Urban Café, the brain child of Chef Bruce Pinkerton (Urban Wine Café and Designed Dinners) is opening for a soft launch today, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The new spot, located at 351 Elliott Ave W., like all of Pinkerton’s endeavors will focus on providing healthy, quality lunch options at affordable prices. Menu items include trans fat free entrees and a soup, salad and sandwich bar.
For a sneak peak at the menu, check out their website. The soup of the week this week is leek and potato. The panini of the week: pulled pork and pepper-jack cheese on ciabatta. Sounds delicious!
The cafe also combines the best of of Pinkerton’s other two restaurants: a relaxed atmosphere for sit-down meals, and a quick and easy pick-up location for meals on the go. Urban Café offers lunch, catering, online ordering and pick-up for the busy customers, and ready-to-cook Designed Dinners for when you just don’t have time to cook.
Soft launch hours for Urban Café are Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Thursday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The website is currently being updated, and online ordering is set to be available beginning Tuesday, September 15.
According to the Seattle Police Department West Precinct blotter, four victims were robbed at gunpoint early this morning on the 2600 block of Magnolia Blvd. W. The four reported that they were sitting on a park bench at around 1:19 a.m. when three black males approached them and asked if they had any marijuana. The victims responded that they didn’t, at which time the suspects brought out handguns and robbed them. The suspects also patted down the victims to make sure they didn’t miss anything before fleeing on foot, according to the report. The victims found someone nearby and called 911. A K-9 was called in and a perimeter set, but the suspects were not found. The victims said one of the suspects had a red bandana over his face.
Many school start times have changed, and bus routes reorganized, so keep on the look out for kids in the early morning and afternoons Click here for the new times. Check the Seattle Public Schools transportation page for more information.
See our story for tips from the Seattle Police Department on how to stay safe, and check out the Seattle Times’ back to school guide to best prepare for the new school year.
After officially welcoming Mercer Street Books to the neighborhood last week, I though I’d stop by and find out what’s new and different at this long-time Queen Anne book-shopping stop. I spoke with the shop’s new owner, Debbie Sarow, about what it’s like to be the new kid on the block, in an old and widely known second-hand bookstore.
Before Mercer Street Books moved in and Twice Sold Tales moved out, the shop was Titlewave Books. When Debbie heard the shop was up for grabs, she decided to take a risk and buy it, saving the Queen Anne book-selling locale.
“This has been a bookshop for over 25 years,” she said, emphasizing the importance of sustaining second-hand bookstores in local communities. (Debbie herself lives on Capital Hill, and commutes to Uptown daily to run Mercer Street Books.)
Debbie traded in years of working in bookstores for her dream of owning her own in July when she took over the shop from the outgoing, Twice Sold Tales. And by virtue of the foot traffic throughout her store on any given day, it seems she’s managed the transition quite well.
“I had books I’d been saving for one day when I magically had a shop,” she laughed when I asked her where she got all these books and how she managed to organize them and open shop so fast.
In fact most of the store’s stock rolled over from Twice Sold Tales, so you can expect some familiarity between the two. Debbie plans to combine the best of the past two shops, while adding her own new touches. Already she’s poured light into the rows of bookshelves and opened up the store-wide windows that face the street (a throwback to the Titlewave days).
“I feel like I’m part of what’s going on outside too,” she said. “I don’t feel cooped-up.”
(The models of animals hanging from the ceilings belong to the previous owner, who will soon reclaim them. Until then, don’t forget to look up while navigating the isles.)
And as for the economic risk in opening up a shop in the current Recession, Debbie says so far it’s worth it. “There is a question of whether or not it’s a good time to start a business period. But I hope there will be more of a trend to buying second-hand things in general,” Debbie said. “People still read, and I think people like to read something tangible, rather than a Kindle.”
So far, she says, business has been good. Some people weren’t even aware the ownership has changed. It’s been a soft transition – the painting of the store’s new name out front happened only last week, and Debbie still hasn’t had an official opening.
“There’s a few more thing I want to do to make the shop feel different first,” she said.
But regardless, the neighborhood has been welcoming the old-time bookstore’s new owner.
The Seattle Church of Christ building on Queen Anne became a historic landmark this past year, and in a few weeks it will be having its second annual auction to raise money for the structure’s restoration. After receiving a $19,779 “matching fund” grant from 4culture.org to repair the roof, the church is hoping to raise another $19,779. The auction will be begin at 6 p.m. onSaturday, October 3 at 2555 8th Ave. West.
If you register and pay before Saturday, September 26, tickets are $20. Beginning the 27th admittance is $30 up until auction day. To register for the auction, click here. Download the donation form here. For more information on the auction, see the another100years.com.
Have you got trees in your yard producing more succulent fruit than you know what to do with? Lettuce Link’s Community Fruit Tree Harvest can help you put your excess fruit to a good use by harvesting it and donating it to those who need it.
Last year Community Fruit Tree Harvest volunteers harvested and gathered more than 14,000 pounds of apples, pears and plums from fruit trees around Seattle and delivered it to people with little to no access to organic produce. This year they are looking for both fruit tree owners and volunteers to help harvest, donate and deliver the excess fruit.
Every year thousands of pounds of unused fruit is wasted, so why not donate it? The only requirements for fruit tree owners who want to donate are that the fruit is pesticide-free and in good condition. Harvested fruit is delivered to food banks, meals programs, shelters and senior centers throughout the area. For a full list of centers and organizations that happily accept fresh produce donations, click here.
For donation information, contact Seattle Tilth’s Garden Hotline at (206) 633-0224 or email help@gardenhotline.org. If you would like to volunteer to help pick and deliver fruit, fill out a volunteer application and send it to Sadie at 206-694-6751 or sadieb@solid-ground.org.
This project is put on by Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link program.
For 18 years the residents of the 9th Ave W median have been getting together once a year to clean up the median, and this year the event falls on this coming Saturday, September 12.
The median runs down 9th Ave W from Howe to Galer, creating a high and low road. According to 20-year median resident, Jon, in the early days of the cleanup the median was over-run and many volunteers went to great lengths helping to plant new trees and clean up the areas further away from their homes.
Nowadays all the median needs is a bit of tidying and upkeep. Anybody is welcome to join for however long they like. There is no set schedule or meeting point.
Jon writes,
On the morning of the cleanup, folks start wandering out of their houses to the median next to their house and start working on their section of the median. Depending on interest/energy/other commitments, folks will move on to other sections after they complete the section near their house.
For years residents have used the cleanup as a way to not only keep the median looking nice, but to also meet and socialize with neighbors. If you want to stop by and lend a hand, Jon says, “Just go down Blaine from the top of the hill to 9th and then turn left at the ‘T.’ You will see lots of folks working.”
The Lower Kinnear Park Cleanup Day will be held on Saturday, September 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers are needed for weeding, mulching, clearing invasive plants (like those delicious blackberry bushes all around town!) and picking up trash.
Volunteers will meet at the Roy Street entrance at Lower Kinnear Park at 8:45 in the morning, rain or shine (though don’t feel guilty if you can’t make it quite so early, volunteers are invited to stop in throughout the day to lend a hand).
Walk-ins are always welcome, but if you know you’re going to be attending, please RSVP to Phil at philprahst@hotmail.com by tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9 so the group can plan ahead.
Anyone within view of Lake Union might just come across an interesting sight tomorrow. Performance artist turned kite flyer, Seth Abramson, will be flying 121 elegant white kites over Gas Works Park for 11 hours on Wednesday, September 9, from from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m
Discover Credit Unions of Washington commissioned Abramson with a grant to do this outdoor art installation, but according to Christine Stepherson, Outreach Coordinator for Kites Over Washington, the Credit Union isn’t looking at the art as an advertising opportunity.
“They basically said ‘we want to do some kind of art installation that is just breaking through everything that is going on now.’ There are no advertisements, they are no booths at the park signing people up for checking accounts,” Stepherson said. “There’s not anything going on except the kites.”
According to Stepherson, the kites, which are each seven feet long, will be within view of anyone in the park, on the water, across Lake Union or in their homes on Queen Anne hill. Although the kites each have a Discover Credit Unions logo on them, they’ll be hard to see from the ground.
“We’re not trying to do a massive branding campaign,” Stepherson said. “When they’re up in the air, that’s not what people are going to see.”
Discover Credit Unions have put together a Web site and forum where they invite people to submit pictures of the kites from all over the city, which will go live in time for the event tomorrow.
And hopefully the weather will cooperate. Abramson is confident he can fly all 121 kites (with the help of four other kite experts and a handful or two of local kite assistants) in the rain and wind. The only vice of kite flyers: lightening.
If you want to catch a sneak peak, they’ll be doing a test run of around 15 kites later this afternoon, from 1 to 5 p.m.
This seems reminiscent of the solar-powered flowers Toyota’s placed in Westlake Center Plaza, but even still, who’s complaining? Free art with a corporate backer sure makes for some interesting sights around town!
If you happen to catch the kites in action, email us or send us pics at tips@queenanneview.com.
Seattle Public Libraries open again today, Tuesday, September 8, after a week-long furlough that shut down all locations and services, including the Web site and book drops.
The system-wide closure was one step the Library took in an attempt to meet a 2 percent budget reduction (about $1 million). Although the program saved approximately $655,000, it came at a heavy cost – 700 Library employees were not paid during this last week.
But as of today, the Seattle Public Library Web site is back up. And although no books were due or fines accrued during the closure, now that everything is up and running again, you might want to make sure to get your books in.
For more information see our original story here. The Queen Anne Branch of the Seattle Public Library will be open from 1-8 p.m. today.
Get together with the guys who brought you the Seattle Pride Parade, and the commemorative Michael Jackson tribute on the late pop king’s birthday, for another exercise in community outreach. This Friday One Degree Events will host its first “philanthropic flash mob” – the Candlelight Chorus – in honor of the eighth anniversary of 9/11.
And so, at 9:11 on 9/11, One Degree Events asks you to light a candle in honor of 9/11 victims, heroes and families, and give charity. The group had been planning to do a public event, but due to scheduling conflicts, decided to instead opt for an online drive to raise money for the American Red Cross and the NYC Firefighter Foundation, which they will split donations between 50/50.
For more information, see the Facebook event page. Go to FlashMobSeattle.com to make a donation.
The funding helps Seattle’s neighborhood arts councils and groups put on events and festivals that promote neighborhood visibility and cultural participation, celebrate diversity and build community. Arts councils and community-based groups must have been in existence for at least one year to qualify for annual support for a recurring festival or event.
Each funded organization receives $1,200 to support direct project expenses, which include artist fees, promotional and marketing expenses, and venue/equipment and production-related needs.
In 2009 the Neighborhood & Community Arts funding program provided $1,200 to 37 organizations in support of annual public festivals and events.
The deadline to apply is Tuesday, October 27. More information can be found here. Link to the online application here.
For an informational meeting on how to put together a successful application, attend the ‘Meet and Greet,’ from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, October 5 at the Theatre Off Jackson, 409 7th Ave. RSVP by Tuesday, September 29 to Paul Rucker at paul.rucker@seattle.gov or (206) 684-7084.
The elusive cougar that officials have been tracking for days, was finally caught at 2 a.m. this morning on the road that leads to the Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Discovery Park.
Get the full story from Magnolia Voice, who reported it first. After sightings all over Magnolia since August 28 (see the sighting map here), officials were able to track down the cougar’s scent with dogs, which chased the cat into a tree before officials sedated it with a tranquilizer gun.
Officials say the animal is doing well, and will be transported to Snohomish County, where he will be released into the wild later this afternoon. He is about 3 years old and weights 138 pounds.
And the question on everybody’s mind, how did the cougar get in Magnolia. Wildlife officer Nicholas Jorg, who captured the cougar, has a theory:
Discovery park will open again today, at 11 a.m. For more information on the capture, see reports on Magnolia Voice.
Here is the text of Wildlife officer Nicholas Jorg’s statement:
You know, a lot of times cats like this, that are good mountain lions, they try to avoid people. So primarily by doing that, they move around at nighttime, and I think maybe in a stormy night a mountain lion could wander around and find out – you know – wake up the next day and he’s in a real urban environment, thinking ‘how the heck did I get here?’ So he might have followed some corridor down, and once you get to a certain point maybe traffic keeps scaring him further and further in the wrong direction, or something along those lines. It’s all kind of guessing and hypothetical at this point, but if he comes back we’ll have a better idea because we’ll have locations on him from the collar. But it’s very unlikely he’d come back. I think it was probably a big accident that he got here in the first place.
When I first saw that mountain lion on the tree, I was – there was still a little bit of astonishment even for me, because I was a little bit of s skeptic still about whether it really existed or not, but when you see that big cat in the tree and you think, ‘wow, I’m in Seattle,’ it was impressive to see that beautiful animal. He’s a real handsome cat; I don’t know if you’ve gotten a chance to see him or not. He’s a real pretty animal. It was nice to see him in there in that he was actually cohabitating with the community so well, really. He didn’t really cause any problems, and he was trying to stay out of sight.
Update: 7:37 p.m. – Justin confirms Tobey Maguire is on the set.
Update: 7:03 p.m. – Reader Justin, who lives on the block, writes:
Looks like the set is ready. Not sure if there’s any talent on set just yet, but they called “rolling” for the first time a couple minutes ago.
“The Details,” the indie dark comedy about a raccoon infestation, just can’t keep away from Queen Anne. Earlier this week star Tobey Maguire was shooting a scene at Kerry Park, and filming continued late into the night just a few blocks away.
Our reader, skibum1175, tipped us off that it looks like they’ll be filming on the top of the hill again tonight. The entire block of W Lee Street, in between 4th Ave W. and 5th Ave W. is blocked off for filming, and one of their loading trucks is already outside and waiting.
The signs indicate that the site is reserved from 1 p.m. until 10 p.m. tonight, but given that they were filming in Ballard earlier today and are not yet set up in Queen Anne, it looks like it could be a late night for the crew.
No word yet on which stars will be there, if any. But given that this is a film about raccoons, they’ve definitely picked the right town. If you happen to catch any filming action, email us at tips@queenanneview.com.
Since the new creperie Citizen softly opened on Tuesday at the corner of Taylor and Roy, word has spread fast and, according to the owners, business has been “overwhelming”.
The restaurant is a first for long-time Queen Anne resident, Suzana Olmos, who formerly owned the boutique, Paragon, in Belltown. She says her motivation for opening a neighborhood joint was to have a place where you can get a great-tasting meal for a good value. She adds, “If you want a $10 glass of wine, you’re probably not going to find it here. But if you want a $5 glass that tastes like one, I’ll serve it to you!”
One look at the chalkboard menu hanging on the wall, and you’ll see that enticing and affordable are no joke. Items range from $4.95 for a Vietnamese Style Sandwich, $6.75 for one of Citizen’s Signature Sammys, and $7.25-$8.95 for either a savory or sweet crepe (lovingly made by The Hangar Cafe’s Justin Taft). The September Special crepe is one with avocado, caramelized onion, roasted asparagus, apple smoked bacon, goat cheese and spinach. Yummy!
They don’t just serve wine and beer by the glass, either. Acting as part wine store, you can buy affordable bottles to take home, too!
Citizen doesn’t have table service so don’t be shy. Walk right up to the counter and order. Then let us know what you think…
Keep an eye out for meter maids on the hill this weekend. I’ve seen three different ones prowling around Queen Anne Ave just this afternoon (the last one was heading down the hill toward Uptown, ticket book in hand). They’re probably on high patrol in anticipation of the holiday weekend, and with Bumbershoot starting tomorrow, parking on Queen Anne will be tight. Beware of the meter maid – nothing ruins a holiday weekend like a ticket!
If you love music, but can’t afford Bumbershoot, or are simply Bumbered out, walk a couple of blocks to Easy Street Records at 3 p.m. tomorrow and check out another live show for free!
Vince Mira is a 16-year-old singer-songwriter from Federal Way who has been known to channel the unique sound of Johnny Cash. He’s so Johnny-esque, in fact, that Cash offered to produce Mira’s debut EP The Cash Cabin Sessions, as well as his most recent album Vince Mira.
Growing up Mira drew his inspiration from Cash, and it shows! Check him out tomorrow!
(Photo by John Keatley, courtesy of Jesse and Easy Street Records)
The Seattle Police Department has put together a list of back to school safety tips, that include everything from general tips, to public transportation pointers, what to do if you’re confronted on the street and how to report a crime. Click here to see the SPD list.
See the Seattle Public Schools 2009-2010 academic calendar here.
Although Queen Anne has its very own year-round pool, it’s indoors, which is great in the winter rain and sleet (or in the case of last winter, ice and snow), but is terrible in the summer sunshine that we seem to be having so much of these days.
Inspired by our sister site, Magnolia Voice, we thought we’d remind you of the last few days of public outdoor pool fun over at “Pop” Mounger Pool in Magnolia, before they close up for the season.
This is the last weekend Mounger Pool will be open, with holiday schedule hours on Monday. Download the schedule here.
If you prefer the covered Queen Anne Pool, check out their schedule, which is slightly different. They, for example, will be closed on Labor Day and will reopen with their regular hours on Tuesday, September 8. (They also do “Dive-In” movies on the third Friday of every month, starting September 18).
See ratings and reviews of
