September 2015

High-end Korean Steakhouse Girin Now Serving in Pioneer Square

High-end Korean Steakhouse Girin Now Serving in Pioneer Square

Restaurateur Steven Han forges a delicious new path with a Korean steakhouse in Pioneer Square

Steven Han’s fourth restaurant, a high-end Korean steakhouse in Pioneer Square’s new Stadium Place complex, is named after a divine creature in Korean culture that marks the arrival of good luck. Han established his reputation with Japanese restaurants (Momiji, Kushibar, Umi Sake House), but Girin, a massive, 125-seater next door to CenturyLink Field, is his…

Nordstrom's Habitant Lets you Shop and Bar Hop

Nordstrom’s Habitant Lets you Shop and Bar Hop

A new bar in Nordstrom’s downtown flagship store delivers a welcome stop for shoppers.

Let’s face it, there aren’t enough bars in stores—shopping can wear you down, and cocktails pick you up, so it’s a perfect match. Nordstrom appears to agree, as evidenced by its Habitant bars within stores, the newest of which is on the third floor of the fashion retailer’s downtown Seattle location (500 Pine St.; 206.628.1635;…

Adjuncts Struggle to Balance Dreams of Teaching with Low Wages

Adjuncts Struggle to Balance Dreams of Teaching with Low Wages

Seattle University instructor and others lead anxious lives at or below the poverty line

In the waning hours of last December, David Heller had dinner with friends at a neighborhood Thai restaurant. Over shared plates of pad kee mao and panang curry, they drank red wine and talked of plans for the coming year. Spirits were good. Yet Heller’s friends were worried about him. He looked pale, walked with…

Combatting Childhood Trauma

Combatting Childhood Trauma

Teachers in Washington are pioneering efforts to help children deal with traumatic experiences

It’s a late spring morning at West Seattle Elementary and as usual, morale is running high. Counselor Laura Bermes high-fives students as they walk through the door. Principal Vicki Sacco greets teachers while cradling Bingo, her watchful Chihuahua. The children walk single file to their classrooms, and a bespectacled special guest bounds upstairs to talk…

New 24/7 Pet Emergency Facility

New 24/7 Pet Emergency Facility

Seattle Veterinary Specialists gives Seattle residents a go-to for pet emergencies

Until recently, a pet emergency in Seattle meant a stressful drive in the black of night to a veterinary ER in Wallingford or Lake City—or to Shoreline, Lynnwood, Renton and beyond. But with the opening last month of Seattle Veterinary Specialists (SVS) (First Hill, 805 Madison St.; svs.com), South Seattle residents can breathe a little…

A Bellevue Designer's Modern, Award-Winning Furniture

A Bellevue Designer’s Modern, Award-Winning Furniture

Mark Dellplain learned his love of woodworking from his father, who built wooden boats

When 2008’s economic downturn forced then graphic designer Mark Dellplain to reassess his career, the Bellevue resident made an unusual decision: He bought a boat. “Growing up on Vashon Island, I watched my father build wooden boats,” Dellplain says. “He died when I was 7, and I wanted to see what it was about working…

Charles Smith's Jet City Winery Opens in Georgetown

Charles Smith’s Jet City Winery Opens in Georgetown

Charles Smith brings his wild ways—and wildly successful winemaking facility— to Georgetown

Any day now, grapes from the 2015 vintage in Washington will be harvested from vines, placed into bins in temperature-controlled rigs, hauled over Snoqualmie Pass and trucked to Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, where a team, likely dressed in black, will receive them at a 32,000-square-foot refurbished former Dr Pepper bottling plant. Truck after truck will arrive,…

Italian Restaurant Vendemmia Wows in Madrona

Italian Restaurant Vendemmia Wows in Madrona

A new hot spot in Madrona is proof there is restaurant life outside Capitol Hill and Pioneer Square

It took years of self-reflection and culinary-ladder climbing for Anacortes native Brian Clevenger to open his first restaurant, Vendemmia, in Madrona. Vendemmia is the Italian term for a season’s grape harvest, a reminder of the chef’s devotion to seasonality and quality ingredients. First, in order to master refined Italian cuisine, Clevenger cooked in the right…

National Public Lands Day and How You Can Help

National Public Lands Day and How You Can Help

How shifts in the ecosystem affect our national parks and why Mount Rainier needs some fixing

Once a year, everyone is invited (for free!) to enjoy tranquil vistas and participate in a little fall cleaning at our parks, canyons, rivers and streams during National Public Lands Day (9/26; publiclandsday.org). Volunteers throughout the country have planted more than 100,000 trees and maintained or built more than 1,500 miles of trails since the…

Two Cocktail Recipes to Make Now

Two Cocktail Recipes to Make Now

The libation you hold in your hand says a lot about you. Hold off on drab and dull standards (the Sazerac and French 75 are so 2014) and accessorize with a new class of cocktail. Head bartender Chad Phillips drops a few hints from the sophisticated Pennyroyal bar (Belltown; 2000 2nd Ave; 206.448.1111; pennyroyalbar.com) that…

Dating Tips from the Experts

Dating Tips from the Experts

Renowned relationship experts John and Julie Gottman on building the foundation of a relationship

Take it to the Next LevelInternationally acclaimed relationship therapists Drs. John and Julie Gottman are like modern day architects for matters of the heart. The straightforward Seattle-based couple (who have been married for 28 years) founded the Gottman Institution with an overarching ideology that asks, “How do couples build a “Sound Relationship House.” And if…

Fool Proof First-Date Destinations in Seattle

Fool Proof First-Date Destinations in Seattle

Where to impress a first date in Seattle

Just as a potential partner needs to be vetted, a good bit of thought should go into where and how you decide to spend an evening with someone you just met. These spots offer the benefits of immediate discussion topics, a “shared experience” kick-start and, if you are not necessarily feeling it, the opportunity to…