Remodeled Nike Store in Seattle - Now Open

 

Don't forget to look up when you visit Nike's redesigned Seattle store. A custom neon sculpture hangs from the ceiling of the second floor mezzanine.  

At the direction of Guild in LA and Nike, Western Neon fabricated and installed the 12 x 18 foot ceiling of Seattle icons at the totally remodeled store on 6th Avenue in downtown Seattle.  There is over 700 feet of neon and fifteen transformers in the sculpture, which can be seen from the street.  It is spectacular!!

It's one of several unique touches for the downtown store, which also features an art installation that honors the city's rabid football fans, known as the 12th man.

Café Solstice Capitol Hill

The Cafe Solstice owners opened a second location on the corner of 10th Avenue and East Thomas Street on Capitol Hill this summer.  Their original location is in the University District.

Café Solstice is at it's root a coffee shop, but they are so much more than that. They use locally-sourced providers for both of their cafes.  

They pull espresso shots made with Lighthouse Roasters coffee, and their pastries and baked goods are made right in the café. They also serve some fantastic beer from Elysian Brewing Company.  Their beautiful new sign with rusted routed faces, back lit with red neon was designed and fabricated by Western Neon Custom Sign.  

Stop in and say hi to Doug & Joel; check out the amazing buffalo head on the wall, sample one of their hot Panini sandwiches or house-made soups, and a cold brew.

James Beard Award-winning chef Jason Wilson

Located in the historic Hotel Max, Miller’s Guild is built around a nine-foot-long, custom-made wood-fired grill. The menu features 75-day dry-aged beef, nose-to-tail butchery, and rustic baked goods. Carrying on the theme, Miller’s Guild also features crafted cocktails made with spirits house-finished in oak casks, suspended above the bar.

Miller’s Guild is a partnership forged between James Beard Award-winning chef Jason Wilson, his wife and Crush co-owner Nicole Wilson, ChefStable Group founder and owner Kurt Huffman, and former Best Young Sommelier in America Jake Kosseff.

Wilson is absolutely geeking out about the custom-made 9-foot-long Infierno wood-fired grill that will be the centerpiece of both the room and his menu.

Sandwich Environmentalism - Good intentions equal good sandwiches

THEY’RE HOMEGROWN, all right.

Brad Gillis and Ben Friedman. Born months apart. Met in Mrs. O’Neill’s kindergarten class on Mercer Island where (bet you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich) they were the kids most likely to succeed.

Don’t know Homegrown? Imagine a sandwich shop with a social conscience. A very green machine: certified organic ingredients when available, local when possible, packaging that’s recyclable or compostable.

Yeah. These guys grew up here, apples falling from fruitful trees.

“Both our dads were entrepreneurs,” in real-estate development and biotech, explains Friedman. “We grew up around startups, risks. That was always the discussion around the dinner table.” Ditto for nonprofit work and philanthropy.

They call their calling “sandwich environmentalism.”

“Our market is not an economic market, it’s an idealistic one,” says Friedman. And Seattle idealists are voting with their pocketbooks.

These two dynamos just opened their fifth Homegrown shop at 208 Westlake Ave. North today.  It's a beautiful space and the food is very tasty.  Stop down for lunch, you won't be disappointed.

A Seattle Favorite is finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award

Seattle restaurateur Tom Douglas is a finalist for the James Beard Foundation awards, the New York-based foundation announced Monday.

Douglas, is a former Best Chef Northwest, made the finals in the Outstanding Restaurateur category for the third time in five years, riding the success of Brave Horse Tavern, Cuoco and Ting Momo in the South Lake Union neighborhood.  His other successful restaurants include Etta's, Seatown, Rub Shack, Dahlia, Lola, Palace Kitchen, Serious Pie and Dahlia Workshop.


The James Beard Awards are considered the nation’s most prestigious chef and restaurant honors. The winners will be announced May 7 in New York.


Good Luck, Tom.    You Rock!

Rub Shack - Another winner by Tom Douglas

Take a stroll down the street when you're at the Pike Place Market to check out the Rub Shack, right between Etta’s and Seatown. This is the place where you can stop in for a sandwich or pick up some rotisserie meats or chicken to go, or you can eat at one of the very appealing picnic tables right out front while drinking a cold Rainier. All the meats, poultry, and fish featured here are seasoned with Tom's delicious spice blends, Rub with Love.

We just put up a "shackalicious" sign out in front last week, using rusty corrugated steel and "the Man's" signature in red neon.  As per usual for a Douglas enterprise, I suspect this will be wildly successful.  Stop by and check out the sign and some of the delicious food.