Seafood boils, chocolate bars, and meat pies, oh my. Seattle’s summer restaurant openings are coming in hot, bringing a diverse range of bites to the city. If you’re jonesing for English standards such as sausage rolls and Sunday roasts, desperate for Southern dishes, or have a sweet tooth only cocoa can satisfy, then you’re in luck.

Let’s dig into some other food news.

Snubbed on the big stage

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before… Seattle and the state of Washington have once again been snubbed at the James Beard Awards. For the fifth year in a row, local nominees — this time, Atoma, Archipelago, and Jay Blackinton of Houlme on Orcas Island — came home empty-handed. What’s it going to take to break the streak? Hopefully we find out next year.

Here, have a slug of caffeine

Named for the brightly colored sea slugs that call the Pacific Northwest home, Nudibranch Coffee (that’s pronounced “new-dih-brank”) hopes to brighten your day and open Seattle’s first-ever Thai coffee shop. Emily Sirisup and her partner, Cole Arneson, first got a taste of the country’s coffee culture — including its penchant for cool drinks mixed with fruit — while visiting to explore Sirisup’s familial roots. Now, they will be the first business to roast and sell coffee from Thailand, online and in local grocery stores, with plans for a North Seattle cafe this fall.

Need another pick-me-up?

Get in line at Pine Street and Harvard Avenue in Capitol Hill. Like other passers-by, you may not know what for at first, but it’ll soon become obvious why it’s worth the wait. Phê is a new Vietnamese coffee and matcha shop, which gained a fervent following when it popped-up at the Chinatown-International District Night Market three years ago (the creme brulee sweet potatoes were heaven). For now, the space is focused on specialty drinks like banana pudding matcha, but Vietnamese brunch, dinner, and cocktails are in the works.

The taste of generosity

To find Burmese food in Seattle, well, you have to leave Seattle. Follow your cravings for the cuisine of Myanmar to Theravada Buddha Sasana Organization located on the way to Snohomish. This monastery hosts a donation-driven food festival almost once a month, offering a spread of 20 to 30 dishes, like mohinga (fish soup), pork sticky rice, and cassava cake. The best part? Everyone is welcome.

Find your next BFF

That’s Beacon Food Forest, a seven-acre plot of public land on the edge of Jefferson Park, where anyone, at any time, is able to harvest fresh fruits and veggies, pick medicinal herbs, or volunteer their time to maintain the garden beds. The seed for this innovative community model was first planted by University of Washington permaculture students in 2009; now, it’s one of the largest projects of its kind in the United States. Learn more about what you can expect to find, as well as etiquette and rules for visitors.

Unionizing, under the sea

Employees at the Sea Creatures restaurant group, which encompasses Willmottʼs Ghost in The Spheres, the Walrus and the Carpenter oyster bar, and The Whale Wins, among other restaurants and cocktail lounges, have decided to unionize. United Creatures of the Sea was formed primarily to challenge ownership’s implementation of a 22% service charge, which some said drastically reduced their paycheck by taking away tips. Contract negotiations are ongoing.