Dont look too long at its glistening surface, lest you be as hypnotized by it as some of my foodie colleagues were.
Don't look too long at its glistening surface, lest you be as hypnotized by it as some of my foodie colleagues were. Geoffrey Smith

Ethan Stowell Is Open for Business in SoDo

Derby, Stowell's latest venture, opened August 7. At a media lunch yesterday, I sampled some of his all-American fare—including ridiculously thick slabs of candied bacon, perfectly crisp fries, and an excellent Reuben—and some of the more inventive fare, like spicy sautĂ©ed zucchini with olives. As Instagram-perfect as those bacon slabs were, the zucchini was the most potent reminder that, though it's dressed as a roadhouse, it's still an Ethan Stowell joint at heart.

We also got to check out a private car club that shares the warehouse, and they have a motorcycle that was done up to look like a moose. Sadly, it's currently tucked away in a part of the warehouse that is barely visible from the restaurant's extended bar. Somehow I doubt they'll shove the $80,000 Porsches and R8s back to make room for Mr. Moose, but a boy can dream.

Anyway, the food is good and they have $4 beer on happy hour, which is actually cheaper than the neighborhood's other watering holes. The mechanics who wandered in from the nearby Honda dealership certainly seemed stoked about that.

File_000.jpeg

This Amazon x FareStart Thing is Amazing

The recent partnership between FareStart—which offers culinary job training in their restaurants to low-income people and those experiencing homelessness—and Amazon has raised $2.6 million in just their first 25 days of operation. That's a combination of dining revenue, community donations, and Amazon's one-to-one match of the first month's earnings. Not too shabby!

"To help celebrate, we’ll be offering all-day happy hour on Saturdays through the end of summer—starting this Saturday—at Maslow’s," says Stephanie Schoo, FareStart's communications director. Give and ye shall receive!

"Bold Share Plates" For Ballard

Gather Kitchen and Bar is the latest venture from Ryan Donaldson, chef-owner of Redmond's Stone House, and it'll be serving up pinxtos-style small plates like duck rillette with pickled cherry and cocoa nib to the hungry masses in late September.

"Expect a large selection of creative, thoughtful small and share plates with bold flavors and a global influence (mostly Spanish and French, laced with Italian and Latin accents)," the press release advises. "The menu pushes trends while still offering comfort and familiarity. All items (except cured meats) are made in-house, using local sourcing for fresh, high quality ingredients."

It'll be in the Commons development, there will be probably be a shitload of white tile (this is 2017, after all), and there are plans for a patio. Very chill.

Frankie and Jo's Has Ballard Freaking Out

Popular vegan ice cream vendor Frankie and Jo's blew some minds north of the Cut by announcing plans to expand to Ballard. People on Capitol Hill can't seem to get enough of the plant-based delights, so I'm sure they'll go over just as well in Ballard. The new one has plans for a much bigger to-go case, Seattle Met's Rosin Saez reports, for those of you who aren't into the whole cordoned-off line thing.

Cost of Business Too Steep for Modern Steep

15th Avenue's 10-year-old tea shop will be closing their retail cafe to focus on online sales, CHS Blog reports. Modern Steep, which was originally Remedy Teas, simply found operations too expensive.

"Changing Capitol Hill demographics, expensive equipment upgrades, and a long building construction project that left many customers wondering if the cafe was open all contributed," the friendly CHS crow says.

Bakery Nouveau Goes to Burien

The latest location of the popular Capitol Hill bakery will be in Burien, Eater reports. They've got another satellite in West Seattle, so perhaps they've set their sights on the southwest end?

Obec Opens Up

There's a new brewery in town, which should surprise no one as this happens approximately 18,000 times a week. This one is called Obec, and their grand opening is on the 25th.

"It's been a long time coming!" their Facebook page exclaims. "Much discussion has been had, much encouragement proffered, and many plans laid. Now, what started as a Word document is about to become a brewery!"

First of all, d'awwww. Second, more beer is always a good thing.

Coindexter's is Coming to Phinney Ridge

So too, is more boozy arcade gaming. Coindexter's is a new bar and pinball arcade in Phinney Ridge, and it's flipping on its Ms. Pac-Man machines September 1, reports PhinneyWood. It'll be on 85th and Greenwood Ave N, and there will be "unique grilled cheese sandwiches"—and Skee-Ball—in addition to the usual pinball machines and arcade games.

Cafe Red Rides to Rainier Valley

Cafe Red is a bicycle-based coffee shop, and one that used to park at Lowercase Brewing on Sundays back when it was two blocks away from my house. This was a godsend, because the only coffee shop in South Park is closed on Sundays. Then, the city closed Lowercase for not having drywall, because apparently you need drywall to safely drink beer, and Cafe Red left us. Now they're doing the brick-and-mortar thing on Martin Luther King Way in Rainier Valley, Eater reports, and it sounds real good.

"The shop does it all, with bagels, pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, Filipino food pop-ups from Lahi Seattle, Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, beer and wine, and even all-ages board game nights," Eater wrote. "What more could one possibly want in a cafe?"

Free copies of Seattle's Only Newspaper, obviously!