EverOut Yesterday 4:19 PM

This Week in Seattle Food News

Turkish-Inspired Barbecue, Vegetarian Vietnamese Food, and Dungeness Crab Doughnuts

Happy Valentine's Day! Stay warm and cozy inside with our roundup of the latest food news, from a Vietnamese vegetarian destination to a hot new barbecue joint. For more ideas, check out our Valentine's Day recs and our food and drink guide.

NEW OPENINGS & RETURNS

Chay Concept
This all-vegetarian Vietnamese spot made its debut in downtown Bellevue last week, serving specialties like bánh mì skillets and pineapple fried rice alongside "creative cocktails, tea cocktails, and low-alcohol options."
Bellevue

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Queer Yesterday 4:16 PM

US District Court Judge Blocks Trump Order on Gender Affirming Care, Says It Would Not “Survive Judicial Scrutiny”

We Almost Felt Bad For Trump’s Lawyer, She Didn’t Exactly…Slay

US District Court Judge Lauren King today temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to withhold all federal funding for gender-affirming care for people under age 19 from taking effect in Washington, Oregon and Minnesota—the three states that filed suit against the Trump administration last week.

The order is blocked for the next 14 days. King, a Biden appointee, said Trump’s executive order intended to erase transgender people and “blatantly discriminated against trans youth.” The decision came less than 24 hours after a judge in Maryland temporarily blocked the order nationwide.

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Katie Wilson Yesterday 2:21 PM

Seattle Voters Defied Big Money and Chose Grassroots Power With Prop 1A 

Victories in Seattle and Burien Reveal a Path Forward for Progressives

Whoa. I’ll be honest, going into election night on Tuesday I really thought Prop 1A was toast. 

Like other Seattle voters, I received multiple full-page mailers featuring our Mayor Bruce Harrell’s smiling visage and signature, promising that by choosing Prop 1B I could have it all: social housing and no new taxes! The Prop 1A mailer was cheery and boasted some confidence-boosting endorsements, from the Building Trades Unions to the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. But only one arrived, and it was a mere half page. 

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Music Yesterday 12:53 PM

Don't Hang the Bartender

Seattle Bars Must Ban the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac from Playlists

This is the system. The same-old same-old strives to achieve the status of a law. If you want to see this principle at work, visit several Seattle bars in one night. What do you hear? Mostly the Rolling Stones. "Honky Tonk Women," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," "Sympathy for the Devil," Gimme Shelter," and so on and so on for what seems to be forever. And if it's not the Rolling Stones, it has to be Fleetwood Mac ("Dreams," "Gypsy," "Go Your Own Way," "Little Lies," and so on and so on). And it's not only Seattle bars that suffer from this super-lame sameness. Go to New York City, the capital of the creative universe, and you will hear it all over again: the Stones, Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits, and, if you are lucky, very lucky, a Talking Heads tune, particularly "Psycho Killer."  

You have been in these bars. You know what I'm talking about. So, let's ask: What's to be done? We can begin with the understanding that progress will not be made without the resolution of these desires: One, we love bars; two, we love to discover or rediscover music in bars. 

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Love and Sex Issue 2025 Yesterday 12:35 PM

Tree My Valentine

Join Us for a Tour of Some of Seattle’s Most Seductive Hardwoods

Photos by Billie Winter

The days are short, and all of our horoscopes are screaming at us. Institutions are crumbling, LGBTQ+ communities are under attack, our political leaders are feckless, and the future is scary and uncertain. In times of anguish, we turn to the natural world for comfort. What we know for sure is that nature is eternal, nature is sexy, and nature is queer. The natural world sustains all life, is psychologically healing, and horny as hell. 

It is well known (largely thanks to Charles Mudede and Matt Baume’s tireless reporting) that Seattle has the most fuckable trees of any major metropolitan area. With the help of local expert Taha Ebrahimi—author of Street Trees of Seattle—we found some sultry cedars, some flirtatious firs, and some delicious deciduous trees that will give anyone of any gender wood for days. So put on your favorite ASMR or Dipsea and let the PNW whisper sweet nothings to you as you walk along the city streets lined with their photosynthesized erotic forms.

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Love and Sex Issue 2025 Yesterday 11:23 AM

Eat Your Heart Out 

Our Flowchart Will Show You the Way to the Most Delicious Valentine’s Day (Just Remember to Fuck First) 

Selecting the right Valentine’s Day date night restaurant can be tricky. Whether you’re single, have just started seeing someone, or have been hitched for eons, our handy flowchart will guide you to the perfect experience. Just remember, as Dan Savage has advised a thousand times over, fuck first. Because all these tasty food and drink options will likely leave you feeling stuffed and sugar-drunk. 

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EverOut Yesterday 10:00 AM

The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Seattle This Valentine's Weekend: Feb 14–16, 2025

Smash Putt, Heartbreak Ball, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15

This weekend, hit up your Valentine/Galentine/Palentine and rendezvous at cheap and cheerful events from the 11th Annual Black & Brew Imperial Stout Celebration to Smash Putt and from a Heartbreak Ball to V Day Flash Tats & Tarot Readings at Stoup Brewing. For more ideas, check out our roundup of this week's top events and our Valentine's Day guide.

FRIDAY

PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE

Gal Pal-entine’s Day: Sapphic Soiree — Sapphic Party + Speed Dating
If the release of Lucy Dacus's new single and accompanying music video sent you into a tizzy of queer joy earlier this week, this party's for you. Organizers invite you to embrace the drama and show up to this sapphic-focused V Day soirée decked out in deep red, candy heart pink, or formal black with pearl or silk accessories. Bring your crush, your gal pals, or fly solo through the night's highlights, including Polaroid portraits, pool, tarot readings, flash tattoos, and speed dating. A dance party kicks off at 9:30 pm with DJs playing hits from pop princesses and queer icons past and present. Bonus: there's free parking and vegan and gluten-free pizza options! SHANNON LUBETICH
(The Mountain Room: Bar at the R, Georgetown, $5-$10)

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Fleeting flurries: Sorry, romantics, yesterday's snow was short lived. Today, things will be wet. And not just because it's Valentine's Day. Rain is on the way. Or, depending on when you're reading this, it's already here. 

Washington's in good hands: At least that's what our leaders are telling us. On Thursday, Gov. Bob Ferguson (Bobby Ferg, to some) held a press conference with other Washington state officials including Attorney General Nick Brown to assure Washingtonians that they would "shield" us from the Donald Trump administration's "chaos." So far, $162 million-worth of federal funds (much earmarked for solar power investments) is frozen. Ferguson said he'll fight for those funds and keep up the fight for Washington's "policies protecting transgender rights, fighting climate change, and prohibiting local police from aiding in mass deportations of undocumented immigrants," the Seattle Times wrote. Brown issued another message for Trump: "Follow the damn law." You tell him. 

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TV Thu 5:53 PM

Catch-up on the Cannibal Queens

The Vicious Teen Girls of Yellowjackets Are Back Tomorrow. Here’s What You’ve Forgotten Since 2023

The Yellowjackets are back! It’s been almost two years since we left the girls out in the woods, and the Showtime breakout hit returns tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day—a weirdly canny marketing choice for a show about high school girls who board a plane for Seattle, and instead crash-land somewhere in the heart of human depravity.

Like Lost for goths and bisexuals (to paraphrase a line from season two),Yellowjackets has everything: an absurdly stacked cast of Gen X icons, two linked narratives 25 years apart, and, uh, ritualistic cannibalism.

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News Thu 4:37 PM

Fred Hutch Cancer Center to Acquiesce to Trump Order, End DEI Efforts

Cancer Research Already Has Serious Representation Issues; This Will Make Them Worse

Fred Hutch Cancer Center told staff on Thursday that it will dismantle its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to comply with President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive order, according to an email obtained by The Stranger

In an email sent to all employees and affiliates, the cancer research center cited Executive Order 14173, which they said, “directs federal contractors and recipients of federal grants, such as Fred Hutch, to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs or lose their federal funding.” They announced that there will be “significant changes to DEI efforts at Fred Hutch in the coming days and weeks, including on our website and in our programs, policies, practices and educational opportunities.” When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Fred Hutch confirmed that the center had “made the difficult decision to change its DEI programs.” 

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EverOut Thu 1:47 PM

Ticket Alert: BECU ZooTunes, Alabama Shakes, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week

Plus, Death Cab For Cutie and More Event Updates for February 13

Start thinking about your summer plans: The 2025 BECU ZooTunes concert series will bring acts including Japanese Breakfast, Men I Trust, and Wilco to Woodland Park Zoo’s meadow. Grammy Award-winning rock trio Alabama Shakes has dropped dates for their first tour in eight years. Plus, relive the year 2005 at the 20th-anniversary tour for Death Cab for Cutie’s Plans. Read on for details on those and other newly announced events, plus some news you can use.

ON SALE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14

MUSIC

Alabama Shakes
Climate Pledge Arena (Sat Aug 16)

BECU ZooTunes
Woodland Park Zoo (June 12–Sept 3)

Billy Currington
Marymoor Park (Thurs Aug 21)

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Guest Rant Thu 10:00 AM

Seattle’s EDRA Program Means Move First, Get Help Later

The City’s Anti-Displacement Plan Has Landlords Ridiculously Crying Financial Hardship 

Seattle renters are all too familiar with the gut-punch of rent renewal notices: a cheerful “Happy Anniversary!” followed by a staggering increase—9.9 percent, 15 percent, or a jaw-dropping 45 percent. Between 2021 and 2022, downtown Seattle's median asking rent soared from $1,300 to $3,118, as housing costs fluctuated post-peak pandemic. Residents across the city struggled to keep up with skyrocketing housing costs, leading Seattle to launch the Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance (EDRA) program in July 2022.

EDRA was created to address the growing crisis of economic evictions. But instead of preventing displacement, EDRA only responds to renters already in the process of being displaced. Rather than by regulating rent increases or alleviating financial pressures renters face, the city created a bureaucratic system that renters must opt into and navigate. This shifts the burden of time, effort, and knowledge onto renters while failing to address the root causes of displacement or provide meaningful support to help low-income households remain in Seattle.

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Pike Place Market has, according to KING 5, pulled the plug on Day of Remembrance, an event organized by Tsuru for Solidarity and slated for February 19. The reason? Because "the event’s messaging did not align with [the Market's] values," which are now aligned, it seems, with those of the present president. The new order of the day has it that any historical episode that offends white people is to be erased. In this case it is the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It didn't happen. White people didn't do any such thing. They have always been, according to Trump's administration and his supporters, on the right side of history, even during the "days of slavery." And so it is.  A culturally important institution in a deep-blue city is caving to exactly what got Trump elected, white nationalism. It was never about eggs.

While Pike Place Market goes MAGA, Seattle voters go socialist. The Seattle social-housing measure is winning big time. As of last night’s ballot drop (which is still an incomplete count), 69 percent of voters said “Yes” to public housing, and 58 percent want a new tax to do it (Prop 1A). The Seattle Public Schools levies are also enjoying resounding success at 79 and 73 percent. If the people of Seattle can reject MAGA, so too can Pike Place Market, which still, for reasons that make nonsense of human logic, permits cars to go up and down its street. 

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Girly Pop Thu 9:00 AM

Waking Ballet Up from Its 100-Year Nap

Classical Ballet Is Rooted in Rigid Gender Roles. The Sleeping Beauty Showed a More Expansive Approach Is Possible.

Girly Pop is a biweekly column that explores gender, politics, power and how all three are reflected in the culture we consume.


During its brief but impactful run, with sparkle-loaded costumes from Wicked’s Paul Tazewell and Northwest-inspired scenic design by Preston Singletary, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty was met with a barrage of approving attention, including from the 8-year-old who attended opening night as my plus-one, because I take my cool-ballet-aunt duties extremely seriously. She did get a little bored with the late-breaking fairytale dances that come after Princess Aurora (Angelica Generosa, an angel on earth) wakes up from her 100-year nap, but we both loved the fussy pas de deux between anthropomorphized cats, the cute galumphing ogre, and almost everything else about this reinvigorated fairy tale. Given that it draws on source material that debuted in 1890, it’s kind of amazing it felt contemporary at all.

But it did, in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. What I loved most about it was how it subtly but meaningfully challenged ballet’s often-rigid gender binary—something classical ballet companies will have to do more often if they hope to exist in the decades to come.

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