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Under the Big Top With ECHO
Cirque du Soleil’s latest show brings live music, astonishing feats of the human body, and circus magic to Marymoor Park.
The moment the lights dropped inside the Big Top, I squeezed my 11-year-old daughter’s arm. The collective thrill of being packed into the circus tent felt palpable, and you could tell everyone was thinking the same thing. Center stage sat a massive cube. What was it going to do? Crack open? Spit people out? We…
The System Smashers: Seth and Zach Pacleb
The brothers taking risks to disrupt capitalist restaurant models.
For brothers Seth and Zach Pacleb, all you need to know about their new eatery is in the name: Pidgin Cooperative. The employee-owned, pan-Asian restaurant and bottle shop that opened last fall in Fishermen’s Terminal represents a level playing field where people come together to fulfill a collective culinary vision. Fittingly, it’s inspired by the…
Restaurant Roundup: Celebrating Seaweed and a Humble Cuts Steakhouse
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
How are we feeling, Seattle? Fresh off of winning the Super Bowl right into… checks notes… Friday the 13th? Nay, we refuse to let a day that’s notorious for bad luck ruin the mood, although you certainly will need some good fortune if you’re still looking for Valentine’s Day reservations. Perhaps we can help. Can…
Seattle Center Festál at 30
How community backlash to a Disney plan helped shape one of Seattle’s most expansive cultural traditions.
In the late 1980s, Seattle Center was staring down an identity crisis. The city had hired the Disney Corporation to produce a redevelopment plan for the 74-acre campus—the most significant reimagining since the 1962 World’s Fair. When the final proposal was released, the reaction was immediate. Community groups pushed back, arguing the vision felt imported…
The Councilmember: Alexis Mercedes Rinck
Seattle’s youngest councilmember leads with a boots-on-the-ground approach.
Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Standing on Medgar Evers’ driveway. Looking over the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. At 16, Alexis Mercedes Rinck had heard stories of these Civil Rights Movement landmarks from her politically engaged grandmother, who was raising her, but in 2012, Rinck was there. And she was meeting the people—sung and unsung—of…
The Literary Leader: Christopher Frizzelle
The former Stranger editor launching a community-funded publishing company that puts its authors first.
The path to FrizzLit Editions began in the fraught days of March 2020. Christopher Frizzelle, then an editor at the Stranger, was searching for new ways to reach readers in a city that had all but shut down. “My brilliant idea is, we’ll do a book club,” he remembers. That first book club—a quarantine edition…
Built Into the Trees
A new design-forward alpine retreat near Mount Rainier blends craft, comfort, and slow-living rituals into a year-round stay that’s hard to leave.
It was dark when we arrived. Our family of four—my husband and our tween and teen daughters—left Seattle for a weekend getaway later than planned, the kind of Friday departure that feels optimistic when you pack the car and less so once you hit the slow crawl of traffic out of the city. We cruised…
Settling In, Not Just Moving In: How Seattle Newcomers Find Their Footing
Photos courtesy of Royalty Moving & Storage Seattle. Explore: Seattle Relocation Resources Moving to Seattle is rarely just about transporting belongings from one address to another. For many newcomers, it marks the beginning of learning a city that operates on its own terms, shaped by distinct neighborhoods, changing weather, and an unspoken culture that locals…
The Big Giver: Shari D. Behnke
The philanthropist pouring resources into the arts, hoping to inspire others to do the same.
Like almost everyone who has spent time at On the Boards, Shari D. Behnke has memories of shows that have deeply moved her. And then there are the performances she found so jarring that she walked out part-way through—few and far between, but still a hazard of frequenting contemporary performing arts. “That’s one of the…
From the Emergency Room to ‘The Pitt’
Bellevue-raised nurse Ned Brower brings real-life experience to one of TV’s most medically accurate dramas.
HBO’s The Pitt, now in its second season, has distinguished itself as one of television’s most realistic medical dramas, earning awards like an Emmy and Golden Globe for Best Drama Series. The show has received widespread praise for its clinical accuracy and emotional intensity. Created by ER alums Noah Wyle, John Wells, and R. Scott…
Fave Five: Little Winter Escapes
Places to go when the weather turns cold.
Winter is a time to reset. The holidays vanish overnight, leaving frigid mornings and fewer lights in the windows. And it’s almost as if the sun has a lampshade over it—which I don’t mind. We all need a break from the bright overheads. Still, we are fighting the urge to hibernate. Maybe that means tea…
Nord-West Connection
Food for thought.
There has always been a strong connection between Seattle and the Nordic countries, and the National Nordic Museum’s current exhibition, New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place, is a visual reinforcement straight from Norway. A cross-disciplinary show exploring how New Nordic Cuisine—a culinary movement that developed in Scandinavia in the early 2000s that focuses on using…
Restaurant Roundup: Cookbook Central and Date Night Walk-Ins
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
There’s plenty of bad news to go ‘round lately, but no matter how you slice it, what Will Grant has planned for National Pizza Day is good. On Monday, Feb. 9, the recently crowned master pizzaiolo—who owns Sourdough Willy’s Pizzeria in Kingston and That’s A Some Pizza on Bainbridge Island—will be cooking up 60 pizzas…
Getaways & Gifts: Valentine’s Day & Lunar New Year
Seattle staycation ideas for gals, pals, and romance.
Valentine’s Day 2026 promises to be a long, merry weekend. Celebrate with loved ones, then tack on Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, and President’s Day as well. Sounds like a staycation to us—one that accommodates gals, pals, couples, and anyone motivated by indulgent dining and late checkout. Here’s the roundup, with site-specific gift ideas. Alexis…
The Explorer: Tessa Hulls
Her graphic novel won a prestigious Pulitzer Prize.
People who know Tessa Hulls won’t be surprised by her initial reaction to learning she’d won a Pulitzer Prize for her first book, the graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts (Macmillan, 2024). “I think I was in shock for a couple of months,” Hulls says. “I went into the backcountry for as long as I needed until…
5 Dishes to Try in February
Community fundraisers and the food Seattle is showing up for right now.
With the National Shutdown strike that took place on January 30 to protest ICE, many small restaurant owners found themselves debating whether it was possible to close on a Friday, typically one of the busiest days of the week. Restaurants across the country, already struggling with tight margins and rising costs, have been further rocked…
Black History Month in Seattle
Events, landmarks, and businesses to support year-round.
Black pioneers first arrived in Seattle in the mid-19th century. The city’s earliest known African American resident was Manuel Lopes, who arrived in 1852 from Cabo Verde. A couple of decades later, African Americans began migrating to the Pacific Northwest from Southern states to work in coal mines. During this period, two Black enclaves began…
I Experienced a Skincare Treatment on the World’s Most Expensive Bed
A Hästens pop-up is currently running at Penelope and the Beauty Bar.
Last week as I was heading out the door for an appointment at Penelope and the Beauty Bar—the spa inside the Fairmont Olympic Hotel—my fiancé yelled up the stairs, “You better not fall in love with that mattress!” I was on my way to experience the spa’s Oxygen Dome Facial as part of a pop-up…
Please Stop Talking About Malcolm Butler
This Seahawks run deserves to be enjoyed on its own terms, not filtered through old Super Bowl trauma.
I refuse to learn what Malcolm Butler has been up to. This has taken a conscious effort on my part. Within 12 hours of the Seahawks winning their way to the Super Bowl this past Sunday, I saw the first story on the Patriots player who broke Seattle’s heart 11 years ago. I did not…
The Jazz Man: Thomas Marriott
The musician inspiring the next generation of jazz aficionados.
When Thomas Marriott was 15 years old and a student at Garfield High School, he would sneak into the now-defunct New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square to catch a glimpse of some of the local jazz legends. Over 40 years later, Marriott, a longtime trumpeter and composer, is reinvigorating the scene with Seattle Jazz…
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