Preview night at West Seattle’s newest restaurant, Avalon
If you’ve driven along Avalon tonight, you might have noticed people inside the street’s new namesake restaurant. No, Avalon is not open to the public yet – as reported two days ago, next Monday (January 3) is the big night – but tonight, it’s having what’s known as a “friends and family” night to work the bugs out. Stopping by for a few photos, we got co-owner Mary Palmer to pause for a photo, by the espresso machine:
Caffe Umbria is the coffee chosen by Avalon. Meantime, among the “friends and family” we found giving Avalon’s cuisine a try were two people already well-known in the local food world:
Justin Cline and Ann Magyar, who own White Center-headquartered Full Tilt Ice Cream, pronounced Avalon’s food “good.” Both of the desserts on tonight’s preview menu, by the way, included Full Tilt ice cream – salted caramel in the Chocolate Profiteroles, cinnamon with the Apple Pie Tartlet. (What else was on the menu, you ask? The appetizers offered were Duck Flat Bread with persimmons and fontina cream sauce, Mixed Green Salad with sherry vinaigrette, marinated cheese curds, pears and candied hazelnuts; Salad Trio of marinated winter vegetables; Crab and Cod Cakes. Entrees: Syrah Braised Short Ribs with root-vegetable gratin; Grilled Sturgeon with dandelion pesto, anchovy butter, caramelized cauliflower, fennel bulb and cavalo nero; Marinated Carleton Port Tenderloin with butternut squash, brussel leaves and pancetta; Braised Chicken Gremolata with mashed potatoes, sunchokes and lemon. Other potential menu items are on their website.)
Another semi-random act of West Seattle holiday kindness
A source close to West Seattle Nursery wanted to share this story because, they explained, WSN owner Mark Smith is not one for horn-blowing: Mark went to the Holy Rosary Christmas Tree Lot the Monday before Christmas, two days before the lot planned to close, and found out they still had 200 trees left – perhaps because of their new, off-the-beaten-path location. He offered to take some of the trees and sell them for the school; the source says WSN sold 26 trees and wrote HR a check for $607 – full proceeds from the sale, with WSN donating the labor not only to complete the sale but to give the trees a fresh cut and tie them onto buyers’ cars. HR donates 15 percent of its tree sales to charity, so that meant about $91 for charity, too. Concluded the source: “I just wanted to let you know this because it’s another story about why West Seattle is such a great place to live … the people.”
Another new business in the new year: Ex-pharmacy space
Two months after the would-be owner of West Seattle Pharmacy in the former Westside Pharmacy space at California/Brandon gave up his hopes of opening, the For Lease sign has gone away (thanks to Kathleen for that tip). WSB contributor Keri DeTore tracked down the new tenants who are taking over the space. While they don’t want to go fully public yet, they told Keri they are in the very preliminary stages of creating a “small, neighborhood restaurant and bar.” Though they haven’t even started seeking permits yet, they are hoping to open “a friendly place where people feel welcome,” sometime in the first half of next year. (P.S. Keri’s also writing today about the new tenant of the former Jade West Café – her story’s coming up.)
West Seattle Weather Watch: Snow/hail/sleet – again, briefly!
12:36 PM: Almost 12 hours after the only noteworthy snow shower – and it was a brief one, as we noted – there’s more falling right now, loud and sleety. (Five minutes later, the cars are covered in white – fleetingly.)
12:47 PM UPDATE: After about 10 minutes, down to flurry status. Added a video clip from the height of the shower. Newest forecast says we might see this off and on till midnight or so.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, before the icy bits all melted from atop cars)
1:06 PM UPDATE: The latest from SDOT, which notes we might have to worry about ice tonight (lows are projected in the 20s):
SDOT crews will continue patrolling and treating streets in the north end of Seattle today as needed although streets for the most part remain bare and wet.
Temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing early this evening with the possibility of up to one inch of snow or freezing rain. Crews will be out throughout the city to treat major arterial streets as needed and in preparation for the evening commute. Night crews will continue this work depending on conditions.
SDOT managers will closely monitor the weather throughout the evening and make changes if needed.
Drivers are advised to slow down this evening and tomorrow morning, and be prepared for ice, especially on bridges and other elevated structures.
2:09 PM UPDATE: And now it’s sunny! If we get any more showery weather, we’ll update this story rather than launching a new one. It’s clearly one of those days where the weather changes every five minutes and every five miles (if not less!).
Third state liquor store proposed for West Seattle
The state Liquor Control Board is hoping to open a third liquor store in West Seattle. We have Andy to thank for the tip on this one – he discovered the “business opportunity” listing on the LCB site, seeking three new contract liquor stores in King County, including these criteria:
Successful applicants will be responsible for providing a suitable store location:
* At least 1.5 miles from other liquor stores
* 1,000 feet or more from schools and churches (RCW 66.24.010 – 9A)
* Located within a retail shopping hub
With preference given to:
* Stores at least 2,100 square feet
* West Seattle/Admiral area of King County
We followed up with the LCB media team. Spokesperson Anne Radford confirmed, “We hope to open one of the three new contract liquor stores in the Admiral area. This store would be in addition to the West Seattle Junction/Westwood Village stores.” The deadline for applications was December 23rd, so there’s no word yet about a possible location/operator. Meantime, we also asked about the search for a new location for the Junction store, and Radford had this update: “We’ve extended the lease at the current West Seattle Junction store until the end of June. We’re still working on a new location in the area. We may have additional details by the end of January.” The lease originally was set to expire in February, as we reported last May; a “for lease” sign’s been up at the location for two months.
Another way to help Family Promise: Donate at ‘Amahl’
(Photo courtesy Twelfth Night Productions)
On Christmas Day, we published an update on Family Promise of Seattle, the West Seattle-based nonprofit that still needs to raise about $40,000 before it can start housing homeless families again – a service no one else in this area provides. Today, Family Promise board member Laura Bermes sends word they’re partnering with Twelfth Night Productions (WSB sponsor) during the upcoming “Amahl and the Night Visitors“:
Twelfth Night Productions, West Seattle’s own community theater, is partnering up with Family Promise of Seattle this holiday season to change the lives of homeless children and their families. West Seattleites are familiar with Twelfth Night’s productions and reputation of putting on quality theatrical productions, giving opportunity for local community members to shine on stage. But, did you know that the production company regularly partners up with local non-profits and community groups to make a difference right here in West Seattle?
This year, Twelfth Night will once again bring the holiday opera, “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” to the stage. Amahl is a touching story about a poor young shepherd and his mother who receive a visit from the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem. This fully scored orchestrated production is a perfect way to cap off your holiday celebrations, and is appropriate for patrons of all ages! And while you attend the show, volunteers from Family Promise of Seattle will be in attendance talking about the shelter, selling baked goods, and taking donations.
Amahl and the Night Visitors will be playing at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
(4408 Delridge Way SW) Jan 7th and 8th at 7:30 pm and Jan 8th & 9th at 3 pm. Tickets
can be purchased online or by calling 206-937-1394. More information about Family Promise of Seattle can be found at www.familypromiseofseattle.org.
Tis the Season… come and top off your holiday with this beautiful show, and step up to help West Seattle’s only homeless shelter for families open its doors once again!
Highland Park crash: 1 SUV, 6 parked vehicles
(Photo by @king5unit9, used with permission)
SPDBlotter has information this morning about the early-morning pileup in Highland Park (photo above was tweeted by KING 5): Police say a woman driving an SUV rammed a parked car at 9th/Henderson Place (map), with so much force that “a chain reaction occurred” and left a total of 6 parked cars damaged. The SUV’s driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center. According to KING photojournalist Jim Scott, the sideways vehicle in the picture was parked, not occupied.
West Seattle scenes: Frosted peaks, high seas
Nice views from Alki this morning, during the first serious sunbreak we’ve seen in a while: The view of the frosted Olympics with low clouds in the foreground, above, is courtesy of David Rosen from SlickPix Photography; we caught the high tide at Alki, two perspectives below:
Checking the tide table, seems this isn’t even as high as it’s been – it peaks today at 12.4 feet in a few minutes, but the highest tide of the month was 13.2 feet on Christmas Day. P.S. Note the 8 pm -1.2 tide this Friday – if the weather holds, might be a nice low-tide walk for New Year’s Eve.
West Seattle Weather Watch: The snow’s mostly elsewhere
12:59 AM: Thanks to WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz for the first heads-up – a sort of snow/sleet mix has begun to fall. Meantime, Stephanie saw an SDOT de-icer truck on the West Seattle Bridge right before midnight, as the city had promised. Official Sea-Tac 1 am temperature is 38 degrees, so it’s a little too warm to stick, so far.
1:13 AM NOTE: First shower over already – radar a couple over ago had suggested whatever comes, will be in showery installments, like this.
5:29 AM UPDATE: Nothing much through the night here in West Seattle. Checking out TV traffic reports, looks like South Everett has snow right now. (See this WSDOT camera.) So if you commute in that direction, be ready! Tacoma had a shower, too, but it’s stopped there.
8:15 AM UPDATE: Uneventful in-city commute. New forecast (from National Weather Service at 7 am) says showers are still a possibility.
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