Tag Archives: jefferson

Central Smoke goes poof on E Jefferson — Plus, Seattle Times asks if city’s restaurant boom is over

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Central Smoke, another big restaurant project that can be traced to the ambitious and sizable class of 2015, has closed. Meanwhile, the city’s food and drink industry leaders seem a little worried — “Is Seattle’s booming restaurant scene showing signs of slowing?,” the Seattle Times asked over the weekend.

At Central Smoke, which debuted as Seven Beef from the Monsoon and Ba Bar family of restaurants in 2015, the mood was melancholy with a dash of hope.

“Our 7 Beef/Central Smoke space still has the same warm ambience it had the day we opened, a state-of-the-art kitchen, inviting bar and gracious patio, making it a very attractive venue for other enterprising restauranteurs. We are confident that our beloved space will not remain dark for long,” the ownership wrote in its goodbye message.

“Much thanks to our loyal guests and dedicated, professional staff for making this venture so very rewarding and memorable.” Continue reading →

Birds of a cask ale feather will flock together as Machine House’s Central District taproom becomes the Capercaillie Pub

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Celebrate the 4th of July by drinking English ales

Capercaillie Pub will continue Machine House Brewery’s quest of serving English beer on E Jefferson. The new project is a result of a shift in ownership, and the pub will be taking over the brewery’s bar space, making a few smaller changes in addition to the name change and change in ownership.

“Our vision is the Capercaillie will be a neighborhood pub featuring cask ale, and a place where people can hang out and feel comfortable,” said Alex Brenner, the pub’s owner, “I really like the layout of the space, the staff are great with customers, and the beer we serve is spot on.” Continue reading →

Still meaty, Central Smoke rises on E Jefferson

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Eric Banh and chef Mike Whisenhunt (Images: CHS)

A rush of red meat in the Seattle restaurant scene has settled out with a transformation of E Jefferson steakhouse Seven Beef into a new concept centered on more accessible but still meaty offerings — Central Smoke.

With fried rice and pickled cucumber on the menu alongside ribs and brisket, Central Smoke now brings Texas-style smoked meats and a unique combination of Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese flavors to E Jefferson. Headed by owner Eric Banh and chef Mike Whisenhunt, who together carry more than 40 years of experience in the kitchen, the new bar and smokery replaced Seven Beef on the corner of E Jefferson and 13th Ave last month.

“What we do is multicultural. I would call it very eclectic,” Banh said. “I want to do something that is very soulful and really feed our creativity and passion.”

Continue reading →

Machine House Central District pub ready for Wold Cup debut on E Jefferson

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(Image: @machinehouse)

Just as the World Cup gets really serious, Machine House is ready to debut its new Central District pub:

🚨MHB Central District is opening this weekend at 1315 E. Jefferson St.🚨 Doors open 7am this Friday 7/6 for the start of the World Cup Soccer Quarter Finals! Enjoy $4 imperial pints of the Cambridge Bitter during matches on Friday and Saturday as a part of the celebration!

You might expect a bit of a crowd at the new venue from the Georgetown-born brewer of English-style cask ales Saturday morning as England takes on Sweden.

CHS first reported on the E Jefferson tap room project in January as Machine House co-founder Bill Arnott told us a big part of the drive behind creating the pub was making sure the brewery’s prized creations are receiving the pours they deserve. “Very few pubs can serve it properly,” Arnott told CHS earlier this year. “We’ve found we need to control the experience. We need bartenders who can explain and present it.”

Arnott and co-founder Alex Brenner’s new venture is tiny compared to the massive and spartan factory setting of the Machine House brewery in Georgetown — just 1,000 square feet — so expect close quarters with some good new friends down the rail and plenty of good beer.

Machine House taproom will be E Jefferson neighborhood pub with cask ales and football on the telly

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(Image: Machine House)

If you want to do it right — create your own cask ales, “served through beer engines and at cellar temperature” — you’re going to have to do it yourself. Georgetown-born Machine House Brewery is building a cozy tap room and soccer pub to showcase its English-style beers amid the growing food and drink scene along E Jefferson because it’s a bloody shame to waste great beer.

“Very few pubs can serve it properly,” Machine House co-founder Bill Arnott tells CHS. “We’ve found we need to control the experience. We need bartenders who can explain and present it.”

“It’s this kind of thing that doesn’t have the best reputation if you get it wrong. When it’s done right it’s completely exceptional.” Continue reading →

Happy Grillmore joins the family at 13th and Jefferson

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(Images: Alex Garland)

Darren McGill and Kryse Martin-McGill are raising a growing family food+drink businesses in the Central District. Little Happy Grillmore now joins the family at 13th and Jefferson.

The burger joint born as a McGill food truck now neighbors big brother Nate’s CD, the Seattle University-approximate expansion of the waffle and wings brand that came to the neighborhood in 2015. The McGills, meanwhile, are also raising the Central District Ice Cream Company which opened on E Union in late 2016. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Sawant, McGinn talk activism at Peloton Cafe and Bike Shop

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District 3 representative Kshama Sawant and former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn spoke to a captivated audience at a packed Peloton Cafe and Bike Shop Friday evening about activism.

“What matters is where you stand at the end of the day,” Sawant said about her efforts on the Seattle City Council. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill food+drink | L’Oursin and its ‘fruits de mer’ land in the CD

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Proville and Overman (right) are hoping to crowdfund their new E Jefferson restaurant

Proville and Overman (right) are hoping to crowdfund their new E Jefferson restaurant

We are going to have to come up with a nickname for the food+drink neighborhood growing up around 12th and Jefferson. Or not. But there’s definitely something going on in the neighborhood.

“We were looking everywhere,” chef JJ Proville said of the search for a home for L’Oursin that brought the chef to E Jefferson. “It’s right in the spot where all those neighborhoods meet. Some people say it’s First Hill. Some say Central District.” Continue reading →

The Banhs share details on meaty E Jefferson 7 Beef steakhouse: whole cows, primal cuts, parking

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Eric Banh is ready to put his recent butchery training to work with a new E Jefferson project that will feature “classic” as well as “primal” cuts of beef that utilize “whole,” local cows.

CHS reported in July on a trio of new projects from brother and sister restaurant partners Eric and Sophie Banh including the debut of the expanded 19th Ave E Monsoon. Monday’s announcement confirms details of the largest of the new ventures that will create a steakhouse near 13th and Jefferson replacing an architect’s office.

“7 Beef will receive whole cows from local purveyors and break them down into primal cuts and ground beef,” the announcement proclaims.

The 7 Beef name refers to “the traditional Vietnamese seven-course beef dinner called Bò 7 MĂłn, where diners sample a variety of small beef dishes.” Continue reading →