Hungry for news? Welcome to our Friday Feed, where we run through all the local food and restaurant news this week—and maybe help you figure out where to eat this weekend.

Births

• A Big Opening: On Monday, the long-awaited La Mar Cocina Peruana opened in Bellevue, from acclaimed Peruvian celebrity chef Gastón Acurio. The seafood-centric fine-dining menu mixes local halibut and Dungeness crab into Peruvian cebiches and tiraditos. It joins eight other La Mar locations and some 70 other Acurio spots around the world and adds yet another feather to Bellevue’s culinary cap.
• A Lil’ Opening: On Wednesday, Communion founder and chef Kristi Brown opened Lil’ Brown Girl, a quick service counter inside Métier Brewing Company's Cherry Street Taproom. The menu, designed to pair with the house brews, includes Brown’s signature black eyed pea hummus, a nod to Central District neighbors with berbere-spiced wings, and that important PNW staple, jojos.
• A Smol Opening: The sparse Instagram page of A Lamb’s Quandary, which opened Thursday in the former Fat Hen space calls it simply “a smol restaurant in Ballard.” The meek imagery of a tiny, confused baby ovine is at odds with the menu, which features a series of ferocious sandwiches on cast-iron cooked waffles, including Italian beef and fried chicken with chili oil.

Deaths

• Going Down Swinging: Ethan Stowell announced that he will be closing the Frelard location of the Ballard Pizza Co. on Saturday. Puget Sound Business Journal reported that he blamed crime, public safety, and lack of delivery orders for the closure. Also that the pizza minichain's Ballard location, a mile away, will soon move into a larger space nearby.

Rebirths

• Floating Back Up: In September, the current owners of China Harbor announced the restaurant’s closure at the end of the month. Less than a week into October, the restaurant's former owners and most recent landlords announced they were taking back over the space and have Vince Zhao of Joyale revamping the restaurant. Zhao hopes to have it reopened, as Seattle Harbor, in early November, per the Seattle Times.
• Unsinkable: West Seattleites and anyone with a little whimsy in their heart might have worried when the original owners of the Luna Park Cafe put the retro diner up for sale this summer. Those concerns can float on down the Duwamish now, though, as the restaurant was purchased by veteran local restaurateur Heong Soon Park, owner of Bacco, Chan, Meet Korean BBQ, and the Cheese Room. He promised West Seattle Blog he only plans to make it better, not to change the iconic restaurant.
• Back Again: Donna Moodie first opened her restaurant, Marjorie, in Belltown in 2003, then moved it to Capitol Hill in 2010 before closing it in 2023. Now, it’s back open again, this time in the Central District, reports Capitol Hill Seattle. The restaurant (and its famous plantain chips) is in the same development as Jerk Shack and just across the street from Communion, cementing the restoration of 23^rd and Union as the heart of Seattle’s Black restaurant community.

Eat This: Podcaster Picks

All they do all day is talk about food, but what do they eat? Last week we announced our picks for Seattle’s Best New Restaurants, but we also asked local food podcasters to name their favorite dishes of the year. This week, we’re sharing picks from the hosts and producer of Spilled Milk: Molly Wizenberg, Matthew Amster-Burton, and Abby Cerquitella

1. Ananas, Ananas Pizzeria.
2. Any slice topped with a Caesar salad, Tivoli.
3. Mango, coffee, or seasonal soft serve, Spice Waala.

Oh, BTW, here's what you missed last week.