There is lots of talk these days about the dangers of social media. But it was decidedly old media that has put Tom Douglas’s foot in his Seattle all-star restauranteur mouth following his decision to use an awful experience at an unnamed Capitol Hill restaurant as an example of “what not to do” on his KIRO radio program. Douglas’s biggest mistake? In the new media era, there’s really no such thing as an unnamed restaurant.

“So, last night, I’m up on Capitol Hill. I have my 2-year-old niece with me…” the story begins on Douglas’s Seattle Kitchen episode that aired last Saturday and is available online below.

What follows is a litany of transgressions against Douglas and his party of four that seem to have crawled straight from the bowels of Yelp. 

• The restaurant should have more seats
• The restaurant was out of 2 of the 5 reds on its wine list
• It was out of the liquor to make the “specialty” cocktail table ordered
• The appetizers were “pretty good”
• The waitress, “sketchy”
• Ordered entrees at 6:50p hoping to get out in time for Grammy’s broadcast. By 7:50p only 2 of 5 entrees had arrived.
• Entrees were a “B”

• Paid and wouldn’t let owner take the unserved entrees off the check.

• Owner of the restaurant “recognized me” (OK, here’s where it get less Yelpy)

“Our food needs help. Would you consider helping us out on our food?” Douglas says the restaurant’s owner asked him in a moment of likely star-struck hope and, apparently well-placed, nervous dread. Douglas doesn’t say what he said to the restaurant owner at that point.

It took readers at foodie news blog Eater Seattle all of one comment to nail down the secret Capitol Hill restaurant’s identity thanks to the numerous identifying attributes Douglas includes in his broadcast:

Interior is prettier than expected

Mixed reviews on Yelp

Hanna Raskin said it was shaky 

Five red wines on their red wine list

10 specialty cocktails

Appetizers were pretty good (B or B+)

Owner comes from a restaurant family

5 months old

The list of restaurants that opened on the Hill in October is surprisingly lengthy: Bako, Momiji, Terra Plata, and Altura. The list of those restaurants nailed by Hanna Raskin is short. Though one could argue that her mayo-focused opinion of Momiji is also “shaky.” Add our information on Keeman Wong’s family background in the restaurant business, and the commenters were pretty sure about it. Douglas was burying Bako — even if he didn’t mean to.

“I haven’t had an experience like I had last night in quite awhile,” Douglas summed things up. 

“This one’s just not going to make it.”

Douglas tells CHS he didn’t intend for the fingers to be pointed at a specific restaurant and would not confirm that he was speaking about Bako.

“That never occurred to me. That wasn’t the point,” Douglas told CHS on Tuesday. “They were suffering through the same issues we had faced — a comedy of errors.”

He also said he isn’t planning an apology. “I didn’t intend for it to be taken that way and if I wanted to say anything like that I would say it to the restaurant owner in person and not on the blog,” Douglas said.

Douglas did pop up in the comments on the Eater post where issue was first raised after the Seattle PI posted about the show:

Thierry and I have a very fun radio show every Saturday and Sunday on KIRO where we talk restaurants and our love for them. We both have been through the trials and tribulations of opening restaurants and know that it is an incredibly difficult business. In the 23 years I’ve had my own restaurants we have both enjoyed terrific reviews and have learned from the less than fantastic reviews. When I talk of restaurants, my goal is to never burry anyone, but be constructive in my criticism. –Tom Douglas

We asked Bako’s Wong to comment on the situation and if he was willing to confirm that Douglas had visited his restaurant earlier this month but haven’t heard back.

But we’re fans of constructive criticism. If you have advice — constructive advice — for any Capitol Hill restaurant Douglas might visit next, let us know in comments. Or tell it to the restaurant owner in person and not on the blog. Your choice.

Why no updates since 2/18?

http://www.seattlelwv.org/node/1119

March Forum – Fostering Effective Teaching: No Easy Answers

Seattle Police say the driver was not impaired by drugs or alcohol in Tuesday night’s collision between a Honda Fit and a bicycle rider at Pine and Boren.

The 25-year-old female bicyclist was rushed to Harborview with what were described as minor injuries. We have unconfirmed information from friends of the woman that she suffered a broken hip. 

Traffic in the area was backed up for hours during the investigation.

In CHS comments on Tuesday night’s report, commenter Oiseau noted the area’s reputation as a challenging area for bikers:

The bike lane disappears and then reappears for half a second after crossing Boren and then it just becomes a sharrow. I’ve seen it confuse many a driver as they don’t notice that the turn lane is a turn lane and that the bike lane on the other side is a bike lane. It’s just a horrible set up. It’s a horrible area to just abruptly end the bike lane at maybe 50 feet before the intersection. Cyclists are forced to merge into traffic and on rainy days like this, the chance of injury escalates big time.

While we haven’t documented another incident like this at Pine at Boren, this area of Pine has been identified as a biking danger zone with Pine/Bellevue getting the nod as one of the most dangerous intersections for bikes in the city. This Seattle Times bike crash map shows the number of incidents along lower Pine. We also asked CHS readers to identify Capitol Hill bike danger spots in this fall 2011 post.

Here is the SPD brief on the investigation.

On February 28th, at approximately 5:13 pm, a Honda Fit was travelling south on Boren Avenue approaching Pine Street.  At the same time, a 25 year old female bicyclist was travelling westbound on Pine Street.  The two collided in the intersection of Boren Avenue and Pine Street.

The cyclist was treated at the scene by Seattle Fire and then transported to Harborview Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries.

Seattle Police officers responded to the scene and interviewed the driver of the Honda.  The driver was evaluated for any signs of impairment, but none were detected. 

Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded to the scene and began their investigation.  The intersection was shut down for approximately 2 hours while detectives conducted their investigation.  This remains an active and ongoing investigation.

Image from the Darewski security video

An image of Capitol Hill murder victim Darek Darewski has appeared on news sites around the world this week in media coverage of Mayor Mike McGinn’s declaration of a “public-safety emergency” in Seattle following a deadly start to 2012. Darewski is one of nine people murdered in the city so far this year — an unusual wave of homicide in a city that saw 21 killings in each of the past two years. CHS coverage on his January shooting death is here. City Hall has asked for the community’s help and police are beefing up patrols to try to stem the violence across the city.

“We have extra officers out where people gather,” East Precinct operations lead Lt. Joel Guay tells CHS. “It’s not tied to any particular club. It’s about where people are.”

Guay said the increased patrols are, in many ways, business as usual for the East Precinct with no overall increase in the numbers of officers on the streets of Capitol Hill, First Hill and the Central District. Instead, the precinct is being more directed with officers in the field by assigning them to specific areas in their beats between calls instead of leaving more discretionary time in an officer’s schedule. The intent, Guay said, is that police presence in busier areas will help tamp down the increased incidents of violence seen in the city so far in 2012.

In conjunction with the increased safety emphasis, SPD has released “police activity metrics for each of the city’s precincts for the first six weeks of 2012. They show East Precinct totals in line with performance across the city. We’re notable for sporting the lowest percentage of traffic-related stops in the city, however.

The emphasis patrols shouldn’t slow 911 response time, Guay said. Nor should you see slower SPD response to “paper” issues like an overnight car prowl — at least, not any slower than usual.

“Our overall goal is to maintain a safe and vibrant environment,” Guay said. “Staffing levels are set — our goal is to maintain 911 response time.”

There are some changes, however, to make that happen. Guay said many officers are working extra hours and there is more overtime right now in the precinct. But even the overtime component of the “safety emphasis” has been planned for ahead of time. “These things come up from time to time,” Guay said. “And we know they do. It’s something we plan for.”

The City of Seattle announced $1.1 million in grants this week to improve business districts around the city — including a check for Capitol Hill. Here’s a look at how the money will be deployed. Sorry, the neighborhood doesn’t pay dividends. This is about investment and marketing.

“Overall the grant means more resident and small business involvement in decision-making on 12th Avenue resulting in a more vibrant and equitable neighborhood,” Alex Brennan of Capitol Hill Housing tells CHS. CHH, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and the relatively newly formed Capitol Hill Entrepreneurial Women group form the nucleus of the group tapped by the city to deploy the “Only in Seattle” business development funds.

While the money is utilized on programs taking place across the Hill, the group has focused the Only in Seattle effort on growing 12th Ave and events like the 12th Ave Festival — here’s a look at 2011 if you missed it. Brennan said in 2012, the group is also taking on a new challenge for the 12th Ave area as a connective zone between Capitol Hill and the Central District.

“This year we will also look more explicitly at issues of gentrification, the relationship between affordability on Capitol Hill and affordability in the Central Area, and the crucial role that the border between the neighborhoods – and 12th Avenue in particular – plays in those dynamics,” Brennan wrote.

The money earmarked in this year’s grants adds up to $128,000 to fund programs in the Capitol Hill area. That’s down slightly from 2011’s $145,000 allocation. In the scheme of things, it’s not a lot of money but it does help CHH work on community issues like supporting the 12th Ave Stewards and engage in planning around Yesler Terrace, the King County Youth Services Center, and the major institution master plans for Seattle University and Swedish Hospital-Cherry Hill.

Here’s a portion of the city’s announcement on the 2012 grants. You can read the full statement here.

The local business communities in these nine neighborhoods have developed comprehensive, multi-year strategies, in which the city is investing a total of $844,000 in 2012.

• Capitol Hill / 12^th Avenue                     $128,000
• Central Area Main Streets                   $  72,000
• Chinatown / International District        $185,000
• Columbia City                                      $  66,500
• MLK (Rainier Valley)                           $  83,000
• Pioneer Square                                   $120,000
• Rainier Beach                                     $  55,000
• University District                                $  70,000
• White Center                                       $  64,500

In addition, the city is investing $142,500 to support focused investments in additional neighborhoods, as well as the Only in Seattlemarketing campaign and business organization development.

• Focused investments will be made in these neighborhoods: Beacon Hill, Belltown, Columbia City, Georgetown, Madison Valley, Rainier Beach, SODO, South Park, and White Center.                        

• The city will expand the Only in Seattle marketing campaign, which highlights the hidden gems of shopping and dining in Seattle’s neighborhoods (www.onlyinseattle.org). The following neighborhoods will join the Only in Seattle marketing effort: Fremont, Pioneer Square and Wallingford.

• The city also will invest to build strong business-focused organizational capacity to sustain the efforts of neighborhood business districts. Support for Business Improvement Area (BIA) formation will occur in the following neighborhoods: Ballard, Belltown, Capitol Hill / 12^th Avenue, Madison Valley, Pioneer Square, SODO, and West Seattle.

“The city is focused on helping business and property owners to strengthen local business climate and grow jobs,” said Steve Johnson, director of the Office of Economic Development. “Through the Only in Seattle Initiative we have created an investment framework and partnerships to execute strategies to support healthy business districts.”

In addition this year, the city is investing $100,000 in three neighborhoods for façade improvements: Columbia City, Central Area Main Streets, and Chinatown/International District.  This investment was matched with $142,764 in private dollars.  These improvements directly impact the continued revitalization of the neighborhood business districts and support ongoing business attraction and clean and safe strategies.

The investigation into a collision involving a car and bicyclist has tied up the intersection of Pine and Boren after the female rider was taken to the hospital early Tuesday night. In the incident just before 5:15p, Seattle Fire said it responded to a rider in her 20s with reported minor injuries. The woman was taken to Harborview for treatment.

Investigators were still at work in the intersection just before 6p. You can check out the CHS Capitol Hill traffic camera page to see if the intersection has cleared if you were planning to travel through the area.

• Seattle is facing a “public-safety emergency” and is rolling out a community and policing effort to stem a tide of gun related violence in the city. We’ll have more on how the increased “safety emphasis” is playing out in the East Precinct soon.
• A man told police he was jumped from behind — and punched in the face — near the “Thomas mini park” near Thomas near Bellevue Ave and E Harrison by an assailant who then reportedly rifled though his pants but stole nothing, according the SPD report on the early morning Saturday incident. The man told police he never saw his attacker but believed he was a white male in his 30s. The victim was treated at the scene for his injuries.

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• Police are investigating a beating and resident-on-resident robbery inside a 1700 summit Ave building late last Wednesday night. The victim was taken to the hospital after being beaten in what he said was a robbery by another resident in his building.

According to the report, an officer went to the suspects room but could not get the man to come out. The victim was taken to Harborview for treatment of his injuries.

• The people in a 12th Ave E apartment had some regrets about a man they let into their abode. Police were called to the 400 block location to a report that the man had tackled, punched and choked people before fleeing the scene:
• Police had to intervene in a fight sparked when one participant took offense to jokes being made about his mustache earlier this month in the 600 block of E Pine. Nobody ended up in jail — or the hospital — in the early morning February 16th fracas but there were minor injuries — including a thumping with a wooden cane:

• Police continue to look for this prowler spotted in a Summit Ave E break-in documented here:

the suspect as a white male with dark short hair, wearing a barret style hat, jeans and a sweatshirt with some sort of design on front. The suspect was approximately 6′ 150LBS with a slim build

• This Montlake burglary yielded thousands of dollars in a Saturday, February 18th rip-off that was apparently as easy as walking in the back door:
• A thief made off with two bikes after gutting through locks in a secured parking area of a building in the 1400 block of E Union. Here’s the report on the Monday, February 20th break-in:

• All’s well that ends well. Nobody ended up in jail in this drawn-out interpersonal drama that went down in a 600 Harvard Ave E building last Sunday.

On Fri., March 16, at noon, Dr. Lynne Iglitzin will present an illustrated talk, “Trail-Blazing Photojournalist: Margaret Bourke-White,” at the Woman’s Century Club, a 120-year-old social club founded by suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt.

The club meets in the parlor of the Harvard Exit Theater, 807 E. Roy. The presentation is open to the public; a $5 donation for lunch is suggested.

Lynne Iglitzin was a professor of political science at the University of Washington for many years. She is the author of several books, including Women in the World. She has chaired the Seattle Human Rights Commission, and served on the boards of the ACLU of Washington State and the Northwest Women’s Law Center. She is a founding board member of Youth in Focus, a program promoting photography as a tool for motivating youth, and she holds a Ph.D. in political science from Bryn Mawr College.

The Woman’s Century Club hosts monthly programs and luncheons on the third Friday of each month in the parlor of the Harvard Exit Theater. The club’s website, www.womanscenturyclub.org, lists upcoming events. The club also awards an annual scholarship to an outstanding female student.

Dr. Iglitzin’s talk is presented in conjunction with National Women’s History Month, and is sponsored by Humanities Washington (www.humanities.org) through its statewide Speakers Bureau. The Speakers Bureau brings Washington’s finest scholars, historians, musicians, and storytellers to local communities to give dynamic presentations at libraries, schools, museums, and other community organizations.

With First Hill streetcar line construction rumbling toward an April start, the City Council’s transportation committee met Tuesday morning to discuss Council Bill 117387 to authorize the project even as the political effort to push for a north Broadway extension of the line continues behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Tuesday night is also the first of two open house sessions to showcase the new streetcar project.

C.B. 117387
Relating to the Seattle Streetcar; authorizing execution of a construction contract for the First Hill Streetcar Project; authorizing an amendment to an agreement with the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority to revise the invoicing schedule for the Project; and ratifying and confirming prior acts. 

The Council’s transportation committee has been on track for final affirmation of the agreement between Sound Transit and Seattle to pay for the streetcar route this week before passing the bill for a full Council vote. But CHS has learned that committee chair Tom Rasmussen and Michael Wells of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce are scheduled to meet later this week to discuss an extension of the streetcar route which is currently planned to terminate at Denny and Broadway. We reported previously that Seattle Department of Transportation planners do not expect there to be adequate revenue to fund an extension to north Broadway. Planners have said that the extension will cost between $25 and $30 million to complete.

Behind the scenes, advocates for an extension are making the case that federal funds could be brought to bear to help solve the problem. We reported on federal prospects for the extended line way back in February… 2010. Meanwhile, some at City Hall have pointed extension advocates toward private money to fund the extra track or partnerships with institutions like the Seattle Asian Art Museum as the mayor’s office remains focused on bringing light rail to Ballard. Another wildcard — King County Council member Joe McDermott whose District 2 now encompasses a majority of the area served by the First Hill streetcar route and could help balance any arguments pitting the Pioneer Square end of the route against northern extension plans.

The extension debate will likely come to a head over hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside by the City Council as a reserve for possible budget issues on the First Hill streetcar line. Before that money can be released, a plan for an extension to Aloha needs to be in place — or, finally, moved off the table completely.