Hungry for news? Welcome to our Friday Feed, where we run through all the local food and restaurant news this month—and maybe help you figure out where to eat this weekend.
Fans of Nell's have until the end of the month to get in for favorites, like this sturgeon dish.
For 26 years, chef and owner Philip Mihalski helmed Nell’s Restaurant, earning praise for his seasonal, contemporary American food, but come the end of June, Mihalski plans to retire. Never flashy, always dependable, Nell’s quietly marched through the decades—in multiple senses of the word. In an era of increasingly noisy restaurants, it stood out for its peaceful environment.
“Working in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest has been a treat with a great range of special ingredients that make a cook's work a pleasure,” Mihalski wrote in his retirement announcement. His only plans for the future are to travel and spend time outside, hiking, biking, and Nordic skiing, he says. The restaurant has been sold, and the buyer, per Mihalski, plans a similar restaurant in the space—including keeping the same staff both in the kitchen and the dining room.
Open Passage
Whidbey Island jewel The Inn at Langley debuts its new restaurant today, with a lauded East Coast chef crossing the country to lead the West Coast-focused tasting menu. Passage takes its name from the Saratoga Passage over which it looks, and its inspiration from the same waters—and the Pacific Coast in general. The Maryland-born Spero comes to Whidbey after closing his Michelin-starred modernist fine dining spot, Reverie, and Basque-style bar, Bar Spero, both in Washington, DC.
Burgers Beef Up
The local chains keep grinding out more locations, with Burgermaster celebrating the grand opening of its Issaquah location in the former Triple XXX Root Beer last month and Dick’s Drive-In announcing an 11th location. The planned opening, across from the Quil Ceda Creek Casino on the Tulalip Reservation, should happen by the end of the year.
It’s musical breweries, bars, and burgers in Ballard right now, starting with closing announcements from Distant West Brewing and Wheelie Pop Brewing—though the latter plans to continue operations at its Mill Creek location. Meanwhile, two other brewers with Ballard taprooms are joining forces: Bale Breaker Brewing acquired Cloudburst Brewing, taking over as Cloudburst founder and icon of the Seattle beer scene, Steve Luke, plans a move to New Zealand.
Looking further ahead, few details are out yet on Local Tide’sVictor Steinbrueck’s GoodMart. Plans filed with the city show it as a market and dining counter in the former Kathy Casey Food Studios space on Ballard Ave. Meanwhile, the main details on the contentious Sea Rose, a bar for which liquor licenses have gone up (and down) in the window of the former Stepping Stone space, come from an anonymous website that lays out the story behind it, including the family behind long-time U-District bar Flowers—which had its liquor license revoked.
Gabriele Russo, one of Bottega Gabriele's and Casa Gabriele's eponymous founders.
Pioneer Square and the Chinatown–International District
Doris: The Rally Group, founded by Angela Dunleavy (former CEO of Ethan Stowell Restaurants and Farestart), celebrated the grand opening of intimate cocktail bar Doris in the old Salumi space on Tuesday.
Louie’s Deli: The sandwich shop from folks behind Good Shape Pizza has been selling out of its breakfast sandwiches pretty quickly as buzz built from its mid-May opening inside Europa. Thankfully, there are worse plan-B options than a meatball or Italian sub.
Be Mi: Next door, the sandwich boom shows no signs of slowing down, with a Vietnamese sandwich shop opening shortly at 90 Yesler Way, just in time to feed the World Cup crowds.
Tanhuo Yanji BBQ: The former Shanghai Garden space is alive again, with charcoal-grilled meat skewers and side dishes from—as the name implies—Yanji, the city just on the China side of the North Korean border, where the cultures of the two countries mingle.
H.O.W Pot: The C-ID all-you-can-eat hot pot and Korean BBQ joint that often drew hours-long lines has shuttered.
Emme Collins (with her mother, Graça Ribeiro), is cooking Brazilian food at Baiana in Pike Place Market.
Marrakesh: Longtime 2nd Ave favorite and one of Seattle’s few Moroccan restaurants, Marrakesh lost its lease and closed at the end of May. Owners have set up a GoFundMe to support a future reopening in a new location.
Café Hitchcock and Oyster Cellar: After ten years and a number of different concepts, Brendan McGill’s Hitchcock Group shuttered its spaces in the Exchange Building, closing its last two remaining Seattle-side restaurants. Café Hitchcock on Bainbridge remains open, along with its pizza restaurant Bruciato, and multi-concept Kingfisher.
South Lake Union
Tho Tuong BBQ: The Tacoma favorite Viet-Chinese spot expanded to Seattle last month, opening on Thomas and giving SLU another great lunch option.
Benihana: A decade after the classic teppanyaki chain rebranded (and then closed) its downtown digs, it announced plans to return to the city. The new location, in Lake Union Piers (formerly Chandler’s Cove), does not yet have an opening date.
There's a little less joy in the world as Dough Joy's Capitol Hill shop closes.
Fire Tacos: The Alki birria spot will expand to the former Coastal Kitchen space on 15th Avenue E, though no opening date is set yet.
Laurel: Kate Opatz’s adorable café bar in the former Crumble & Flake space ended its short run last week, though the announcement hinted that she may still do something else with the space.
Syrian Wrap: Lake City Way’s newest opening offers a “Taste of Damascus,” with a large menu of wraps, sandwiches, salads, and mezze-style Middle Eastern dips.
Sam Choy’s Poke to the Max: After an excellent ten-year run, the mini-chain has closed its Hillman City standalone location. But fish-o-philes can still find their favorites at the airport outlet.
Chili’s: Speaking of the airport, the new section of the C terminal has opened, including our very own airport location of Chili’s.
One of Baiana's Brazilian bowls.
