West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
-Today’s Pacific Magazine (Times) features the latest lovefest for Bakery Nouveau.
-Remember the West Seattle Farmers’ Market is open (till 2 pm today & every Sunday), rain or shine. The market folks sent us the latest (long!) “Ripe ‘n’ Ready” fresh sheet if you want to see if it’s really worth going out in the rain (note this is their citywide list, so a few things are highlighted as only available at certain other markets around the area):Read More
That’s according to the French newspaper Le Monde (4th paragraph from the bottom, “un petit restaurant de West Seattle”), as written up at Cornichon.org. (Of course, the Parisians got the name wrong, so perhaps the size lost something in the translation as well.)
VIADUCT MEETING: “Scoping meeting” regarding the project that the state says will replace the south end of The Viaduct no matter what’s decided about the rest of it — 5-8 pm tonight, with the official presentation starting at 6, Madison Middle School.
DINING FOR LITERACY: A portion of tonight’s proceeds at three WS restaurants — Angelina’s Trattoria, Garlic Jim’s Pizza, Talarico’s — go toward a literacy campaign, as part of Page Ahead’s area-wide Dish Up Literacy campaign.
Two flyers up on the window at Garlic Jim’s Pizza in The Junction suggest that Wednesday will be a night to remember at GJ’s: Part of Wednesday’s proceeds will go toward a literacy campaign, as part of the Dish Up Literacy promotion involving restaurants around the area. (Also participating in WS on Wednesday, according to the Dish Up Literacy website: Angelina’s Trattoria and Talarico’s.) The other flyer at GJ’s announced that also on Wednesday, there’s an Under 40 Speed Date event there, 7-9 pm. Checking the website for that event’s organizer, The Professional Dater, we discovered an Over 40 Speed Date event in WS tonight — Alki Starbucks, 7-9 pm. So for anyone out there in WSB-land who’s looking for love — you’ve got the chance to find it fast this week, whatever your age.
In case you don’t see this new comment below our original post on last Friday’s La Rustica fire, Aimee confirms the October 2nd date heard on their phone recording over the weekend, and provides more information about what happened:
Hi all, I’m Giulio’s daughter. The damage was not severe and they should be up and running by the 2nd of October or before. It was a small kitchen fire but it did destroy one dining room wall. I originally painted that wall so it was hard to see but we’ll have the same look and great food up and running in no time. Thanks all for your concern and support. We love our West Seattle home and neighbors. Salute!
-Today’s Times features West Seattle cancer survivor Anita Mitchell, whose art will be on display Tuesday at Swedish Medical Center.
-Event that didn’t make it to the latest WS Weekend Lineup: Four Aims Center, which took over the ex-Cat’s Eye Cafe near Lincoln Park, has an open house this afternoon/evening, with free yoga, meditation, and refreshments.
-The West Seattle Birdcam has flown away. Sorry to see it go. Can’t believe we have so few linkable live cams in WS; if you know of one that’s not on our WS “Live” Cams page (nothing too “adult,” sorry), please let us know.
-WSB reader Gayle e-mailed us to make sure everyone knows about West Seattle’s newest food option, which you might miss unless you frequent ActivSpace on Harbor Ave: River House, open Mon-Sat at ActivSpace. Gayle says, “They serve crepes (sweet and savory), sandwiches, salads, daily specials, espresso drinks, baked goods and gelato … Also offered are homemade sauces. Try the Fresh Pear – no sugar added. Coffee served is from Vashon Island Roasters. … Yummy!”
Went by La Rustica tonight, still closed in the wake of yesterday’s fire; then we called and eventually got a recording that says LR plans to reopen Tuesday, October 2nd.
We just called to check; the person who answered the phone at La Rustica said they’re closed tonight for sure and not sure how many more nights beyond that, because of today’s fire. More pictures, courtesy of reader David Schneider (thank you!!!).
No further details, but we have verified the reader tip (thank you!!!!) that a note on the door of Coyotes on Alki says “closed till further notice,” bearing yesterday’s date. Some may wonder if the 17-month-old restaurant has fallen victim to the curse of everything that’s been in there since The Point Grill (which we personally still miss), but it might just be closed because of the side-sewer work for which a permit was granted today.
While we were at Alki to get a visual on the Coyotes note … stopped for this gratuitous shot of the 4th-to-last sunset of Summer 2007:
Just a quick advance mention of two WS weekend events that hit our radar today — the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships are happening on Alki both days this weekend (usually quite a scene with barbecue crews camping out in RVs nearby); the West Seattle Farmers’ Market on Sunday is hosting Zucchini Races, 10 am-1 pm, inviting kids to build and race “vegetable vehicles” like the one below (photo courtesy Neighborhood Farmers’ Market Alliance):
The website for Ama-Ama, the restaurant taking over the ex-Ovio spot in The Junction, still promises an October opening, and now they’re advertising for help: one ad seeks a shucker, the other one casts a net for “all positions.”
We had to go to four places before we found someplace without a big line to get in. Great news for the WS restaurant business, at least. Our final choice was still busy but found a table for us — Endolyne Joe’s in Fauntleroy. Hadn’t been there in a while, even though we live somewhat close by. 
Their new featured Prairie Menu has just kicked in, but we went with some old faves, including the Sour Cream Cloud Cakes (the blueberry “syrup” on the side is more like jam). One intriguing discovery for snoops like us: The freestanding rustic wooden tables where we sat, near the bar, have little drawers (pull shown in the photo at right); open one and you’ll find a collection of business cards and other little items previous patrons purposely left behind.
Rhonda @ Beach Drive Blog notes Sunfish has posted a sign that it will be closed till October 11th. Just down the block, incidentally, the proposed restaurant/residence building at 2810 Alki Ave gets an early look tonight from the Southwest Design Review Board (meeting 6:30 pm @ the Southwest Precinct).
–Taco Del Mar in Westwood Village has opened.
-Also in Westwood Village, Pet Pros — one of the 6 pet stores WS now has, counting the newly opened All the Best Pet Care on Alki — says it’s having a grand-opening sale 9/28-9/30.ÂÂ
-Another business is celebrating a grand opening: We just heard from TouchTech Systems, which has moved into the former West Seattle Helpline spot (they’re now in the WS Community Resource Center) in The Junction (along the corridor at 4517 Cali). Company president Brian Presser, a WS resident, describes TouchTech Systems as:
We are a small local company that provides multimedia marketing and communication solutions for the internet (such as websites) as well as interactive kiosks for a multitude of uses. We sell and provide service for essentially all Apple computer equipment and are a reseller of most major hardware and software brands including Xerox, HP, Adobe and Microsoft.
Thanks to the tipster who e-mailed us about a liquor-license application posting going up at 3405 Cali (formerly Leslie’s, next to Spiro’s Pizza & Pasta). We combed through the online files and found this one had appeared on the state liquor-ap listing site August 29th, for a restaurant & bar at that address to be called The Bohemian. Didn’t find any obvious background from web-searching the names on the application, but did find this website — registered to the same company name that’s on the liquor-license ap. We’ve e-mailed the contact listed on the website and we’ll let you know if we hear anything back.
Ever since we discovered the tater tots at Skylark (shown right in all their golden crunchy goodness), we’ve been meaning to post this as a discussion topic: What are your favorite West Seattle dishes “to die for”? Besides those tater tots, ours include the West 5 BLT with avocado, Caffe Ladro cardamom coffee cake, and New Teriyaki & Wok General Tso’s chicken. With a lot of runner-ups!
One year ago today — we posted that Cactus had just opened on Alki. Congrats on a successful first year (nice website overhaul, too)!
Two more bite-size notes on the restaurant listing mystery: Alki blogger C Ro writes @ Metroblogging Seattle that she got e-mail from Blackbird saying it’s definitely not them; the last (as of this writing) comment on the original post claims an employee of that restaurant says it was them but the listing was a “mistake.” Can there be such a thing as a “mistaken real-estate listing,” expert readers? Whatever the case, the mystery continues! (By the way, publicly available listings mention one other nameless restaurant for sale in WS, this one in 98136 zip code and mentioning Cali SW.)
An e-mail address popped up on help-wanted signs in the window of the future Taco Del Mar in Westwood Village, so we wrote to ask when it’s opening. Heard back in short order from owner Travis, a WS resident who also owns the Jefferson Square Taco Del Mar. He says they’re hoping to be open by September 8th, with hours 7 am-10 pm Monday-Friday, and are still “eagerly looking for employees (who can work during the days!!).” Here’s the address for job inquiries.
The facade of the former Neilsen Florist shop in The Junction continues to evolve toward the space’s new identity as Shadowland.
Its proprietor tells WSB “things are moving along well” — they’re now drywalling inside, and hoping to open in about a month, though he adds it’s been tough to nail down a date (so many factors outside a would-be entrepreneur’s control, as we have learned while watching other new WS businesses-in-progress).
Two retail notes from Alki this afternoon: First, if you look down 61st, you’ll see this umbrella right by the Homestead:
Thanks to the Alki Beach Community group on Yahoo! for tipping us to the little produce stand now set up under that umbrella. Fruit on one side, vegetables on the other, all organic, obtained from Charlie’s Produce. According to what Homestead owner Tom Lin told the ABC group, its operator is a UW student named Eric. First place on Alki you can buy uncooked food since Alki Market shut down again. Speaking of that space …
… that’s the scene next to Cactus, as the future All the Best Pet Care continues getting ready for business. This will be West Seattle’s northernmost pet-stuff store, joining (north to south) Mud Bay, Next to Nature, Petco, Pet Elements, and Pet Pros.
Interesting “blind” for-sale listing. 98116, bistro, outdoor patio seating 30, owner expanding “other brand” … guesses?
When Giannoni’s Pizza opened in Westwood Village two weeks ago, a few people mentioned they’d tried it. Now that some time has gone by, a WSB reader e-mailed to ask us to ask everybody out there for more reviews. Anyone?
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