White Center will get a dose of profanity-laced Southern hospitality this week with the opening of a new location of Biscuit Bitch, the ever-popular brunch chain. Plus, a healthy new diner opens in West Seattle, and the Ballard brunch favorite Hi-Life will morph into a destination for pizza, pasta, and…puppets. Read on for more of the latest food news and event ideas for your Labor Day weekend, like Juice Club x Mountaineering Club.
OPENINGS
Biscuit Bitch
You may not be able to see Lizzo at Bumbershoot this weekend, but you can at least brunch like her. The expletive-peppered, Southern-inspired, “trailer-park-to-table” chain Biscuit Bitch, which recently won the Reader’s Choice for breakfast and brunch in The Stranger‘s 2019 food and drink guide (and which the singer/rapper/flautist paid a visit while she was in town for Capitol Hill Block Party), will open a location in the former space of the recently closed Brass Knuckle Bistro in White Center on Thursday, September 5. The outpost will be the chain’s fourth location and its biggest yet, and will reprise some older vegetarian favorites that are no longer available at the other locations, like collard greens and black-eyed pea hummus.
White Center
La Isla
This local Puerto Rican chainlet closed its Redmond location last fall and celebrated the grand reopening of its new nearby location in the Redmond Town Center on Thursday, August 29. The new space, which will function as the business’s headquarters, serves Latin American dishes like pastélon (a kind of Puerto Rican “lasagna” with plantains) and halibut ceviche. The restaurant’s Ballard location will also be rebranding as La Isla Lounge at the end of September and will transition to a more limited tapas menu.
Redmond
Tian Fu
This new Sichuan Chinese restaurant, which recently soft-opened near Northgate and had its first Yelp review on July 23, serves regional dishes like dan dan noodles, twice-cooked pork, Sichuan eggplant, pork spare ribs, and griddled pork intestine. Feedback on Yelp is enthusiastic so far.
North Seattle
Youngstown Kitchen
Owner Zoe Kritzer of Youngstown Coffee Co. recently opened this new health-conscious diner, which serves fresh, wholesome versions of traditional comfort fare (think an avocado smash with cheesy eggs and sauteed mushrooms), in the former space of West Seattle’s Harry’s Chicken Joint.
West Seattle
CLOSURES
Carnivore
The meaty Ballard-based “primal kitchen and bar” , which focuses on the trendy paleo diet (which eliminates grains, legumes, and dairy in favor of mostly meat and produce), temporarily closed earlier this month and will reopen on September 18 with an updated food menu, new drinks, and a renovated interior. When it returns, diners can look forward to house-made gluten-free pasta and focaccia bread, scratch-made sodas, and new cocktails.
Ballard
Cookie Counter
The vegan ice cream shop and bakery, which has a location in Greenwood and opened an outpost inside Capitol Hill’s Gay City space just weeks ago during the last weekend of July, has reached an untimely end. The business announced on Instagram that it has permanently closed the Capitol Hill location after “irreconcilable issues with [its] lease terms along with issues from a fellow building tenant.” According to Capitol Hill Seattle, a source says that the cafe was forced to pull espresso and coffee drinks from its menu following disputes with neighboring Kaladi Brothers Coffee.
Capitol Hill
Department Bento
Tom Douglas’s restaurant serving up sake slushies and bento boxes inside the Bellevue Nordstrom closed down earlier this summer. Nordstrom Grill will re-open in its place.
Bellevue
Down Pour Coffee
This Capitol Hill coffee shop, which opened inside the Rubix Apartments building in 2016, closed its doors earlier this month due to insufficient traffic. The cafe happened to be owned by Redmond City Council member Steve Fields, who’s running for mayor of Redmond, and his wife Ronni Fields. The couple’s flagship location in Redmond will remain open.
Capitol Hill
Hi-Life
Ballard’s beloved brunch spot Hi-Life is pivoting to a somewhat peculiar new concept this fall: The restaurant as we know it will shut down on September 8 and be reborn under the same ownership six weeks later as Valentinetti, an Italian restaurant that hosts puppet shows. The change is inspired by owner Peter Levy’s wife’s godmother Aurora Valentinetti, a famous puppeteer and accomplished home cook who taught marionette classes at UW and has a puppetry museum in Bremerton named after her. Expect a menu of brick-oven pizza and pasta, with gluten-free options for both, and a bar serving wine, cocktails, and local beer.
Ballard
Rooster’s Tex-Mex BBQ
This barbecue joint on Broadway will shutter at the end of the month. By way of explanation, the owners posted a parting note in their windows saying they will “pursue other business and personal interests” and thanking their customers for their support, ending with the bitter pronouncement: “To the famous Seattle Times Food Critics who chose to never write us up, thank you, you were irrelevant and unnecessary.”
Capitol Hill
Saba Ethiopian Food
According to a review on Yelp, this beloved old-school, immigrant-owned Ethiopian standby closed in July due to being evicted by the real estate company Alchemy Real Estate. Previously, owner Workie Wubushet’s daughter Saba Tekle had petitioned to save the restaurant with support from Kshama Sawant, calling for property owners to protect the restaurant from gentrification on the grounds of it being a long-time community fixture.
Central District
OTHER FOOD NEWS
Isarn Kitchen opening a Fremont bar
The popular Northeastern Thai restaurant Isarn Thai Soul Kitchen, which operates locations in Kirkland and Lynnwood, will soon soft-open a bar in Fremont called Kinlen. Images on Instagram hint at a dark interior with colorful accents and “Thai night bites.”
Tukwila Village Food Hall opening in spring
Soon, the new Tukwila Village mixed-development building will welcome the Tukwila Village Food Hall, which aims to help low-income residents and immigrants who support themselves through food businesses by providing a space with a commercial kitchen with four cook stations, five retail stalls, and a community dining area as part of the nonprofit Food Innovation Network’s Food Business Incubator program, which has already helped launch 12 new businesses. The food hall will house 20 food businesses.
Schmaltzy’s Delicatessen opening delayed
Sorry, denizens of Frelard: You’ll just have to wait a bit longer to enjoy reuben and pastrami sandwiches. The highly anticipated Jewish deli Schmaltzy’s Delicatessen, which Jonathan Silverberg (owner of the Napkin Friends food truck) planned to open this summer, has been delayed until October due to construction issues. Once open, the spot will serve house-made lox, corned beef, reubens, pastrami, and other Jewish deli classics.
Wine-drinking spots slated to open in Woodinville
This year, the local winemakers DeLille Cellars and Sparkman Cellars both plan to move into Woodinville’s former Redhook Brewing building, which is becoming a massive new hub called Hollywood Station and also hosts Teatro Zinzanni’s dinner theater shows. The spacious building will boast a rooftop deck (exclusive to wine club members), tasting rooms, event spaces, a patio, production facilities, and more. Sparkman is scheduled to open this fall, while DeLille will follow in December.
Adana owner’s new Capitol Hill restaurant opening is delayed
Taku, an upcoming Capitol Hill restaurant from Adana chef/owner Shota Nakajima, has been affected by construction delays. The spot, which will be located next door to Salt and Straw and specialize in Osaka street food-style fried skewers called kushikatsu, was originally set to open this spring but is now expected to open sometime toward 2019.
EVENTS
FRIDAY, AUG. 30
Ube Malasada Day
Inhale some malasadas, a kind of Portuguese doughnut made with fluffy yeasted dough and dusted with crunchy granulated sugar, made by Super Six pastry chef Kim Mahar and stuffed with a brilliant purple ube (sweet potato) filling.
AUG. 30-SEPT. 1
Kids’ Table Pop-Up at Buck Bay Shellfish Farm
You’ll actually want to eat at this “kids’ table,” a seafood-focused pop-up by Jesse Fukumoto and Haley Jane Hancock featuring 8-12 courses on Buck Bay Shellfish Farm, with local, natural wine pairings celebrating “lesser celebrated varietals.”
SATURDAY, AUG. 31
3 Years of Beers Celebration
Figurehead Brewing’s third birthday will be marked by games and crafts, raffle prizes, skate ramps, beer and bottle releases, brewery tours, a blacksmithing demo, a pretzel pop-up by Brave Horse Tavern, and live music by Saint John and the Revelations, Pebble n the Crick, La Magistral, and Fond Farewell.
Annual Oktoberfest Release!
Gulp Flying Lion’s new fall release, an easy-drinking Oktoberfest brew that’s “golden orange in color, malty and aromatic on the palate,” out of a boot-shaped glass.
AUG. 31-SEPT. 1
It’s Been a Year?!
White Center’s donut shop Good Day Donuts celebrates a year of existence with a birthday-themed donut and some “fancy schmancy new donut swag.”
AUG. 31-SEPT. 2
30th Annual Blackberry Festival
Stroll along the boardwalk sampling doughnuts, scones, pie, and lots more treats and drinks made just in time for peak blackberry season.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 1
addo Themed Brunch (September): Betty Crocker
Chef Eric Rivera will serve his interpretations of some classic recipes from the iconic fictional domestic goddess of the ’50s.
Field Roast x Bon Appétit Pop-Up
Sample “artisanal plant-based meats and cheeses” from Field Roast.
Juice Club x Mountaineering Club
Spend your Labor Day partying on a rooftop and chugging natural wine with the pop-up Juice Club.
MONDAY, SEPT. 2
Aloha Labor Day
Marination Ma Kai’s glorious aloha fries (loaded with kalua pork, kimchi sauce, mayo, furikake, scallions, and a sunny-side-up egg) and chicken fried katsu will make their triumphant return to the beachy West Seattle restaurant’s menu, along with mimosas and bloody Mary specials.
Free Burgers for Labor Day
Snag a free burger from the Capitol Hill, Ballard, and White Center locations of Li’l Woody’s.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 3
Rumba Takes Over the Marina Cantina!
Check out Agua Verde Cafe’s newly unveiled Marina Cantina with Pueblo Viejo and Los Vecinos Mezcal cocktails by local star bartenders Maggie DiGiovanni from Barrio, Renee Valencia from Mezcaleria Oaxaca, and Jen Akin of Rumba. Mixologist Seth Sempere will provide top-notch tequila, while DJ Maki Katt brings the tunes. And if you’d like, you can rent a kayak or paddleboard from Agua Verde Paddle Club and glide out onto the waters.
