Almost two weeks after West Seattleite Marty Riemer and his broadcasting partner Jodi Brothers got the boot from The Mountain, he is still interacting with fans via his Facebook page – where he’s also announced that they will host a “Marty Riemer Show Severance Blowout” party on the downtown waterfront, 6:30 pm October 22 at Elliott’s (as Marty noted, right next to the Water Taxi dock). Not a fundraiser or donation drive, he elaborated in a FB update – no admission – just be there. The two have not announced another gig yet but did post a goofy little video about “Day 10” of unemployment; see it on FB here. (Photo courtesy Marty Riemer)

It’s been almost two months since the sudden death of Phoenecia at Alki proprietor Hussein Khazaal (here’s our original report; here’s coverage of his Alki memorial). His family said at the time that they would take a while to decide the fate of the restaurant that he had so lovingly operated for so many years. Now, they’ve made the decision. We talked today with Hussein’s son William Khazaal, after many people had e-mailed us to ask if the exterior work at the restaurant (the photo at right was taken yesterday) was an indication a decision had been made. William says yes – they’ve decided to reopen, so that’s why they’re doing some work, inside as well as outside. He says they spent a lot of time considering what might be the right course of action; they talked about selling the restaurant, but came to the conclusion they just didn’t want to see the space turned into something else. William says the staff remains, and a chef who left a few months back is returning to help out. According to William, he and his sisters plan to be there to manage each night. He says they will bring back the same menu, along with several dishes his dad had been experimenting with in the months before his death. They believe they can provide customers with good food and great service, but the atmosphere will be a bit more casual, he said, and a bit more affordable. Most of all, William told us, they want to thank the hundreds of people who sent e-mail and other messages of sympathy and well-wishes after their father’s death. They currently hope to reopen the restaurant in early December.

(Google Street View of Wingdome Greenwood location)
Thanks to Dave for the tip: We’ve just spoken with Consolidated Restaurants president Jim Rowe to confirm that the company is close to signing a lease to open a Wingdome restaurant in the Junction storefront left empty when CAPERS downsized its space. Rowe says they’re confident they’ll finalize the deal within the next few months, at which time they’ll have a better idea of when they’ll open. Right now Wingdome has restaurants in Greenwood, Kirkland and Kent; you can see its menus here. Rowe told us, “We think (West Seattle is) a great market … The demographics are good, and it should fit well there.” Consolidated Restaurants also runs the Metropolitan Grill downtown as well as Elliott’s Oyster House, and took over Wingdome three years ago; Rowe says they’re hoping to add additional locations after West Seattle joins the fold.

Just seven months after Sean Goff and wife Sofia Zadra Goff finally brought their dream of an Italian restaurant to fruition with Café Revò in the Luna Park business district, family and friends are in mourning — Sean has died, at the age of 43. (He is shown at left with Sofia in a photo we took in June 2008 while profiling them for a story about their restaurant plans.) The restaurant, a WSB sponsor, opened this past February – at least a 15-year dream for the couple. But a few months ago he became seriously ill, and early today his illness turned fatal. Here is the obituary just sent out on the Cafe Revo mailing list:

West Seattle Restaurateur Sean Goff fell asleep in the Lord September 17 at age 43. His death followed an illness of several months. While initially there was hope for his recovery, in the end, Sean was stricken with a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. Since February, many West Seattle residents had gotten to know Sean as the tall, genial chef of one of the area’s newest restaurants, Café Revò.

Previously, Sean served as a master chef at such area restaurants as Grazie and Anthony’s on the Waterfront. But Sean always hoped to open a restaurant of his own. The idea began to crystallize on one of his several trips to Northern Italy with his wife, Sofia Zadra Goff. Specifically, they both enjoyed the cuisine of the village of Revò in the Italian alps, home of Sofia’s ancestors.

Fascinated by the local cuisine, Sean found himself cooking alongside the locals, learning their centuries-old methods of producing unique flavors. One day, thinking about his dream restaurant, Sean came up with the “perfect” name, Café Revò.

Sofia and Sean were both long-time residents of West Seattle, so what better place to realize their dream? This past year, with the help of a number of friends in the restaurant business, Sean and Sofia were able to open Café Revò, right near Spokane Street, on Avalon Way SW.

Although very active in developing the restaurant site, Sean began experiencing symptoms of fatigue and other complications in April and May. Through the summer, Sean could only be active part-time with the restaurant. Still he was able to hire and train an outstanding staff of servers and chefs, as the restaurant’s many customers can attest.

During Sean’s illness, the actual running of the restaurant has been handled by his wife Sofia and the general manager, Milo Goodrich. Both feel confident that in spite of suffering the loss of Sean, they can continue Café Revò as a West Seattle landmark, maintaining Sean’s legacy of fine dining and customer service.

Sean is survived by Sofia, his two children Forrest and Maya, his father Michael Goff of Idaho and his brother Dan Goff of Colorado, plus a host of loving family and friends.

Sean’s passing is being mourned not only in the Seattle area but also in Revò, Italy, where the entire town has been proud and somewhat amazed that the ambiance and cuisine of their region was now present in a faraway place called West Seattle

Funeral services for Sean are set for September 21 at 1:00 p.m., at Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, 1804 13th Avenue on Capitol Hill. Viewing will begin at noon. Interment will follow at Evergreen-Washelli.

Since July, Sean’s treatment has involved many days of hospitalization. And even with medical insurance, the family is responsible for covering 20 percent of the costs. Not surprisingly, much of their financial assets are already tied up in opening the restaurant.

In lieu of flowers, contributions are welcome to the Sean Goff Medical Fund at any U.S. Bank branch. Checks should be made out to Sofia Goff and can be mailed to Café Revò, 2940 SW Avalon Way, Seattle, WA 98126 or to U.S. Bank, 4200 SW Edmunds St., Seattle, WA 98116.

And here’s the funeral information we have received from the family.

Funeral Schedule For Sean Chano Goff
Monday, September 21st
Noon – Viewing
1 pm – Funeral Service
Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption – 1804 13th Avenue
Burial at Evergreen Washelli – Procession from church to cemetery
11111 Aurora Ave. North – Seattle, WA 98133

Cafe Revo will be closed that day, for a private party for friends and family, but Sofia stresses that the restaurant will go on. Here are the photos sent out atop the mailing-list obituary tonight:

If you venture into a certain North Admiral neighborhood this afternoon, you’ll find those guys on a street-food test run, according to Sherri Chun, who just sent the photo and this explanation of who and what you’ll find at 2215 47th SW (map):

I thought I’d put a plug in for some young entrepreneurs on our block – Mark and Kyle Howell and their new business, Howie’s Hot Dogs. Mark and Kyle are West Seattle natives, and will soon be taking their business on the road. They’re doing a trial run in their front yard today. We wanted to spread the word – beef, polish, and Italian hot dogs with all the fixins, plus chips, drinks, and Dessert dogs, too! Please spread the word, and come support these guys with their new business venture!

Sherri’s checking on how long they’ll be there today; she says their future location is TBD. (Added 3:06 pm – Answer, as long as they have food and as long as people keep showing up!) Also with eats on the street right now, Marination Mobile, which has been coming to High Point for two months now (after its Fourth of July debut).

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 3:06 pm)
Thanks to JayDee for the reminder that MM is there right now, set up on the northeast corner of 35th/Graham (map) 11 am-2 pm every Saturday TFN – here’s more about what they serve. (They’re on Twitter too, as are all the street-food stars – @curb_cuisine – not to mention fixed-location eateries too, including WSB sponsors Cafe Revo at @caferevo and Endolyne Joe’s at @chowfoods.)

ADDED 3:06 PM: Speaking of Twitter (where we are @westseattleblog for human-powered news, @westseattlenews for automated links to all our stories), one more “street food” (beverage, in this case) note – got a Twitpic from @mjtwit from their ongoing yard sale (till 4) at 5613 44th ave SW (map) – 25-cent lemonade! Here’s the photo.

The exterior sign isn’t up yet, but there are brand-new owners at, and a new name for, what was Pizza Time at 7514 35th SW (map). Shannon Cross tells WSB that while she and her husband are born-and-raised West Seattleites, when they decided to go into the pizza business, they couldn’t find the right place here, so they opened Red Star Pizza in the Pierce County town of Lakewood. Then Pizza Time went on the market – and they realized, “We have to have it.” Right now they’re in a transition time to the full menu they offer as Red Star Pizza (see it here on their website, which Shannon says will have the West Seattle location information soon), including subs, plus more fresh local ingredients, including, she says, produce from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market. And note the video games in the photo atop this story – Shannon explains that they’re into ’80s and ’90s nostalgia, so they’ve got five classic game machines. Like Pizza Time, they have delivery and carry-out — 11 am-11 pm Mondays-Thursdays, 11 am-1 am Fridays-Saturdays, 11 am-8 pm Sundays.

As scheduled (and reported here 2 weeks ago), Angelina’s Trattoria is now closed in Admiral so its new owners can make renovations. We got a note via Facebook from co-owner Allison Rich, regarding the closure and the staff status:

I wanted to let you know that Angelina’s is now closed; the paper will go up on the windows tonight, and the buildout will start when all permits are in order. We are still hoping to open in early October. We are keeping the chef and manager, as well as meeting with all of the current staff tomorrow.

Staffers had posted an open letter to customers in the comment section following our previous report. The new owners are planning to add new restrooms and a bar during the renovation work; they’ve said they’re keeping the name, and while the menu will remain Italian-focused, there’ll be some “not Italian” offerings too.

We have official word that Brickyard BBQ in the Admiral District is indeed now open for business for the first time, 4 months after first word that it was in the works. WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli went to its location – 2310 California SW – for the photos in this report, and an on-the-spot report:

They are absolutely open for business. Already a good crowd of people there enjoying themselves. I spoke with Don Kriley who, along with his brother Dan, owns Brickyard. They told me that their plans are to be open from 11:30am to 1:30am everyday but they may adjust that depending on how things go. In terms of menu, he said Chef Ryan Ackerson is going to have more of a sampler menu through the weekend. They only got their health department approvals this week so there are certain things, like ribs, that they have not had a chance to make yet. They do not have a website up. I saw the menu but it didn’t have any prices listed. Nor did I see any desserts.

Tonight’s menu features a choice of smoked chicken or pulled pork with a choice of sauces: sweet & smokey or spicy New Mexican chile.

Dinner comes with one choice of a side: slow smoked baked beans w/bacon, brickyard coleslaw w/buttermilk vinaigrette, iceberg wedge w/bacon, grape tomatoes and green onion w/blue cheese vinaigrette, Yukon gold potato salad w/egg, celery and green onion, summer green pea salad w/ bacon, grape tomatoes, green onion, Monterey Jack w/buttermilk vinaigrette

Plus a choice of bread: buttermilk biscuit or jalapeno cornbread w/ honey butter

Outdoor seating too:

As reported here previously, today was announced as the new Brickyard BBQ restaurant (2310 California SW)’s opening day – so we went by a short time ago to see if they had already swung open the doors – not yet, but we were told by those working on finishing touches that they’ll open today at 4. They’re almost exactly across the street from another new restaurant, Porterhouse, which is now in its third week of operation.(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)
The Admiral District’s next new restaurant is days away from opening: 4 months after first word that Brickyard BBQ was moving into space just south of Admiral Pub (map), WSB Forum members have been wondering when they’ll open. So Christopher Boffoli stopped by this afternoon on behalf of WSB to check, and reports that this Wednesday (August 26) is expected to be its official opening day. He reports that the activity spotted there in recent days has been “soft opening” activity for friends and family, as is traditional in the restaurant business. For our last report in late July, the owners told us they’d be serving Texas-style barbecue, likely 11 am-10 pm.

After being on the market more than a year (here’s what we reported last August) – Angelina’s Trattoria in Admiral has finally found buyers. They’ve applied for a new liquor license, and the names on that application led us to Allison Rich, who confirms that she and her husband – who live in West Seattle – are taking over next month. As part of their plan, she says, they will close Angelina’s at the start of September to put in a bar and new bathrooms; they’re hoping that will only take about a month. They’ll keep the name Angelina’s, Allison told us, and the menu will remain focused on Italian food, though she says they also “will be doing what we will call ‘the NOT so Italian menu’ where we will have specials from all over!” After the renovations, she says, Angelina’s will have the bar on one side and be “family-friendly” on the other. (Admiral is suddenly jumping – in addition to this and last week’s Porterhouse opening, the Shipwreck — a tavern planned for the old TNT space — has applied for its liquor license, and Brickyard BBQ is expected to open soon.)

New information tonight from William Khazaal, son of Phoenecia at Alki restaurant owner Hussein Khazaal, who died suddenly over the weekend at age 63 (here’s our Sunday report, with dozens of memories and tributes in its comment section). William says his father’s funeral will be at noon tomorrow at House of Mercy in Covington (15004 SE 256th; map), and there will be a memorial celebration on Alki — with food — in the grassy area by the Bathhouse, right across from Phoenecia, this Friday night at 6:30; the family says the public is welcome at both events. Friday is a day when Mr. Khazaal’s family had hoped to be celebrating something very different: William says that would have been his father and mother’s 40th wedding anniversary.