Recent Stories with tag capitol hill

Last week Octo Sushi opened up in the 12th Avenue space where dearly departed Crave used to be.  Actually, the restaurant is larger than the Linke Building's former occupant, taking up both the front windowed area, as well as the room behind. It's a smart idea (that front section is both tiny and prone to getting hot in the summer), but while the back section is cool (and well-designed with wood paneling), it's also dark and maybe too large for the amount of business the restaurant is getting thus far.

I was there for a Thursday dinner in which the front section was completely empty and the back room only had a few tables with customers during what should be its prime dinner hours (6:30 till 8:30 or so). But as a result, the service was attendant and the food arrived in no time. The kitchen is up front, while the sushi chef is busy cutting in the back. And yet somehow, my order initially arrived with sashimi instead of nigiri, and I overheard another table have a similar issue with a roll. Also for the record, if you bring me the wrong item of food, I will gladly eat that while you prepare the correct one. Just sayin'....

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After last night's screening of Cyrus--which opens at the Harvard Exit next Friday--John C. Reilly and director Jay Duplass were on hand for a Q&A. They discussed the ins and outs of the new movie (not to mention shooting on film vs. digital), as well as John's innate talent for improvisation, the Duplass brothers' potential for making a mumblecore sequel to Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, and what John has in common with Bob Dylan. Spoiler alert: This of course involved John doing a Dylan impression. 

Both John and Jay came off as smart, funny, and down to earth, with a strong belief in their work on Cyrus (with reason--the film's good). Just don't ask John to perform a duet with Will Ferrell at your wedding, buddy--it ain't gonna happen.

Sometimes it is hard to find places to watch live sports. Some bars, being too cool for school, prefer either to darken their TVs or show obscure movies on mute. But not this month. Noticed on sister blog CHS that they know of 23 places to watch the World Cup. On hipster Capitol Hill.*

Meanwhile, in Pioneer Square, some dude has stuffed a big-screen TV in the back of a truck and parked it in an alley for public World Cup viewing (pictured above). Bystanders can just amble by, grab a seat, and feast on the soccers.

Not to mention the fact that you can watch the games live if you have free TV (Univision), cable (on ESPN), or even cable internet (ESPN3).

No doubt, soccer is riding a wave of popularity. Whether it's because the game really is that spectacular, or just because Americans love a fad, I'm not sure. And I'm sure we're not going to see 23 Capitol Hill bars crawling all over themselves to show something as un-hip as, say, the Baseball All-Star Game.

But we sports fans will take what we can get: If practically every bar in the city is going to be showing live sports? We can live with that, even if it's just for five weeks.

*Where I live.

You guys. Festival lineups are coming fast and furious now that everyone has switched to their post-Memorial Day gleaming white boat shoes. There are so many that it's hardly worth counting, because your eyes will glaze over and more will likely show up before you're finished inventorying them all. Today's announcement of a preliminary lineup for the Capitol Hill Block Party confirmed a few rumors, brought a few surprises, and made a play for keeping you close to home on a precious summer weekend. 

First, that the third-day festisprawl was meant to accommodate the widely expected headline performance from (one of) Jack White's supergroups, the Dead Weather, who will headline on Sunday. It also confirmed a barely-heard comment from Yeasayer during their spring show at Neumo's: the much-loved protofuturists will be back in Seattle on the big stage on Friday night. Other big names include MGMT (back after a sleepy Sasquatch mainstage show), Shabazz Palaces, Holy Fuck (Friday); Atmosphere, Blonde Redhead, !!! (Saturday); and Blue Scholars, Harlem (Sunday). They're joined by plenty of local talents and a whole lot of hip hop, with more announcements likely in the run-up to the festival. In general, these are some really good bands, but it's almost a relief that the organizers seem not to have reached for the stratosphere this time around. As neat as it was to see Sonic Youth, the Gossip, the Jesus Lizard, et al last year, foot traffic got a whole lot of soulcrushing at times.

Sure, it's long outgrown its roots as a cozy neighborhood block party and the crowds of people swarming the neighborhood for the festival can be a bit jarring, but if you're up for a bit of chaos and the occasional hot mess, it can be a fun way to spend a summer weekend. You're bound to run into tons of friends and the overdose of music can be quite satisfying at a good price. A three-day pass to the fenced-in Pike/Pine corridor of multistage music costs $60 in advance or $23 per day. Prices go up a bit at the gates, provided it doesn't sell out. Peruse the whole lineup, via the Seattle Times, after the jump. ...

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I usually know what not to expect at a Balagan Theatre performance. Regardless of the source material, I know not to expect a straight reading of a play in its classic form, like I might experience at Seattle Shakespeare or the Rep.

If the play is Romeo and Juliet, I know I'm going to get super-sexy-Romeo-and-Juliet or astronaut-Romeo-and-Juliet-in-space, or, most likely, super-sexy-astronaut-Romeo-and-Juliet-in-the-Wild-West. That's the kind of thing they do.

So when I headed to Balagan's Capitol Hill theatre (below Boom Noodle) on Saturday, it was with that in mind, but what was delivered was a pretty straight production of Oedipus (Sun-Thurs, through June 5th, tickets $15 online).

Keep in mind that there's actually no such thing as Oedipus--Sophocles wrote Oedipus Rex and Oedipus Colonus and the cast and crew of this production edited, workshopped, and otherwise distilled this Oedipus from those texts. But they did such a good job, under the direction of Ryan Higgins and Jake Groshong, that what they're currently performing seems like the classic Oedipus, if such a thing existed. Maybe a little sexier. Definitely not what I expected, though.

The stage Balagan has designed for this show is spartan. There's a little pedestal in the center where some neat light effects highlight a few narrative scenes, and the pedestal generally serves as the focal point for any intense actions along the lines of fighting or seducing....

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After some last-minute hustling to show the city they had enough community support, the organizers of the Capitol Hill Block Party have just announced that this year the festival will run for a full three days, July 23-25. The lineup isn't out till June 1, but a limited number of $60 three-day passes go on sale, this Friday, May 21. 

All the Hill residents I've heard from lately on the topic--and admittedly, this is a self-selected group--weren't thrilled about the music fest's expansion, aka the "festisprawl." But here it is, like it or not. No word yet as to what the deal is between the city and the CHBP.  I suspect CHS will be doggedly covering this story, as is their wont. Full press release after jump....

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RvO reports from The SunBreak front lobby that a young woman was just robbed of her phone by a man who leaped from a car, pushed her down repeatedly, and then took off running. The theft took place on E. John Street between 11th and 12th Street, at about 10:30 this morning.

TSB neighbor Mark Friedenberg was an eyewitness. He says the assailant was a young black man of about 20, about six feet tall, 180 lbs. Friedenberg tried to block him as he ran up the block toward 12th, but the man got past, ran around the corner, and jumped back into the car. Another witness got the car's license plate, though, so police have something to go on in this case. 

Cell phone theft makes a frequent appearances in the Capitol Hill Seattle blog's blotter, but the incidents usually occur at night. This daylight grab, within shouting distance of the East Precinct, is unsettling, not least for the victim. UPDATE: More details from CHS!

Yes, it's a fixer-upper. It's in a co-op. And it seems to be named after a down-market school. But at $109,000, it's like the time travel machine worked and we've landed back in the 1990s.

Your one-bedroom hideaway just north of Pine Street on desirable 15th Ave is 541 sq. ft., there's what looks like a claw-foot tub, and you get radiator heat. Oh, the luxury. The kitchen is Lilliputian. No getting around that. But with Teriyaki Madness and Zaw Pizza just flip-flop distance away, when will you be cooking anything besides toast?

Of course I'm right. Now get out there and make an offer. There's never been a better time to buy!

UPDATE: Matt Goyer found actual listings for you to choose from: Redfin, Windermere, and John L. Scott.

Thanks to zenobia joy for reminding me that today is the grand opening of Elliott Bay Book Company's new location in Capitol Hill!

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring a Grand Opening Block Party today starting at 4:00 p.m. They say the parking garage won't be ready until next weekend, but in the meantime, validated parking is available in the lot on 10th Avenue between Pike and Union.

See you there!

When there is something newsworthy going on in the busy world of bars and restaurants on Capitol Hill, you can always count on CHS's seadevi to have the scoop.  But when I saw yesterday that there is finally something going into the space formerly occupied by Crave--pause for a second here to shed a single tear and pour out a little liquor for Robin Leventhal and Co.--I finally thought I'd beaten seadevi at her own game.

And then I checked CHS and found that she had already mentioned on Monday that Octo Sushi is coming to 12th Ave. You win again, seadevi! *shaking fist*

On Saturday, Velocity Dance Center organized a parade/move-in to its new digs on 12th Avenue, in the former home of the Capitol Hill Arts Center. Landlord Betty Linke was true to her word that she preferred an arts group take over the space, and thanks to a grant from King County--and digging deep on the part of Velocity donors--Velocity was able to turn the building into a new dance center. Velocity cultivates local dancers through classes and rental of its rehearsal and performance spaces, and produces dance series of its own.

A shot of the Glenn Kawasaki Studio at the new Velocity Dance Center space. Through the window to the left, you can even see the home they've been displaced from. Photo coutesy of Velocity Dance Center.

This Saturday, March 27, the long, agonizing wait is finally over, when Velocity Dance Center--whose future was cast into uncertainty with the purchase and refurbishment of Oddfellows Hall--officially opens the doors of their new space in the old Capitol Hill Arts Center building at 1621 12th Avenue. It's one of precious few success stories for arts organizations over the past few decade, when first rising rents and then a bad economy made it seem impossible for arts groups to survive in Seattle.

Velocity originally opened in 1996 and quickly established itself at the center of Seattle's dance community. Hosting both entry-level and professional development classes, as well as providing badly needed rehearsal space and serving as a performance venue, the overall health of contemporary dance in Seattle and the greater region has been closely tied to the institution. But in 2007, Oddfellows Hall, where Velocity occupied three separate studio spaces, was sold to Ted Schroth, the developer behind Trace Lofts, among others.

The sale, and the attendant 300 percent rent increase, was a huge blow to the local arts and non-profit community, who had been taking advantage of the building's cheap rents and who were rapidly being displaced elsewhere on the Hill. The Oddfellows sale became the sine qua non of the transformation and gentrification of Capitol Hill (among others, Freehold Theatre left the neighborhood and now operates in Belltown), and a threat to the arts overall in a white hot real estate market that was quickly pricing them out of the urban core. ...

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From our Flickr pool, Slightynorth captures the loveliness of a sun-drenched cafe on Capitol Hill just a couple days ago, which stands in stark contrast to our gloomy, overcast morning today.

 

Rachel Permann and Martyn G. Krouse in Fat Pig. Image courtesy of Artattack Theater Ensemble.

Artattack Theater's new space at Olive and Bolyston is absolutely perfect for the company's first production there. Neil LaBute's Fat Pig is all about uncomfortable intimacy, and that's exactly what the space conveys. The stage is in the middle of the room, with two rows of chairs along opposite walls. As a member of the audience, you are very, very aware that you're not watching the play alone, but rather serving witness with others in an emotionally claustrophobic environment.

Director Justin Lockwood claims Fat Pig's characters are trying to do well, but that's just not true. LaBute's characters are always sociopathic at best, psychopathic at worst. And the work itself is typical LaBute: casual cruelty, people being terrible to people, although at least in this play, no one ends up dead or maimed or otherwise physically harmed. Spoiler alert? 

Instead, boy (Martyn G. Krouse as Tom) meets girl (Rachel Permann as Helen), and they really like each other--Krouse and Permann both bring some seriously sexy, flirtatious heat. Too bad traditionally handsome Tom can't get over the fact that Helen has some meat on her bones. Though smart, anxious Helen is ostensibly the titular character, Fat Pig is not so much her story, as the story of everyone's reactions to her. Tom's immature work frenemy Carter (Lockwood pulling double-duty and relishing the douche-otype) has his own weight hangups, while a girl at work Tom used to date (Lisa Every as Jeannie) can't get over the fact that he'd rather date a fatty than her crazy ass. Bland, weak-willed middle manager Tom just doesn't have a clue how not to care about what others think....

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You can almost smell the Fernet Branca.

I made it into Tavern Law for the first, belated time last night. The neo-speakeasy with an "encyclopedic drink menu" opened back in August 2009, but I get grouchy in crowds of sightseers, so I kept putting off a visit. That may have been a mistake. Their cocktail list makes for fine reading, and the talent behind the bar is first-rate.

I've been on a Fernet Branca jag for about a year and a half now--purely medicinal--so I asked barman David Nelson for a Kemper House cocktail to begin with. It's a lighter take on Fernet Branca--whose  secret ingredients Jamie Boudreau says include "myrrh, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, gentian, and peppermint [...] definitely saffron"--that in a solicitous way restrains rather than amplifies the crush of bitter flavor.

After a plate of roasted brussel sprouts and turnips (a vegetarian dish, in my mind, with the bacon just as a garnish), I asked David for something else in the Fernet Branca line, adding that I was a fan, by way of encouraging him to throw some high heat.

He delivered a drink in a highball glass, manly looking below (glaciers of ice in a dark, molasses-looking liquid) with a movable feast on top (two dark cherries and an orange twist). Ingredients: Fernet Branca, angostura bitters, rum (Blackstrap?), simple syrup. In theory we were in line for the clandestine upstairs bar, but after we had received our second round of drinks, we all agreed we were not leaving the downstairs bar while David was there.

I didn't recognize the concoction, but I knew I wanted to order it again. I called Zig Zag's Ben Dougherty later to pick his mind about its provenance. "Sounds like a rum version of the Toronto," was his near-instantaneous verdict. This means that I will have to try the Toronto (rye instead of rum) as well. Well, the work is never done.

It's William Seward...IN HELL!  Great Beyond put this Redscale photo into The SunBreak Flickr pool, while also schooling us on the photography technique:

A statue up in Volunteer Park of William H. Seward (the guy who bought Alaska), near the conservatory, looking very dramatic in Redscale.

The one downside to Redscale film? The emulsion scratches REAL easy, meaning I have a lot of work to do in photoshop to clean up the picture. This one, for example, was a real mess.

If you have not yet tried the Morning Glory Dog at Po Dogs, do so posthaste!  It is breakfast made for any time of day in delicious hot dog form.  +Russ knows what I'm talking about--thanks to him for dropping the photographic evidence in The SunBreak Flickr pool.

It's funny (and sad) because it's true!  Thanks to Paul Swortz for throwing this image into The SunBreak Flickr pool.

Merry Christmas, if you're into that kind of thing! Thanks to all to our readers--we hope you're enjoying the holidays wherever you are. And thanks to zenobia_joy, who uploaded this photo of Christmas Eve on Capitol Hill to our SunBreak Flickr pool.

Near the end of October (thank you, CHS), Zhivago's Café (Facebook) opened on Broadway, where the old Dilettante's used to be. It's a piroshkis-and-more shop (including Wi-Fi), founded by Geno Sabra, who is half Russian and half Middle Eastern. I have walked past it for weeks until today, when I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a piroshki.

I ordered the lunch special (piroshki + borscht + bread roll = $7.95), and had a seat. The server had my food ready before I sat down. As The Stranger promised, the borscht was remarkable, served warm with a dollop of sour cream. The piroshkis are baked on the premises daily (Time to make the piroshkis! is 4 a.m.), and there's a variety of carnivore and vegetarian options ($4-$6), as well dessert pastries and Russian tea cakes.

I had the beef, potato, and cheese piroshki, which was perfectly acceptable, if outshined by the borscht in terms of yumminess. But don't take this as a review, anyway--I've only stopped in the once. Take it as encouragement to pop in the next time you're in the mood for a piroshki and see for yourself.

Picture a streetcar running through it.

The first question many people have on hearing about the First Hill streetcar is, "Huh?" But there is a good reason for the First Hill streetcar's existence (ETA: end of 2014): The neighborhood was originally supposed to get a deep tunnel light rail station, which turned out to be too expensive. So a streetcar line to the International District light rail station has been deemed an acceptable substitute.

It's ironic because the streetcar debate now raging is focused on the Capitol Hill end of the line, and First Hill concerns don't come up as much, even though the regular ridership is likely to come from First Hill's medical centers (Harborview, Swedish, and Virginia Mason) and Seattle University.

Today SDOT released some conceptual maps of where the streetcar might run. For some months, various constituencies have been pushing for a) a two-way track up and down Broadway, b) a loop of Broadway and 12th Avenue, and c) a Broadway-Boren hybrid.

Seattle Transit Blog (here's their take on the routes) argues that a 12th Avenue loop makes use of the streetcar stations much more inconvenient, in that there would be a longer schlep involved if you wanted to go north as opposed to south, or vice versa, depending on which side of the loop you lived. They are anti-couplet! But all three of the SDOT alternatives released today use an 11th Avenue and Broadway couplet that circles Cal Anderson Park. And don't rule out a 12th Avenue jaunt.

Apparently one reason for this is because 11th doesn't carry the traffic that Broadway or 12th does, and so a couplet line using 11th would be less impacted by congestion on either Broadway or 12th. This nuanced weighing of alternatives makes me crazy. If only someone I hated preferred an option so I could line up opposite!

In the event that you have an axe to grind, CHS reports that "Tuesday night, the city and Sound Transit are holding the first of three meetings to discuss the streetcar project with the community. Tuesday's meeting is at Seattle Central [Community College] from 6-8 p.m."

I've heard a completely unsubstantiated rumor that Barrio--the upscale Mexican-meets-Northwest restaurant/bar from the same folks who run Purple--is not doing so well in this economy.  Don't know if it's true (hence the "unsubstantiated"), but it makes sense, in this economy.  (I'm betting that is the three-word phrase employed most in 2009...in this economy.)

Anyways, that might explain why the Capitol Hill and Bellevue Barrio locations have brought back their popular $5 margarita, as well as expanded their happy hour times and menu.  (Not to mention the other good deals: half-price bottles of wine on Sundays and half-price tequila on Mondays.)  Full list of happy hour eats and drinks after the jump....

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Sez The Daily (via Facebook, of course): 

UW won the Youth in Revolt Contest!  Michael Cera will be at the Landmark Neptune this Thursday for a FREE SCREENING.  Starts at 7PM, first come first served.  21+ after party to follow at MOE BAR.

Youth in Revolt is, of course, the movie based on the book of the same name about geeky teenager Nick Twisp and his bad-boy alter ego.  I recall it being a good read, y'know, when I was sixteen. 

Unfortunately, Thursday's screening is for UW students only, and it will most assuredly be a full house, so if you aren't a UW student willing to wait in line starting at 5 p.m., you can catch the film in theaters January.  Instead, hit up the after-party at Moe Bar (starting 9ish, I guess) if you want the chance to bat your eyelashes at sweetie pie Michael Cera from across the room (hand raise) and/or ask him one million questions about the still-in-the-works Arrested Development movie (double hand raise).

Seems like everyone's got their holiday-themed food and drinks going on this Thanksgiving. 

The Bottleneck Lounge has a truly frightening drink special tonight: a cocktail made with Jones Soda's Tofurky and Gravy flavor.  I'm a-scurred.  There will also be Jones giveaways, and the first ten people (starting at 7 p.m.) who dare taste this libation get a free t-shirt.  You will have earned it. 

For those of us who would rather not drink fake tofu turkey flavor, there will also be plenty of Thanksgiving Old Fashioneds, made with fresh cranberries, to go around.  Now that's consumable!

Meanwhile, the good people at Po Dogs are offering up a seasonal wiener all week. As per Ye Olde Twitter: "Come in today and try our Thanksgiving dog. It's a Wiener topped with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy...."  That just might work with a brioche bun.