January/February 2025
Simple Goodness
Plum Bistro chef and owner Makini Howell’s new cookbook makes vegan recipes easy
Plum Bistro restaurant owner and chef Makini Howell recently created some tasty vegan recipes for Stevie Wonder. Now she wants to do the same for you — sort of. Howell, who launched the popular vegan restaurant in Capitol Hill 20 years ago, just released a new plant-based cookbook, Simple Goodness: No-Fuss, Plant-Based Meals Straight From…
Back Page: Missile Misstep
Bainbridge Island residents fight missile base
Bainbridge Island residents most definitely did not want a missile base built in their community. Back in March 1969, Seattle magazine chronicled their fight, even praising them for raising awareness of national and international issues that “far transcend their private missile feud.” “If the Army goes ahead with its present plans to build a long-range…
Sea the City
Escape winter with a float on a hot tub boat
Here’s a hot (or at least comfortably warm) attraction for Seattle’s cold winter months: a soak in 104-degree water on Lake Union in the city’s original hot tub boat. Hot Tub Boats is the brainchild of Adam Karpenske, who — after moving back to Seattle after working on super yachts in the Caribbean for more…
Grudge Detox: Purging Toxic Thoughts
Refocusing on the future rather than holding onto the past
I spent 20 years waiting for some sort of an apology from my stepfather. I was not entirely patient about this. For most of that time I was pretty furious, actually. And while I certainly wouldn’t characterize this as good or healthy, I don’t think it was entirely unjustified, either. My mom discovered he had…
Avoid These Common Conversation Crimes
When to talk, when to not, and what not to say to your partner
Because of my work with couples and relationships both as a researcher and an on-air relationship expert, I have observed many intimate conversations ranging from sweet and loving to harsh, nasty, and even vindictive. I have noticed when the best course would be just to listen, and when it’s time to respond. I am also…
Prismatic Palace
Renovated home adds splashes of color to Wedgwood
Their new home, built in the 1990s, stood meekly before them, hat in hand. “There wasn’t anything special, wasn’t anything appealing,” she notes. Remnants of a bygone era included pillars, carpeted bathrooms, a sunken living room and a Jacuzzi in the master suite. The home’s disagreeable floor plan backed the family of five into the…
Most Influential: Jen Barnes
Owner, Rough & Tumble
Lots of people tried to dissuade Jen Barnes from opening Rough & Tumble, among the first women-themed sports bars in the United States. She didn’t listen. “Quite a few tried to talk me out of this because at the time it was crazy,” says Barnes, a fourth-generation Seattleite and a huge sports fan who spent…
Most Influential: Rico Quirindongo
Director at Office of Planning and Community Development, City of Seattle
Rico Quirindongo received an email from then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan in August of 2020 in the throes of the pandemic with the subject line, “I want to talk to you about the future of the city.” “I thought it was spam,” Quirindongo recalls with a chuckle. “Then I realized this is actually her email and…
Most Influential: Amy Tipton
Gallery owner, advocate
Amy Tipton is nothing if not resourceful. In 2013, shortly after opening her now-shuttered Belltown boutique Sassafras, she decided to resurrect the neighborhood’s monthly art walk, which had fizzled after Roq La Rue Gallery moved south to Pioneer Square. “I found an old map of the locations that used to participate, then reached out to…
Most Influential: Bob Davidson
CEO, Seattle Aquarium
When Bob Davidson visited the Seattle Aquarium 22 years ago as newly appointed CEO, he brought his three college and high school-age sons along to tour the facility. Little had changed or been invested in the city-run Aquarium over the past decades, and it showed. Aging exhibits and informational signs did little to inspire or…
Serving Prize
Vancouver-area ninth grader wins national cookoff
Nadia has bigger plans for her college meals than just ramen and cheap takeout. Nadia — a 13-year-old from the Vancouver, Wash., area who asked that her last name not be used — whisked her way to the top of the 2024 K-12 National Cook-Off competition, besting more than 300 students from across the United…
Most Influential: Amy King
Pallet CEO
Five men are responsible for changing Amy King’s perspective permanently. These men, the first five employees of her husband’s construction company, all had a “pretty significant criminal history” and had spent time in prison. King admits she had been sheltered her entire life, but learning the backgrounds and journeys of these men opened her eyes….