RPM Pizza is Open in Pioneer Square
It would be no small feat to succeed in selling pizza from a space where Mike Easton failed to—which is baffling, because Pizzeria Gabbiano was amazing—but RPM Pizza is officially attempting it, and opened their doors last Thursday:
I know Instagram is a carefully curated slice of reality, but after perusing theirs, I think it's safe to conclude that they're pretty rad humans who are looking to run a fun, festive pizza joint. And one where you can shop for vinyl from local bands to boot. If the pizza's as good as it looks online, well, shit, that's sounds just about perfect to me.
Two Other Official Openings
Falafel Salam's much anticipated brick and mortar location is up and running, reports the West Seattle Blog, replete with their adorable "falafelsaurus" and a cool "living wall" of plants. The food truck will still operate as well, so you won't have to give up your Westlake workday gyros if you don't live west of the Duwamish.
Tankard and Tun, Pike Brewing Co's new brasserie, is also officially open to the public. I stopped in for their soft opening event the other night, and am thoroughly impressed. The space, which could easily have felt tight and awkward given the warren-like former shop spaces it was built in, is actually pretty open and airy. The stunning view of Elliott Bay and the very in vogue white tile probably helps. However, you can't eat white tile, and so I'm happy to report that their actual food is quite good, too. I was especially impressed with Chef Gabe Spiel's marionberry mignonette, which I expected to be overly sweet and something I would try on one oyster just to be polite, but ended up loving. Any chef who can come up with a viable alternative to the already perfect combination of Shigoku oysters and lemon is doing something right!
Seattle Gets Its First H-Mart
H-Mart, an east coast Asian grocery chain, has opened its first store in Seattle proper, Eater reports. It's on 42nd and The Ave, and will be open 8am-11pm Mon-Fri and 9am-9pm Sat-Sun. The selection trends Korean, which is fine with this kimchi addict, but Eater assures us that they'll also offer "all manner of greens, noodles, rice, MSG-laden snacks, and more from all over Asia."
Verjus is No More
Bainbridge Island restauranteurs Brendan and Heidi McGill have closed their juice bar and vegetarian cafe, Eater reports, but will continue selling its juices and ultra-pure foodstuffs wholesale. Probably to themselves, at places like their newly opened all-day spot, Café Hitchcock. The closure, Eater notes, is not due to a business failure, but rather a demand that was not feasible to support in the tiny space. The McGills say they're planning on finding a larger commissary kitchen space, and did mention that another cafe might be involved.
Purr Gets Pushed Out
As Christopher reported earlier this week, iconic Capitol Hill gay bar Purr won't be renewing their lease at their current location, citing rising rents as their reason. They are plenty successful—their crazy generous idea of what constitutes a shot might have something to do with that—so they will be seeking another location to continue the fabulous festivities. Still, given the original reason for their move, that probably won't be in the Pike/Pine corridor, meaning Capitol Hill's core just got a little less gay. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that, in about six to eight months, they'll be replaced by a nightclub catering to young, cishet Seattle University students or an upscale ramen joint. It'd be nice to be proven wrong, but as someone who spends a lot of time on that block and a lot of time observing the city's restaurant trends, I don't anticipate it. Anyway, enough cynicism. They're not bummed to be moving, and they're throwing a big going away party on the 19th. Go send them off in style!
