Tomorrow, April 6, dozens of restaurants across the region will be participating in Red White Unite, a collective effort between participating restaurants, Junglecity.com, and Suzuki + Chou Communimedia to raise money for the relief effort in Japan. Through Red White Unite a number of restaurants around town and in the neighborhood will be donating 10 percent of their total sales on Wednesday, April 6 to Peace Winds America for disaster relief in Japan. Check out the participating Queen Anne eateries:

• How To Cook A Wolf
• Betty
• Crow
• Pagliacci Pizza
  
• Macrina Bakery
  
• Portage

See the full list of participating restaurants for more spots where you can dine and donate tomorrow.

Seattle Weekly’s annual Voracious restaurant guide is out and there are two popular Queen Anne dining spots – out of 107 citywide – that made the list.

In the “Things That Swim” section, Canlis and chef Jason Franey were commended for the menu – a mixture of new dishes and original plates from the restaurant’s early years.

In the “Veggies” section Book Bindery was called out for a salad – “one of the greatest salads ever” – made out of more apples than vegetables.

Check out the full guide to see some other nearby notables, including the selections just across the water in Fremont. What do you think, Queen Anne? Any shocking omissions from the list?

If you’ve walked by Flame on Queen Anne Avenue N recently, you may have noticed the paper covering the windows and the sign on the door directing patrons to Elliott Bay Pizza Co. two doors down.

That’s because the two restaurants have merged, according to an Elliott Bay Pizza Co. employee who spoke to us over the phone this morning.

While the sign on the door at Flame says it is only closed for renovations, adding “Y’all kin get yer got juicy delicious flame broiled burgers next door at Elliott Bay Pizza,” in fact the restaurant changed ownership this week, the Elliott Bay Pizza Co. employee confirmed.

The man who owned both Elliott Bay and Flame decided to consolidate the two restaurants – and their vastly different menus – and sell the Flame location. The renovations inside are on the part of the new owner, he said, adding that he does not know what the new owner plans to do with the restaurant.

A call to the new owner has not yet been returned. In the meantime, most of the original Flame menu (burgers, fries and onion rings, chicken tenders, BBQ sandwiches, and salads) can be found at Elliott Bay Pizza Co. alongside its existing pizzas, pastas, salads, calzones and subs. The only items not available in the new merger are Flame’s tacos and shakes.

And as for the fate of Flame’s old homestead, we’ll keep you posted as we learn more about what will be moving in.

A new martini bar is opening up in the old Ascada Bistro space at 621 1/2 Queen Anne Ave N (across from the MarQueen Hotel and the Uptown Caffe Ladro).

We first got wind that Oskar’s Kitchen would be taking over the space after former Seattle Supersonic Shawn Kemp and his wife Marvena applied for a liquor license at the location.

According to Skyline Properties managing broker Nathan Belo, Oskar’s is opening its doors at 2 p.m. today.

“They’re still fiddling around with the menu but they’ll have the usual stuff, sandwiches, etc.,” he wrote. “They’re still hiring kitchen help so I’d give them a couple of weeks to sort out the food situation, but libations should be excellent.”

The new restaurant/lounge/martini bar will also have a daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. with $4 beer, wine, and well drinks, Belo says.

Cafe Bonjour, that cozy spot nestled in at 1629 Queen Anne Ave N, is expanding, opening a new location in Green Lake soon.

Our sister site, My Green Lake, spoke with owner Michelle Zhang about the new location, which will be much bigger than the Queen Anne spot. She hopes it will feel “like a living room,” with big couches, comfy chairs, and free wifi, Zhang said.

Cafe Bonjour’s Green Lake location, at 7119 Woodlawn Ave NE. Photo courtesy of My Green Lake.

Michelle, who has owned the Queen Anne location for two and half years, says she chose Green Lake as the home for her new location because the neighborhood is one of her favorite in the city. It’s also where her parents live.

She sees the cafe as an opportunity to build community. Although still in the permitting stages, Michelle is looking to hire full- and part-time sandwich artists and baristas who live in the Green Lake area.

“The green lake location will be a much larger scale, complete with a kids play area and story time Wednesdays,” Michelle says.

The Queen Anne cafe offers hot paninis, crepes, weekend brunch, and wine. The Green Lake location will also offer all natural French pastries, and gluten free options, alongside the cafe’s own tea line, Seattle Best Organic Tea, which offers imported organic green tea blended with fresh flowers or fruit.

“Some of our popular items, will be available at both locations, including house made Hungarian goulash soup with dumplings, roasted with avocado panini with fresh bread from Grand Central bakery, and last but not least, garden fresh crepe with spinach, egg, mozzarella cheese, tomato and avocado,” Michelle says.

For more information on the new Green Lake location, see My Green Lake’s story.

We first heard that the short-lived Flow Lounge would be leaving its corner spot on Upper Queen Anne, at 2 Boston Street, and that a new Mexican restaurant would be moving in a few weeks ago.

While we don’t know many details on what exactly is coming to 2 Boston Street, or when it will be opening, this week a new business called La Luna applied for a liquor license for the space with the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

We haven’t yet been able to reach the owners of La Luna to ask what exactly their restaurant will entail, but the application specifies the sale of beer, wine, and spirits in a restaurant/lounge, so that gives us some idea of what’s to come. We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.

Homegrown is opening its Upper Queen Anne location today. The local sustainable sandwich shop chain moved into the old Peet’s Coffee & Tea location on caffeine corner, at 2201 Queen Anne Ave N., in September, and has been prepping for opening ever since.

Homegrown offers sustainable food and serving materials, so that everything is 100 percent compostable and recyclable (everything you don’t eat, that is!).

This location is the local chain’s third, after Fremont and Capitol Hill. When we first spoke with owner Ben Friedman back in September, he said the new shop would be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. But from the looks of the website, the shop is starting out with daytime schedule, open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. We’re checking with Ben on whether he plans to roll out dinner service soon. Update 11:52 am: We just got confirmation from Ben that Homegrown will be extending its hours to include dinner time in the near future. “We’re just doing a staggered start,” he writes. “Dinner should be rolling later this month!”

Homegrown offers meals made with seasonal, local, and sustainable products. Take a look at the menu here. The eatery also offers catering services, and special order tote lunches delivered straight to you Monday through Friday (luckily for fans in Queen Anne, the delivery range covers the hill, Fremont, downtown, Eastlake, and Capitol Hill).

Twirl Cafe is having a grand opening celebration this Saturday, October 9 from 10 a.m. onward at its brand new digs in the Sweetbrier building, at 2111 Queen Anne Ave N.

We first heard that Twirl was coming to Queen Anne back in June, when we spoke with Queen Anne resident and Twirl owner Rebecca Pelletier. The idea behind Twirl was to create a community oriented family-style gathering space—part kids play space, part cafe.  Pelletier ultimately decided to open her play cafe in Queen Anne, thanks to the neighborhood’s vibrant community atmosphere.

Twirl will offer classes and activities for kids and adults, childcare services (while the parents enjoy some downtime or in-house workshops), and yummy health-oriented eats. And from the look of things so far, even the food will capture the Queen Anne feel. ‘The Howe,’ ‘The Galer,’ and ‘The Bigelow,’ are all specialty sandwiches on the menu.

Read more about Pelletier and Twirl Cafe here.

The Than Brothers are opening a new location in Lower Queen Anne.

The local pho chain has locations all over the Seattle-area. The owners say this new outpost could be open as early as next week. Reader Erin had this to say about the restaurant:

Just saw signs last night that the Than Brothers are opening up in the old martial arts space on Mercer, around the corner from Toulouse Petit.  Not be best pho in town, but certainly cheap – and you get a cream puff!

Now I’m no pho expert, but having frequented the location on Market Street in Ballard several times, I’d venture to say there’s nothing wrong with this tasty, extremely affordable pho house. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program is hosting its annual restaurant benefit, Dish Up Literacy, on Thursday. Eat at Ten Mercer in Queen Anne or 12 other Seattle restaurants, and 20 percent of the proceeds will support literacy programs for children in need.

According to Page Ahead, 61 percent of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for children.

Page Ahead operates on one simple and astounding fact: growing up in a house with books is the foremost predictor of academic success in childhood—and a child who succeeds in school will remain there. Page Ahead is dedicated to helping children in need succeed in school by developing strong reading skills.

Participating restaurants include:

• Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ (Ballard) *dinner only
• Hopvine Pub (Capitol Hill)
• Tutta Bella (Columbia City, South Lake Union, Stone Way, Issaquah)
• Carmelita (Greenwood) *dinner only
• Barrio Restaurant (Madison Park)
• Rusty Pelican Café (Wallingford)
• Casa d’Italia (Wedgwood)
• Fiddler’s Inn (Wedgwood)
• Ten Mercer (Queen Anne)
• Barrio (Bellevue)