Welcome to the first edition of food news for 2019! The advent of the new year has already brought fluffy brioche sweets from Taiwanese bakery chain 85°C Bakery Café, Eastern European comfort food like pelmeni and khachapuri from Dacha Diner, upscale farm-to-table fare from Jason Wilson’s newest venture Aerlume, and much more. Read on to learn more about the latest restaurant openings, plus essential food events for your weekend like the Bigwig Donuts Pop-Up, Seattle Croissant Taiyaki Pop-Up, and a signature drink presentation with the reigning 2018 US Barista Champion. For more ideas for things to eat and drink, check out our full food and drink calendar.
OPENINGS
85°C Bakery Café
Known as the “Starbucks of Taiwan,” this wildly popular Taiwanese bakery and cafe chain, which has softly opened its new location in the International District and will officially open to the public on January 18, offers affordable pastries and sweets, including fluffy brioche and cream puffs, plus beverages like milk tea and iced sea salt coffee and snacks like cheesy bread-wrapped hot dogs. The grand opening will feature giveaways like iced sea salt coffees for 10 cents each and free mugs and tote bags with purchase.
International District
Aerlume
This restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chef Jason Wilson of Crush and the team behind El Gaucho (known collectively as “Fire & Vine Hospitality) has opened beside Pike Place Market, with an indoor fire pit and a noteworthy view of the Puget Sound, and is serving dinner, with lunch and weekend brunch to follow shortly. The menu, which will change seasonally, features locally sourced, farm-to-table-driven dishes like honeynut squash ravioli, grilled Spanish octopus, and grilled beef short ribs with pastrami spices, homemade kraut, and potato puree. Executive chef Maggie Trujillo will oversee the kitchen with support from Wilson.
Downtown
Bisato
James Beard Award-winning chef Scott Carsberg’s acclaimed, affordable Italian Belltown restaurant Bisato, which closed in 2012 after 20 years of business, is preparing to re-open in the former location of Trattoria Mitchelli in Pioneer Square. The restaurant is currently accepting reservations for pop-up dinners between 11 am and 2 pm this Saturday and Sunday.
Pioneer Square
Dacha Diner
This highly anticipated Eastern European diner from Joe Heffernan and Tom Siegel, owners of the Independent Pizzeria, opened in the former space of the Saint on December 26. The restaurant serves Eastern European cuisine with some Jewish fare, including cold smoked salmon, blini and blintzes, borscht with sour cream, pelmeni, and more. They’ve shared a promising photo of its khachapuri (a traditional Georgian egg and cheese bread) on Instagram, with a warning that it sells out fast (so come early if you want to try it).
Capitol Hill
Future Primitive Brewing
This new brewery, a collaboration between Seattle craft beer scene veterans Dean Hudgins and Ian Roberts (owners of the Pine Box) and Michael Baker, Kevin Watson, and Larry Solomon, opened in the former space of Big Al Brewing in White Center on December 21. The brewery, which features a bar with nine taps and a second bar with more taps upstairs, pours a diverse range of beer styles, including West Coast- and Belgian-style ales and barrel-aged brews, like a pale ale called Birthday Suit, an oatmeal stout called Black River, an IPA called Green River, a table beer called Little One, a Belgian blond ale called Moment, an American pale ale called Pleased to Meet You, and a barleywine called Young One.
White Center
Juneau Tavern
According to a press release, former Stranger intern and freelancer Chris Hong, who has spent time at Sushi Kappo Tamura, Revel, Showa, TanakaSan, and Serious Pie & Biscuit, opened Juneau Tavern, an eatery serving craft beer and comfort food, on the second floor of Sykart Indoor Racing Track in Tukwila on December 6. Inspired by classic unpretentious Northwest hangouts such as Loretta’s Northwesterner and Linda’s Tavern, the menu features simple tavern fare like smashed burgers and fried chicken sandwiches as well as more unexpected dishes like a vegan falafel burger and stir-fried greens with fried Szechuan chilis. The beer list features local favorites like Ghostfish, Seapine, and Silver City as well as imports like Baltimore’s Stillwater Brewing and Denmark’s Evil Twin, and besides beer, there’s also sake and wine. The space features 12 different TV screens for watching sports and B-movies as well as a private karaoke room.
Tukwila
The Roll Pod
This Indian food truck serving health-minded Indian food like customizable kathi rolls, kathi bowls, and salad bowls opened a brick-and-mortar location in Bellevue’s Highland Park strip mall in the last week of 2018.
Bellevue
OTHER FOOD NEWS
Red Star Taco Bar temporarily closed after fire
Fremont taco eatery Red Star Taco Bar is temporarily closed after an arsonist allegedly attempted to burn down the building, which cost them their back patio and storage space and caused significant damage to the back half of the restaurant. The owners have planned a rally on January 13 at nearby bar the Ballroom with drink specials, raffles, performances, and more to raise funds for repairs, and are asking supporters to help with a GoFundMe and by purchasing gift cards.
Kamonegi chef plans to open sake bar
Chef Mutsuko Soma of the Fremont soba restaurant Kamonegi, which was featured in Eater’s list of Best New Restaurants 2018 and included in Food & Wine‘s biggest restaurant openings of 2018, is planning to open a new sake bar called Hannyatou in the now vacant space of the recently closed Lama G’s next door. Set to open in March, the forthcoming restaurant will seat 24 guests and use the back patio as a place for a fermentation station of sorts, where traditional Japanese ingredients like tsukemono pickles, miso, and koji will be made. Offerings will include a sake list with flights and 10-12 plates of food.
EVENTS
JAN. 4-5
REM one
It’s the dinner of your dreams, literally: The tasting menu at this pop-up from Willows Inn sous chef Kris Kim, who previously spent time as the chef de cuisine at TROVE, takes its inspiration from different stages of sleep.
JAN. 4-6
Little Fish Takeover
Little Fish, the highly anticipated forthcoming Pike Place restaurant and seafood craft microcannery from chef Zoi Antonitsas and Bryan Jarr, will take over Vashon Island restaurant Gravy each weekend this January while owners Dre Neeley and Pepa Brower vacation in Italy. Diners will get the chance to preview brunch and dinner dishes from the Little Fish menu, including oysters with grapefruit mignonette, Dinah’s Cheese from Kurt Timmermeister’s Vashon-based Kurtwood Farms with grilled persimmon and chicories, Neah Bay sea urchin risotto, salt cod brandade croquettes, and tinned seafood, which will be available for purchase from Little Fish’s microcannery when it opens.
SATURDAY, JAN. 5
Bigwig Donuts Pop-Up
This is your chance to catch Oregon-based pop-up Bigwig Donuts, who will bring their made-to-order gluten-free, vegan, and GMO-free doughnut holes to KEXP’s La Marzocco Cafe. Choose from three different types of fluffy-crisp, sugar-dusted doughnut holes, including maple, chocolate, and cinnamon sugar.
Brewery Tour and Tasting
Learn about the operations and history behind Optimism Brewing Co. with a tour of their full brewery and cellar facilities, plus their “beer lab” and “sensory evaluation chamber.” When you’re done, experience the results for yourself with a complimentary flight of beer.
Butchering and Curing Workshop
Located at the site of the first European settlement on Puget Sound, Tacoma’s Fort Nisqually Living History Museum re-creates life in the 1850s with staff and volunteers who don period clothing, speak in historically accurate dialogue, and demonstrate crafts of the era. This daylong heritage skills workshop from Farmstead Meatsmith, an old-school butcher based on Vashon Island, will school attendees in traditional seam butchery, which uses only knives and cleavers to preserve muscle groups and wastes as little of the animal as possible. Participants will also learn about traditional curing methods for bacon, prosciutto, and guanciale. This is a rare opportunity to learn about butchering and curing methods from the 19th century—if you’re interested in learning to prepare your own meat, don’t miss it.
Signature Drink Presentation with the 2018 US Barista Champion, Cole McBride
Want to drink coffee prepared by the best barista in the country? At this event, Cole McBride, who triumphed at the US Barista Championship in 2018, will present, demonstrate, and serve his winning coffee cocktail, which features an espresso shot pulled for twice the normal length, double-filtered, chilled into “a clean tonic devoid of crema and sediment,” and put into a CO2 charger with citric acid and yuzu zest imported directly from the farmer.
Truffle Making 2019
If your New Year’s resolution involves learning new skills, consider this class from indi chocolate, which will school you in how to create your own decadent chocolate truffles so you can live out your Chocolat fantasy. You’ll learn about the process of making bean-to-bar chocolate, ganache, and truffles, then craft some hand-rolled, dairy-free truffles made with coconut milk while experimenting with your own flavor combinations. When it’s over, you’ll go home with cacao creations and bragging rights.
Vegetarian Cooking Class in Pike Place
Eat Seattle and Rated-V will lead a cooking class that starts with a tour through Pike Place, where you’ll pick up fresh ingredients, and ends with a class on how to prepare a tasty and healthy four-course meal. If you’re looking to eat more greens in 2019, this is a good place to get inspired.
JAN. 5-6
Seattle Croissant Taiyaki Pop-Up
Try croissant taiyaki, a mash-up of French flaky pastry and a Japanese fish-shaped cake, with sweet and savory fillings like red bean, matcha custard, Nutella, and ham and cheese.
SUNDAY, JAN. 6
K Ba-Nana Pop-Up with the Flour Box
Treat yourself to Korean skincare and beauty from K Ba-Nana while savoring creme brûlée, everything bagel, pistachio, and jasmine milk tea doughnuts from cult-favorite pop-up the Flour Box. There’ll also be other treats like lemon sesame bars and fudge brownies. Supply is limited, so come early.
Pop-Up Mimosa Bar
Spend your Sunday mornings sipping mimosas with Chateau bubbles and your choice of juice.
Shellfish Showcase
Shellfish Showcase is the seafood counterpart to Restaurant Week, organized by Dine Around Seattle. The organization has rounded up a host of restaurants to devise exclusive menus with four items highlighting fresh local shellfish, at least two of them entrées. It’s a great opportunity to slurp some briny bivalves and scope out some hidden gems you wouldn’t otherwise try.
