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- CHS comments are a great source of scuttlebut: Esmeralda closed and will be replaced (says commenter kelseyed) by a Cantonese joint with the working title "Chungee's Drink 'n Eat"
- Plum begins serving weekend brunch - available 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - myself I'm eager to try the "Mayan Blue Corn Pancakes topped with Jalapeno Scramble and Avocados served on a bed of Mixed Greens with Fire-roasted Fresh Salsa"
- Tamara Murphy is not anything but clear eyed about opening Terra Plata: "You do restaurants because you love them. Nobody can make money off of one"
- Crush, Poppy, Spinasse, and Rover's all on Seattle Metropolitan's Top 10 List of 2009 Best Restaurants (only one of these would make my list this year)
- Jonathan Kauffman outs Kimchi Bistro and Dom Polski as "Top 5 Hidden Restaurants"
- Healeo (CHS sponsor) nabs star raw food chef Adam Lewis (try the Eggplant Lasagna - you won't be sorry)
- Faire is not the only local biz backing Pete Holmes - count Derschang a Holmes supporter as well
- Cornichon's initial impression of Chow is thumbs down
- Don't miss this interview with Spinasse's Jason Stratton where he mentions dropping by the Bottleneck Lounge for Top Chef viewing (CHS sponsor and home of the October CHS meetup)
Some shots from last night's party at Revival. It drew a good size crowd, even though it was raining.
Our September picks celebrate the incredible (and extended) summer we enjoyed on the Hill. I expect some rainy day photos for next month. Contribute your photos to the CHS Flickr Pool.
Originally uploaded by Andrew Nedimyer
Garden Spider Eating Cricket
Originally uploaded by kayvaan
Revival Home & Garden, a Georgetown transplant retail operation, has completed their move just under two months after initially announcing it. Here is your opportunity to welcome them to their new digs on 12th Avenue. They will occupy the COHO building, adjacent to Northwest Film Forum. Revival is having a housewarming party this evening from 5:30 - 8:30 pm complete with cupcakes and drinks - feel free to stop by and wish them well.
(Photo: Matt Goyer)
With the Brix auction taking place last weekend, neighbor Bill asked us to look into another notable Capitol Hill real estate development - 25 on the Park - that is struggling with the down economy. Urbnlivn reported on some of the development's problems back in summer. We've dug in to learn a bit more about these empty homes that seem to be stuck in limbo on the edge of Cal Anderson Park.
CHS can confirm that on February 24, 2009, Everett-based City Bank foreclosed on the development and the Dwelling Company ("Jacobsen House Inc" is the holding company) no longer markets or owns it (full notice of foreclosure is attached to this post). City Bank foreclosed on the property for the following reasons :
a. Failure to pay second half 2008 real estate taxes of $13,019.22 plus interest and penalties.
b. Failure to pay when due the following amounts which are now in arrears:
Monthly Payments:
Monthly Payments of $101,874.23 due 10/10/08, $106,582.11 due 11/10/08, $103,313.17 due 12/10/08, $106,756.94 due 01/10/09 and $106,756.92 due 02/10/09
Late Charges:
Charges for monthly payments not made within ten days of its due date $29,450.61
Default Interest Increase:
Default interest increase from 01/20/09 to 02/24/09 $145,907.30
TOTAL MONTHLY PAYMENTS, LATE CHARGES AND DEFAULT INTEREST INCREASE $700,614.28
Though the notice anticipates an auction in June 2009 and there was an auction scheduled for August 2009, no auctions have apparently taken place. From City Bank's comments after its most recent earnings release, they may be attempting to find someone to finish the build out on the units to sell them:
"We are prudently financing the construction of homes in housing developments where sales are actively occurring," [CEO Conrad] Hanson said. “We are not planning on selling building lots where the appraised value is significantly below the value of the land with a completed house.”
City Bank board member Marty Heimbigner said developing holdings is a key component of the bank’s survival strategy.
CHS contacted City Bank for an update on the status of the development and will add any new information to this post if we hear back from them.
Here are the results of the Brix Auction that happened earlier today at the Grand Hyatt. I estimated the crowd size to be between 450 and 500 people. Urbnlivn estimates that there were about 200 registered bidders, and the rest of the crowd were guests. According to Zillow, the average sales price per square foot of a condo in the 98102 zipcode (where Brix is located) was $378 in July 09. I have highlighted (in yellow) the units where the bidders were able to secure the condo for below this market valuation - click to enlarge the table. Units (or Homes) are listed by the order they were sold at auction.
For an opinion on Sunday's auction, check out patgrimm's write-up.
Update 3:33 PM After reviewing the complaint, I note the following: 1) Chow Foods only recently sought registrations of "Chow" and "Chow Foods" - having done so on 8/21/09 and 2) Chao may have been able to avoid this suit - had they been more responsive to Chow Foods and forthcoming about their opening date.
A major followup this afternoon to our Chow Foods responds to Chao story : CHS has learned that a lawsuit was filed just yesterday. An operator of neighborhood restaurants all across Seattle, Chow Food Management Services LLC , is suing Yamashiro's LLC dba Chao Bistro-Bar (the new restaurant that opened at 12th & Pike today). We are working right now to get a copy of the full complaint, but a watchlist of newly filed lawsuits summarizes this one as alleging trademark infringement.
As promised, we asked Peter Levy of Chow Foods (owner of Endolyne Joe's, The Hi-Life, 5 Spot and Atlas Foods - and former co-owner of Coastal Kitchen), for comment on Chao (the new restaurant opening tomorrow at 12th & Pike) and possible confusion regarding whether Chao was a Chow Foods eatery. Here is Peter's response in full:
Chow Foods is disappointed that Yamashiro’s LLC would elect to open a restaurant with the name CHOW Bistro. When this came to our attention in mid‐August we contacted Yamashiro’s directly and indicated that the choice of this name would confuse customers, vendors, the media and real estate community and requested that they change the name of their soon to open restaurant.
Yamishiro elected to dis‐regard our inquiries about this matter on two separate occasions and we were required to indicate a possible legal action to finally receive a response from their legal representative.
Yamishiro attempted to placate us by simply changing the spelling from CHOW to CHAO which in print may seem reasonable, but phonetically in speech and audio applications is unacceptable.
CHOW Foods has been using the Washington State registered trademarks of CHOW and CHOW FOODS for over 15 years since 1994 in the management and operation of several neighborhood restaurants in the Seattle area and has been utilizing the chowfoods.com website for close to ten years.
We have engendered our share of goodwill in the community through serving hundreds of thousands of customers at our neighborhood restaurants and conducted numerous neighborhood and city wide fundraising activities over the years. Furthermore, we have utilized the CHOW name in promoting our restaurants in print advertisements, public radio sponsorships and in the sale, donation and promotion of gift cards to the community.
We have no wish to be associated with this operation on any level and we have fielded numerous inquiries via email and social network sites inquiring as to whether we are opening a new restaurant in the designated location on Capitol Hill. This confusion in the public’s and the media’s eye is unacceptable.
We welcome the operators of this new restaurant into the Seattle restaurant community and wish them well in this difficult economic environment, but sure as hell wish that they would use a different name that wouldn’t cause confusion in the marketplace.
The Coffee Co. - Breakfast
Originally uploaded by VirtualErn
Chao Bistro & Bar opens Friday September 25. When CHS first encountered the owners a few months ago, this eatery was to be known as Chow. When asked the reason for the name change, Christine Medina, Chao's PR Coordinator replied: "As far as the name change goes, Dave and his partners felt it fits more distinctively with the overall branding of the business. Chao is going for a very neighborhood-friendly feel, and 'chao' means both hello and welcome in Vietnamese." Via Twitter, we learned that there will be a soft opening Wednesday.
We learned via Facebook that you can email Dave Tran (dave at venomseattle dot com) or call their reservation line to secure a 25% discount when reserving a table for Friday. According to Chao's press release (full text below), the Pan Asian menu will feature dishes such as Hawaiians Sweet Bread French Toast, Kalbi Tacos, Kobe Beef Chili, Lemongrass Crab Cakes, Banana BBQ Sauce Pork Ribs and Whole Salt & Pepper Chicken with Pickled Daikon. Their bar offerings will include sake and soju. Entree prices are currently capped at $15. They will have five flat screen tvs in their 98-seat space "showcasing sports games by day and a rotation of eccentric pop-art from local and national artists by night".
The culinary history of 12th & Pike has been somewhat bleak in the past few years. Earlier in the decade, 1200 Bistro reigned as one of the few fine dining places on the hill (that was then). 1200 Bistro's lounge was especially popular with Capitol Hill gays for its scene. New owners and a new menu, however, alienated the regulars, and 1200 Bistro abruptly closed its doors in December 2007. Pike's Bar & Grill occupied the space very briefly in the Summer of 2008. Browsing the Yelp reviews and drawing from my own memory, Pike's lacked atmosphere and the food did not live up to its predecessor's.
Chao Down at Capitol Hill’s Newest Noshery
Grand Opening of The Hill’s Latest Hot Spot, Chao, Set for September 25, 2009
SEATTLE, Wash. – (September 22, 2009) – To the families of Broadmoor and Madison Park, the professionals of Downtown, the surrounding collegiate population and every Seattleite in-between: your newest dining destination has hit Capitol Hill. Filling the void of a neighborhood restaurant with a down-to-earth, pocket-friendly feel without sacrificing hints of chicness and a mouth-watering menu, Chao, (pronounced like “chow” and meaning welcome and hello in Vietnamese) is set to open its doors on September 25, 2009 at 1200 E Pike Street.Located in the heart of Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine neighborhood, Chao doesn’t confine itself to a single cuisine, ambiance or dining demographic. Chao features a daring menu heavy on traditional comfort foods with a contemporary twist. Whether labeled Pacific Rim or Pan-Asian, Chao aims to please with a menu so diverse; everyone will find a favorite dish. With a signature breakfast of Hawaiian Sweet Bread French Toast, appetizers like Kalbi Tacos and Kobe Beef Chili, signature entrées of Lemongrass Crab Cakes, Chao Banana BBQ-Sauce Pork Ribs or the perfect-for-sharing Whole Fried Salt & Pepper Chicken with Pickled Daikon, Chao tempts and tantalizes the taste buds. Chao also plans to feature sushi rolls as well as Sake and the Korean liquor Soju. The menu is blissfully budget-proof with brunch plates from $5-10, lunch from $5-12 and dinner from $9-15. Also expect a happy hour to rival the best in town serving up $3 plates and drink specials.Warm-hued, retro décor provide an atmosphere as unique as its menu, while Chao also boasts five HD flat screens in the 98-person bar and dining room; showcasing sports games by day and a rotation of eccentric pop-art from local and national artists by night. Chao is a true chameleon: featuring brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner options, the space will be transitional, but the loyalty to top-notch service, recession-proof prices and a commitment to a melting pot of flavors and cuisines will remain consistent. Part-owner Tony Kang exclaims: “Chao will be the antidote to Capitol Hill residents and beyond seeking a neighborhood restaurant that doesn’t sacrifice quality over cost. Being embraced by the neighborhood we’re in is the key to our success.”
Chao is located on 1200 E Pike Street in Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine neighborhood in Seattle. Lunch and dinner are served daily from 11am-2am. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am-2pm. For more information visit chaobistro.com
Po Dog, the new hotdog vendor coming to the hill, recently blogged about its troubles trying it install a mural on the southern blank facade of 1009 Union Street - adjacent to a parking lot. Laura Olson sent CHS email explaining the issue:
We had a design drawn up from John Osgood and had to ask the owners of the parking lot behind us to use a few of the parking space for a couple of days to clean the wall and get the mural started. They in turn, wanted to see the mural and made the decision that we would not be allowed to use their lot for cleaning and painting because "they felt the depiction of a man eating a hot dog would carry an unwanted double meaning" and did not approve of the "cartoonish" nature of the mural. The property owners also commented that our mural "does not meet the needs of the Capitol Hill neighborhood" and may decrease their property value.
Chris Pardo of Pb Elemental (Po Dog's architect) says the objections of Po Dog's landlord and the parking lot owner are surprising:
He [the parking lot owner] owns the Lifelong Aids building (next door) which has a full mural (100% coverage), that also has bright colors and "cartoons figures" [photo below]. Other buildings just down the street also have new abstract murals (Monique lofts for example), these murals serve to fight graffiti (we commissioned John on one of our designs in the central district because the concrete wall was constantly tagged, since then it has never been tagged), advertise a business (like the beautiful painted on billboard now partially covered on the Trace Lofts) an provide additional visual interest and landmarks to a diverse community. Not everyone will like every design, but it is art after all and that is it's nature. If it promotes discussion it is a success.
CHS will try to get the other side of this story from the landlord. Details to come.
