despite its thick skin, is also, like Pike/Pine itself, a fragile, momentary burst of joy, happiness, booze and smoothly curving bartops. Developers plan a “visionary” office and preservation project for the stretch off 11th that will consume the current home of Value Village, The Rhino Room and the Stranger offices above.

But, for now, we party. With inspections finally wrapped, The Rhino Room welcomed its first customers late Thursday night. We’re checking in to makes sure things are a go for the rest of the weekend and to find out more about hours of operation. In the meanwhile, take a chance. We’re guessing you can find a few nearby alternatives should you arrive and find The Rhino closed.

Images: Doug McLaughlin for CHS

Capitol Hill baristas pour over what it takes to join their ranks

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Erika Zumwalt at Kaladi Brothers on Pike (Photo: Alex Garland)

Hot, fast, and with a smile. For most coffee customers, that’s enough to please. Even baristas at Capitol Hill’s most established coffeehouses say its a baseline level of service most people could deliver. But if you want to join the ranks of career baristas who are pressing the limits on coffee culture, you’ll need to take an obsessive, practically academic approach to the craft of coffee.

This week, Seattle invaded New York City for Coffee Fest 2014. The Seattle-based festival started “before coffee was hot” in 1992 and continues to be among the nation’s top coffee trade shows. So what does it take to land a barista job on Capitol Hill (and perhaps one day pull “America’s Best Espresso” at Coffee Fest?). Most baristas and managers we spoke to said it all comes back to customer service.

“If you make a good cup of coffee with bad service, who cares,” said Bauhaus owner Joel Radin. Like other managers, Radin said previous coffee experience isn’t a requirement landing a job at Capitol Hill’s most venerated shops. Demonstrating grace under pressure is a skill in much higher demand. Continue reading →

SCCC alum starts family restaurant Villa Escondida tucked into the Broadway Alley

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(Image courtesy tipster Andrés)

(Image courtesy tipster Andrés)

The short lived Torteria Barriga Llena shut down in early 2014 after only a year on the Hill opening up a new space for business in the Broadway Alley that was quickly picked up and opened last week. For owner and Seattle Central Community College alum Jose Perez, Villa Escondida is his first foray into the restaurant business.

“I always wanted to do it but never had the opportunity,” said Perez. His cousin, Misael Dominguez, has previous experience opening up businesses and is kicking in financial support. “He’s the one, I guess, that is teaching me all the stuff.” Dominguez, when we spoke with him last, was opening La Cocina Oaxaquena at Melrose and Pine last spring. Dominguez managed Ballard’s La Carta de Oaxaca back when the restaurant first grew into prominence. The Dominguez-Perez family behind La Carta just opened the beautiful and mezcale-stuffed Mezcaleria Oaxaca Capitol Hill on E Pine.

Jose Perez was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, and entered the food industry about 15 years ago around the time he was a student at Seattle Central. He grew up on the food he serves and sees potential offering it on Broadway.

“It’s not the first place we found, but ya know, I’m going to say it’s a good place to do business.”

Continue reading →

SPD busts Broadway/Pine burrito bandit

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The unanswered question in this partly solved mystery: In which of Capitol Hill’s 14 active Mexican restaurants and bars should the victim enjoy his next burrito? It’s on CHS.

Man Arrested After Attacking Stranger For His Burrito

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A 24-year-old man earned himself a wrap sheet over the weekend after he attacked a stranger for a bite of his burrito on Capitol Hill.

At about 4:30 PM on March 1st, the victim was sitting outside of a restaurant on Broadway and E. Pine Street, eating a burrito, when the suspect approached him.

“Give me a bite of your burrito,” the suspect demanded.

When the victim informed the suspect he was being rude, the suspect only got ruder.

The 24-year-old suspect shoved the victim and again demanded a bite of the victim’s burrito. When the victim stood up from his seat, the suspect punched him in the head and took off running.

Police got several calls about the incident, and officers arrived just in time to catch the suspect climbing onto a bus at Broadway and E. Pine Street.

Officers arrested the 24-year-old suspect—who also matched the description of a man who had just stolen liquor from a store nearby—and booked him into the King County Jail.

Seattle Street Food Festival plans bigger, longer Capitol Hill event with shorter lines — and Urban Craft Uprising

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The (crowded) scene in 2013 (Image: CHS)

The (crowded) scene in 2013 (Image: CHS)

Now that Seattle’s rains are solidly socking us in for the next five months (sorry newbies), it’s a good time to think of the glorious August, September and maybe even October ahead. Summer good times on the Hill this year will mean a double helping of a new event that successfully debuted alongside Cal Anderson last year and helped show that — at least for now — 11th Ave makes for a not-so-bad Capitol HIll festival street.

Organizers have announced that The Seattle Street Food Festival will return for a second year on Capitol Hill as the event expands to two days and adds what should be a fun new component to add the August celebration of mobile food — and, now, shopping.

Continue reading →

Capitol Hill food+drink | From Hill to farm to table to Hill again, Kurt Farm Shop coming to 11th Ave

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The Chophouse Row building is slated to be complete and ready for shops and offices to open in October (Image: CHS)

The Chophouse Row building is slated to be complete and ready for shops and offices to open in October (Image: CHS)

Timmermeister talks with Hillebrity Dan Savage at a recent Town Hall appearance (Image via Facebook)

Timmermeister talks with Hillebrity Dan Savage at a recent Town Hall appearance (Image via Facebook)

A Vashon Island farmer with Capitol Hill roots, Kurt Timmermeister watches the seasons change and has seen Pike and Pine and Broadway’s season of discontent come — and go — before.

“I bought Andy’s Cafe in 1994,” Timmermeister said. “The people that went to Andy’s Cafe thought that *that* was the end of the world.” Continue reading →

Cherry Street Coffee announces plans for another Capitol Hill cafe

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Artist rendering of the Three20 building (Image: Equity Apartments)

Artist rendering of the Three20 building (Image: Equity Apartments)

The future residents of lower Pike/Pine will not have to walk far for their next shot of craft espresso.

Seattle chain Cherry Street Coffee has announced it will open its next new cafe and second Capitol Hill-area location this summer. The new shop is slated to be part of the street-level retail inside the nearly complete Three20 Apartments building at, yes, 320 E Pine. It will be the eighth Seattle location for Cherry Street.

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A promo image posted to Cherry Street’s social media accounts

Cherry Street opened on 12th Ave in 2012. “I designed this place sexy, like my face,” owner Ali Ghambari told us, with a smile, at the time. You might remember that he got into a bit of hot water over sick leave surcharges last year before reversing course on the plan. In better news, his daughter Laila Ghambari was just named 2014 Northwest Barista Champion. Looks like she’s not in the bracket for this week’s Latte Art World Championship at CoffeeFest New York:

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The new Cherry Street will open beneath a 118-unit mixed-use building with about 13,000 square feet of ground floor retail that is replacing the “charred, tagged and empty” Marion Apartments at the corner.

Across the street, the former home of Bauhaus Coffee is about to dig in on a massive mixed-use project of its own. Bauhaus, of course, has moved just up Pine to a new interim home for the expected two years of construction. Just north of the future Cherry Street, CHS advertiser Broadcast Coffee moved in on Bellevue Ave in summer of 2012.

You can learn more at cherrystreetcoffee.com.

First look: Mezcaleria Oaxaca and 30+ mezcales arrive on Capitol Hill

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(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

Earlier this week, CHS was happy to report that the ambitious Capitol Hill location of a new Mezcaleria Oaxaca sister restaurant was ready to open on E Pine in a completely overhauled auto garage:

CHS wrote about the Graham Baba-designed project here in spring 2013. Arriving nearly six months later than originally planned, the enormous 3,000 square-foot restaurant also features a space for rooftop dining — and will offer more mezcales than you’ll know what to do with.

This is what it looks like inside.

CHS visited the new restaurant from the Dominguez-Perez family Thursday night and found the 3,000 square-foot space as snugly filled as the family’s original creation, La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard. The family matriarch — and head chef — Gloria Perez celebrated La Carta’s 10th anniversary in December, by the way. Her menu for E Pine includes favorites like the tacos dorados and mole negro and prices that should also be favorited by many. Three carne asada tacos for $7? Sold. Meanwhile, we count more than 30 mezcales available behind the bar. Continue reading →

Displaced by development on Capitol Hill, B&O closes its doors in Ballard

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8446811588_2bf5483d46_oJust a little under one year after the couple announced they would not be reopening on Capitol Hill, Jane and Majed Lukatah have shuttered the Ballard-transplanted B&O Espresso for good.

MyBallard reports the Lukatahs are retiring after 38 years of running the business:

B&O Espresso moved to Ballard in January 2013 after their Capitol Hill location was set to be knocked down for a new development. It quickly became a neighborhood favorite here in Ballard and surely will be sadly missed.

8445778417_333161bfcc_oLast March, CHS closed the doors on hopes B&O would return to the Hill after completion of the six-story apartment building replacing its longtime E Olive Way home. “We’re doing great in Ballard and parking is not a problem,” Jane told CHS last spring. She said the couple was working on purchasing the commercial unit that B&O Ballard called home.

At one point, the coffee shop and cafe were planned for a return to Capitol Hill when the new construction was completed. Architects went so far as to include the cafe’s iconic train logo in renderings of the six-story building’s design used in public meetings.

IMAG1864-1CHS documented the 36-year history of B&O — short for Belmont and Olive as well as a play on the famous Monopoly game’s railroad — in 2012 as the Lukatahs planned to serve their final customers in the old cafe. The 1924-built building was demolished a few months later. As the demolition began, fans remained hopeful that B&O would join Bauhaus in a Ballard sabbatical followed by triumphant returns to Capitol Hill.

Bauhaus opened its Ballard location in October and an interim Capitol Hill home up E Pine from its old location earlier this year. It is slated to return to the corner of Melrose and Pine inside the about-to-start-construction, eight-story development in coming years.

Now, two years after pulling up stakes and moving to Ballard, B&O is shuttered.

Waid’s, again, in liquor license fight at 12th and Jeff

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(Image: Waid's)

(Image: Waid’s)

As the neighborhood continues to grow and change around it, Waid’s Haitian Cuisine Bar & Lounge is fighting for its life. Again.

“It’s a black thing,” owner Waid Sainvil tells CHS.

“This is the only place in Seattle where black people from all over hang out.”

It has to do with gentrification, Sainvil says. The area around Waid’s continues to change with new development and more business investment spreading south from Capitol Hill. Across the street, Capitol Hill Housing’s The Jefferson apartment building opened in 2013. Seattle University, in the meantime, continues to invest in the area and plans a major campus expansion in the neighborhood over the next decade.

Sainvil says the state liquor board is working to deny the renewal of the liquor license for his eight-year-old lounge at 12th and Jefferson following a sting last year in which minors were able to purchase alcohol at the nightclub. The bust continues a string of attempts to strip the club of its liquor license over the years. Seattle Times columnist and Central District resident Danny Westneat wrote about the last round of challenges for Waid’s in 2010. “Is it possible both sides are right?” Westneat asked. “That Waid’s is Seattle’s most dangerous bar? And also one of its most generous?”

Supporters and patrons are again rallying to support Sainvil in the face of the closure threat. The East Precinct Advisory Council, a community group focused on area crime and public safety issues, has announced that public officials will be on hand to discuss the club as a portion of its February meeting Thursday night will focus on Waid’s:

Although several citizens enjoy this nightclub, for several years the surrounding neighbors have stated concerns about late night noise, violence and other unsettling activities in and around the establishment.

Our EastPAC February agenda will feature an update about Waid’s (and other nightclubs, should you have questions) and the opportunity to voice your concerns and ask questions.  We have invited Officer David Stitt, the Washington State Liquor Control Enforcement representative for our area, and Bill Reddy, who coordinates the City of Seattle Nightlife Premises Regulatory Enforcement Unit. Also present to brief you on the City’s activity relating to this matter will be the East Precinct City Attorney Liaison, Matt York.

Waid’s supporters are organizing an effort to be present at the meeting and speak up for the embattled club:

One of the issues on the agenda is the renewal of the liquor license for Waid’s, which has been under attack from a handful of voices in the neighborhood.

My personal experience is that Waid Sainvil is a generous, community-oriented business owner. And I have never seen or heard any problems, even when I have been there on New Year’s Eve, a time when even the most mellow establishments sometimes have problems erupt.

Sainvil says the support will be helpful as the proceedings over his liquor license play out this spring.

“I’ve done everything that needs to be done. I’ve hired new security. It’s not noise coming from the building,” he said.

“This is a small group of people who have a loud voice. It’s time for the other people — the great majority — to stand up and say no.”

Thursday’s EastPAC meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM in Seattle U’s Chardin Hall Room 145.

UPDATE: A neighbor has provided more details on the infractions Sainvil told CHS about and the process going forward. We are checking with the City Attorney’s office for confirmation on the plan to object to the renewal.

Two administrative hearings had been held recently. One concerned a sting where a bartender sold alcohol to minors using expired identification. The other, with improper employee training (I’m not really clear on the second one).
No judgment yet. However, these ramp up toward an April hearing where Waid’s liquor license could get yanked. They’d been operating under a sort of one-strike-you’re-out settlement since 2012. The City Attorney’s office is filing an objection to renewal of Waid’s liquor license. Neighbors have written letters in support for this objection.
UPDATE x2: A liquor board rep says things are already more dire than the above for Waid’s as the body’s licensing department has already issued a “non-renewal” that was “based in part on the strong objection from the City of Seattle.” –

Presently there are 5 enforcement and 1 licensing actions pending against Waid’s that are being heard together over six hearings. Two of those hearings have already transpired with the other four scheduled to take place in April, the Administrative Law judge expects to render a decision within 60 days of the last hearing. Our Licensing department issued a “Non-Renewal” for the license (the previously mentioned 1 licensing action) based in part on the strong objection from the City of Seattle, Waid’s is operating on a temporary license pending the outcome of the administrative hearings.

UPDATE x3: The City Attorney has provided CHS with letters sent in 2012 and 2013 from the office to the liquor board about transgressions occurring at Waid’s. We’ve embedded the latest sent last February, below.

Waids Objection Letter 2 28 13 (1)

Capitol Hill food+drink | Mezcaleria Oaxaca, The Rhino Room ready for E Pine debuts

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Mezcaleria Oaxaca Capitol Hill preview party (Image: @checkereddan via Twitter)

Mezcaleria Oaxaca Capitol Hill preview party (Image: @checkereddan via Twitter)

It’s opening season in Capitol Hill food and drink with a small wave of 2014′s roster of rated rookies making their major league debuts.

  • Mezcaleria Oaxaca Capitol Hill: A transformation of Capitol Hill’s most recent auto row past, the sister to the Queen Anne location and cousin to Ballard’s La Carta de Oaxaca held a private preview party Monday night that steamed up the windows of the completely overhauled former auto garage at E Pine and Summit. The pretty amazing new restaurant opens Friday. UPDATE: With permits in place and inspections wrapped, the MO team is ready early and is open for service as of Tuesday night. Enjoy!

    CHS wrote about the Graham Baba-designed project here in spring 2013. Arriving nearly six months later than originally planned, the enormous 3,000 square-foot restaurant also features a space for rooftop dining — and will offer more mezcales than you’ll know what to do with. It will also be the second Oaxacan-focused Mexican restaurant in two blocks following the opening of the more modest La Cocina Oaxaquena last spring at Pine and Melrose. Meanwhile, a short, one-block walk up the Hill — past World of Beers – delivers the hungry traveler to El Fogon. For more on Mezcaleria Oaxaca Capitol Hill, check out facebook.com/mezcaleriaoaxaca.

  • The Rhino Room: As the early 20th century building the project calls home is readied for redevelopment in the coming years, the Big Fun project being built out in a former street-level bike shop has a name — and plans to open any day now. CHS introduced you to Patric Gabre-Kidan and his gang of “five pros building Big Fun at 11th and Pine” last September. Now, thanks to a giant plastic animal statue, the “no concept” bar has an identity. The Rhino Room will boast lots of canned beer and single-serving bubbly. It also turned out fancier than expected, reports Seattle Met:
    The plan was an unfussy hangout space, but this group has a lot of design and build knowhow, and Gabre-Kidan allows that the end result, with its brown leather booths, mirrored support posts, glossy black trim, and a U-shaped resin-topped bar “turned out a little fancier than we were hoping for.” 
    That’s what happens when talented youth work together for the common good. Gabre-Kidan, who also helped build out Broadway’s latest drink spot (below), will remain busy in the neighborhood. We found his name on another nearby Pike/Pine project. More on that soon. Continue reading →

Broadway’s Highline Bar reopens its much-missed vegan kitchen

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“last (kitchen) call at the highline Capitol Hill, Seattle” (Image: davamoore via Flickr)

Talk about a good start to the year for vegan sex toy shoppers. First, CHS reports that Castle Megastore, Broadway’s only sex shop, is staying put. Now comes word that, after a six-month hiatus, its only vegan dive bar live music Cakearoke venue is reopening its much-loved kitchen. Here’s the news from the Highline:

Tomorrow we’re reopening of our kitchen! We’re really excited! For those planning on coming, here’s all the info:

We’ll be serving food from 4pm-8pm Monday’s and Tuesday’s for the next while. The menu and days, though short and sweet now, will expand as the weeks pass by.
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone over the few weeks!
On behalf of all the staff, a HUGE “thank you” to everyone who’s helped spread the word and aims to support us! This is a long time in the works and we expect to exceed everyone’s expectations.
love-Highline Bar