December 2011

Seattle's Worst Transportation Moments in 2011

Seattle’s Worst Transportation Moments in 2011

2011 was the worst year in memory to be a Seattle driver. Here are some of the many ways we paid for

Tunnel visionSeattle gets split asunder by a manufactured deep-bore “debate,” which has no actual influence on the already-approved project (but does provide for entertaining and heated “Seattle process” rhetoric). Viaduct and coverTraffic-traumatized Seattleites endure the nadir of no-go during a record nine-day shutdown of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Many consider moving to the actual state…

A New Book Offers Helpful Advice for Parents

A New Book Offers Helpful Advice for Parents

A local mom has published a helpful guide for preserving time, energy and money while parenting.

Ballard mom and publishing consultant Kerry Colburn has a knack for dispensing the kind of useful, no-nonsense advice that every parent wants and needs. Her newest book, Mama’s Big Book of Little Lifesavers: 398 Ways to Save Your Time, Money, and Sanity (Chronicle Books, $14.95), published this past April, is an easy stocking stuffer for…

Love Thy Neighborhood

Love Thy Neighborhood

Meet five volunteers who are bringing meaningful change to their beloved corners of Seattle.

THE CENTRAL DISTRICTSean Conroe, founder of Alleycat Acres Photo by Hayley Young If you cruised down East Union toward the Central District this past summer, you may have noticed something different on the northeast corner of 22nd Avenue. Tucked between Cappy’s Boxing Gym and a gas station mini-mart were beds of verdant greens, planter boxes…

12 Local Spirits You Must Taste

12 Local Spirits You Must Taste

Our picks for the Washington state top shelf.

Ebb+Flow Vodka$32 A big, full-bodied vodka whose 100-percent malted barley construction doesn’t keep it from leaving a little sweetness and vanilla on the tongue. Sound Spirits, Interbay, 1630 15th Ave. W; drinksoundspirits.com Headlong White Dog Whiskey$34.95 An unaged whiskey, this dog cuddles up close with its bright combination of butter cream, grain and smooth spiciness.Woodinville…

Explore Seattle's Distillery Boom

Explore Seattle’s Distillery Boom

The explosion of distilleries in the Northwest is yielding delicious results.

After recently living in Italy for seven months, I returned to Seattle and made a trip to my local liquor store. (I do write about cocktails, so it’s not solely that I was thirsty.) As I browsed the shelves, the number of new bottles boasting local distillery addresses struck me. It seems that in the…

Shiro Worship: Celebrating Seattle's First Sushi Chef

Shiro Worship: Celebrating Seattle’s First Sushi Chef

Local publisher Chin Music Press has a gorgeous new illustrated memoir and cookbook. We bring you an

Seattle’s legendary sushi chef, Shiro Kashiba—still a self-proclaimed “sushi bartender” at age 70—was a locavore long before it was trendy. In his beautiful new memoir, Shiro: Wit, Wisdom & Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer (published by Seattle’s Chin Music Press; $20), he speaks of the bounty of Puget Sound when he arrived here in 1966,…

Bestidy Best Best Bestest of 2011. Ever.

Bestidy Best Best Bestest of 2011. Ever.

Our fearless editorial director reflects on the year's highs and lows - and on-camera cameos - that

You might have noticed that we at Seattle mag like our “best of” lists. They’re part of our job as a city mag, but we also know you like them, too. (The “best of” issues are almost always the year’s top sellers.) But mainly, we like them because there’s a lot of good stuff to…

Seattle's Unhealthiest Neighborhoods Dubbed Food Deserts

Seattle’s Unhealthiest Neighborhoods Dubbed Food Deserts

Our area is home to 17 so-called “food deserts,” or places where healthy food is hard to find. Here'

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched its online Food Desert Locator last summer, Seattle’s gourmets and locavores were horrified to see nutritional wastelands encroaching upon the city. In all, more than 125,000 people, in neighborhoods everywhere from West Seattle to Renton, live in places where fresh, healthy food is difficult to find—so-called “food…

Belle Epicurean's Coconut Cake

Belle Epicurean’s Coconut Cake

’Tis the season to visit the glass case up front at this beloved French bakery.

Who would blame you if you never got past the heavenly butter croissants, warmed in the oven to order, at the tony new Belle Epicurean in Madison Valley? The seductive scent of butter reaches your nose as a server whisks the croissant to your table, a linen napkin and cutlery placed alongside; quite civilized. But…

Seattle's Best Restaurants for Family-style Dining

Seattle’s Best Restaurants for Family-style Dining

More Seattle restaurants are offering family-style service. Here's our our recommended weekly meal p

With the excellent exception of Chinese food, family-style meals traditionally get a bad rap, thanks to those cheesy chain restaurants that dish out enormous platters of subpar pasta. But over the past two years, a host of Seattle restaurants, including some of our most acclaimed spots, have adopted this collegial, collective approach to dinner. Unlike…

Bar del Corso: Perfect Pizza

Bar del Corso: Perfect Pizza

Beacon Hill’s beloved new eatery features the best margherita pizza in Seattle.

First things first: This place makes the best margherita pizza in Seattle. Its chewy crust is spread with a luscious, almost creamy tomato sauce and milky-soft mozzarella melting softly on top, with basil strewn about ($9). It’s really no mystery when you know the back story: Chef Jerry Corso built a pizza oven in his…

Poquitos is a People-Pleaser

Poquitos is a People-Pleaser

The insanely popular Capitol Hill restaurant serves stylish Mexican fare in a warm, noisy room.

It’s hard to believe the prime location of the insanely popular Poquitos—10th and Pike—was home to anything other than Poquitos so very recently; the place, with its soaring ceilings, blue and white patterned tiles, wrought-iron fixtures and soft terra-cotta-hued lighting, recalls privileged hotel lobbies in touristy Mexican cities. Seattleites crave a hint of warmer climes…