Time to eat. Time to drink. Don’t forget to tip your reporter: [email protected]

• With the move of CC’s and the early plans for Bleu Bistro Grotto, we noted that East Olive Way was about to fill the “last mile” to Broadway with nightlife. CHS has learned of a plan to pound that last mile of food and drink goodness into place as Tommy Gun, a new lounge from one of the good people behind East Madison’s The BottleNeck, comes together in the space currently home to Shinka Tea. Here’s what the BottleNeck’s Erin Nestor tells us about her new project as she plans a spring 2011 debut:

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The design of Tommy Gun will be evocative of the speakeasy era for sure – think intimate corners, low lighting, lots of wood – and although our cocktails will rock — our focus will be on creating the camaraderie so prevalent in bars during that era, rather than replicating the specific drinks.   I lived in Chicago during my “roaring twenties” and loved the city’s unabashed embrace of neighborhood bars and taverns – particularly those located steps from the entrance to the El.  One of the primary reasons I’ve chosen this location is its close proximity to the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station.  And of course,  I like this part of Capitol Hill;  the guys from CC Attle’s will obviously be right next door, I’ve always been a fan of The Stumbling Monk, The Elite is down the street and I’m delighted to be anywhere near Taco Gringos.   Tommy Gun will also feature at least six beers on draft, with a strong focus on local breweries.  We hope to open in March and will keep you posted.  You can follow the process on Twitter under the name TommyGunSeattle.

For the curious:  The BottleNeck will remain exactly where it is!

We reported that Shinka had been for sale back in September. They have not responded to our attempts to contact.

Extra points to Nestor and her business partners for thinking ahead to 2016’s light rail debut. The future is filled with public transit and good beer, apparently.

• The latest creation powered by Po Dog’s Laura Olson debuted this weekend as Grim’s opened its doors on 11th Ave for the first time. The new place is open 11 AM to 2 AM daily so, yay, that means a new lunch place on the Hill, too. We’ve attached a menu to this post. They’re also having a big grand opening celebration on Thursday with specials starting at 7 PM.
• Told you last week that Thai Curry Simple is now open at 12th and Union. Stranger says they relented and will, indeed, serve meat dishes, too.
• Another update on last week’s notes, Joe Bar reads Yelp, responds.
• Little bird says new Montreal bagel shop Eltana is planning a “soft” opening later this week — likely the 10th — with an official opening the next week. Don’t know if Packard building neighbor Varro is on the same schedule but you can keep track on http://www.facebook.com/varrolife
• A look at the hype wave for street food that Skillet is (successfully) surfing all the way into full-blow brick and mortar diner.
• Speaking of Skillet Diner, we noted some construction activity for it and the coming-soon craft distillery and tasting room across the street
• Tully’s might run out of cash for its operations by the end of June. They operate in some relatively prime Cap Hill real estate at Pike and Broadway and 19th and Aloha. Start your fantasy team speculation about what should move in should they move out… now.
• Yogurtland had told us they were planning a 2010 debut in the Broadway Building but those plans have been pushed back. Yogurtland rep now tells us to look for the frozen treat-by-the-ounce purveyor in the “first quarter of 2011.”
• Boylston Ave’s Vino Verite has a holiday gift for Capitol Hill. Their annual champagne and port tasting on December 18th promises “your chance to taste very special and rare wines.” $14 tickets here.
• Cupcake Royale turns 7 on Saturday and is celebrating with a fun party at the shop where it first started in Madrona. CR is a CHS advertiser.
• We like reading Olivar’s newsletter just to imagine chef Philippe Thomelin saying things like, “Wild boar is my choice of meat this year as well as chestnut for my dessert.” Olivar is taking Christmas and New Year’s dinner reservations now.
• More holiday goodness. Looking for a gift for the Capitol Hillers you love? Consider a gift certificate or spectacular piece of branded merchandise from one of our many bars and restaurants. Roanoke Tavern says they have both. Stuff a stocking.
• There’s a Broadway Grill deal on the #chxmas post where you can get $75 gift cards for $50.
• All sorts of food and drink deals are part of this weekend’s Pike n’ Pine neighborhood sale and holiday celebration. CHS is a co-sponsor!
• Remember that asshole who busted into the Dunshee House? A “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!” benefit to help the organization is being held Tuesday, December 14th at the Capitol Club.
• Because we care, another Rock Box karaoke update. The new Nagle Place joint is targeting a December 16th start. May I be the first to grace the facility with a rendition of Beautiful.
• Elysian says it’s Winter Beer Week. Don’t argue.
• Northwest Film Forum and Cafe Presse are experimenting with a collaboration called Pique-nique:

Pique-nique menu options include Le Pique-nique Complet (Parisian ham and Comté cheese baguette sandwich served with Alsatian-style potato salad and mixed cookies), as well as a la carte baguette sandwiches with Paris ham, Gruyere or Basque sheep’s milk cheese.  

Pique-nique meals will be available for purchase online up to two hours before every show. Patrons can select their preferred menu option, while also buying their admission tickets via Brown Paper Tickets. Patrons will then pick up their pre-ordered food at the Film Forum box office before the beginning of each screening. Prices will range from $7 to $14.50, plus the cost of admission.

Pique-nique will be available December 17-23, during the screening of the new documentary Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno. Meals can be purchased for any showtime (7 and 9pm daily, plus Saturday and Sunday at 5pm).

Cafe Presse and Northwest Film Forum hope explore further collaborations in the future.

With talk of the possibility for a strike at Seattle area grocery stores, CHS wondered what life would be like in the city if contract agreements couldn’t be reached. Readers had a lot to say about the relatively rare labor dispute. While some of the conversation was certainly agenda driven, we also heard from a lot of Seattle area workers, shoppers and even a negotiator for the big chain grocery stores involved. Given all that attention, we should finish the loop and report that union workers in our area have voted overwhelmingly to accept a new contract hammered out by UFCW 21, UFCW 81, and Teamsters 38 with the big grocery chains and many independent grocery stores in the region. Here’s a statement on the deal from UFCW 21:

Grocery store workers in King, Snohomish, and Kitsap/North Mason Counties Vote 95% to ratify new contract!

In Tough Economy, Grocery Store Workers Stand Up Together to Protect Health Care, Pension, and Wages

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Grocery store workers in King, Snohomish, and Kitsap/North Mason Counties voted this week by 95% to ratify a tentative agreement which had been reached just before Thanksgiving. This agreement was achieved after many of months of negotiations, countless actions in the stores, an overwhelming strike authorization vote, and strong support from customers, labor unions, and community organizations.

“We work hard for these companies, but they were trying to use the tough economy to gut our pay and benefits. But because we stuck together, we showed them we weren’t going accept that and even made some important improvements for our jobs, protected our health and pension plans, and our wages.”

–Lynnette Larson, Union Bargaining Team member, Fred Meyer – Kent

Click here to read our press release on the vote results for King, Snohomish, and Kitsap/North Mason grocery store workers. (Workers in Jefferson/Clallam vote 12/8, and workers in Whatcom/Skagit/Island vote 12/14.)

21st Avenue E. between E. John and E. Denny is starting to look quite festive, as the townhouse residents start to take advantage of their elevated balconies: strings of white lights, illuminated candy canes, etc – starting to look like a little “Candy Cane Lane”.  They’ve all been upstaged by the recent appearance of a display of multiple long strings of intensely blue lights (the sort of, presumably LED driven, lights that make you think that your eyes are missing half of their spectral output), as shown here:

(PS: I’m getting way too PC: I typed “Holiday Lights” without even thinking what I used to call them, although [on reflection] one might argue that the blue color might suggest them to be Hanukkah lights: it is “The Festival of Lights”, but then so is Diwali).

It’s come to this. With budget cuts axing the neighborhood service center he was part of in the Capitol Hill library, East Neighborhood District Coordinator Thomas Whittemore has announced his own layoff in his monthly newsletter:

East District Council Meeting

Date: Monday December 6th, 2010

Time: 6:30 to 7:50 PM

Location: Capitol Hill Library, (425 Harvard Avenue East)

Room: Main Conference Room.

NEWS FLASH: So it appears to be official that ,due to the budget cuts and as of January 4th, I will no longer be serving as your Neighborhood District Coordinator. And the Show must go on- Our December meeting will be devoted to developing a work plan since a critical topic in 2011 will be an evaluation of the District Council system and the mission of the Department of Neighborhoods. A Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) reads: “The City Council requests the Executive evaluate the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) community outreach and engagement functions and the resources used to support them.” The SLI goes on to state, “As part of its evaluation, the Executive should solicit feedback from the public using a variety of mediums, such as community meetings, online surveys, and focus groups.”

For an arbitrary opinion on the man — not necessarily the role — one local neighborhood activist told us Whittemore is “the most competent local government employee” in Seattle.

We first reported that Whittemore’s job might be in jeopardy as the mayor submitted his budget proposal in September. The City Council restored some of the cuts the mayor’s office was pushing for in the Department of Neighborhoods but Capitol Hill’s neighborhood service center and the coordinator role didn’t make the list, apparently. We wrote about Whittemore taking over the job in March 2010.

In March, we wrote that the coordinator’s role was to act as a liaison between the general public and city officials.

Whittemore’s office is a resource for groups or individuals who want to plan local events, make changes in politics or get involved in different events or groups around the city. He can act as a Capitol Hill representative to anyone new to the neighborhood or ready to begin their career as a civil servant. He can also help find interpreters and arrange for public officials to attend important community meetings if needed.

Whatever his rank in the Seattle competency list, you can stop by the December meeting of the East District Council on Monday night to thank Whittemore for his work, wish him well and, heck, maybe offer him a job.

On the agenda for the East District Council? Sounds like everything — they’ll be cracking open the nut of a process to figure out why the Council and the Department of Neighborhoods exist.

Our December meeting will be devoted to developing a work plan since a critical topic in 2011 will be an evaluation of the District Council system and the mission of the Department of Neighborhoods. A Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) reads: “The City Council requests the Executive evaluate the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) community outreach and engagement functions and the resources used to support them.” The SLI goes on to state, “As part of its evaluation, the Executive should solicit feedback from the public using a variety of mediums, such as community meetings, online surveys, and focus groups.”

The City and DON need to hear from YOU!

This graphic from the Department of Neighborhoods outlines the structure of the City’s District Council system. Its most visible output is the guidance on the Neighborhood Matching Fund grant process. Beyond that, we’ve only reported on the body’s activity a handful of times in the past year.

Less haunted house and more proletariat hangout, candlelit Grim’s debuted Saturday night on 11th Ave for a preview before its official opening on Sunday. We featured some of the ideas and names behind the latest Capitol Hill food and drink project here. Grim’s replaces Grey Gallery in the space and has transformed the two-floor set-up into a social networking-class beer hall where the pints come in mason jars and the cocktails, at a price.

Several notes to us tonight about police and SWAT activity at the Group Health Capitol Hill campus at 15th and John. CHS has learned that a man is barricaded in a room inside the hospital’s south wing. We’ll tell you more about his location as it becomes clear SPD has things in hand. We’re told officers are taking the ‘slow, patient’ route in the situation which started around 8 Saturday night.