BIZNOTE: West Seattle Junction wine shop Bin 41 closing at month’s end

Tonight, you might want to visit Bin 41 at 4707 California SW during this month’s West Seattle Art Walk. Not only is proprietor T. Frick the featured artist, she’s just made a big announcement: After 12 years, she’s closing her wine shop. Sunday, August 28th, will be the last day. In the meantime, she’s having a sale, and also mentioned to us in a brief phone conversation that if you have a gift certificate for Bin 41, now’s the time to use it. Store fixtures will be available too. For now, the shop remains open its regular hours, 1-6 pm Thursdays (open until 8 tonight for Art Walk) and Fridays, noon-5 pm Saturdays and Sundays. Providing inventory isn’t sold out sooner, the shop will be open daily its last week (starting August 22nd), 1 pm-6 pm Monday-Friday, noon-5 pm Saturday and Sunday. Any late-breaking changes, Frick says, will be announced via social media.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE SPACE: Before Bin 41, the space held children’s-clothing store Georgia Blu for 2 1/2 years. We noted here last year that the building was purchased last August by owners associated with the Maharaja restaurant/bar, who also had purchased the building a few doors south that formerly held Taqueria Guaymas. We spoke briefly today with Sam Virk from the ownership group; he said he hasn’t started seeking a new tenant yet, but said there are no plans to redevelop the building. (We also asked Virk about the status of the ex-Guaymas space, where a new restaurant, Indochin Wok, is planned. He told us they had more work to do inside the space than expected, but it’s still on the way.)

7 Replies to "BIZNOTE: West Seattle Junction wine shop Bin 41 closing at month's end"

  • newnative August 11, 2022 (2:11 pm)

    oh no! 

  • A Concerned Local August 11, 2022 (4:22 pm)

    I bet Sam Virk neglected to mention that the main reason that building in particular has vacating tenants is because he’s let the building fall into a state of massive and hazardous disrepair, despite repeated attempts from tenants to communicate problems, with little to no response and next to no action in regards to repairs or renovations. This has been going on the entire year they’ve owned that building. This guy is making the lives of his tenants miserable and costing people their livelihoods when they are forced out or have no other option but to leave. WSB needs to keep an eye on this guy.

  • Elton August 11, 2022 (11:04 pm)

    Can’t speak to the landlord issues mentioned above, which are concerning, but I am excited for Indochinese food. I’m not aware of any other Indochinese spots within Seattle city limits.

    • moo August 12, 2022 (6:55 am)

      I’ll second that motion!  We were sad to see Lee’s Asian leave the junction and welcome a new cuisine to the neighborhood.

  • WSCurmudgeon August 12, 2022 (6:31 am)

    Indochina is Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. There are dozens of Vietnamese restaurants in the city. The Phnom Penh Noodle House in the ID has served Cambodian cuisine for 35 years. Taurus Ox on Capitol Hill features Lao specialties.  Many of the Asian fusion restaurants in town serve dishes from all 3 countries.   There is no “Indochinese cuisine” apart from the cuisines of the three nations, and those of the ethnic minorities who live within their borders. 

  • WSCurmudgeon August 12, 2022 (8:07 am)

    After fully waking up, I realize I was referring to French Indochina in my earlier comments. The original term “Indochina” also included Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Malaysia.  Again,  their cuisines are national, and within each are cuisines of many ethnic minorities. 

    • AMC August 12, 2022 (3:27 pm)

      Actually that’s not accurate. Indochinese is a distinct cuisine from a part of India and there are several existing restaurants serving this type of cuisine:  “[Indochinese] originated from the northeastern city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Mendonca says the cuisine was developed after Chinese people of Hakka descent started migrating to the area over 100 years ago and began adapting their traditional Chinese recipes to Indian ingredients.“The Indian version added a lot of vegetables to Chinese food, and a lot of ginger, garlic, green chili, bell peppers and onions,” he says.There are rice-based and noodle-based Indochinese dishes. Almost all use a combination of hot chilies, soy, garlic and ginger to produce spicy-sour sauces bursting with the kind of flavor that keeps your fork returning for another bite.“https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/indochinese-food-isnt-common-in-seattle-but-these-two-spots-in-rainier-valley-and-kirkland-do-it-well/?amp=1

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