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Middle Eastern cafés come in hot this week.

Hungry for news? Welcome to our Friday Feed, where we run through all the local food and restaurant news this week—and maybe help you figure out where to eat this weekend. Benched The Ravenna Varsity, a beloved 62-year-old diner, will serve its last classic cinnamon roll on August 3, after the owner and landlord were unable to come to an agreement on lease renewal. Even after closing briefly in 2002, when its original space was torn down, the Varsity remained a favorite hangout for the neighborhood. This news came on the heels of a fierce pushback at nearby 92-year-old bar Little Red Hen losing its lease. Reporting this week from The Seattle Times painted a more complicated picture, but brought the good news that they extended the current lease until the end of August, allowing the bar to stay open while negotiating a potential lease extension. Coffee Talk—Middle East Edition Pastries on Parade Jungle fever: Farmers market fave panadería Pan de La Selva is opening softly next week at its new downtown digs, and bringing a plant to help green up the space gets you a 15 percent discount. Scandinavian Specialties: Pike Place Market coffee shop and bakery Freya opened a second location in the 8,000-square-foot former Specialty’s space at Fifth and Union. To clarify how big that is, it’s something like seven gajillion times the size of the original location. More Comings and Goings Ya regresa: Monica Dimas’s return to Capitol Hill started with the opening of Pitch the Baby last week, and will continue with the rebirth of Condesa, her one-time torta shop, next door on August 9. Adiositos: Poquitos announced this week that after seven years in Bothell, it would be closing its northern outlet as of September 20. The Capitol Hill location will remain open. Curd stop: The no-longer-mobile cheese vendor Street Cheese, started by a pair of local cheesemongers, opened its permanent location on Beacon Hill this week. Oh, BTW, here’s what you missed last week.

Can You Ride It? Saturday's competition is exactly what it says it is.

When professional wakeboarder Shaun Murray announced a new Seafair event, lake lovers Joan and Zach Horn started brainstorming. Could they ride a bathtub in place of a wakeboard? Devise an alien-themed parade float to pull behind a boat? Seafair’s newest event, the inaugural Can You Ride It? showcase, asks just what it says it does. Creative folks have dreamt up (hopefully) rideable objects that make a hydroplane seem boring. Bespoke crafts will take to Lake Washington from 12–3pm on Saturday, August 2, complete with theme songs and costumes. The objects will be towed by a boat, similar to how a wakeboard works. “Seafair is already such a celebration of boating, community, and everything water-related,” Murray wrote via email. “The energy is high, people are out to have a good time, and it brings together folks who aren’t afraid to get a little weird (in the best way) in the name of fun.” Debuting this first competition at Seafair just made sense for Best Day Brewing, the Northern California non-alcoholic beer maker that launched the event. Fooling around on the lake is an old hobby, but until now, there haven’t been many organized, creativity-forward DIY competitions like this. Just crazy guys on YouTube—like the video of Murray riding two ping-pong paddles behind a boat. A few weeks after submitting a Western-themed design to the call for entries, Joan and Zach were test riding vintage wooden rocking horses. Staying above the water atop wooden horses was, in a word, challenging. The vision: Wearing thrifted cowboy outfits, Zach will lasso Joan as they each ride rocking horses sourced from Facebook Marketplace and Offerup. Both grew up in and around the water industry: Joan wakeboarded competitively as a teen and now works in boat sales; thanks to a father working in a water ski factory, Zach grew up watching watersport development and manufacturing. By the time he was 6, his dad had taught him to ride barefoot. “People get so serious these days, and you really need to focus on just enjoying the fun of it and the silliness of it,” Zach says, pointing even to youth competitions that can value performance over enjoyment. Can You Ride It?, on the other hand, is all about having the best day possible, playing on the water like curious kids. Can You Ride It? teams will be judged on distance, creativity, design, and showmanship. Costumes are “highly encouraged,” so long as they don’t pose a buoyancy or safety risk. Another competitor will ride a trash can lid; one duo is taking a "Bananas in Pajamas" cartoon theme to the water. The top prize is $3,000 and more than $1,500 in gear, and all finalists get a year's supply of beer from Best Day Brewing. Zach connected with Murray on this fun-forward vision, a return to the no-bad-ideas days of childhood. “He's really just a legend in our sport, and he's always ridden unique objects,” Zach says of Murray. For his part, Zach had done the same: “Even as kids, we were standing up on kneeboards, or we’d grab some piece of wood. And we'd always just try to see if we could get behind the boat.” On Saturday, they'll try it with an audience.

There's lots of summer left at a UFO event and a floating music festival.

Hoodstock puts the music festival out to sea. I spy summer: August has floating music fests, fun aboard the state fair Ferris wheel, and easygoing art festivals. This month is the time to go all-in on outdoor playtime, and the state has plenty of events for it. Quincy | aug 1–3 The Gorge's annual country music fest boasts a star-studded lineup with the likes of Jason Aldean and Dierks Bentley. But the music is only half the fun: Festival camping in the Eastern Washington desert comes with community and themed contests for the best campsite decor.  index | aug 2 The banks of the Skykomish River come alive with creativity during Index's annual art festival. Wander booths of local artist wares, dance to live music until you drop, and take in spoken word performances under stunning Cascade peaks. Need an art break? The Town Walls hold countless routes for experienced rock climbers.  vashon island | aug 7–10 Just a ferry ride away from downtown Seattle, laidback Vashon Island hosts an annual film fest of independent cinema. The curated lineup holds a handful of Pacific Northwest and West Coast premieres, from documentary Coroner to the Stars to French narrative A Second Life.  Whidbey Island takes its art outside for the Plein Air Paint Out. Whidbey Island | Aug 11–14 Make like Van Gogh and haul a canvas outside for outdoor painting all across Whidbey Island; this annual event gathers artists to recreate the island's many vistas. The stretch of en masse painting days culminates in a gala where the week's work is sold to creatives and collectors. Union | Aug 15 & 16 The traditional music festival gets an upgrade with a floating concert on Hood Canal. Boaters buy an official fest flag to join the party, while those of us without yachts or kayaks can board Alderbrook Resort's cruise or opt for land-bound sets at Robin Hood Village Resort. All festivalgoers can take part in a history-imbued dinner—with live music and dancing, of course. Burien | Aug 16 Not far from where the famous Maury Island incident occurred in 1947, UFO enthusiasts gather to discuss what's out there. Burien Film Festival flicks screen all day, and the event includes live music and costume contests for Alien and Men in Black enthusiasts.  Tumwater | Aug 16 Tumwater's hoppy roots from bygone Olympia Brewery manifest in a modern-day beer fest with over 100 pours, stein-holding competitions, and local food. A human-size beer pong game will make everyone feel like a college kid, but the event itself is 21 and over only. long beach | aug 18–24 Long Beach's quintessential boardwalk almost always affords a view of kites flying above the Pacific, but a weeklong event boasts informal workshops, live music, a beer garden, and the most elaborate kites to grace the sky all year. International kite-flying teams perform synchronized routines, and anyone can get in on the action thanks to beachside kite vendors. Test your aim—or luck—at the Evergreen State Fair with classic carnival games. Monroe | Aug 21–26, 28–Sept 1 This state fair can be hard to distinguish from the one down south, but Monroe's has been a Snohomish County fall staple for decades and has dialed in the right combination of carnival rides and unique forms of entertainment (chainsaw carving, anyone?). Monster truck shows hold down opening weekend alongside three days of classic rodeo events.

The protagonist in Paramount Theatre's & Juliet isn't falling victim to that star-crossed lovers tale. Jump to Your Genre:  Food and Drink / Visual Arts / Live Music Performance / Film / Special Events / Readings and Lectures / On Sale Now Seattleites are spoiled for choice when it comes to spending our leisure time. Just take a look at the sheer variety of options: We have an exceptional array of museums, independent bookstores, restaurants, bars (and bar trivia), record stores, nightlife options, local shops, and a rich music landscape. And the actual landscape? Outdoor recreation opportunities abound, especially if you subscribe to the “no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing” mindset (if you don’t, are you really from Seattle?). From abundant hikes, swimming holes, state parks, and campgrounds just beyond city limits to a voluminous urban trail system, there’s something for the outdoorsperson of every skill and stoke level. Those with little ones (human or furred) can rejoice at a bevy of great playgrounds, spray parks, and zoos.  But if you just want a guide already, we've got plenty for food, outdoors, shopping, and entertainment. Plus, a shortlist of what to do in Washington this month. Or find below the best things to do in Seattle, updated weekly.  Food and Drink KEXP BBQ august 15, 2–9pm | kexp, $45 As much a cookout as it is concert, the annual KEXP bash features live music from Curtis Harding, True Loves, Vagabon, and others—plus home station DJs spinning live. Grab a plate, sit back, and relax to bonafide Pacific Northwest tunes.  There's plenty to cheers to—and with—at the Winemaker Picnic and Barrel Auction. Winemaker Picnic and Barrel Auction august 15, 5pm | Chateau Ste. Michelle, $150–5,000 The seminal event of Washington's summer wine culture, the Winemaker Picnic and Barrel Auction brings over 100 winemakers to the Chateau Ste. Michelle lawn. Tickets score the chance to mingle with industry greats, sip pours from tasting stations, and play wine-inspired games before bidding on future release wines.  Visual Arts Tala Madani: Be flat through august 17, various | the henry, free Painter and animator Tala Madani weaves satire and a dream-like quality through her works. In addition to a handful of large paintings in the University District museum, Maranda's installation includes small wooden structures; step inside to view animations in tiny bare-bones theaters.  Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei through september 7, various | seattle art museum, $29.99 Forty years of culture-shifting, regime-challenging work comes to Seattle. The new exhibition—with parts spread across two SAM campuses—showcases Ai Weiwei's impactful career; Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays boast docent-led tours for an in-depth exploration of his themes and impact.  Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular through september 28, various | frye art museum, free The sleek, always-free art museum houses sculptor and multimedia artist Hugh Hayden’s first solo museum spot on the West Coast. Filling the galleries are curiously reworked items from everyday American life, like the cherry bark encased Louboutins and a life-sized church nave. Nina Katchadourian specializes in lost stories, like an accent elimination installation. Nina Katchadourian: Origin Stories through october 26, various | national nordic museum, $5–20 Fresh art drops at the National Nordic Museum, courtesy of multidisciplinary artist Nina Katchadourian. Her works range from photographs, to video, to an immersive installation surrounding a real-life shipwreck disaster. On June 22, Katchadourian will join a survivor of the shipwreck, Douglas Robertson, in conversation at the gallery.  Live Music Fremont Fridays' live music lineup is the cure to post-Capitol Hill Block Party blues. Fremont Fridays through september 5, 5pm–close | various, free Everything simply must be outside in the summer, and neighborhood music festivals are no exception. Over a dozen music acts spread across five Fremont venues bring weekend-starting tunes opposite a vendor village hawking local wares. The evening ends with a silent disco at LTD Bar and Grill's outdoor patio.  ZooTunes through september 3, various | woodland park zoo, various Woodland Park Zoo's animals clock out and globally-touring artists clock in for the summer concert series. Up next, alternative indie outfit Devo brings new wave tracks to the stage. To soak up the summer sun with more outdoor concerts, check out our full guide.  Lady Gaga august 6–8, 8pm | climate pledge arena, $229.67+ Dial in the "Abracadabra" choreography and join a Climate Pledge Arena full of Little Monsters for the iconic pop act's three-night Seattle run. Expect stunning theatrics, bewitching costumes, and a few throwback tracks of Lady Gaga's greatest hits.  Shinedown august 8, 7pm | climate pledge arena, $64.90–351.20 The dynamic modern rock four piece brings their "Dance, Kid, Dance" tour to Climate Pledge Arena in a flurry of energy and literal fireworks. Sure, they'll play the tour's title track, but expect award-winning songs from previous albums—like "A Symptom of Being Human"—too. Performance Much Ado About Nothing comes to Seattle parks this summer. Shakespeare in the Park through august 16, various | various, free Long a Seattle summer tradition, Shakespeare plays return to over 20 area parks for free performances. Four productions spread across dozens of dates, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Much Ado About Nothing, promise fun-forward, simplified versions of the classic tales. BYO blanket.  This Juliet has been to therapy. & Juliet through august 3, various | the paramount theatre, $91.60–181.60 If reading Romeo and Juliet left you thinking "All that for a boy?" then The Paramount Theatre's & Juliet is for you. Emmy-winning “Schitt’s Creek" writer David West Read crafts an alternate ending full of pop anthems and more rom-com than tragedy. Dolly and the Golden Tassel through september 14, 6:30 and 9:30pm | can can seattle, $56–116 Pike Place Market's burlesque dinner theater puts on a summer show full of big hair, big ballads, and big rhinestone energy. While the jukebox-dance musical is mostly adults-only, two matinee shows August 3 and 10 open the doors for all ages to sing along.  FILM Movies at the Mural: The Princess Bride august 1, 9pm | mural amphitheatre, free Cult classic comedy-romance The Princess Bride returns to the outdoor screen with Westley and Buttercup in tow. Tote a blanket and snacks to the lawn, and relish in a Seattle summer tradition.  Retro Nights: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse august 6, 7pm | majestic bay theatre, $13 Ballard's independent theatre highlights throwbacks this summer, screening nostalgia-filled faves chosen by audiences. Next up is Forks-inspired The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Talking Pictures: Anchorman august 7, 7:30pm | siff cinema downtown, $25–35 In true local, independent theater fashion, SIFF's Talking Pictures series allows hometown celebrities to screen a film of their choice and speak on its personal impact. Lex Vaughn, founder and editor of satirical news outlet The Needling, will chat about 1970s-set comedy Anchorman before hitting play.  SPECIAL EVENTS Seafair Weekend Festival august 1–3, 8:30am–6pm | various, $0–100 The airways are about to get noisy. Seafair—and its hydroplane races, car show, and Blue Angels flyers—return to Lake Washington in typical summer fashion. For a full guide to the weekend's festivities, read on.  Frye Nouveau After Hours august 8, 6–9pm | frye art museum, free with rsvp The First Hill art house puts an artistic spin on a post-work happy hour with patio cocktails, prompt-led mingling to skip tired questions, and galleries open late for special viewing. Plus, local artist Emma Kates-Shaw leads a hands-on workshop inspired by her found-object art on display.   Hillman City Block Party august 9, 10am–close | Hillman City Business District, free Back for its second year, the Hillman City Block Party brings live performances, kids activities, and a beer garden to the trendy, edgy neighborhood. Art is tangible at the street-side soiree; SEEDArts hosts open gallery hours for inspired wandering, and souvenirs are printed in real time at Lucky Rabbet. READINGS AND LECTUREs Kim Fu: Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century july 30, 6:30pm | central library, free Author Kim Fu dives into her recent release, a collection of science fiction short stories, with KUOW Book Club host Katie Campbell. The tales challenge, appall, and impact; the duo will discuss them at the Seattle Public Library's central downtown outpost. Drew Harvell: The Ocean’s Menagerie july 31, 7pm | elliott bay book company, free Marvels from the deep sea take center stage for marine biologist and ecologist Drew Harvell's chat on her spring release, The Ocean’s Menagerie: How Earth’s Strangest Creatures Reshape the Rules of Life. From hometown dives in the Salish Sea to underwater info gathering in Indonesia, Harvell brings personal stories and scientific breakthroughs to Elliott Bay Book Company. Writers With Drinks august 14, 7:30pm | town hall seattle, $10–35 Touted as a spoken word variety show of sorts, the format starts with a handful of writers and promises short readings from each, crafting an evening woven together in unexpected ways. In August, six authors of queer science fiction and fantasy take a break from Worldcon to join the stage with their reality-bending work.  On sale now The extra ingredient? Giving back and supporting culinary education in Seattle at Farestart. Yum. Guest Chef Night Series through november 20, 5–9pm | FareStart Restaurant, $55 FareStart culinary education nonprofit taps local legends for bi-monthly chef dinners that reliably sell out weeks in advance. This summer, the star-studded lineup includes the likes of Chef Bill Jeong of Paju, the siblings behind Ramie and Ba Sa Trinh and Thai Nguyen, and Kricket Club's Preeti Agarwal.  Supper Fan Club september 22, 6–8:30pm | mopop, $130 Superfans are called to supper at MOPOP's newest dinner series, each meal themed to a different fandom. Next up: a Middle-earth meal with large doses of hobbit hospitality; expect a feast fit for Frodo with swords, songs, and long roads of adventure.

A Shakespeare redo, Lady Gaga, and an inconceivable classic screened outdoors.

This summer, the party is at the matcha café. In college, I camped out for four weeks in a tent line to watch the Duke-Carolina game. I still go to the post office. I’ve waited in countless lines for streetwear drops in NYC with my runway model cousin, usually in vain. Recently, I noticed the sidewalk-blocking lines snaking outside Seattle’s newest matcha cafés and wondered what gave them the same pull as rivalry basketball or Vlone shirts in 2017. The younger someone is, the more likely they are to be enthusiastic about waiting in line: A 2024 survey found that 92 percent of Gen Z Americans who stood in a food line for 30 minutes or more thought it was worth it. As a 44-year-old, “worth it” is an extremely high bar in Seattle. I would want the entire menu at the erstwhile Il Corvo after waiting that long, or at the very least Triumph Valley dumplings. Phê's hand-whisked tea is the drink of the summer. Seattle is, of course, no stranger to matcha; places like Miro Tea and Nana’s Green Tea have been serving it for years. But new owners are bringing their own backgrounds—Vietnamese, Korean, and Filipino—and a creative flair to the scene, with flavors like banana puree, black sesame foam, and lychee syrup with sparkling water. These inventive drinks are also pixel-perfect color pops built to be lusted after on social media. The FOMO, the hype, the ’gram—it’s just entertainment, and I was skeptical of it all, until I finally got the tea. The world of matcha is similar to what people already experience with pour-over coffee: hand-crafted pleasure. The magic of personal attention, bespoke manual creations, anticipation, and taste; the matcha experience is even more theatrical. It’s a different type of activity than grinding, pouring carefully, and dripping—a spiritual stirring of the core of my drink. Taz focuses on Japanese-style customer service and serenity. At each place I visited, a barista carefully weighed the matcha into a bowl, hot water kettle at the ready. They hand-whisked ceremonial-grade powdered matcha into a beautiful, bubbly, earthy green foam. The color gradient reminded me of slowly walking through the Hall of Mosses at Olympic National Park. I’ve learned to lean into the moment and appreciate the individualized attention of each drink. To eavesdrop, to pay attention to the person whisking, the person pouring the tea into my drink, the person adding the topping. Matcha is a ceremony, and standing in line has become part of the ritual. No better place to show off a good fit than the line for matcha. Total time spent: 33 min Favorite overheard quote: “Oh, I did that TikTok drink on my first visit; now I just get the matcha latte.” On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the sidewalk outside the converted garage space exploded with some 40 folks in line, another 20 waiting for drinks, and packed tables inside. People were chatting, maxing and relaxing all cool, with plenty of group selfies and camp collar shirts. It was a party—for everyone except the frustrated walkers trying to plow through the throngs. Phê gets creative with its matcha, hojicha, and coffee drinks, adding foam, corn, honeycomb, and more. It took about 10 minutes to get to the door, where a sign indicated they’d run out of matcha. They were also out of banana pudding for their viral lattes. Most people shrugged it off: Phê’s coffee, hojicha, and other drinks, along with its surprisingly large food menu, are still incredibly exciting. I ordered lychee iced tea and honey yuzu chrysanthemum iced tea from the extremely hurried—but confidently so—staff. “The hype is wild,” says Vy Le, who owns Phê with her family. “Our emotional checkpoint is simple: Do people feel good here?” From what I can tell, they feel fan-freaking-tastic. Waiting for drinks, a pair of regulars tells me they have figured out the ebb and flow of the line—come early mornings, they say. One had the Phê Keo (coffee, milk, caramel with cold foam, and toffee bits) in the morning with no line, and loved it so much they came back and waited for 25 minutes for another one. If it doesn't go on the 'gram, did it even happen? Total time spent (1st visit): 20 minTotal time spent (2nd visit): 45 min Favorite overheard quote: “Dude, this matcha strawberry? Like, wow dude. Wow.” —A guy in line who found out that Taz served only tea, left, and came back with iced coffee before ordering his drink. Compared to Phê’s open, beautiful soirée, Taz is a hidden escape inside a nondescript downtown office building. I stepped into the line with a measure of faith at 1:30pm on a Monday, just as four others did, too. And 14 more joined behind us before I reached the door. A couple from NYC heard about it on Beli, a welcome break from the usual Instagram and TikTok. Other than the few tourists, the line was mostly office workers nervously checking the time. Ten minutes later, I made it to the front, where I stepped into a wood-framed glass entrance and was greeted by the owner, Ly Tran. Each drink at Taz comes from the studious work of the team behind the counter. Inspired by the small mom-and-pop shops he saw on trips to Japan, Tran aims to deliver the personalized service and calm he experienced. The serenity of the blonde wood, white walls, and soaring ceilings is punctuated by two murals and a pair of tatami-style tables. Along the windows facing the street is a shrine to Tran’s former French bulldog, Taz, the café’s namesake.  Elaborate matcha drinks at Taz require many careful steps. Vibrant colors make matcha drinks the must-have accessory. Tran ushered me to the counter, where an employee explained the difference between matcha and hojicha. While both start from the same green tea, matcha is first steamed, then ground into a bright green powder with grassy and vegetal notes. Hojicha is first roasted and later ground into a reddish-brown powder, imparting smoky and malty flavors. Seven people worked at a frenetic pace behind the counter on orders, transfixing me as they whisked my hojicha into a mushroom-brown frothiness and topped it with the cool black sesame foam Tran recommended. The snaking lines come from each of the new matcha cafés that have opened. When I came back to Taz on Saturday, I noticed the same friend group I stood behind at Phê amid the crowd. This experience, as most others in the line would say, “hit different.” The queue of roughly 40 much-younger people extended around the corner into the alley, between a row of trash cans and an open parking lot—a mix of Seattle folks finally trying it out and tourist groups. My wife and I grabbed two open seats at the bar, drank water in neat glasses, and cooled off while the staff buzzed around each other like matcha baristas in a high-speed ballet. Yoka Tea invites neighbors and the community to sit down and stay awhile. Total wait time: 9 min Favorite overheard quote: “Can you believe this is actually in Madrona?” On my first visit to Yoka Tea, a Wednesday at 10am, co-owner Marcellus Beza said, “Hey,” like we knew each other. As did co-owner Amy Park and employee Sidney Landers, the only other staff there. Their sincerity immediately disarmed the hater in me. Phê and Taz felt like taking a fun trip, Yoka felt like a place I’d stop on the way home. The only Seattle freeze at the friendly Yoka Tea is the ice in the cold drinks. Everybody in line except one was there for the first time. The crowd consisted of a wider range of ages and fashion choices. Just the day before, a friend of mine exclaimed, “This coffee place is wild, bro; there’s jelly in here!” They were out of that, but Park recommended the matcha lychee sparkler. Landers began whisking matcha gracefully. The intense lychee-ness against the grassy matcha floored me. It was the best sip of anything I’ve had all year, hands down. A bit of NYC style lands in Madrona at Yoka Tea. Park and Beza created Yoka Tea after visiting New York, hoping to replicate that vibrant third-space energy in Seattle. Amy mentioned that a few NYC transplants in the neighborhood told her the space reminds them of their former home. As a Brooklyn transplant myself, I agree. But not Manhattan. Definitely Brooklyn. It has quickly become a popular neighborhood spot (thanks, in part, to buzz-building pop-ups), and they just started a local run club. Every time I walk past it, it feels more familiar, as if it’s always been here. Matcha drinks make it look easy being green. I walk past Yoka Tea with my dog nearly every day. The space basks in an abundance of natural light, and the seating setup dares you to take a break. Two days after my first visit, the line was to the door—maybe 12 or 15 people. On Sunday, the line stretched to the corner and down the sidewalk, easily 30 people. Several groups of people under 40 congregating in one location in Madrona? It makes us feel hip.

Farhan Mustafa has a revelation about why the kids are all in line for tea.