Category Archives: Food & Drink

First look: the new Neumos and The Runaway

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Some 25 years after its birth as Moe’s Mo’Roc’N Café in an old Salvation Army at the corner of 10th and Pike, Neumos showed off the results of its 2017 overhaul with a party Wednesday night.

There is an upgraded sound system and new lighting to keep the club rocking. There is a new life for the old Moe Bar next door. And there are smaller changes — yes, the bathrooms have been redone — and new details like a plaque to honor longtime friend of the club, Jon “Gash” Sanders, who died in 2016 and is remembered as the “Pope of Capitol Hill.”

“Our new sound system will blow you away and possibly is the best in the city,” Neumos talent buyer Steven Severin said in a message to friends about the reopening. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill food+drink | Aviv Hummus Bar coming to 15th Ave E

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David Nussbaum is bringing silky-smooth, mouthwatering hummus and steamy hot pita to Capitol Hill.

Aviv Hummus Bar is planning to open on 15th Ave E this May.

Nussbaum has worked in the restaurant industry his entire adult life and after years of wanting to open a place of his own. Now he has finally locked down a location for his own project.

“I’m just at that point in my life where I just need to do this myself. I’m ready to be my own boss and share my vision with the rest of Seattle,” Nussbaum told CHS.

Aviv is Nussbaum’s middle name and means spring in Hebrew, which invokes thoughts of fresh and new that he hopes to bring to his restaurant. Continue reading →

How you can help Outer Planet beer brewer’s recovery from heart surgery

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Capitol Hill’s tiniest brewery is calling for big support after its brewmaster underwent emergency heart surgery last week. Here is the call from 12th Ave’s Outer Planet to lend your support to James Stoccardo during his recovery: 2b9dea24-675e-45ee-b98c-60a8700cd740_update_profile

Jim has just undergone triple bi-pass open heart surgery. We are trying to raise money to help him with recovery. Below you can read more about the specifics of his health and the surgery itself. Anything will help! He received surgery on March 3rd at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. Dr Glenn Barnhart performed the surgery. He is currently in recovery. Being an artist and small business owner, Jim’s resources are limited and will be strained to the breaking point by this medical emergency. He will need help during his long and painful recovery which will take over 3 months. We are setting up this fundraising campaign to help cover some of his living expenses until he can get back on his feet and start painting and brewing for us all once again.

CHS introduced you to Stoccardo and business partner Renato Martins as they opened the tiny Capitol Hill “nano” brewery in 2015. We checked in last year as Outer Planet celebrated its first year in business. “You start to get to know what you’re doing after 100 batches of beer,” Stoccardo told us back then. Here’s wishing him hundreds of batches more soon.

You can learn more and make a donation here.

Stoccardo in 2015 (Image: CHS)

Stoccardo in 2015 (Image: CHS)

Neumos has new sound, new lights, new bar The Runaway

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The Temples helped break in the new Neumos sound system over the weekend (Image: David Endicott via Neumos)

The Temples helped break in the new Neumos sound system over the weekend (Image: David Endicott via Neumos)

The quiet start to 2017 is over for Neumos and the live music venue at the corner of 10th and Pike is ready to unveil the results of its overhaul — and a new form for its next door lounge.

Let’s start with the music. Neumos and its underground sibling Barboza now have a new sound and light system and a system of “seven closed circuit TV monitors of the Neumos stage for live performances in the mezzanine and other areas of the venue.”

Additional upgrades include:
· New mezzanine layout, completely opening up the balcony to the showroom.
· Fully renovated bathrooms in mezzanine and main floor.
· New stage and production areas.
· New layout in the showroom, include removing the small bar near the stage and adding a new bar in the back of the showroom.
· Complete heat and AC system installation.
· Displayed poster archives from the last decade.
· Exterior building mural honoring the musicians and bands that have graced the stage over the last 20 years, designed and painted by local artist Wierdo.

Meanwhile, the old Moe Bar is gone. In its place, meet the Joan Jett-inspired, Paseo sandwich-powered The Runaway: Continue reading →

Capitol Lounge ready for first weekend in Pike/Pine’s club scene

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(Image: Capitol Lounge)

(Image: Capitol Lounge)

Pd0GUph0A new club is set to join Pike/Pine’s nightlife. The Capitol Lounge opened softly this week and is preparing for its first weekend of action in the DJ-focused dance and club culture that has formed around E Pike’s Friday and Saturday nights.

“We want Capitol Hill to define it,” a representative for the new club tells CHS of the plan for the lounge.

Born in a space left vacant when gay-friendly the Lobby Bar exited the street, the Capitol Lounge isn’t a gay dance club or even a dance club, exactly, the people putting together the new nightspot say. “We’ll definitely have dance nights on Friday and Saturday and we’ll be DJ-focused,” the Capitol Lounge representative said. Continue reading →

Portland’s Little Big Burger coming to Pike/Pine

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If 2016 was the year of the Capitol Hill pizza boom, 2017 might be the year hamburgers broke. Portland export Little Big Burger is expanding to Seattle with a wave of 10 locations — including one being planned for 12th and Pike:

Like their Portland predecessors, Seattle’s Little Big Burgers will be all about truffle fries, tall but slender burgers made with a quarter pound of Cascade Natural beef, cans of beer—and let’s not forget the root beer floats made with Tillamook ice cream.

The chain expects to be open here on the Hill and at a new Green Lake location by spring. Judging by permits for the project on the ground floor of the Beryl Apartments project on the northeast corner of the intersection — there aren’t any yet — that will be a bit of a rush. Continue reading →

Another Capitol Hill re-start, Adana reboots at 15th and Pine

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There is another Capitol Hill food and drink opening we should recognize and this one also represents a re-start, of sorts. But unlike Contadino where a new chef/owner came in to launch a new concept, Adana at 15th and Pine is fully Shota Nakajima’s reboot.

The young chef/owner unveiled his second play on traditional Japanese earlier this month and is now running at full speed with the new, more comfortable, reportedly more affordable take.

“I am simplifying everything. Simplifying labor, simplifying food,” Nakajima told CHS in January as he closed down the meticulously fussy Naka to make way for the new Adana. “But I haven’t given up on what I wanted to do.”

Adana is centered around a $37 three-course menu of classic Japanese with dishes fully based around Nakajima’s focus on details and quality. The dishes will rotate seasonally so expect a shift from month to month as the availability of fresh ingredients changes. After early feedback, Adana will also loosen up and offer items a la carte. To really loosen up, head to the bar where favorite katsu sandwiches are planned to be a holdover from the Naka days with quality drinking food like yakisoba also available. Meanwhile, Nakajima’s new project is also open seven days a week — 5 PM to midnight.

One thing not part of the change: Adana has no plans to add a service charge, a restaurant rep tells CHS.

In the end, the shift at Adana is a matter of degrees. It has dropped a $ from its $$$$ ranking at review sites and, Nakajima hopes, made itself an easier place for his neighbors to stop by.

Adana is located at 1449 E Pine. You can check out adanaseattle.com to learn more.

Why Capitol Hill’s newest restaurant — and plenty of others — are adding service charges

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Chef and owner Brian Clevenger is celebrating the opening of Contadino and its sibling pizzeria on 19th Ave E. While he would prefer to talk about fresh pasta and pizza, he, like a growing number of Capitol Hill food and drink owners, is answering questions about an italicized note at the bottom of his menus notifying diners of a “5% service charge” that is “distributed in full to the employees you do not see” —

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While pro-labor advocates call the new crop of service charges added by owners like Clevenger protests of “the fact that they have to pay their workers a living wage,” the Contadino restaurateur says he is trying to find a new path to solve an issue close to his heart. And he might soon find some help from the last guy you might expect to lend a hand to a restaurant atop Capitol Hill, Seattle. Continue reading →

Contadino and its sibling pizzeria begin new story on 19th Ave E

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After “a thoughtful but speedy remodel,” a classic Capitol Hill restaurant space is ready to go back into motion. Contadino and its sibling pizzeria make their 19th Ave E debut Monday night:

Contadino is an intimate room that offers seating for 45 in an understated space defined by simple lines and shades of gray and white. A banquette runs along the north wall with marble table tops and black bentwood chairs adding a bistro vibe. The open kitchen has a bar height four-person chef’s counter, where diners can enjoy a $70/person tasting menu, plus a full bar with seating for 12. There is also a semi-private dining area for up to eight guests. Continue reading →

Ready for Capitol Hill debut, more Paseos to come

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In September, CHS broke the news that Paseo was coming to Capitol Hill. Friday night, you can try their new steak sandwich if you can stand what will likely be a hungry mob at 10th and Pike.

The Caribbean roast sandwich joint is planning a “soft opening” this weekend with 3 PM openings of its latest location in the space adjacent temporarily shuttered Neumos and the under-transformation Moe Bar.

And, apparently, like many new things on Capitol Hill these days, the new Paseo won’t be the last.  Continue reading →