Police investigating new Seattle hit and run attacks after homeless man run over while sleeping on North Capitol Hill sidewalk — UPDATE

A homeless man who survived being run over while sleeping on the sidewalk along Capitol Hill’s 19th Ave E appears to have been intentionally targeted.

Seattle Police say they are investigating two similar attacks that took place within hours across Seattle early last Saturday morning that sent two people to the hospital after a driver drove onto sidewalks and struck them.

In the Capitol Hill attack, a 39-year-old man suffered lower body injuries and was rushed to Harborview after being run over while sleeping near 19th and Prospect in front of a stretch of businesses including the neighborhood’s Windermere real estate office on the block mixed with single family-style homes and a small business strip.

“The victim was asleep on the sidewalk when he was struck by a vehicle,” SPD’s brief on the February 17th, 3:50 AM incident reads. “The suspect vehicle ran over the victim’s legs and then fled the scene.” Continue reading

Happy 25th birthday to Capitol Hill’s Monsoon, the center of a Seattle food and drink family

(Image: Monsoon)

Not every classic of Capitol HIll food and drink is fading away. Monsoon and its family of Vietnamese food and drink are marking 25 years in the neighborhood with a celebration — and a roast pig — on 19th Ave E. The business has been about family from the start.

“Monsoon would not be here today if our mother, siblings and spouses didn’t step up to help us with everything from permits to construction, to cooking to running the front of house,” co-founder Eric Banh said. “After three months of being open we could finally afford to hire people to work in the restaurant and business really started to take off. We feel so blessed by the Monsoon community and the incredible guests we’ve had the pleasure of knowing throughout the last 25 years.”

Monsoon still prides itself on reinventing Vietnamese in Seattle: Continue reading

Hello Robin — 10 years of cookies and community on Capitol Hill

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Capitol Hill-born Hello Robin stands as a testament to the sweet success of a community focus.

The 19th Ave E cookie shop will celebrate this weekend with a cookie making party co-hosted with its neighbor at Cone and Steiner, the throwback neighborhood grocery it debuted with on the newly redeveloped block back in 2013. Dani Cone’s Cone and Steiner has grown into a two-location grocery chain after its 19th Ave E start. Hello Robin has also grown. You can visit a sibling Hello Robin cookie shop at U Village.

At Hello Robin’s original 19th Ave E home, owner Robin Wehl recently took a trip down memory lane with CHS, sharing insights into the shop’s journey, community bonds, and her secret ingredients.

“I feel very, very lucky,” Wehl says with gratitude about how the shop has thrived and grown. The 19th Ave E neighborhood’s support has been a backbone of Hello Robin’s success. She recalled with joy the myriad of life events witnessed within the shop, from serving pregnant customers to seeing them return with their now 10-year-olds. Continue reading

Tiny Spark and Thread wants to help Capitol Hill connect to a gift of art

Online shopping is rarely optimized for building relationships with other artists and customers.

Solia Hermes and Juli Hudson are two local artists who have taken the initiative and opened their own boutique on Capitol Hill, a small start to building community and helping support local artists showcase their work.

Having customers experience E Aloha’s Spark and Thread in person has created a positive impact for the artists to see people appreciate their work and the creations of others featured in the small store.

“Online you’re searching for things versus in person you see all kinds of things that you didn’t expect.” Hudson said. “Meeting the artist changes the relationship people have with the art.” Continue reading

Only a few weeks old, Capitol Hill’s Money Frog is on the move, leaving 19th Ave E behind — UPDATE

KP’s Soft Shell Crab Burger (Image: Money Frog)

Sometimes new living arrangements just don’t work out.

Only weeks after its grand opening on the relatively sleepy 19th Ave E, new Capitol Hill restaurant Money Frog was looking for a new pad.

Now, after about seven weeks of business in the space longtime favorite Vios called home for 17 years, it has shut down and is preparing for a move closer to the core of Capitol Hill.

Ownership hasn’t officially announced the new location while the deal is being finalized but license applications show Money Frog is on the move to the corner of 15th and Pine. The location has been home to the Remedium Grill restaurant which had been hosting this Alice in Wonderland-themed “immersive cocktail experience” over the winter to help make ends meet through the ongoing pandemic challenges.

One owner who spoke with CHS said the decision for the abrupt zig zag came with the realization 19th Ave E just wasn’t the right neighborhood for Money Frog’s pan-Asian restaurant and bar aspirations even with a push of weekend brunch to try to entice more neighbors. Continue reading

The golden age of Capitol Hill bagels

The Bagel Deli may be long gone but you are living in the gold age of Capitol Hill bagels.

The October opening of Rubinstein Bagels brought a nice little burst of new energy to 15th Ave E’s commercial offerings while also elevating the neighborhood’s chewy bagel offerings to a new epic level. Here are a few scenes CHS captured on a recent visit to check out the new shop.

Capitol Hill currently is home to five outstanding bagel bakers each offering its own special take on the Jewish baked goods: Continue reading

Bounty Kitchen set to add Capitol Hill location in former Tallulah’s space — Plus, 19th Ave E’s Ritual House yoga says goodbye — UPDATE

Tallulah’s in better days (Image: CHS)

19th Ave E is losing one healthful business to the COVID-19 crisis but is set to welcome another to this quiet side of Capitol Hill.

Bounty Kitchen is making plans to take over the space left empty by the ugly exit of Tallulah’s late last year in a cloud of financial problems new owner Brad Haggen took over the Linda Derschang creation only a year earlier.

The restaurant has applied for a liquor license for a full bar at the 19th and Mercer location.

UPDATE: Bounty Kitchen’s start on Capitol HIll is being geared to the realities of the ongoing restrictions. Owner Meg Trainer tells CHS that will mean a beginning focused solely on takeout and delivery as the restaurant’s interior is overhauled and prepared for the future return of sit-down dining.

.”We’re humbled by the opportunity to expand at this time,” Trainer said.

The restaurant has been able to grow in a challenging time for the industry thanks to its core concepts of flexibility, efficiency, and healthy eating, Trainer says.

“There is a much larger conversation about what will happen with the restaurant industry but I think everyone has now learned a couple of things we’ve learned for a while.”

Continue reading

Reopening: Capitol Hill salons old and new return, adjusting to ‘new norm’ of masked haircutting

New colors at 19th Ave Salon by Brandon Madsen (Image: 19th Ave Salon)

Capitol Hill beauty businesses are adjusting to cutting and styling hair under state-mandated changes, including wearing PPE, issuing temperature checks and maintaining six feet of distance when possible.

For 19th Avenue Salon owner Jamie De Maria, implementing these safety requirements has been an important part of opening the new business. The salon had only been open for a week when COVID-19 restrictions shut the business down.

To his surprise, De Maria said the shop has not struggled with customers since reopening.

“We’ve been so beyond busy and turning clients away and working 12 hour days — it’s been insane,” De Maria said. “I would say 80-90% of our new customers are neighbors and residents of the community that have been walking by the salon seeing the construction happening and waiting for it to open and reading our reviews online.”

Salons got the go-ahead to reopen at 25% capacity under Phase 1.5 restrictions in early June and now have the option to expand to 50% capacity as part of Phase 2. Continue reading

Fuel to join Ada’s family, adding books to blend of coffee, community

(Image: Fuel Coffee)

(Image: Fuel Coffee)

It’s a blend that should work out, mixing the 15-year-old creation of a Seattle coffee veteran  with the energy of two Capitol Hill entrepreneurs who have a vision for growing cafe communities and independent book retail.

Fuel Coffee and its three locations in the 19th Ave E Stevens neighborhood, Montlake, and Wallingford is becoming part of the Ada’s family of bookshops and cafes. The merger is the outgrowth of conversations that started well before the outbreak and is ready to move forward now that reopening plans are taking shape, both sides say. It’s now a vision that seems even more clear after weeks of COVID-19 restrictions with neighbors sticking mostly to their nearby streets.

“Community is even more important,” Danielle Hulton says.

The new Fuel will be a flip of how the original Ada’s was shaped on 15th Ave E. Ada’s is a community built around books — Fuel shops will be built around coffee. Continue reading

Capitol Hill’s Hello Robin baking plans for U Village expansion

Martin (Image: Hello Robin)

The next time you stop by Capitol Hill cookie shop Hello Robin, congratulate the bakers. They have something special in the oven for 2020.

Hello Robin will be expanding beyond its 19th Ave E original home a year from now next spring. The cookie bakery, distinguished by its blue sign and line outside its door, will open a storefront in University Village after operating solely on Capitol Hill since 2013.

“I think we’re ready for the next chapter. It’s been a fun five and a half years. We have a really great staff and growing the business will provide more opportunities for them,” said Robin Martin, the bakery’s namesake. Martin co-owns and co-founded the bakery with her husband, Clay Martin. Continue reading