Inside the Four Seasons hotel, Ethan Stowell’s newest restaurant, Goldfinch Tavern, benefits from what may be the greatest waterfront view in downtown Seattle. Floor-to-ceiling windows enlarge Elliott Bay, the Great Wheel and the Olympic Mountains to appear so close they could roll off the water and join your table for dinner. The view is an…

The terms “small” and “local” are pervasive in conversations about the virtues of craft beer, but until recently, no craft beer was entirely small or local. It burns the ears of craft beer aficionados to hear that the primary ingredient in the suds they love was developed at the behest of the mega breweries they…

Earlier this year, Seattle’s single-family zoning suffered a near-death experience when Mayor Ed Murray’s affordable housing panel endorsed what would be an effective citywide up-zoning of the neighborhoods. It sparked an instant uproar, and the mayor quickly backed off. And for the moment, the dream of owning your own house in Seattle—if you can pull…

Seattle abounds with culinary diversity. Stroll through most neighborhoods and you will likely spot a taco shack, gyro joint and pho house within blocks of each other. Walk another half mile and you’ll probably hit stellar sushi and vegan almost anything. But, Southern food—soul-coaxing dishes, such as shrimp and grits, collard greens, and biscuits and gravy—has…

Drumming, chanting and tears punctuated festivities at Seattle’s City Hall on October 13, 2014, when Mayor Ed Murray signed Indigenous Peoples’ Day into the historical fabric of Seattle on Columbus Day. The declaration provided some relief to wounds that have been packed with salt for centuries; among the celebrants were members of the Tulalip, Puyallup,…