Coconut Cocktail? #Vietnamese #vietnamesefood #cocktails #bar #seattle #capitolhill #pnw #umbrelladrinks #? #? pic.twitter.com/uT4ipg22j7

— Stateside Restaurant (@StatesideSEA) September 13, 2015

Meet the curry puff, part of the bar offerings at the coming soon Foreign National: “Foreign National recipe testing #asianfood #malaysianfood #currypuff #snack”

It has been kind of a slow start for the “20+ Capitol Hill bars and restaurants to look forward to in 2016” though March will bring a wave of new pizza to the Hill. Plans are heating up, though, for one addition to our 2016 list.

We started the year reporting that one of the brightest new names in Capitol Hill food and drink was already lining up an expansion in 2016 as Stateside was preparing to create a new bar concept next door on E Pike.

Chef co-owner Eric Johnson wasn’t ready to reveal all the details in January but now his summer plans for another global travel-inspired venture are ready to share — get ready to visit Foreign National:

Foreign National is a small cocktail lounge from Eric Johnson and Seth Hammond, the owners of Stateside. The 25-seat bar located next door to Stateside will offer an exotic cocktail list and Asian-inspired drinking snacks.

The beverage program will feature cocktails emphasizing unusual fresh ingredients as well as familiar products used in unfamiliar ways. The thoughtfully chosen spirits selection will headline and beer will represent Asia heavily in all its facets. There will be periodic “Bia Hoi” parties (Fresh Beer in Vietnamese) highlighting small batch local draft beer in the style of Vietnam’s ubiquitous beer cafés of the same name.

Foreign National will have a small food menu and will serve 5-7 drinking snacks on a nightly basis referencing classics and interpretations from all around Asia.

Designed by Callie Meyer (Stateside), the mood will be that of a secret expat watering hole with a vintage “loungey” vibe. A dark and moody space, the room will sparkle from a 4-foot handmade retro disco ball and shimmery late-seventies wallpaper from France.

A perfect spot for a pre-dinner visit, date night or nightcap, Foreign National will also host regular concept dinners limited only by the imagination. The space will be capable of hosting private events of up to 22 seated, and 40 standing.

Opening hours will be from 6:00 PM-2:00 AM 7-days a week.

Stateside regulars will suffer through the coming months of construction — the busy workday means no Stateside lunch service until summer. Johnson said he is planning for the new bar — along with those disco balls — to be ready in June.

In the meantime, get ready for a big month for new Capitol Hill pizza — March should bring the debut of three new joints across Capitol Hill:

• Pizzeria 88 bringing wood-fired Neapolitan pizza to Broadway
• Portland’s Sizzle Pie bringing Burnside hip and pizza brunch to E Union
• Dino’s Tomato Pie serving pizza ’round or square’ since March 2016