• DAMN THE WEATHER • Pioneer Square: Bryn Lumsden (who has tended bar at Rob Roy, Vessel, and Vito’s, and was also in the band Fleet Foxes) teamed up with Jay Kuehner (beloved from Sambar) and Eli Dahlin (who’s cooked at the Walrus and the Carpenter) to open this “Historic Hangout” and “Adventurous Bar and Kitchen” named after an old-time cocktail. The classic Pioneer Square brick space looks just right; this place is probably going to be great. (116 First Ave S, 946-1283, damntheweather.com, $$)
• RESTAURANT MARRON • Capitol Hill: Chef Eric Sakai has worked at fancy Rubicon and Acquerello in San Francisco, and, more recently, the schmancy Four Seasons in Jackson Hole. Partner and beverage-master Zarina Sakai has worked at fancy-schmancy Jean-Georges and the French Laundry. Restaurant Marron is in the lovely, low-ceilinged space where Olivar used to be, and it’s got an interesting-looking seasonal prix-fixe menu with two- or three-course options—or a grand slam of eight to ten courses. (806 E Roy St, 322-0409, restaurantmarron.com, $$$)
• The Pedal-Powered Coffee Carts Formerly Known As HANDLEBAR COFFEE • on the road: These guys are great—read more here! (facebook.com/handlebarcoffee, $)
• INTERMEZZO CARMINE • Pioneer Square: Carmine Smeraldo is no longer with us, but his family still runs the fancy bastion of Italian food Il Terrazzo Carmine in Pioneer Square. Intermezzo Carmine next door has craft cocktails and small plates. “We see it as a portal, one that will open our brand up to the next generation of Seattle diners,” says son CJ Smeraldo by way of whetting your appetite. (409 First Ave S, 467-7797, intermezzocarmine.com, $$)
• CANTERBURY ALE HOUSE • Capitol Hill: For almost four decades, the Canterbury was the world’s best ye-olde-English-pub-themed dive, with scuffed pool tables and dark corners and neighborhood characters bolted to the bar, plus cheap grilled cheese and good soup for sustenance. The new Canterbury, from Mike Meckling (a partner in Neumos) and James Snyder (owner of Sam’s Tavern), is unrecognizably fancied-up in an upscale-manly vein. Cormac Mahoney, of the departed-but-excellent Madison Park Conservatory (and a 2012 Food & Wine Best New Chef), is in charge of the kitchen. He’s great, but did Seattle need another place for $12 hamburgers, kale Caesars, and 30 beers on tap as much as it needed a place for the tired, the poor, the masses yearning to drink, play pinball, and worry not about decorum? On Facebook, Meckling and Snyder claim, “Cheap booze, hearty food and a bad ass staff make this bar your best fucking friend (or your worst enemy).” Cocktails go up to $12, which is apparently cheap these days. (534 15th Ave E, 322-3130, facebook.com/CanterburyAleHouse, $$)
• BURGER BOSS • West Seattle: Owners Brian Azzano and Ryan Hopkins “spent the past year analyzing the constructs of the perfect burger” for their walk-up-only spot in West Seattle (they’re also responsible for Fuel Sports Bar in Pioneer Square). (9061 Delridge Way SW, 763-1053, burgerbossseattle.com, $)
• HUMMINGBIRD • Ballard: Not to be confused with the Hummingbird Saloon in Columbia City, this Hummingbird is a juice bar from Keely Fetters, who has a great name and, according to Eater Seattle, worked at the Gravity Bar on Broadway back in the day and more recently at Volterra. (2242 NW Market St, $$)
• BRUNSWICK & HUNT • Ballard: This “farm-to-neighborhood” restaurant joins Essex, Delancey, the Fat Hen, and Honoré in making parking difficult in its micro–business district in outer Ballard. Owners Barry and Scott Rogel promise B&H is “a huge departure from their previous endeavors”—the DeLuxe and the Athenian. The place has a fancied-up old-timey look; the antique bar and mural came from a defunct tavern in Winlock, Washington. The chef, Race Jones, comes from the Matador chain. (1480 NW 70th St, 946-1574, $$–$$$)
WARNING: STORYVILLE COFFEE is owned by people with serious ties to neo-evangelical, homophobic, misogynist Mars Hill Church; their Pike Place Market cafe has been open since last fall. Now Storyville has two more cafes to avoid: one at First and Madison downtown, and one on Queen Anne.
ANOTHER WARNING: The great Shiro Kashiba is no longer part of SHIRO’S in Belltown, and word is that the place has unsurprisingly gone downhill. Silver lining: Shiro is looking for a new space with another Shiro’s chef, Yasutaka Suzuki.
MISC. CHANGES: PORKCHOP & CO. in Ballard is now serving dinner • ALTSTADT in Pioneer Square is now solely owned by founding partners Lex Petras and Ward Van Allen; Brendan McGill of Hitchcock (see below) is no longer involved and says the split was amicable: “‘Philosophical differences’ best describes it.”
NEW LOCATIONS OF EXISTING PLACES: HITCHCOCK DELI in Georgetown: Brendan McGill now runs this spot in addition to his Bainbridge restaurant and deli; they’re all devoted to fresh, handcrafted stuff • AGAVE COCINA & TEQUILAS in Lower Queen Anne: Already open in Redmond and Issaquah, slick-looking Agave serves “contemporary Mexican food” and more than 150 tequilas • LICK in South Lake Union: It’s ice cream at the Yale Avenue Zaw • THAN BROTHERS on Broadway: The cheap pho favorite moved across the street and is all spiffed up; they’re not sure what’s happening to the old space • FLYING SQUIRREL PIZZA in Georgetown: Where Calamity Jane’s was • BLUE WATER TACO GRILL in the Seattle Center Armory 