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Helsinki is Like Seattle—Only More Hockey-Obsessed
As the Kraken head to Finland in November for their first regular-season games outside North America, Seattle fans will find ferries, coffee, craft beer and a familiar devotion to life by the water.
We were maybe 15 minutes into our inaugural Helsinki stroll when my kid asked the question my jet-lagged brain had mulled over but filed under “later”: “Where are all the cars?” We were walking down Esplanadi on a bright June evening near the summer solstice, and the street noise was mostly gulls and the whine…
Onigiri on the Rise
Japan’s iconic snack is all the rage from baseball games to Seattle boardrooms, thanks to Onigiri Sen.
Anyone who’s been lucky enough to visit Japan has almost certainly made a pit stop at a 7-Eleven—and left with enough onigiri to feed a bus full of tourists. For the uninitiated, onigiri are rice balls stuffed with seafood or veggies and often wrapped in seaweed. It’s a culinary tradition that’s endured for centuries. Samurai…
Rearview Mirror: A Legendary Cocktail Bar, Kayaking With Herons, and the Prettiest Water Bottle
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
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…
Restaurant Roundup: Thick Burgers and Local Island Eats
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
Have you heard? Wallingford is home to one of the best new restaurants in the country, at least according to a recent ranking from Bon Appétit. The Wayland Mill is known for its yoshoku Americana cuisine—foods like biscuits and gravy or Buffalo chicken prepared with a Japanese influence—and continues to enamor Pacific Northwest diners with…
How to talk politics when your body says ‘run’
Researcher Jaime Settle has found that just anticipating a political conversation with someone who disagrees can send your heart rate soaring — sometimes by as much as it rises during a panic attack. Will this damage a relationship? Will I be judged? Is it safer to hide what I believe? Those calculations happen fast, often…
Studio Sessions: Gabi Nirino
Working with textiles to explore ideas connected to nature, community, and womanhood, Buenos Aires-born Gabi Nirino never stops experimenting with her medium.
Gabi Nirino carries bag of materials with her almost everywhere she goes. Cloth, thread, yarn, textile scraps, collected fibers—the pieces inside are a network of inspiration waiting for her hands. “You can work with textiles anywhere—on the floor, on a plane—which is why I always carry a project in my bag,” Nirino says. “It’s like…
Opening Night: Sea’d In Tries Something a Little Different With Seafood
The new Chophouse Row restaurant dry-ages fish and cooks them over an open flame—old-school techniques that feel refreshing.
Seattle is full of seafood restaurants, for good reason—the water’s right there, and the city is home to several marine-focused culinary cultures—but sometimes eating yet another piece of salmon or black cod can feel stale, no matter how fresh the fish is. So why have I been seeing Sea’d In, a new seafood restaurant inside…
The 2026 Washington State Book Award Finalists Are Here
Your fall reading list just got 41 books longer.
The 2026 Washington State Book Award finalists are in, and readers may want to clear some space on the nightstand. Judges selected 41 titles from 308 books written by Washington authors and published in 2025. The finalists span fiction, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, picture books, books for young readers, and young adult literature. Seattle is well…
Giving Black Artists Their Flowers
Now in its fifth year, Black & Loud Fest is building community, expanding the region’s sound, and making sure recognition doesn’t come too late.
Categorically, throughout the entire history of music and American culture, Black artists have not received the love and credit they deserve. When recognition does come, it is not until decades after their passing. From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Seattle’s Tina Bell to contemporary pioneers like Fishbone, Black-fronted bands in the Pacific Northwest and beyond have…
Meet West Seattle’s “Freelance Beaver Detective”
A group of urban beavers helped Pamela Adams through a tough time. Now she’s returning the favor.
Pamela Adams was living in Port Townsend when her marriage fell apart. Little did she know at the time that she would soon find love again while doggedly pursuing the Five Families—not the ones of Mafia lore, but a four-legged sort living along the Longfellow Creek Watershed. Prior to moving to Washington, Adams resided in…
Rearview Mirror: A Buzz at Salish Lodge, Gourmondo’s Next Steps, and a Spooky Casino
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
NEXT STEPS, UNBOXED If you’ve lived in Seattle for any amount of time—especially if you work in a corporate setting—it’s likely that you’ve eaten something from Gourmondo, the longstanding Seattle catering and boxed-lunch company. Founded in Pike Place Market by Alissa Leinonen, Gourmondo recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with the announcement of Leinonen’s newest culinary…
Restaurant Roundup: Pizza Pals and Paella on the Patio
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
Tackling a large pepperoni and cheese is always better with a friend. Now imagine that experience, but elevated to a Michelin-star level. That’s what you get from Pizza Pals, a one-night pop-up from Isaiah Ruffin of Pizza by Ruffin and Forrest Brunton of Roma Roma at the latter’s restaurant on Monday, Sept. 21 at 6:30…
Studio Sessions: Periko The Artist
The Mexican-born, Seattle-based artist paints vibrant figures that refuse to settle into fixed identities.
Can a painting ever contain an entire person? The works of Gerardo Peña, also known as Periko The Artist, leave room for their subjects to move and change, resisting the idea that any of us can be reduced to a single image or expression. Peña’s colorful, surreal figures capture something less fixed than a likeness,…
House Special: Adana Kebap at Hamdi
The restaurant’s signature kebap demands lamb minced by hand.
At Hamdi—the Ballard restaurant from Istanbul-born chef Berk Guldal and his partner and co-owner Katrina Guldal—you cannot miss the distinctive tool standing upright on the pass, where finished dishes leave the kitchen: a Turkish zirh, the wide, curved blade used specifically for Hamdi’s signature dish, the Adana kebap. Named after a city in southern Turkey,…
Opening Night: Stevie’s Famous Comes to North Seattle
The pizzeria’s first full-size location brings sourdough slices, a sprawling patio, and Street Fighter II to Phinney Ridge.
Welcome back to Opening Night, our column about hot new restaurants around Seattle. This time, we went to the soft opening of the new Stevie’s Famous location on Phinney Ridge. If you’re going down Phinney Avenue on a summer evening, there’s a new red neon sign above a bright blue-and-red building serving as a beacon…
Outdoor Store: Snow Peak Brings Japanese Design to Fremont
The outdoor lifestyle brand’s Seattle shop pairs beautifully made camping gear and apparel with a calm, minimalist space.
Pacific Northwesterners know that summer is all about spending time in nature, so Snow Peak’s first Seattle store, which opened this spring, couldn’t have landed at a better moment. Known for its camping equipment and outerwear, the Japanese outdoor lifestyle brand features pieces with simple silhouettes and superior craftsmanship. The retailer has settled into its…
Do These 10 Popular Health and Wellness Trends Actually Work?
Local experts break down the results, risks, time, and cost behind everything from contrast therapy and red light masks to protein, Pilates, and rucking.
If you’re online at all, you’ve likely been exposed to any number of must-try workouts, don’t-miss beauty tips, and change-your-life diet suggestions purporting to help you lose weight, look younger, feel more energized, and sleep better. Scrolling social media often feels like a never-ending advertisement for new ways to spend money, presented through the shiny,…
When Art and Tech Align
Xispa brings artists and technologists together in South Lake Union for residencies, experiments, and unexpected collaborations.
Discover xispa, Seattle’s new art and tech innovation lab in South Lake Union blending the PNW arts community with the city’s tech workforce. Step inside.
Inside Horizon House’s Ambitious Next Chapter
As the senior living community embarks on a transformational expansion, CEO Erica Thrash-Sall proves that strong leadership puts human connection first.
“I do drink the kool-aid!” Erica Thrash-Sall laughs as she lists reason after reason she’s fallen in love with Horizon House, the First Hill senior-living nonprofit where she serves as CEO. There are the immediately obvious attributes like the museum-quality art, the library with a section for resident authors, the cozy nooks and ample green…
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