Category Archives: Food & Drink

Soi — ‘the other ambitious restaurant project coming to 10th and Union’ — is now (quietly) open

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(Images: CHS)

Renee Erickson’s three-pronged landing on Capitol Hill —Bar Melusine, Bateau, and General Porpoise Doughnuts and Coffee — won’t debut until the fall. But her neighbor in the humongous Broadstone Infinity development that swallowed up the old Davis Hoffman building at 10th and Union has quietly opened:

SOI is a return to Thailand–a departure from your normal expectations of Thai food in Seattle. Our idea is to return back to what it really like to eat in Thailand, with a focus on the raised plateau of the North East region called Issan. We believe that Seattle deserves better Thai food and that folks are tired with what the expectation are from typical Thai food in Seattle. We also believe that folks are yawing at white table cloths, but still expect top-not meals. We want to help educate our customers and will use the typical native names on the menu–though it may be hard for some, it is important to us.

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The queen of Capitol Hill is moving downtown

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Derschang inside her recently opened Little Oddfellows (Image: CHS)

Derschang inside her recently opened Little Oddfellows (Image: CHS)

Daydreaming about your glamorous life in Linda Derschang’s $1.7 million Interlaken home is one thing. Dealing with the realities of maintaining the 90-year-old house is another. After calling Capitol Hill home for the better part of 30 years, Derschang tells CHS she is leaving for the simpler life across I-5. This week, she starts her move to a condo in the Denny Triangle.

“My friends say ‘you’re not really moving into a neighborhood,’ but I don’t really need to move into a neighborhood,” she said. “I still spend so much time on Capitol Hill.”

Derschang and Capitol Hill have been inextricably linked since the late 1980s, when she moved to the neighborhood and opened her first Seattle business, a punk clothing store called Basic. Even so, Derschang is downplaying the significance of her neighborhood departure .

Derschang will actually be closer to Linda’s Tavern, Oddfellows Cafe + Bar, and her office above the 10th Ave restaurant in her new home at the base of Capitol Hill. She insists she hasn’t grown tired of us, either: Had there been more new condo options on Capitol Hill, Derschang said she would’ve stayed in the neighborhood.

“Let’s try to keep everything the same for a little while.”

The lifestyle change isn’t something Derschang says she sees as part of a trend among the old guard of Capitol Hill business owners, who have either already moved on or never called the neighborhood home in the first place. The move, she said, is rooted in much more universal impulse: “As we get older, we want to downsize.”

As far as the Derschang Group’s food and drink empire is concerned, Derschang says she has no plans to either shrink or expand following this month’s opening of Little Oddfellows inside the Elliot Bay Book Company.

“Let’s try to keep everything the same for a little while,” she said after laughing off the suggestion that the Denny Triangle could be home to her next venture.

Derschang has been a nonstop nightlife force in Seattle for two decades. She opened the Baltic Room in 1997 and Chop Suey in 2003. In 2006 she opened King’s Hardware in Ballard, and then returned to Capitol Hill to open Smith in 2007 and Oddfellows Cafe in 2008. Bait Shop came in 2012 and Tallulah’s opening closed out 2013.

Last year CHS looked back at the history of Linda’s Tavern as the beloved watering hole turned 20 and glanced ahead at what the future might hold amid so much neighborhood upheaval. At the time, Derschang said she was unsure if the “nice place for nice people” would be able to roll with Capitol Hill culture changes for another 20 years. The future hasn’t necessarily become any clearer for Derschang, but she will have a good vantage point from which to survey it all.

Capitol Hill food+drink | A look inside Lionhead

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We already told you quite a bit about Lionhead when the little Sichuan restaurant from Capitol Hill’s Jerry Traunfeld debuted next to big sister Poppy on Broadway earlier this month. But, like we said, while other big name chef/owners (we’re looking at you Ethan Stowell and Josh Henderson) are creating restaurant-opening machines, Traunfeld has taken a decidedly calmer route. With one opening every seven years, he is on pace to only open two more restaurants by the year 2030. By that time, we project Stowell to have opened his 500th.

Wit no tips and no service charge, Lionhead also presents a different model for restaurants transitioning to new compensation models for their employees. At Lionhead, Traunfeld has priced his menu to support “equitable” wages for his staff, the restaurateur says.

Here’s a look inside what all that patience created — and, more importantly, a small visual taste of the Chinese-faithful dishes Traunfeld and head chef Kenneth Lee are creating on north Broadway inside the Traunfeld’s very own “2-block radius” where even the cocktails echo with the neighborhood’s color and culture. How about a Jade Pagoda, old timer, to wash it all down?

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In preparation for opening (soon), Ernest Loves Agnes brings in NYC pizza expert

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Jarvis undoubtedly talking mozzarella with Falco (Image: Guild Seattle)

Speaking of pizza, finishing touches are going on in the major overhaul of the old Kingfish Cafe on 19th Ave E in preparation for the opening of the new Ernest Loves Agnes Italian joint and bar from the Guild Seattle folks behind Lost Lake, the Comet, Grim’s, and more. Finishing touches are also going on in the kitchen.

Guild Seattle has flown in Anthony Falco — “pizza czar at Roberta’s in Brooklyn, NY” — to “hang out and make pizza” with ELA chef Mac Jarvis.

“Anthony is no stranger to Seattle, and comes here annually for family vacation,” the Guild announcement says. “While on vacation from pizza, he likes to make pizza.”

“We packed up the team and we headed out on an Italian food tour in New York City this past spring,” Guild’s Jason Lajeunesse said. “I reached out to long time friend Anthony Falco to come eat with us, talk food and catch up. After we spent a couple nights hanging out and touring his work space and restaurant and eating and drinking together at some of his favorite places, I asked him if he would be interested in spending some time with us during his vacation to kicking around pizza recipes while back in town.”

“We are excited to have fun in the kitchen this week,” Lajeunesse said.

Jarvis also heads the kitchen at Grim’s and has also worked at Lost Lake and at 15th Ave’s Smith. This is her first opening as an “executive chef.”

The Hemingway-inspired Ernest Loves Agnes is planned as a dual restaurant and bar featuring “hand-made pizzas and pastas in a cool, comfortable space” with a “thoughtfully crafted menu” that will be “seasonally driven and locally sourced.”

If Hemingway actually said “the first draft of anything is shit,” those looking forward to ELA should be happy to hear about the Falco practice sessions.

Ernest Loves Agnes is currently slated for a mid-September opening.

CHS Pics | City s’mores for Capitol Hill hikers at Hot Cakes

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City hikers on E Olive Way can now enjoy an urban version of roasting marshmallows. Capitol Hill Hot Cakes opened earlier this week in the mixed-use building that now rises on the block where B&O Espresso stood. Here is a look inside. Old-timers and students of history can compare and contrast the clean, crisp, tall-ceiling design with the old living room feel from B&O days.

The organic dessert spot is more of a sweets laboratory with polished concrete floors and and “an all-brass, custom-built lit number sign to alert guests when their order is ready.” Hot Cakes includes soft serve in the Hill edition of its “cakery” along with the signature jars of molten chocolate cake, boozy milkshakes, and fancy s’mores. A fire pit and large patio along Belmont make space for E Olive Way hikers to enjoy the great outdoors of Capitol Hill. Inside the 2,200 square-foot Hot Cakes, “hibachi grills for roasting s’mores indoors” can be found “right at your table.”IMG_5609

While many food+drink trails in Seattle can feel repetitious as you wander from Ballard to Fremont to West Seattle to the Hill and find the same restaurants and bars opening the same concepts in each neighborhood, Hot Cakes creator Autumn Martin told CHS last year she was toying with the idea of stopping where she stands. “I would love to just have two,” Martin said. “One on just either side of the city. It’s kind of more of a commitment to come to Hot Cakes. I like it that way.”

The new Hot Cakes is located 1650 E Olive Way and open Monday through Thursday from 4 PM to 11 PM, until midnight on Friday. On weekends, the shop is open 10 AM to 12 AM on Saturdays and 10 AM to 11 PM on Sundays. You can learn more at getyourhotcakes.com.

Capitol Hill food+drink | One-at-a-time, delivery-only Windy City Pie bringing Chicago to Seattle one pizza at a time

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(Images: Windy City Pie)

“In my opinion, the best part of my pizza is that caramelized cheese on the edge.”

As we celebrate the return of Bill’s Off Broadway with its new brick and mortar pizza and bar goodness  (and get ready for Pizza Crawl 2015), it’s probably not totally surprising that a former Amazon techie is the man behind Windy City Pie, a days-old 12th-avenue based delivery-only venture promising hearty and authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

“I don’t believe anybody is doing deep dish well here and as an ambassador of the much more flat midwest, I want to bring my cuisine to Seattle,” said Dave Lichterman, a Capitol Hill resident and owner/sole-employee of the new business.

The premise sounds almost too good to be true.

Born and raised in Chicago, Lichterman, who has contributed to CHS in the past as a photographer, grew up on deep dish pizza but it wasn’t until he went to study in Argentina for a semester in 2005 that he began to make his own. He had time on his hands because classes were canceled due to a major teacher strike and he wasn’t too taken with the “very bad” local pizza, which was made of pre-made dough and a watery cheese that was substituted for mozzarella.

While Lichterman admits that his first foray into pizza making now a decade ago was “not good,” he says “I am really proud of the pizza I have today.” Continue reading →

Bill’s Off Broadway is reopening after a two year construction hiatus

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The long wait is finally over for Capitol Hill pizza lovers, Seahawks fans, and morning beer drinkers alike. Bill’s Off Broadway is ready to reopen at Harvard Ave and E Pine after taking a nearly two year timeout from its 35-year run.

Doors are expected to open at 4 PM on Monday, according to Bill’s owner Don Stevens (and the countdown clock that just went live on the new Bill’s website). There are no special celebrations planned for the reopening — Stevens said he’s just eager to getting back to doing what Bill’s does best.

“It’s nice to declare it’s time for people to come back in and have a good time,” Stevens told CHS. “I’m looking forward to sitting down and having a beer with some of my old Capitol Hill friends.”

UPDATE: Beers, baseball, and pizza. All was right again inside Bill’s Monday afternoon as customers streamed in for the bar’s grand reopening. CHS was there for a first look at the new space.

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Longtime owner Don Stevens surveys the first pizzas from Bill’s Off Broadway 2.0 (Image: Alex Garland for CHS)

The revamped Bill’s will include an expanded food menu and a beer list kicked up to 18 taps, as well as a couple dozen more chairs and a bigger kitchen. However, Stevens said much of the wood paneling and fixtures from the original restaurant were saved to preserve the old Bill’s charm.

“Anybody that has a history with Bill’s Off Broadway is going to walk in there and know they’re in Bill’s Off Broadway,” Stevens said.

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Capitol Hill Hot Cakes ready to light up its E Olive Way s’more fire pit

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11817258_10155941130620173_2408923070439748953_nIt’s not quite the return of B&O Espresso, but Ballard-born Hot Cakes is ready to open its new Capitol Hill cakery:

Join us this Monday in celebration of our brand new Capitol Hill Cakery! All of your favorite organic desserts will be in tow including some new additions; soft serve, smoked chocolate magic shell and an outdoor fire pit for roasting marshmallows. Grab a (boozy) shake glass and help us cheers to making the Hill just a lil’ bit sweeter!

It also happens to be National S’mores Day so we will be roasting our signature s’mores (smoked chocolate, house-made mallow, & buttery graham crackers) around the fire pit all evening!

Like most food+drink openings, there’s a chance you might wander into an early preview over the weekend. If not, save your chocolate and marshmallow appetite for Monday.

Last September, CHS wrote about the expansion of Autumn Martin’s sweet shop onto Capitol Hill in the Zephyr Apartments building that now rises six-stories above where the longtime favorite B&O stood from 1976 to 2012. The Seattle area native said the location’s B&O history was important to her. “I remember going there late at night and having cake and thinking of it as a late night spot though I’m pretty sure I wasn’t 21,” Martin told CHS last year.

In the meantime, we saw workers putting finishing touches on the new fire pit earlier this week.

CHS Pics | ‘A bit quieter’ — Inside Little Oddfellows

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(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

IMG_2197IMG_2195What happens when one of the neighborhood’s leading spacemakers takes over a bookstore cafe? Last week we told you about the opening of Little Oddfellows, storied Capitol Hill food+drink entrepreneur Linda Derschang’s surprise next chapter.

Here is what she did with it and some of Derschang’s thoughts on the design, whether laptop lovers are still welcome at Big Oddfellows, and a bonus question about Seattle’s minimum wage.

The changes look great — how did you describe the look you were shooting for?
Once people found out that Little Oddfellows was moving into Elliott Bay Book Co., the biggest request I heard was to make the cafe lighter and brighter. I had also recently taken a trip to Copenhagen and was so inspired by their cafe culture and design aesthetic. These two things played a big role in how I approached combining the cafe and bookstore while still keeping the space tied to Oddfellows.

I’ve been a frequent laptop jockey in Oddfellows — is Little Oddfellows where I should head now or can I still bring my computer on dates to Big Oddfellows?
Little Oddfellows is definitely a bit quieter than Oddfellows, but computers are still welcome at either place — it just depends on what kind of work environment you’re after.

Not just a Little O thing but are you considering any changes around tipping and service charges across the Derschang joints?
At the moment, we aren’t considering making any changes.

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Meet your District 3 neighbors at Capitol Hill’s Good Citizen

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An early look at the Good Citizen (Images: CHS)

This might be the most CHS way to spend Election Night+Seattle Night Out… ever: gathering with the enthusiasts from the 1,500-member strong District 3 Facebook Group at a not-quite-opened yet bar/coffee shop from a maverick Capitol Hill business owner who doesn’t mind stirring in a little controversy with his hand-crafted cocktails.11731648_10101401571940650_2586898075146106463_o

SEATTLE DISTRICT 3: Meet Your Neighbors:

Come meet your neighbors; enjoy hearty conversations about our neighborhoods, our district, and our city; and connect with people!

August 4 – 6PM – Good Citizen Bar

*Registered as an official Seattle Night Out event

Party! More about other area Seattle Night Out parties here — including the annual City Market BBQ. Meanwhile, it’s Primary Night with the first ballot counts expected around 8:15 PM. Your ballot, by the way, is due by 8 PM. Here is our CHS 2015 Primary Election coverage if you’re looking for any last minute guidance. We’re also conducting a non-scientific D3 poll here.

Capitol Hill will also be full of primary parties Tuesday night. Here is who will be celebrating where:

After we jumped the gun apparently earlier this year, we can now tell you Good Citizen is planned to open for coffee only to start later this summer, owner Andrew Friedman tells CHS. In addition to meeting your neighbors, you’ll have a chance to check out the soon-to-be-really-open joint.