Blotto is throwing Capitol Hill’s saddest pizza party this week. The 12th Ave pie shop that has grown a following with near perfect sourdough crusts and limited availability is shutting down after three years of business.
“This coming week will be the last week of service at Blotto,” the announcement reads. “This same week 3 years ago we took the plunge and started work on the restaurant that’s been our second (or maybe our first) home ever since.”
The pizza people behind Blotto’s say the property’s owners are in the process of selling the building and apparently the prospect of new landlords and new plans for the corner of 12th and Denny don’t line up. “We decided we’re excited for a new chapter outside the restaurant,” the Blotto crew diplomatically says. Continue reading →
See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattleor join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.
Madison armed robbery: Seattle Police was searching for two teen suspects in a reported armed robbery Monday afternoon at the E Madison Shell service station. According to SPD, police were called to the station’s convenience store just after 2 PM to a reported robbery involving a firearm. Police say two suspects entered the business “demanding product from behind the counter.” When a worker in the back heard the demands and confronted the suspects, one suspect reportedly began assaulting the employees. The teen suspect then pulled out a pistol with an extended magazine and pointed it while robbing the store. The two suspects described as male and female teenagers fled on foot southbound on 17th and then west on Pike but could not be located by police. Seattle Fire was called to the scene to provide aid to one of the victims injured during the ripoff. An attempted canine track of the suspects could not be completed. There were no reported arrests.
12th/Cherry phone robbery: Multiple victims reported having their phones stolen at gunpoint early Sunday morning in an incident near 12th and Cherry. SPD says the heist was reported just before 1 AM. According to police, the victims were robbed of their phones by a group including three females and two males, one reportedly armed with what appeared to be a rifle. The suspects were reported to have left the scene in a red Toyota SUV. One of the stolen phones was tracked to Renton where the police department attempted to contact the vehicle but it sped away and was not pursued.
Uber heist: An Uber driver said her Mercedes was boosted by two thieves as she loaded a passenger’s bags into the vehicle early Saturday morning on Bellevue Pl E. Police say two males jumped into the passenger and driver’s seat and told the Uber customer in the back seat to get out. As the Uber driver went to confront them, a suspect pushed her away and drove off. There were no reported injuries.
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Meanwhile, at Dave’s Hot Chicken (Image courtesy a CHS reader — we owe you a shake)
If you are a chicken, you are going to want to stay the fuck away from Capitol Hill. Over the weekend, two new-era fried chicken chains debuted in the neighborhood amid viral video-driven block-long lines, free fries, and lots and lots of spicy hype.
On 11th Ave, they were celebrating “001” — the first of what could end up a thousand-strong location of Seattle-based sustainable chicken sandwich chain Mt. Joy.
On 12th, the line was an hour long for the Tik Tok-y tenders and shakes of Nashville fried chicken by way of Pasadena super chain Dave’s Hot Chicken. Continue reading →
About three fire trucks and three ambulances just showed up outside the Capitol Hill police station. Wonder what that's about. pic.twitter.com/wtzsoqOoi9
Seattle Fire was called to the East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine Sunday night for a reported hazardous material response.
There were few immediate details as multiple Seattle Fire trucks and the hazardous material response team were deployed to the Capitol Hill building just after 5 PM.
The incident was reported as a hazardous material response. UPDATE: Seattle Fire says it is investigating “an unknown substance” found at the facility.
UPDATE 6:30 PM: Seattle Fire says the substance found was “identified as baking soda in a watery solution.” The hazmat crew determined the material was not hazardous and cleared the scene.
There were no reports of injuries.
Last weekend, Seattle Fire’s hazmat response crew was also busy after a suspicious envelope was delivered to Chabad of Capitol Hill and The Central District’s Capitol Hill community center, the latest in a wave of letters and threats targeting Jewish organizations around the Puget Sound.
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PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE! Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
The Seattle Department of Transportation is collecting public feedback on a roster of dozens of street, sidewalk, and mobility projects around the city as planners try to round out the city’s next 20-year transportation plan.
Included in the mix are 18 projects on and around Capitol Hill and the Central District including a few in vital connecting neighborhoods like downtown Seattle.
CHS reported here on the August publication of the draft Seattle Transportation Plan including a framework that would create more safe and efficient protected areas for bikers along arteries, a proliferation of transit-only lanes, and new light rail lines criss-crossing Capitol Hill and the Central District along 23rd Ave and Denny Way.
Now SDOT has further fleshed-out some of the concepts in the proposed plan as it seeks more feedback. The priorities will also likely shape the city’s next transportation levy as the current levy expires next year. You have until November 20th to add your priorities and thoughts.
“After a multi-year community visioning and planning process, we have identified a list of candidate transportation projects and potential program activities for the public to review and provide feedback,” SDOT writes. “These proposed projects and programs support the STP’s 20-year vision for Seattle’s transportation network.”
SDOT says the projects were shaped by the city’s growth strategies and equity priorities.
The Central Seattle roster covers Capitol Hill, the Central District, and nearby neighborhoods like Montlake, Madison Valley, and First Hill. Continue reading →
MariPili owner and chef Grayson Corrales received an email in her inbox last December notifying her that Frye Art Museum was looking for new energy to run Café Frieda, a cafeteria space within the First Hill cultural center that has been closed for over three years after the catering company running it changed their business model due to the pandemic. Corrales applied, not expecting the café to be in the cards. Now, MariPili will be opening at Café Frieda next month.
On her first day in a new position, Frye Museum executive director Jamilee Lacy tasted food from multiple Seattle-area businesses who wanted to run the café in January. Lacy was looking for food that was different from the usual museum cafeteria fare. She kept her vision for “fine dining in the daytime” in mind, and says MariPili was the clear leader.
“It became really clear to me, and aligned best with my vision for the museum, that a small yet well-positioned, somewhat avant garde purveyor was the best way to go,” Lacy said.
Some details need to be worked out before the café stats its new life. Grayson says she’s still finishing placing equipment and setting up the POS system. One other employee will also need to be hired. The menu is still subject to change, but Corrales envisions quick, accessible, food service.
“It’s supposed to be a menu that’s more approachable and faster to fire so that the hospital workers surrounding the Frye Museum can stop in and grab a sandwich on their lunch break,” Corrales said. Continue reading →
A Seattle City Council is set to review plans Monday morning for a new Seattle Tourism Improvement Area focused on increasing downtown hotel occupancy with some limited implications for tourism on Capitol Hill.
While the neighborhood has been slow to add new hotel properties, Broadway is home to a Silver Cloud Inn and various projects have come up over the years examining possible new hotels — though none have come to fruition. Meanwhile, one hotel in the area has been put on what its owners hope will be a more lucrative path providing housing.
Under the new proposal, lower Capitol Hill up to 12th Ave will remain part of the hotel assessment zone. Continue reading →
“A lot of things happen in the [artistic] process that are unpredictable, and I like to respond to those situations and find a way for it to work. That’s what excites me.”
Kalina Winska is an artist who grew up in Poland and has been living in Seattle for three years. Earlier this year, she moved her studio from Georgetown to Capitol Hill because she loved the energy and vibrancy of this neighborhood.
Her work is inspired by her concern for climate change and her fascination with digital weather maps. Kalina’s paintings are vibrant and play with juxtapositions.There are layers of contrasting colors, hard lines, and softer brushstrokes. Continue reading →
An officer collects evidence near 12th and Madison (Image: Matt Mitgang/CHS)
(Image: Matt Mitgang/CHS)
Bullets flew into buildings and reportedly grazed a man outside the neighborhood Maserati dealership in an early morning drive-by shooting in Pike/Pine.
There were no major injuries reported in the just after 1:30 AM incident that brought police to the area to search for a black BMW reportedly at the center of the melee and to comb through the streets looking for shell casings.
UPDATE: CHS has obtained video from the scene showing two suspects on foot crossing 11th Ave just after 1:30 AM before one turns at the corner and opens fire in the direction of the A Pizza-Mart bar and restaurant. Seconds later, the driveby shooting was reported at 12th and Madison.
Canon owner Jamie Boudreau has room for “America’s largest spirit collection at 4,000 labels and counting” but doesn’t always have room for the customers that line up at the 12-year-old 12th Ave cocktail bar. But now Boudreau’s award-winning bar has room for 30 more patrons to enjoy a gimlet or two.
Canon announced it has added a new Copa-Quoin Room to help handle overflow crowds on Wednesdays through Saturday nights. Continue reading →
