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After announcing in February that it would be closing up shop on June 2nd, Ballard’s beloved bastion of fine French-Northwest dining is going to be with us a short while longer. According to an anonymous-yet-reliable source I met in a dark underground garage (ok, that last part isn’t true), the restaurant has been so flooded…

With a half-dozen stylish boîtes under their belts—Po Dog, serving luxe hot dogs in the $7 range; Grim’s, a bar; and The Social, a nightclub; along with a Ballard project in the works—it’s clear that Laura Olson and Chris Pardo’s collection of edgy hot spots attract the young and hip like bees to a hive….

In the tidy, snug dining room where Madison Park Café lived for 30 years, Café Parco now thrives (all those displaced Sostanza fans needed somewhere to go for the saucy Italian food they love). Parco’s chef and owner, Celinda Norton, is a pro; she’s owned eight restaurants, so she knows well the flavors—garlic, butter, meats…

At chef Tak Kurachi’s bright U:Don noodle shop in the University District, you’ll wind your way through the clean, spare restaurant, grab a tray and order one of the eight udon (Japanese rice noodle) dishes. On a warm day, try the zaru udon, the thick noodles with soy dipping sauce, ginger and scallions. (There’s also…

Wilridge Winery and Vineyard’s 80-acre estate on Naches Heights near Yakima is most likely the only vineyard site in the state—maybe even the world—that shares a border with a popular rock-climbing cliff. “We usually suggest people get their rock climbing in before they visit our tasting room,” jokes Wilridge’s Paul Beveridge, who bought the former…

Sotol, Tequila and MezcalLittle Water Cantina’s big wooden bar is hefty and backed by an impressive array of bottles, an instant hint that cocktails take center stage here. The menu proves it, with libations that feature a trinity of Mexican spirits: tequila, mezcal and sotol. A spirit made in Mexico from the desert spoon plant,…

Before opening contemporary art space M.I.A Gallery in Seattle last January, Mariane Lenhardt was working with a much older group of artists—ancient artists, in fact: the anonymous creators of Neolithic rock paintings in Somaliland. Lenhardt (who is of Somali descent) was struck by both the beauty of these 5,000-year-old paintings (cows, giraffes, dogs, many wearing…

Action figures seem to be everywhere. On a shelf at home, Sigmund Freud, cigar in hand, is often in a death struggle with his counterpart, C.G. Jung. (My wife is a psychotherapist.) I’m amused at how these playthings get incorporated into my granddaughters’ games when they visit—there’s an absence of Barbies at our place. The…

Long the Monday night special, Spring Hill’s fried chicken has generated a feverish following—and spurred a concept rejigging and a name change: Spring Hill became Ma‘ono in February. Now you’ll reserve a table and your fried chicken dinner (just 30 orders nightly!) at the same time, or opt for the ever-famous burger. On the new…

Few foods look more fetching on the plate than fiddleheads, those vibrant green coils that emerge in moist forests each spring. Aptly named, a fiddlehead is the new growth of a fern, with a curled spiral that resembles the scroll on a violin’s neck. Fiddleheads begin to emerge in March or April in the Seattle…

Fuji SushiFuji Sushi has an array of vegetable dishes to pack into its bento lunch special; the perfectly seasoned veggie udon and a new rich ginger tofu beckon. The bento box comes with two entrées accompanied by sides (salad, rice, decadent miso and a California roll), so you don’t have to choose. $8.95. International District,…

If invention is born the minute an idea pops into an unsuspecting brain, Mike Fitzgerald’s Halfpops snack was born when an idea popped, well, half-popped, into someone’s bowl. Halfpops started with a California man’s craving for those partially popped kernels often found at the bottom of the bowl. He then tried to make a business…

Remember how creepy it was when those disembodied feet kept washing up on the shores of BC? Some posited that it was the result of a serial killer, or a plane crash, or a human trafficking ring. But it turns out the explanation is much simpler (though no less creepy): The feet—almost always found in…

Even in the harsh, unforgiving light of the iPad era, the longstanding tradition of print literary magazines hasn’t lost its luster. Recently, three independent journals showcasing writing and art (mostly by locals) have begun to establish themselves in the Seattle literary scene. Follow them the old-fashioned way: by picking up copies at local newsstands and…

MUST SEEKyle Abraham: Live! The Realest MCOpens Thursday (4/19-4/22) – Puppet fever is in the air. As Spectrum Dance Theater concludes its final weekend of the stunning adult puppet drama Petruchska, emerging contemporary NYC dance star Kyle Abraham presents a new piece co-commissioned by Seattle’s On the Boards—in which he explores gender roles, hip hop…

In the April issue of Seattle magazine, I shake up five new (to me) local spirits. But they aren’t the only new local liquors or liqueurs in town. One of the offshoots of our local distillery explosion (which I detailed in another article) is the growing number of fresh offerings from our expanding crop of…

Stop by Sole Repair in Capitol Hill (1001 East Pike St., solerepairshop.com) for the Off Hours reading series, featuring among others, former Rocket editor Charles Cross and Open Books co-owner Christine Deavel. Doors open at 7:30pm, which gives you plenty of time to order a specialty cocktail (always named after one of the readers) before…