DEATH (FINALLY) COMES TO SEATTLE

After a few shifts in timing, Death & Co, the influential cocktail bar that opened in New York City’s East Village in 2006, is ready to welcome Seattle. Known for meticulous cocktails and a moody atmosphere, the company’s first Pacific Northwest bar will open inside Pioneer Square’s RailSpur development, joining a growing cluster of swanky new restaurants and bars around Occidental Avenue. Death & Co helped shape the modern cocktail revival, earning honors over the years including Best American Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Cocktail Menu. Seattle will be its fifth location.

“Our relationship with Seattle goes back a long way,” says Death & Co founder David Kaplan. “I first fell in love with the city while we were on tour for our first Death & Co book, and over the past five years my family and I have been fortunate to call it home. Opening here is especially meaningful.”

Photo of new Seattle location by Felicity Zhang

I went to a media preview last night, and after three years of waiting, this one lives up to the hype. It’s pretty much everything I want in a bar—dark and handsome, but not stuffy or cliché. The space is open and airy despite its darker palette, with high ceilings, a horseshoe bar, deep reddish-brown tile, gorgeous glassware, and funky soul on the speakers. The smoky, wonderfully complex Oaxaca old fashioned was a dream, as was the bright Uwajima gimlet, and we snacked on sweet pickles, buttery oyster crackers, steak tartare, and Dungeness crab salad. The night ended with warm-from-the-oven salty chocolate cookies with banana liqueur, followed by an espresso martini riff topped with thick jasmine cream.

Death & Co Seattle opens Sept. 3, so be sure to save room for a nightcap after the First Thursday Art Walk.

Photo by Leslie Cross / Unsplash

PADDLE TALES

On one of those hot, bright Seattle days that makes you forget about the other nine months of the year, my 11-year-old daughter and I went kayaking with local environmental journalist, photographer, and Wild Seattle author Roddy Scheer. We launched from Agua Verde Paddle Club, near the University of Washington, for an afternoon on some of the city’s inland waterways.

I am new to kayaking but quickly fell in love with it. We paddled around Portage Bay and through the Montlake Cut—where passing boats rocked us around in the most fun way—then continued into Union Bay and the Washington Park Arboretum. Along the way, we saw five herons, two turtles, and an incredible beaver lodge. Roddy explained that beavers are generally appreciated because their dams create wetlands and valuable habitat for other wildlife.

We cruised past some of Seattle’s famous floating homes. These coveted houses began far from the glamorous life they represent today. The earliest versions were inexpensive and connected to the city’s logging and maritime economy. Roddy pointed out that some older houses still float on enormous cedar logs that have been in the water for generations. He said the old wood is intentionally left in place because salmon can smell it when they return each year, signaling that they are getting closer to home. How incredible is that?

I’ve seen these natural parts of the city countless times, but from a kayak, they felt completely new. September and October can bring some of our loveliest weather, so I’d encourage everyone to take advantage of the season and get out on the water.
Agua Verde rents single and double kayaks and paddleboards by the hour, with lockers for your belongings and small dry bags to bring on the water. You can head out on your own or book a guided tour. Hours change with the weather, so check before heading down.

Photo by Lindell Serrin / MiiR

TRAVELING COMPANIONS

Seattle drinkware company MiiR recently teamed up with local artist Shogo Ota, and it may be the brand’s prettiest collaboration yet. Ota grew up in Japan and now lives on Camano Island, two places that inform the way he sees and the art he makes. You likely already know his work—he has created designs for Starbucks, the Seattle Kraken, Sounders FC, and Fjällräven, along with murals seen all around the region. (We named him one of Seattle magazine’s Most Influential last year, and his official Seattle FIFA World Cup poster was ranked the best of the host-city designs by Sports Illustrated.) “I’m inspired by where I live and where I come from,” he told MiiR.

For the collection, Ota’s colorful designs feature some of the region’s great travelers—orcas, salmon, and butterflies. The artwork appears on MiiR’s bottles, camp cups, mugs, and apparel. I’ve been carrying my pretty new water bottle everywhere, and I love that this useful everyday object can also feel like a tiny celebration of where we live.

See the full limited collection here.

Courtesy of Chalo & Co.

BACK TO SCHOOL, LOCALLY

One of my favorite end-of-summer traditions is taking my kids to pick out their new school supplies. There’s something so hopeful about fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, and a brand-new pouch to hold everything. Danialle An founded Chalo & Co. in 2010, creating bags and accessories inspired by cities like New York and Singapore. Her Seattle designs feature the familiar things my kids see around town—ferries, seagulls, and Pike Place Market fishermen. Chalo & Co. has colorful pouches for pens and markers, plus stickers and other little things that make heading back to school more fun. You can shop online or visit the shop inside Pacific Place downtown.