West Seattle, Washington
12 Thursday
If you didn’t already know about this lunch option in The Junction (we didn’t), a reader tip points out that Blue Willow Catering, just west of the former Backstage Thrift, serves lunch 11-2 Tuesdays-Fridays. (We peeked at the menu the other day; the curried sweet-potato bisque sounded especially promising!)
Reminder that Skylark is closed for brunch today, opening at 3 pm, after services forĂâĂ gone-too-soon waiter John Hartley. An e-mail newsletter from Skylark invites patrons to one last “disco brunch,” in John’s honor, tomorrow.
Looks like the impending Shoofly Pie Company in The Junction will be an addition to the list of WS coffee spots as well as bakeries, per this help-wanted ad. (Pie, coffee … can Agent Cooper be far behind?)
The annual Copper River salmon hoopla started today. Looks like Metropolitan Market joins the fun later this week. Here at WSB HQ, we “celebrated” with Copper River on the cheap.
Yes, the weekend’s over so the sun is back; gotta love Seattle in May. Besides the simple pleasures, like beach-walking when you get home from work, here are a couple happenings of note this week:
-The Taste of West Seattle is tomorrow night, with more than a dozen WS restaurants and caterers participating. Proceeds benefit Helpline; you can buy advance tickets from the Helpline home page (look for the PayPal button on the left side) for $5 less than the cost at the door.
-ArtsWest opens its world premiere “commedia dell’arte style” adaptation of “Pinocchio” on Thursday.
The Stranger features Alki food. No mention, though, of Coyotes on Alki,ĂâĂ on its 1-year anniversary.
After we referred to the forthcoming, long-in-the-works Giannoni’s Pizzeria at Westwood Village as “mysterious” one too many times, their owners surfaced in our inbox and shared some details about what they’ll be doing when they open (south side of WV, next to Sally’s Beauty Supply). And they confirmed, they’re not a chain! Click ahead to read their full e-mail:Read More
After all the chatter leading up to the WS debut of Garlic Jim’s, it’s been open a month now, and the buzz has died down. A lot of folks gave it a try, with mixed reviews. So we’re asking today, has your pizza routine changed? Is GJ’s a regular part of it? Or, has the Pagliacci delivery-zone extension changed anything for you? We’ll start: Since GJ’s delivers to us but Pagliacci doesn’t, we haven’t gotten Pag pizza in weeks. (We’re sure they’re not missing us, since we’re not frequent pizza procurers.) Got GJ’s recently; 25 minutes from order to delivery, slightly overbrowned pepperoni pizza (left). We’ve noticed two major differences between GJ and Pagliacci: price, and subtlety — Pagliacci flavors can be subtle;
GJ’s, generally not. Which is fine by us, as you would never mistake us for actual gourmets, though we do think GJ’s beats the non-locally based delivery chains (Papa John, Pizza Hut, Domino’s), and the price is right. Next up in the WS pizza world: the mysterious (still can’t find a biz license or anything else pointing us to who’s behind it) Giannoni’s (and neighboring Taco del Mar) is progressing at Westwood Village (right)
The Water Taxi and Farmers’ Market, both returning on Sunday … Easy Street’s new “afterhours” shows continuing tonight … your chance to help shape a West Seattle landmark’s future … all part of the weekend preview roundup, a click away:
Some of what’s happening in WS this week, before we get anywhere near the next fun-filled (Water Taxi! Farmers’ Market! Hall @ Fauntleroy open house!) weekend:
–Tonight (Monday): Celebrate National Poetry Month (and Shakespeare’s birthday!) with a Poetry Read-Around @ the gorgeously renovated Southwest Library (35th & Henderson).
–Tuesday: Have dinner tonight @ Endolyne Joe’s and part of the proceeds will go to the Fauntleroy Fall Festival.
–Wednesday: This is your last-chance deadline to register a yard sale as part of Megawatt’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale on May 12.
–Thursday: Dine Out for Life to fight AIDS. West Seattle participants are Abbondanza (dinner), Angelina’s Trattoria (lunch & dinner), Blackbird Bistro (lunch & dinner), Buddha Ruksa (dinner), Eats Market Cafe (breakfast/lunch/dinner), Mission (dinner), Ovio (dinner), Skylark (lunch & dinner). Also: After an early dinner or before a late one, check out WS-based Adventure Associates‘ free slideshow “Adventures in Mexico: Copper Canyon,” 6:30 pm @ C & P Coffee.
The business name we found last month for the bakery coming to the ex-Bobby’s Hobbies space, south of the post office in The Junction, turns out to have been correct. A sign is now up in the window: Do you love pie?/We do too/Coming soon …/Shoofly Pie Co.
… no, not Bon Marche (does that old jingle still ring in your head? does in ours) but rather, Thriftway. Our curiosity was piqued by a checkstand sign at Morgan Junction Thriftway saying “13-Hour Sale” this Friday (the 13th, of course), 8 am-9 pm. The checker told us to check the forthcoming flyer; it’s online now, with the “13-Hour Sale” items on the last three pages. Nothing looks really outrageously deal-riffic to us, except maybe the 88-cent bread, but judge for yourself.
We’ve mentioned before that White Center holds many pleasant surprises for WSites who venture south of the city limits. Cafe Rozella, for one. Not far from there, also on the WS-WC border, if you can call it that, is the Salvadorean Bakery. We’ll admit to not having been there, yet. This detailed post/review has us ready to check it out, as soon as we can!
The Stranger is the latest to gush over Beato, under the headline “West Seattle Grows Up.”
Finally found an apparent name for the bakery taking over the ex-Bobby’s Hobbies spot. The latest round of construction-related permits mentions “Shoofly Pie Company,” and while there’s not much at the dot-com address for that name, it’s registered to someone in WS.
-Thanks to the reader who tipped us that Bakery Nouveau is featured on the cover of Seattle Magazine’s new “best restaurants” issue. Yum.
-A new exhibit at MOHAI will feature 19th-century paintings from a daughter of the Denny party’s namesake.
-Also from the P-I, Ted Van Dyk has a good post-viaduct-vote rant. Reminds us of the interesting sight we saw while traveling up Cali after the Charlestown meeting last night — an apartment window plastered with not only a YES ELEVATED sign, but also RECALL NICKELS and even mock Times front pages with the apartment-dweller’s fantasy future headline NICKELS DEFEATED. (Perhaps a Steinbrueck relative lives there!)
Just in case you forgot: It’s not a political meeting, not an official meeting, really just a grass-roots get-together for folks concerned about the closing of the Charlestown Cafe and/or what might replace it (currently, it’s proposed as Petco’s new home once that store leaves The Junction), and what they can do about it. 7 pm tonight @ the cafe.
Exactly seven months after we first mentioned Garlic Jim’s was on its way to The Junction — it’s grand-opening day. Will it live up to hopes ‘n’ hype? Will it take a bite out of Pagliacci’s business? How far south will they deliver? How good is its “gourmet” pizza, anyway? Any and all comments/reviews, this thread is here for you. (P.S. Before you recycle today’s junk mail – check for GJ coupons/menu – we got some and plan to use ’em.)
Final word from the proprietor of The Junction’s new pizza joint, the plan to open tomorrow @ 11 am is a go. (By the way, according to a newspaper in Everett, home to GJ’s corporate HQ, this is the chain’s first sit-down location ever.) We’ll open a thread tomorrow for early reviews. Now, attention turns to The Junction’s northernmost block — who’ll open next, Shadowland, Spring Hill, or the bakery?
Another reminder: For everyone concerned about the future of Charlestown Cafe and what might be built on its site, you’ll want to be there 7 pm this Wednesday night for the long-awaited community meeting.
Those of us still shunned by Pagliacci, even with the delivery-zone expansion, are just going to have to wait another week to exuberantly try Garlic Jim’s … a commenter left word a few days ago that the grand opening was moved back a week, and GJ proprietor Ryan just confirmed it. New GJ grand-opening date: March 27.
-Tough choice but decided to go to the Alki cat adopt-a-thon instead of the SW library grand opening (one-day-only event vs. many chances from now on to see the books’ beautiful new digs). Did not emerge with a new cat. Old cats greatly relieved.
-Looks like Casa Feliz is back from the dead after 2 months away. Tried calling to ask what happened, nobody answered. All info welcome.
-Eagle-eyed reader notes the cameras on light poles by the new Admiral/Olga traffic signal (photo below). Will they be traffic webcams, or “run the light and you’re busted” cams? We’ll see if we can find out.
No surprise that Pagliacci’s WS delivery expansion inspired another mention today by that P-I guy. Unlike last time, though, no shout-out to us bloggy types, good, bad, or otherwise.
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