The kitchen at Anchovies & Olives,
uploaded by jseattle.

Got a scoop? Tip your friendly neighborhood blogger.

• After last week’s visit with a veteran of the “new” 15th Ave E wave of food and drink ventures, we have word of new expansion by a player on the other end of the street.

Ethan Stowell Restaurants — with the successful opening of Rione XIII under its belt in the 15th Ave E core — is getting ready to double the size of its first 15th Ave investment.

The typically close-to-the-chest company offered no comment on the plans but CHS has learned that work is being planned to expand Anchovies & Olives into the adjacent open retail unit in its 15th Ave Pearl Building home.

While a representative for Stowell declined to comment, the filing with the city lists a construction budget of $100,000. Given that this amount usually represents the base before finishings, etc., you can expect a major overhaul to A&O. UPDATE: Oh boy. Our tipster in comments below was right. The A&O expansion will be “a salumi bar” sez Eater Seattle who was able to pry out details from the tight-jawed Ethan Stowell empire.

Stowell’s first 15th Ave restaurant came into shape late in 2008 and has stood as a kind of eastern border of Pike/Pine’s restaurant scene. It was joined in the Pearl in 2009 by health and juice shop Healeo. The surrounding retail at 15th and Pine has struggled somewhat — instead of waiting for a neighbor, it looks like A&O has decided to put the space to its own use. Meanwhile, across the street, the newly branded Vox Apartments are coming into shape and will also introduce new food and drink space to the neighborhood. Rumors abound on possible tenants willing to pony up $30 per square-foot.

Anchovies & Olives by systemf99.

• Just around the corner, another existing player is making a few changes. Just call it Poco, owner Jonathan Nelson tells us:

After nearly a year under new ownership, we’ve decided to move away from the Poco Wine Room name.  We don’t feel that “Wine Room” really captures the variety we want to offer our Capitol Hill brethren, with 100+ spirits on hand and rotating beers on tap.  So starting now and rolling out over the next couple months, we’re going to officially be known as just “Poco”, or “Poco Wine + Spirits” in some locations.  

 Along with the name change comes a menu shift as well.  We want to be a neighborhood bar where you can go for a snack or a full meal if you so choose.  To accommodate this, we’re moving closer to a tapas-style food menu with emphasis on under-$10 “small bites” that can be combined into a meal, over traditional entrees.  Some standards like the mac and cheese won’t be going anywhere, of course!

• There’s a worthy new concept being grown down in Madison Valley. Have you checked out Seattle Salads yet?

Seattle Salads now open in Madison Valley
Seattle Salads hopes to be the start of a new boom in fast, made-to-order salads shops in Seattle. That is, of course, if owner Desirae Rabe has her way.

After a year and a half dishing out salads at the Queen Anne farmer’s market, Rabe opened her first permanent shop in Madison Valley earlier this month. The shop, at 27th and Madison, fills the space vacated by New York Cupcakes in early August.

• Capitol Hill’s new pinball beer joint John John’s Gameroom  is ready to eat your quarters on E Olive Way.
• Earlier this year, we told you about the closure of Broadway Cafe after nearly two decades of service on Capitol Hill. Keen observers probably saw the sign for Tacos Guaymas go up outside the restaurant last week. @GordonWerner did and sent us this picture. After getting the boot from the nearby Harvard Market shopping center, Guaymas has moved up the street to take over the old cafe space. Meanwhile, the still empty former Pita Pit/Grubwich won’t be for long. More soon.
• MurrayAid update: More than $100,000
• The Oxford American — “Southern magazine of good writing — on The Wandering Goose: “It’s almost like they are doing Southern better. It’s in their hearts.”
• “With a food truck now in the works, Howell’s Plum is well on its way to becoming for vegan cuisine what Molly Moon is to ice cream.“
• “Skillet is an Aerosmith- and Led Zeppelin-free zone. Enough said.“
• One of our most important early CHS contributors Shalini Gujavarty is leaving Seattle Eater.
• Bombay Bistro — from the original owners of the long-gone Maharaja — also now open.
• First Hill’s Sugar Bakery wants you to know about its Thanksgiving croissants.
• This guy is Little Uncle.
• “Seattle Times food critic names her 10 favorite restaurants for 2012” 5/10 = Capitol Hill.
• Capitol Hill ice cream shop Bluebird has long since spread its wings across the city. This week, it is also opening a “nano brewery” on Phinney Ridge. We’re told you’ll have to be patient to get a taste on Capitol Hill… but it’s coming.