The Stranger

All that's left of Chez Gaudy is the ornate ironwork guarding the windows and the crown molding around the ceiling, and while Gaudy's warren of clutteredness was fun, its meatballs will not be missed. The space, hidden in plain sight on Capitol Hill's Bellevue Avenue, is now the open, airy, and lovely La Bête, and the food has all the earmarks of greatness. In the (open) kitchen: Aleks Dimitrijevic (aka "The Vapor," with experience at Bouley, Harvest Vine, Licorous, and Union) and Tyler Moritz ("The Beastmaster," of Earth and Ocean, Lark, Union). Test out their work at brunch—everybody's tousled, the food's delicious, and the lighting's perfect. (La Bête,1802 Bellevue Ave, 329-4047, 10:30 am–2:30 pm) by Bethany Jean Clement

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Sure, it was a little awkward when he got all mauve and glossy as the hairier half of Bennifer, but generally there’s no good reason to dislike Ben Affleck. He’s handsome but accessible, he’s got a sense of humor about himself, and he really knows his way around fun, populist moviemaking. In his second directorial effort, The Town, Affleck stars as a morally conflicted bank robber who falls in love with a former hostage. In between terrific action set pieces, The Town lightens the anxiety with some chewy, funny moments. It’s not art, but it’s a fucking good time. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film) by Lindy West

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Producer Joe Boyd helped shape the sounds of some of Britain's most enduring musicians: Pink Floyd, the Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, John Martyn, and Nick Drake. The ever-witty Robyn Hitchcock descends from England's tree of eccentric psychedelia and is a huge Boyd admirer. So having Boyd read from his renowned musical memoir White Bicycles while Hitchcock plays songs his hero produced and interviews him should spark plenty of fascinating anecdotes and geeky trivia. (Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333, 7:30 pm, $25, all ages) by Dave Segal

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Arcade Fire have been making arena-sized art rock since 2004's Funeral, which the band supported with an ecstasy-imparting show at the Paramount Theatre. Six years later, they're touring in support of their Billboard-chart-topping new glory The Suburbs, and playing in actual arenas: Sometimes history proceeds as it should. Tonight's KeyArena gig should be a theatrical ravishment of Springsteenian grandeur, drama-club enthusiasm, and the closest thing to a revival meeting most liberal secular humanists will ever get. Calexico open. (KeyArena, 305 Harrison St, Seattle Center, www.ticketmaster.com, 7:30 pm, $40) by David Schmader

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Alan Turing was a crazy, brilliant (and crazy brilliant) British mathematician who helped defeat the Nazis by cracking their hellaciously complex code-generating machines with a useless-sounding logical theorem (from any contradiction, you can deduce everything). Turing was also the father of computer science and believed that machines could someday not only think, but feel. And he was gay, for which a British judge sentenced him to chemical castration. He committed suicide two years later. This production about Turing's life is exquisite—the text is rich and clever, and director Sheila Daniels has pulled awe-inspiring performances from her cast, especially actor Bradford Farwell as the stuttering, thorny, and enigmatic Turing. Go. (Strawberry Theatre Workshop at Erickson Theater Off Broadway, 1524 Harvard Ave, 800-838-3006, 7:30 pm, $15 half-price Thursday) by Brendan Kiley

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