Now Open
Longtime pop-up Kraken Congee has opened its doors in the subterranean Pioneer Square space recently vacated by Little Uncle. In addition to their pan-Asian-inspired rice porridges with toppings such as pork belly adobo, five-spice duck confit, and nuoc-cham-marinated hanger steak, owners Garrett Doherty and Shane Robinson have also taken advantage of the large wok they inherited from Little Uncle, adding dishes such as fried rice with baby octopus and kimchi. Two menu items I'm particularly interested in: longanisa lumpia—deep-fried egg rolls filled with Filipino pork sausage made locally by Uli's—and Kraken's take on kare kare, a Filipino stew traditionally made with braised oxtails, tripe, eggplant, and long beans in a rich peanut and achuete sauce.

Mr. Gyros recently opened a third location on 45th Street in Wallingford, serving the same menu of shawarma, kebobs, and gyros as their Greenwood and Ballard restaurants. It's open Monday through Saturday, serving late-night food until 2:30 a.m. on Fridays.

In Ballard, the Our/Seattle Vodka distillery is pouring tastes of their "global, yet local" vodka. Last fall, Bethany Jean Clement investigated the dubious local claims made by the distillery, which is owned by global liquor conglomerate Pernod Ricard. Our/Seattle is one of 11 Our/Vodkas "made with ingredients sourced as locally as possible using a global recipe." Our/Seattle's local ingredients? Idaho wheat and Seattle water.

Closing (and Reopening) Soon
Elliott Bay Cafe, housed inside Capitol Hill's Elliott Bay Book Company, will close in May, according to owner Tamara Murphy. Murphy, who also owns Terra Plata on Capitol Hill, announced on Facebook that she and her partner "have decided not to renew our lease so that we may pursue other interests and projects." After the cafe closes, the lease will be taken over by Linda Derschang (Oddfellows, King's Hardware, Smith, etc.), who will open Little Oddfellows in June. Like Oddfellows, the diminutive version will serve sandwiches, salads, baked goods, coffee, beer, and wine, and will keep the same hours as the bookstore.

Nine New Streateries Planned for Seattle in 2015
Yesterday, the City of Seattle announced that, as part of their Streatery pilot program, nine new streateries will open in 2015 throughout the city at restaurants and bars including Stoneburner in Ballard, Mamnoon and Montana on Capitol Hill, Bottleneck Lounge in the Central District, and the University District's Flowers. As with parklets, which allow businesses to convert street parking spaces into open public space, streateries allow restaurant and bar owners to effectively create outdoor patio seating during business hours. When the businesses are closed, the streatery will function as a parklet, open to everyone. You can see the full list of upcoming streateries here.