End of yet another era
Totally forgot about Larry’s Markets’ brief, doomed venture into West Seattle till the mention deep inside this story about Larry’s bankruptcy. But the recovered memory reblooms vividly: Summer 1995, venturing over to that space where the Roxbury Safeway now holds court, to check out “LoBucks” — loved the idea of Larry’s treats like brownies being available over here, but the store just stunk. Literally. Couldn’t set foot in it a second time. And soon it was gone.
As for the entirety of the Larry’s demise, it saddens WSB Spouse and I a bit. In our early years here, long before Metropolitan Market and other rivals, we used to drive all the way over to Queen Anne just to enjoy favorite dishes from the Larry’s deli. A couple times in the past two years or so, we went back in hopes of recapturing the magic — and it just wasn’t there — many trademark cold salads and marinated chicken varieties had vanished — even the trademark brownie trays were hard to find. So we stopped going. And apparently we weren’t alone.
And ANOTHER restaurant?
After a cruise through the Junction tonight, en route to chilly, windy Alki, I went back to the city permit site to look for clues to what’s behind the butcher paper now covering windows at the old Neilsen Florist shop. Lo and behold … all signs point to another restaurant.
Meantime, to the south along Cali Ave, a cupcake war seems to be shaping up. Just as Cupcake Royale starts flashing more gang signs as it gets closer to opening, we’ve spotted the folks at nearby Coffee to a Tea With Sugar throwing down by adding the word “cupcakes” to its window decor.
Farmers’ Market report
Produce: Too early for lettuce (unless everything got scooped up in the hour and a half before we got there); apples and asparagus abounded.
Baked goods: TONS. WSB’s escorts enjoyed tasty blueberry scones from one booth before we found ourselves passing at least three others where we could have picked up scones, tarts, cookies, muffins, etc. Food purveyors included new mom Toby from Eats Market Cafe, with baby in front-pack. WSB Spouse picked up a $2 carton of cole slaw from EMC for tomorrow’s lunch.
Plants: Our favorite nursery is back, in their double-size booth toward the east side of the market, complete with the spiky nightshades. Not too late to get some for your own yard next week! Three for seven bucks, quite the deal. Lots of other interesting plants too. (The nursery’s name is Langley Fine Gardens, which always confuses me because they are on Vashon Island, not Whidbey — it’s the operators’ surname, not their town’s name.)
Just a few highlights. Oh, and completely unrelated plug, but I want to start hammering it early: Next Saturday, May 13, is the annual mail carriers’ food drive, another rite of spring for us. Put together a big bag of nonperishable food and be sure to put it by your mailbox Saturday morning — set yourself an Outlook reminder or whatever you need to do; it’s a fab way to do a little good in the world.
What better to do …
… on a breezy, showery Sunday morning, than go outside!?
The Farmers’ Market awaits. We want to see if the Vashon Island nurseryfolk who grow offbeat plants including some spiky nightshade varieties are back. And the lettuce that’s so tasty, it reminds you that supermarket non-organic varieties are barely a cut above green paper.
Not sure yet if we’re going to make it to the Water Taxi party. I have to arm-wrestle other members of the WSB household as to what we’re doing beyond the Farmers’ Market.
Back from the Maritime Festival
No doubt the cloudy, coolish weather tamped down the turnout a bit, but it’s still disappointing to see so few people show up for a fun only-in-Seattle tradition. As planned, we water-taxied over — the boat’s added some ad banners this year, including one for “coming soon” Cupcake Royale and another for “Patron Saint of the Water Taxi” Councilguy Dow — and wandered up to Pier 66. The free harbor tour switched this year from an Argosy boat to a Kitsap Ferries boat, the Rachel Marie — lots more space but fewer takers. The Port of Seattle guy who narrated had some outdated facts; he claimed six cruise ships visit every weekend during the season, but this year it’s going to be nine. As for the tugboat races, it’s always hard for us amateurs to tell from the shore exactly what we’re looking at — just looks like a bunch of tugs out there, whether it’s mid-race or not. More interesting were the pierside booths, including one plugging the tunnel option for the Viaduct replacement (an excuse to mention that another round of public meetings is coming up). Anyway, we had a good time, but I would just love to have the pier be elbow-to-elbow some year with huge crowds enjoying the festival, which for me is always the unofficial Start of Seattle Summer.
What a deal
My personal pick for Best Cocktail in West Seattle is the mai tai at West 5. Discovered tonight that you can get it during “Happy Hour” for an amazing price — four bucks. Even at that price, I couldn’t handle more than one, much as I wanted to. (Happy Hour btw is 4-6 pm daily.)
More on the new park
Here’s the story in today’s P-I. I wouldn’t exactly call the pub move “a block” … details, details. As for possible names, Monorail Memorial Park really rings my bell. Perhaps some folks on the non-o-rail board can rustle around in the storeroom and find some decorations from items bought but unreturnable …
Station out, park in
The fate of the Morgan Junction non-o-rail property is decided. It’ll be partly a park. I remember reading what the other part will be — the part that involves the “partnership with Beveridge” (owner of the neighboring pub) — but can’t find a link to refresh my memory. Anyway, more parks are always a good thing, IMO …
Meteorologically mean
It is just plain vicious that today will be spectacular and Saturday, when many of us are released from our cages offices to frolic at events such as Maritime Day, it’s supposed to be standard-issue soggy. If you can skip work today, go right ahead, and take an extra lap around Alki for me. I unfortunately was born with a weird gene that will cause me to drop dead on the spot if I ever call in sick when I don’t happen to be. So as Snow White’s mini-men once sang, hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go …
Mystery flyer
On the bulletin board near the restrooms at the Thriftway, a hand-lettered flyer is up with the following:
CAT’S EYE CAFE + ESTATE SALE + COOKIES
5947 41st AVE SW, MAY 5-6-7 (IN ALLEY)
Went over to the Cat’s Eye Cafe (whose address bears no resemblance to that) and no evidence of anything except the same flyer tacked up to its sadly deteriorating sign.
Will have to send a scout over to the sale on Friday to get the scoop, unless anyone out there knows … is this the end for the months-shuttered CEC? Or a fundraiser?
Howling at the m … enu
Envelope o’coupons came in the mail today. Among them, one for Coyotes on Alki (as mentioned here just last night), touting itself as “Alki’s Greatest Attraction! Authentic Mexican Grill” and promising “specialty margaritas, salsa dancing Fri/Sat, outdoor dining, mariachi players, daily happy hour 3-6 pm, reservations recommended.” Did it open since we drove by last night? We suppose we should gather our snooping companion and go down to have a look. A Cinco de Mayo grand opening would be appropriate.
On the east side of the West Side
Cool story about what’s up at the re-invented Cooper School on Delridge.
I’m waiting to see somebody write about what’s up at the ActivSpace building on Harbor Ave just past the bridge. Some weeks back, somebody hung a sign on the Fauntleroy overpass offering “readings” there, among other things, and I believe they meant what we used to call “fortune-telling” as opposed to oh, say, poetry readings. (Actually looks like a lot of alternative practitioners, when you peruse the ActivSpace “customer” list.)
OK, we DID find some news
… and all it took was a drive along Alki. Not only are the “Cactus Restaurant” coming-attraction-type signs posted in the windows of the old Alki Market, a name is also up now for the old Point Grill/Lighthouse Grill/Chez Million space a bit to the east — “Coyotes on Alki.” Corona Beer banners are already dangling festively over the railing of the streetside outdoor table space there. (Just Googled the name and it does look like somebody beat me to the news …)
Heading out in search of news
Going to have to go look for something to report. Wanted to tell you about the banner from the Fauntleroy pedestrian overpass that’s in some language I don’t even recognize … but I didn’t get a chance to write it down. So that can wait till tomorrow. The sun’s too high in the sky right now to let me stay inside!
Sounds, or grounds, of silence
Dropped by Caffe Ladro this chilly May Day Night. Busy but eerily quiet. A couple on laptops, a guy making some kind of print art, people at several other tables … yet no one talking. My companion and I chatted, yet felt somehow guilty about it. Is this the new coffeehouse etiquette? Or should we have just gone down to Starbucks and left Ladro in library-style quiet?
Another restaurant?
Started wondering again about what was up with the vastly empty Alki Market space. I hadn’t previously spotted the online minutes of the Alki Community Council with scuttlebutt that a restaurant was heading that way; the city permit site seems to bear that out, with a construction permit accepted recently. Can’t find any online evidence that the specific brand of restaurant mentioned by the ACC is the one that’s nabbed the space, but I probably just haven’t looked in ALL the right places yet …
Semi-sighting of WS’s most famous politician
Hizzoner was at the track today. I suppose in honor of the marquee race of the day, the “Seattle Handicap” — had to have some authentic Seattle-ness on hand, since the track itself is in Auburn. We heard him announced but didn’t personally see him; we did, however, actually see a local TV celebrity (Dan Lewis from channel 4) hanging out with some horse owners in the area where they show off the contenders before each race. First time we’d been to the track in a couple years; didn’t win a dime, but it was good times hanging out in the fresh air and trying to pretend we have a clue about the difference between a “trifecta” and an “exacta.”
Sunday midday miscellany
-First day of the new season of the West Seattle Farmers’ Market. I won’t make it there this week but if you see this before 2 pm, there’s still time for you to check it out!
-The Water Taxi hits the bay tomorrow. The official celebration’s not till next Sunday, but the WSB clan can’t wait to climb on board for the Maritime Festival next Saturday (which includes great freebie secrets that few people seem to catch on to, including free harbor cruises and free admission to the underattended Odyssey Maritime Museum).
-This one is West Seattle-related only because every Starbucks in the country, WS and elsewhere, has been promoting it: Akeelah and the Bee is actually a very good movie. Wonderful cast. No matter how cold-hearted and cynical you are, it will grab you. (Local aside, looks like our regional spelling bee was just a month ago. The champ came from the Eastside. I can’t find any evidence we’ve ever had one from our side of the pond.)
Adults only?
A WSB reader just left a comment here saying the new Junction joint Talarico’s is 21-and-up only. If that’s indeed so, it’s unfortunate. I believe that’s also the case with Matador — at least as far as I could tell from one walk-by. West 5 manages to have a vibrant bar and all-ages restaurant co-exist in close quarters; why lock out families unless you’re truly doing something adults-only in your place, such as, oh, say, stripping? A lot of kids I know are better diners than a fair amount of immature adults. I’ve got nothing against 21-and-over taverns, but if you’re going to bill yourself as a restaurant, it doesn’t make sense to me to shut out the kids. Seattle already has a pathetically low percentage of households with kids — and this won’t help. (rant off)
Driving around, looking for a parking space
Interesting story this morning with some West Seattle stats — a city scheme to allow more development with less parking. Very nice of them to do that after our big chance at rapid non-bus transit died a miserable death.
What no one seems to ever realize about all this is that it’s not a matter of people being lazy — it’s a matter of time. Workdays now run way past 8 hours. Kids’ activities are now intensely scheduled. We all spend time hurtling frantically between all the places we “have to be,” trying to make the times we “have to” be there.
The world HQ of WSB, for example, is in a pure residential neighborhood without a single business within a mile in ANY direction. I enjoy walking to some of those businesses — WHEN THERE’S TIME. When there’s not, the closest bus runs on a very inconvenient schedule, never more than once every half-hour. All this means — gotta use the car whether I really WANT to walk, or not. Do these new policies mean I’m supposed to sell the house and move into a business-close condo? Or that I have to tell my bosses I CAN’T work a 10-hour day, I need those two extra hours to walk back and forth to the store? Or will Ron Sims’ “buses every 10 minutes everywhere” plan really come to MY neighborhood?
What’s your take on all this?
Death at the beach
Sounds like an ugly crash late last night, the one along Alki that killed two people. I love going to the beach at night and looking out at the lights across the bay … but especially as the weather warms up, things do get a little out of hand. Sad way to start the warm-weather season.
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