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Five Openings to Watch in August

New places from Delancey, Ethan Stowell, Heather Earnhardt, and the Matador team, plus tacos and tequila in Pike Place Market and, yes, Vessel.

Allecia Vermillion
Author: Allecia Vermillion
2 min.read

Jim Romdall in Vessel’s ice-happy lab room.

Shoot, this month is already a week old, and Seattle has two morebreweries than it did when we last turned the calendar page. Here are five (well, technically six) more openings that have us fired up for August.

El Borracho Taqueria y Cantina 

Le Bon Ton Roulé owner Kittie Davidovich is bringing tacos, burritos, tequila, and rockabilly tunes to Pike Place Market, specifically the former Pan Africa space on First Avenue. Though Davidovich aims to be a taco truck with a bar, her menu of ceviche, queso fundido, and other value-priced plates sounds a bit broader than your average mobile kitchen. If the permiting gods allow, she’s planning to open Thursday, August 9, at 4pm for happy hour. There’s no website just yet, but Davidovich promises $1 tacos on weekdays from 4-7.

Essex 

Delancey owners Brandon Pettit and Molly Wizenberg have taken over the former umbrella shop next door and are busy testing recipes, wallpapering (with a whale pattern), training staff, and doing assorted other things to transform the space into a bar. Their fingers are crossed for an August 15 official open, so let’s hope commiting that goal to blog print doesn’t jinx the proceedings. 

Kickin’ Boot Whiskey Kitchen

The team behind the Matador restaurants have transformed a Ballard warehouse into a hickster haven of reclaimed wood. Despite the chef’s known love of ramen, the menu is all about mesquite-grilled steak, fried chicken, catfish, barbecue, and other Southern comforts. And, as the name implies, lots of whiskey and bourbony cocktails. Target open: later next week.

Rione XIII

Ethan Stowell’s trattoria Romana should open its doors on Capitol Hill’s 15th Avenue mid-August.Tavolàta chef Brandon Kirksey is heading up the kitchen and its program of tableside cacio e pepe, crackery Roman-style street pizza, and an antipasto cart that will make the rounds of the small dining room.

Wandering Goose

Meanwhile, on the other side of the salvaged windows that now divide the former Tilden space, Heather Earnhardt is busy sanding, polishing, and otherwise gearing up for an August open. The former Volunteer Park Cafe baker is embracing her Southern roots and plans to fill her diminutive space with biscuits, grits, hush puppies, and country ham.

BONUS: Vessel

Yeah, I know we said May. Then we said June. But owner Jim Romdall says the cocktail bar is reallytrulyactually on the verge of a soft opening in its new location later this month. Hey, you’ve waited 20 months, so what’s another few days? Gear up by reading this piece from our August issue about the new space, and by purchasing some preparatory Vessel gift certificates at 20 percent off.

 




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Allecia Vermillion
Allecia Vermillion
Allecia Vermillion has spent a decade at Seattle Met, arriving as food and drink editor, and expanding her role over the years. She served as the magazine’s editor in chief until moving into a newly created executive editor role in 2021. She spearheads Seattle Met’s food and drink coverage and oversees home design content. Allecia’s writing has earned her multiple journalism awards and two James Beard Award nominations over the years. A native of Portland, Oregon, Allecia began her writing life as a newspaper reporter in the Chicago suburbs before making a grateful return to the Pacific Northwest. She has an English degree from Washington University (no, the one in St. Louis) and a masters in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.