Saturday, August 16, 2025

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    Two Poems by Abi Pollokoff 

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                                    the pebbles at the beach’s bottom drown & are rebreathedeach tide                                like the human body’s slipping sleepward & jolting back                                & back:                                a rest that’s never true & a wake that’s all gasp & release. we don’t rememberhow to catch breath & shape it                                bubble-soft & trailinginto something to care for, to ear afterinstead, airbound, we gulp quickly                                giddy at the glottal                                                                     teeth tense                                stifling in breath as lungs inflate                                exhale                                a flight like a gull on the updraft                  is this exhilaration?                suck & gasp                                lips pressed to windburst                                the gall of it              trapping what’s invisible           into mouthshape           tongue swaddled tightagainst billow & blessing                                 & we don’t remember                                                                                                   we don’t rememberour primary tasks as the pebbles sink into sand & seaswoon              we hang our jaws open by the molar in wait                                                                                                              the air here hangsjust as lightless in our caves & cavities           tiding itself into cheeks & out           it doesn’t want to be swallowed                      & it doesn’t want to be let go           & it fills our mouths with its cacophonies                                                                                                              echo & original soundsometimes we kick the pebbles at the beach’s bottom but onlywhen sun’s alchemy                                 turns them silvered & slivering                      we’re afraid of letting them slip                      into nightness & we’re afraid of thembleakdamp                      sifting speech across our surfaces            they too closely resemble                                 our own clammy souls slowlyovercome                          with tide                                                                   it’s brittle in our mouthsthis dusty light                                            our cheeks                      full of pebble                                                                                   & aglow

    The Best Seafood in Seattle

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    Taylor Shellfish shows off the best of Pacific Northwest Shellfish. Magnificent seafood is as much our city’s brand as innovation, public radio, and our weird pride about not using umbrellas. But, until recently, we lacked many excellent dedicated seafood bars—though there were oyster bars and sushi destinations aplenty.  We could go out for Italian food and assume there would be brothy shellfish; neighborhood restaurants loaded up on salmon come spring, and chefs all knew their lingcod from their black cod (and that neither is actually a cod). Any restaurant hewing local in any way had seafood options. Now, we have all that, plus a slate of restaurants that fit the bill of what people from elsewhere imagine a seafood restaurant to be. And that makes us as happy as a geoduck. Local Tide Fremont Victor Steinbrueck cultivates a network of local fisheries that would impress the Michelin star crowd. But he turns that haul into the diner menu of your seafaring dreams—rockfish banh mi, salmon BLTs, a big bowl of home fries layered with bacon bits and smoked cod. Local Tide’s signature, a plush roll of hand-picked crab on just the right split bun, only surfaces on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. RockCreek Fremont, Kirkland A region this rich in seafood deserves more spots like Eric Donnelly’s, where the chef’s fishing acumen and culinary finesse join forces for preparations you won’t see on 20 other menus around town. Donnelly’s menu is equal parts Totten Inlet and Hawaiian tombo, and slaloms from whole grilled snapper to tuna tiradito to a hearty stew of shellfish and Neah Bay rockfish. Throw in the covered patio, the cocktails, and the gently Southern brunch menu: RockCreek is the whole package. Seabird Bainbridge Island Brendan McGill’s flagship restaurant pays tribute to the water however it can: seaweed focaccia, a kelp caesar, a martini with shellfish-rested gin. The rest of the menu makes use of McGill’s nearby farm and the wood-fueled oven. The execution isn’t always even, but the service and the menu's sheer brain-boggling ambition make each meal feel like a special occasion. Westward Wallingford Chef Mike Stamey runs Renee Erickson’s restaurant on the north end of Lake Union. When the water-and-skyline view is this good, the patio this ample, most restaurants could phone in the food. But Stamey’s seafood menu spans the Pacific coastline, from Washington spot prawns to spicy clam dip to scallop ceviche in aguachile. All hail the seafood tower. Peak PNW: freshly shucked oysters consumed next to bubbling tanks at Taylor Shellfish's Melrose Market location. Taylor Shellfish Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, Queen Anne The family-run oyster farming operation has three Seattle-area dining outposts, each with its own menu and ambience—a pregame-fried-food feel at Pioneer Square, a bright intimacy at Seattle Center, a genuine fish market vibe with bubbling water tanks on Capitol Hill. You can order them expertly shucked by the dozen, but Taylor’s kitchens also do right by geoduck, dungeness, and manila clams. Seattle Fish Guys Central District Alums from Mutual Fish and City Fish opened a non-bougie seafood market at 23rd and Jackson that’s just as much a destination for lunch as for black cod fillets or raw scallops and spot prawns. Custom poke bowls, shrimp cocktail, crab sandwiches, big plates of sashimi, chowder, and fresh uni and oysters are a product of careful prep and absurdly fresh ingredients, all with the perfect handful of beers to wash them down. Even the Bloody Mary at the Market is a seafood-centric experience. The Market Edmonds, Downtown Shubert Ho’s downtown Edmonds cafe is tiny—a counter and a covered, heated patio. But it puts out a massive lineup of casual fish dishes. The lobster rolls have a devout following, but the menu’s full of finds, like lobster fries, green curry shrimp and grits, or a bag full of fried soft-shell crab. The Market serves a similar menu, plus morning coffee, at its Seattle Art Museum location. Pike Place Chowder Downtown, Pike Place Market It’s hard to disassociate this Post Alley counter with high-season tourist lines, but it’s even tougher to forget that superb chowder—creamy and rich with clams. Order online for quicker access to varieties made with crab and oyster, smoked salmon, even vegan lime and coconut. The Pike Place Market location has outdoor seating, but the location on the top floor of Pacific Place feels like a secret. The Walrus and the Carpenter Ballard Back in 2010, Renee Erickson thought she was opening a casual, hidden-away oyster bar. Then came the buzz—and the excitement hasn’t diminished since. Yes, it’s a great place to eat oysters, but the broader food menu (part French, wholly Northwest) is full of inspired seafood dishes, not to mention pitch-perfect vegetables and a signature steak tartare. Come early, or plan to wait in the amaro bar next door. Ivar's Acres of Clams Various Ivar Haglund, Seattle’s own P.T. Barnum with a yen for pranks, started a fish and chips counter on the waterfront in 1938. Today it’s grown to include more than 20 fast-casual outposts that serve chowder and fish and chips from Tacoma to Marysville—including the Alki Spud. Ivar’s also runs three full-service waterside restaurants, where the vibe is far from cool. The White Swan Public House South Lake Union Hidden away within the Ocean Alexander Marina on Lake Union, Matt’s in the Market’s seafood-focused sibling applies its rustic, seasonal lens to crab hush puppies, beautiful halibut preparations, and rich seafood stew. Even casual fry shack staples like crispy calamari and fishwiches display the care of a kitchen with high-end roots; ditto the house’s signature “poutine of the sea,” essentially fries topped with clam chowder and bacon. Also on premise: plenty of fresh-shucked oysters (and Champagne to pair) and one of the town’s epic waterside patios. Ray's Boathouse and Ray's Cafe Ballard Downstairs: the site of a thousand anniversary dinners. Upstairs: a more casual menu, lunch service, and a patio with Shilshole Bay views that draw summer visitors like a slushy machine in a heatwave. The common ground: seafood prepared along a spectrum of familiar to classic. Ray’s groundbreaking days are well behind it, but hoist a glass of Washington wine to the restaurant that began as a coffee and bait shop in the 1930s, then went on to introduce Northwest hallmarks like Olympia oysters and Copper River salmon into our dining vernacular.  Bar Harbor South Lake Union An aggressively nautical hangout in the 400 Fairview building embraces seafood from the other coast. Namely a proper lobster roll, with knuckles and claws spilling out of a split roll. Plus other Northeastern-styled bar fare, and maybe some nachos and queso, because hey—it’s SLU. Local loyalists can get behind the lobster roll variation made with dungeness crab. Aqua by El Gaucho sits on the edge of a pier. Aqua by El Gaucho Belltown El Gaucho’s sibling applies the steak house’s retro-upscale ethos to seafood, then throws in the kind of stunning views you only get at the tip of Pier 70. So: piano bar, check; lobster tail add-on, check. The modular list of protein entrees and shareable carby sides (dungeness mac and cheese) echoes the old-school steak house menu format. There are also plenty of options for diners who aren’t into seafood. Elliott's Oyster House Waterfront The waterfront location means tourists occupy most tables at this venerable seafood spot, which serves local seafood for lunch, brunch, dinner, and happy hour. But Elliott’s oyster program is peerless—a list as carefully sourced and curated as any wine roster, and a staff able to break it all down for the uninitiated.  Driftwood focuses on finding the best seafood around. Driftwood West Seattle Chef Dan Mallahan meticulously sources his seafood from local waters, working with Quinault and Makah tribal members to bring in the best fish and shellfish and to support the people carrying on the state’s fishing traditions. The hyper-curated ingredients mean that the menu stays small, but it also doesn’t miss with items like halibut cheek terrine, pull-apart rolls with Dungeness crab fat butter, and Neah Bay spring king salmon. The prime spot on Alki Beach and excellent selection of local seafood friendly wines make it a top pick for celebrating a special occasion. The Garrison Ballard The folks behind Fremont’s Le Coin nail the current high-low mix that people want from seafood spots. We want to order a seafood tower for dinner with an upgrade to a whole Dungeness crab, but we also want to dip the house corn chips in some crab dip. While the entrées include seared sablefish with celeriac and Columbia River steelhead with mustard and herb velouté, the fries are also great—and there’s a late-night happy hour with caviar on the menu. Half Shell's Dungeness crab roll says, "Lobster who?" Half Shell Pike Place Market Tom Douglas gives the people what they want, and what they want is seafood near Pike Place Market. This modern update to the classic oyster bar is cute and better than it needs to be, especially at happy hour when the mini-tinis are $10 and work well to wash down a roasted oyster with ’nduja butter or ginger shrimp nugget slider. Oyster Cellar Downtown Oyster Cellar’s marble-top bar in the bottom of an almost-century-old downtown building gives it a pleasant old-school gravitas that doesn’t quite fit the food of the more casual, Seattle-side seafood sibling of Brendan McGill’s Seabird. That makes it no less pleasant to sit down for creative takes on local seafood, like the shrimp Louie salad in deviled egg form and burrata-topped tuna toast. La Marea Ballard Mexico’s west coast meets the Northwest at this seafood counter inside Fair Isle Brewing. Though the PNW has traditionally shied away from messing with our oh-so-perfect seafood, LA transplants Bohden Tarantine and Lizbeth Dones bravely dial up the heat on dishes like scallop aguachile and seafood cocktail. Silky tuna and lush hamachi drape over crisp tostadas, with bold supporting casts of chile morita aioli, macha XO sauce, and smoked albacore salad. One of the casual, appetizer-size dishes works well as a bar snack; sharing two or three and an order of chips with roasted green chile queso makes it a fine meal.

    Paddleboards Have Transformed Lake Union

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    Seattle Paddle Rave gathered hundreds of boaters near Gasworks Park on Tuesday. Not to brag, but I own a boat. My very own seafaring vessel that I use for recreation, launched from any port that suits my fancy. It's also only 11 feet long, two and a half feet wide, and six inches thick. It is, of course, a standup paddleboard. I'm not the only one to embrace paddleboard ownership in the last decade; on Tuesday, more than 800 people (at least by one count) took to the water near Gasworks for something called the Seattle Paddle Rave, a new event meant to thaw out the Seattle Freeze. The flotilla gathered offshore, a giant blur of turquoise blue sidewalls and exposed shoulders just waiting for a sunburn. Watching them, it was clear that paddleboard culture has changed the face of Lake Union. Lake Union, the city's central water park, was formed by the Vashon Glacier thousands of years ago and was used by the Duwamish Tribe for centuries—for fishing and transportation but also, inevitably, for recreation. White settlement brought lumber mills and pleasure craft, and eventually Lake Union became home to "every single kind of boat that possibly exists," says Josh Anderson, executive director at the Center for Wooden Boats, which sits on the lake's southern shore. Oh, plus seaplanes. Though stand-up paddleboards date back centuries to Polynesia, the 2010s brought a revolution: the inflatable version. When Amazon debuted its Treasure Truck in 2015, its signature launch deal was a $477 inflatable paddleboard discounted to just $99. I scored one of those myself and a water hobbyist was born. Lake Union hasn't ever belonged solely to the yacht-owners of the world, even if they do park their insanely large luxury barges on the docks near Duke's Seafood. Various outfitters rent electric vessels, kayaks, and even hot tub boats. The Center for Wooden Boats has a free program for wooden rowboats. But before the dawn of the age of the inflatable paddleboard, storage fees or awkward roof racks were required to ride them. Today, you can literally fit a boat inside an amusingly large backpack.

    Colibrí Opens, Zax Will Soon, and What to Eat in the Heat

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    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. Now Aflutter The former Plum Bistro space returned to life this week when Colibrí Mexican Kitchen opened. The huge menu covers a ton of ground, mostly hewing toward Mexican American favorites, with crispy tacos and quesadillas. Coffeeholic House expands again, this time bringing drinks like matcha purple haze to Wallingford. In Full Color Colorful drinks specialist and Vietnamese coffee house Coffeeholic House opened the doors to its Wallingford shop this week, continuing to expand the mini-empire that includes Columbia City and Greenwood locations, plus MCozy Cafe in the U-District. Coming Attractions Ferry fare: Last week, we noted that longtime chef Greg Atkinson announced his retirement and that he had sold his Bainbridge Island restaurant, Marché. This week, the Seattle Times follows up on that to bring us news of its replacement: Sweetwater Tavern. Southern comfort: Zax Eat ‘n Three looks to open this coming week in the former Hangry Panda space on Aurora. With a checkerboard floor and smoked chicken slathered in Alabama white sauce, it looks to bring a taste of the South to North Seattle. Eastern comfort: According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Ukrainian sandwich chain Lviv Croissant plans to open its first Seattle location in November, in Southcenter. Comfort Italiano: The owners of Italian fine-dining classic Il Terrazzo Carmine announced a new downtown restaurant coming to Fifth Avenue this fall. The Carmine empire, now in the hands of Carmine Smeraldo's sons, is planning something along the lines of the Bellevue location—an evolution from the original that honors its roots. Cold Comfort It’s been hot. It’s been a slow week. Not a whole lot of restaurant news happening. Seems like a great time for me to drop some opinions hot takes (I'm sorry) on what to eat during the hottest weeks of summer. Cool off with radish kimchi this week. Banchan: We dropped by H Mart in Lynnwood on Sunday, mostly to buy my 7-year-old socks with Cinnamoroll on them. But while we were there, we grabbed a selection of banchan—kimchi, pickled radishes, potato salad, and spicy fish cakes—and have had three straight meals of them: over rice, with steamed egg, and with cold noodles (also from H Mart). Copy this idea with local flavor by stopping into Pioneer Square’s Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe to stock up. Ice cream: Should you have ice cream for dinner often? Probably not. Should you have it for dinner once or twice a year? Definitely, and here's where to go. And if you choose New Zealand–style, you can take heart in that there is at least some fruit involved. (Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist.) Salad: The only way I consider salad a complete dinner is if I follow it with ice cream, but I recognize that other people disagree. For those who do want salad for dinner, I’ve made you a list of the city’s best options. Oh, BTW, here’s what you missed last week.

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