A Bainbridge Island restaurant family will extend to Capitol Hill with Ramie, ‘contemporary Vietnamese’

Hopefully they bring Ba Sa’s soft shell crab roll to Ramie (Image: Ba Sa)

(Image: Ba Sa)

Don’t be too worried about closures in the Capitol Hill food and drink scene. Most spaces don’t look like they’ll stay empty for long. On 14th Ave, the exit of Omega Ouzeri and retirement of restaurateurs Thomas and Rebecca Soukakos in January now comes with a Tết announcement of Ramie, a new dining project from Trinh and Thai Nguyen, “the sibling chefs behind Bainbridge Island’s acclaimed modern Vietnamese restaurant Ba Sa.”

“Providing sterling hospitality in a space that’s welcoming, serving contemporary Vietnamese food that incorporates simple, old-school cooking techniques, and offering a robust cocktail program will be the guiding principles of Ramie,” the announcement reads.

They say the 3,055-square-foot restaurant neighboring Nue and Spinasse “will undergo some cosmetic and design changes,” but “the basic layout of the open kitchen, dining area, bar, mezzanine, and seasonal patio dining will remain.” Continue reading

The end at Omega Ouzeri: The Soukakos family brings 40 years of Capitol Hill food and drink to a close

The Soukakos and Omega Ouzeri family in 2015

Thomas Soukakos and Rebecca Soukakos are leaving Capitol Hill for the hills of Greece. The veteran restaurateur has announced he is closing Omega Ouzeri at the end of January, bringing to a close 30 years of food and drink in the neighborhood.

“I want to thank everyone who helped me to have enough experiences to fill two lifetimes,” Soukakos said in the announcement.

Omega’s final day of service will be January 31st. Soukakos said an announcement about a new project taking over the 14th Ave space next to culinary neighbors Spinasse and Nue will be made soon.

The closure follows a typically busy year of change for Capitol Hill food and drink. CHS tallied “14 sad goodbyes and 33 happy hellos” in the area’s food and drink economy in 2023.

Omega was born into a boom time on Capitol Hill as a wave of major new projects launched in new construction created in a wave of development across the neighborhood. The restaurant debuted in 2015 on the ground floor of the new REO Flats preservation incentive-boosted mixed-use building as a more upscale, more modern sibling to the family-friendly Vios Cafe. Continue reading

Assault charges in stabbing that injured four outside Capitol Hill bar

SPD says it recovered a small knife from the suspect during a frisk

A First Hill resident has been charged in the stabbing incident outside a Capitol Hill bar early last Friday that sent two people to the hospital and injured two others.

The King County Prosecutor’s office announced Tuesday that Thomas Ellis, 36, has been charged with two counts of second degree assault.

CHS reported here as police and Seattle Fire were called to the Diesel bar on 14th Ave off E Madison to the just after 2 AM fight and stabbing.

Arriving officers found a chaotic scene outside the bar with multiple people suffering from stab wounds in the attack. A fourth victim had left the scene but was located nearby.

According to police, Ellis told officers the stabbings came in self defense after punches were thrown in a fight in front of the bar. But victims described a swift and violent retaliation stemming from an argument that quickly led to Ellis pulling out a knife. One of the victims described being chased down by the assailant in an unprovoked attack that “was in no way self-defense.”

The injuries in the incident were significant. Police say one victim suffered an “approximate 10” wide and 1” deep slash wound across the front of his chest, filleting him open, as well at least one stab/puncture wound on his right side.”

Ellis has not yet entered a plea on the charges and remains jailed on $300,000 bail.

 

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Two to hospital, two more injured in stabbing at Capitol Hill bar

Four people were reported stabbed and a suspect was taken into custody in a violent, 2 AM altercation outside a Capitol Hill bar.

Police and Seattle Fire were called to the Diesel bar on 14th Ave off E Madison to the just after 2 AM fight and stabbing. Arriving officers found a chaotic scene outside the bar with multiple people suffering from stab wounds in the attack. A fourth victim had left the scene but was located nearby.

Police also found the reported suspect at the scene and took the 36-year-old into custody.

SPD reports that two victims were transported to Harborview in stable condition with stab and slashing wounds and two people were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The suspect was booked into King County Jail.

 

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CHS Pics | With OOLA Capitol Hill, Kirby Kallas-Lewis and KT Niehoff share their ‘all time favorite spot in their all time favorite neighborhood’

Kirby Kallas-Lewis and KT Niehoff

Summer isn’t over yet and OOLA Capitol Hill’s patio at its new 14th and Union bottle shop, cocktail bar, and restaurant is ready when you are.

It has been a few weeks since the craft distillery returned to its home turf with the new hangout in the former home of Marjorie. CHS reported here on the opening as Kirby Kallas-Lewis and KT Niehoff put the final touches on the overhaul with help from their new teammates executive chef Liz Blacker and beverage director Devan Lenning.

The new OOLA is across the street from where it began distilling craft spirits in 2011. Now, three years after its move to a larger, easier to manage production facility in Georgetown, OOLA is back with a space dedicated to showcasing its gin, vodka, and whiskey along with farm-to-table pairings and creative cocktails.

Continue reading

Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on second Capitol Hill affordable condo project

Officials were there to help break ground Thursday (Image: Alex Garland)

In March, Habitat for Humanity just opened its first affordable condo building on Capitol Hill. This week, it broke ground on its second.

The Thursday ceremony marked the start of construction of Olympic Ridge, a 14th Ave affordable condominium building planned to provide “homeownership opportunity for those making less than 80% AMI,” Habitat for Humanity SKKC said about the project.

CHS reported earlier this year on the opening of Capitol Ridge, a 13-unit building on 11th Ave E between Harrison and Republican on Capitol Hill. Continue reading

911 | 17th Ave shooting, 14th Ave death investigation

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 @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • 17th Ave shooting: Police say a man suffered non-life threatening injuries to his hand and torso in a Friday afternoon shooting in a 17th Ave parking lot. According to the SPD brief, the victim told police he was shot in a dispute with the occupants of a vehicle that fled the scene in the 1700 block of 17th around 2:35 PM. A search for the suspects was not successful. Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
  • 14th and Denny death investigation: Seattle Fire says SPD is investigating after a man was found dead Wednesday morning in the 1800 block of 14th Ave near E Denny Way. According to Seattle Fire, a 35-year-old male was found dead at the scene. Witnesses reported a man who appeared to have been homeless found in a an apartment building stairwell around 11:30 Wednesday morning. There were no reported signs of foul play. We’ve asked SPD for more details.
 

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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.

 

 

In the spirit of 60 Minute Photo, you can now drop your film at this 14th Ave coffee shop

It has been more than a decade since 60 Minute Photo, the last dedicated photo shop on Capitol Hill, wound up its final roll and made way for demolition and redevelopment on 14th Ave. One of the businesses that survived that 14th Ave change has added a new element that might be of interest to neighborhood shutterbugs.

There is now a new Moody’s Film Lab drop box inside the street’s Porchlight Coffee and Records shop. The box joins a collection point at Sonic Boom in Ballard as the brand new photographer-run company’s first as it grows a boutique drop-off and by-mail film development, printing, and more business in Seattle. Continue reading

Nue is staying open later — will Capitol Hill follow?

We don’t want to make too much of this but, slowly but surely, a wider variety of Capitol Hill restaurants and stores are keeping later hours.

CHS will make food and drink spot Nue a symbol of the movement.

The 14th Ave eatery has announced relatively modest “late night” plans to keep its kitchen open until 11 PM daily, and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. “Nue after dark,” they call it.

At Nue, the days start with 11 AM weekday lunch openings and brunch starting at 10 AM on weekends. When it first opened in 2015, it rocked opening hours through at least 11 PM every day with 2 AM closures on the weekends.

Of course, grandma, we know that back in your day, everything on Capitol Hill was open until midnight. That was before the pandemic and changing work trends made late night hours a big challenge for small businesses. Continue reading

Habitat for Humanity just opened its first affordable condo building on Capitol Hill — and is getting ready to build another

Habitat for Humanity has brought its philosophies around equality — and sweat equity — in home ownership to 11th Ave E between Harrison and Republican on Capitol Hill.

Over the weekend, it celebrated the completion of the Capitol View Community building along with the new condo owners who will call the development home.

“My best friend used to live down the street from here near the park,” new owner Amber Cortes said at Saturday’s ceremony. “And she said when she first lived here 10 years ago, there were all sorts of people in the building — an opera singer, a landscaper, a pastry chef. And over the years, rent went up, housing cost went up, and people started moving out.”

“I’ve honestly lost track and count of all the artists I know who have moved out of Seattle, and they’re bringing their talents and their potential to enrich the city with them,” Cortes said.

Ownership of the 13 units at the Capitol View Community is restricted to households making 80% or less of Area Median Income. Habitat says 11 of the 13 units have completed the purchasing process with five going to BIPOC homebuyers. Part of the Habitat tradition, the new owners also gave 250 hours of “sweat equity” volunteer work as part of the purchasing process.

Continue reading