Yearly Archives: 2013

Capitol Hill food+drink | 2013’s 32 top most important new Capitol Hill restaurants & bars… ever

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Named best new restaurant by more than a few, Mamnoon appeared on our ballot in 2012 following its November opening that year (Image: Mamnoon)

Named best new restaurant by more than a few, Mamnoon appeared on our ballot in 2012 following its November opening that year (Image: Mamnoon)

Here is how CHS summed up the year that was in 2013 Capitol Hill food and drink:

… a year filled with new neighbors as the growing bar and restaurant scene attracted big talent and encouraged the Hill’s biggest players to further invest. Meanwhile, smaller plays in smaller spaces made by smaller — but growing — names also changed the game.

Here is your chance to weigh in on which of the new generation will be remembered in years to come. Our annual vote on the “most important” new Capitol Hill bars and restaurants is admittedly a popularity contest — but, so far at least, new venues must have achieved some level of street credibility to garner the widespread support necessary to come out on top.

In 2012, 8oz Burger Bar showed off its hamburger power and social media might to snag the top slot, besting The Pine Box and Montana in the process. Mamnoon, a possible favorite for 2013, debuted on the 2012 ballot after being open only a few short weeks.

In 2011, readers deemed Canon as the most important opening of the year. Momiji and Skillet also fared very well while late-opening and little-hyped Altura had yet to register with the crowds.

What’s your pick in 2013? Holler if we missed anybody — we’ll add ASAP. The poll closes January 1st at 8 PM Capitol Hill Standard Time.
Continue reading →

Hillebrity | TacocaT

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 TacocaT – Band

SAMSUNG CSCWhat were TacocaT’s biggest moments of 2013 and resolutions for 2014?

Our best moment of 2013 was: recording a full-length album called NVM. We also played the Comet a few days before it closed and met a bodybuilder there, we learned that leggings sometimes ARE pants, and discovered that the true meaning of Christmas is Mariah Carey. Our collective New Year’s Resolution is to tour this spring in a replica of the Spice Girls tour van from the movie Spice World.

The members of TacocaT DJ the Linda’s New Years Eve party and play at The Vera Project January 10th.

Previously on Hillebrity

Thousands of same-sex marriage licenses issued in King County in 2013

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Inside Harvard Ave’s Seattle First Baptist in December 2012 (Image: CHS)

Inside Harvard Ave’s Seattle First Baptist in December 2012 (Image: CHS)

One year ago, Seattle was celebrating its first same sex marriages.

3,452 marriage certificates were issued to same-sex couples in King County between December 2012 and September 2013, according to the Washington State Department of Health. Assuming a similar rate and possible holiday-inspired uptick, that number has likely climbed well above 4,000 as we ring in 2014.

All in all, King County reports a 33% increase in the number of marriage license applications of all types since it began processing same-sex applications last December.

More numbers from the county below:

One year after voters approved a law allowing same-sex marriages in Washington state, the King County Recorder’s Office has seen a 33% increase in the number of marriage license applications.

From Dec. 6, 2012, the first day that licenses could be issued to same-sex couples, through Nov. 30, 2013, 17,593 marriage licenses were issued by the Recorder’s Office. That compares to just 13,223 licenses handed out during the same period in 2011-2012. Continue reading →

Blotter | Driver leaves car vs. pedestrian victim with credit card, painkillers

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here.

  • Car vs pedestrian mystery: Seattle Police were trying to track down the driver in a peculiar Capitol Hill car vs. pedestrian incident that left a man with a fractured neck. According to the SPD report on the incident, the victim arrived at Harborview after walking to the facility early on the morning of Saturday, December 14th for emergency care.The circumstances around the man’s terrible injury were murky at best:
    Screen Shot 2013-12-30 at 4.33.34 PMWith the victim’s description of the location and belief that it occurred on Capitol Hill, police determined the incident likely took place near Amante Pizza near Summit and E Olive Way. The victim said there were multiple people in the area around the time of the 3:30 AM collision but SPD found no record of 911 calls reporting the incident.

    According to the victim, the driver of the vehicle got out and offered to help: Continue reading →

5 most-expensive Capitol Hill house and condo sales in 2013

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Screen Shot 2013-12-30 at 12.03.15 PMEarlier this year, CHS shared the bad news: The majority of you reading this can’t afford to buy a house on Capitol Hill. Hill condominiums? Super expensive, too. Below — thanks again to our friends at Estately, you’ll find the most expensive real estate transactions on Capitol Hill in 2013 plus a map CHS cooked up of the top 20 properties.

For a sense of just how much house we’re talking about, the 2013 Hill top 10 single family home sales averaged $2.2 million and 5,600 square feet. We also like them old — the average age of the original structure in the top 10 sales was 103. What’s it take to earn your way to the top of the Capitol Hill real estate pile? The buyers of the most expensive home sold on Capitol Hill in 2013 slapped down $3.25 million for an amazing 8,000 square-foot brick Tudor on Belmont Place E. He’s an Amazon veteran, she’s in sales. You should get to know them.

The prices across the list are pretty outrageous with an average for the 20 properties of $459 per square foot. But given you can’t afford a home up here anyhow, it won’t hurt to look, right? And, yes, Macklemore’s new crib made the top 10.

HOUSES

(Image: Windermere Real Estate Co.)

#1 (Image: Windermere Real Estate Co.)

  1. $3.25 million — 1039 Belmont Place E — 8/23/13 — “Impeccably preserved brick Tudor loaded with distinctive features. Designed by the Beezer Brothers Architects, built in 1913 in the heart of the Harvard—Belmont Historic District. Expansive water views of Puget Sound and Lake Union with sunset views of the Olympic Mountains.” Info and pictures Continue reading →

2013 Capitol Hill homicides: Deadly force from SPD and two cases with arrests but no charges

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Freddie Lee Kibby was killed on Summit Ave — but he didn’t die there (Image: CHS)

In 2013, four men were killed on Capitol Hill but the cases won’t end with murder trials in the new year.

Capitol Hill’s 2013 homicides include two police shootings, one gun death still being investigated and the death of a man under tragic circumstances that started a year earlier in 2012 — Freddie Lee Kibby died in March 2013 at the age of 48 from injuries suffered in a seemingly pointless altercation at a barbecue the previous summer.

The cases add to a trend in the city in which police are responsible for more Seattle homicides than prosecutors have filed charges for. Of the 29 homicides thus far in Seattle in 2013, six of the deaths were the result of SPD shootings.

On Capitol Hill, police shot and killed two men in 2013. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s Bullitt Center recognized as ‘the most sustainable building in the world’

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(Image: Bullitt Center)

(Image: Bullitt Center)

One of the most important Capitol Hill stories of 2013 was the Earth Day opening of The Bullitt Center at 15th and Madison — the greenest commercial office building in the world. The Center’s designers — The Miller Hull Partnership — are celebrating an important recognition to finish the year.

Here’s an email from The Bullitt Foundation’s Denis Hayes about the $18.5 million center’s latest accolades:

In a December 18th email, I alerted many of you that World Architecture News had selected the Bullitt Center as one of six finalists — and the only finalist from the United States — in its annual contest for the most sustainable building in the world. To be included in that elite group was, by itself, a singular honor.

Tonight I am delighted to announce that the judging has been completed and the Bullitt Center has been selected as #1 in the world! Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s Bagel Deli latest old-timer to exit 15th Ave E

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"The Bagel Deli Bulldogs - 1992" (Image: Bagel Deli)

“The Bagel Deli Bulldogs – 1992” (Image: Bagel Deli)

Abbasolomon shared the bad news in this CHS community post

Abbasolomon shared the bad news in this CHS community post

Another 15th Ave E old-timer will exit the sometimes sleepy — and increasingly active — Capitol Hill commercial village.

A sign hung at the Bagel Deli announced that Sunday was the final day of business for the bagelry after 33 years serving Capitol Hill.

We’ll try to follow up with owner Dale Jones about the decision to shutter and the history of the deli. Known for its straightforward take on its role as both a provider of bagels and a simple place to get a sandwich not too far from Group Health, the deli survived into a new era on an increasingly upgraded business strip.

The most recent example of turnover on 15th came a few blocks toward Volunteer Park where old school North Hill Bakery was squeezed out by rising rents and is being replaced by decidedly new school Nuflour gluten-free bakery, continuing a more than 80-year history of baking at the address. Also opening in 2014 will be the new — and overhauled if not improved — Canterbury as a partnership of Pike/Pine nightlife and restaurant entrepreneurs takes over the space. Another transformation has carried forward the old home of Horizon Books into a new-era — and beautiful — retail experience in (CHS advertiser) Ada’s Technical Books. Meanwhile, this central stretch of the street has seen an injection of new energy in recent years as big names like Ethan Stowell have moved in and new 15th favorites like The Wandering Goose have been hatched. And a four-story apartment project lurks in the future replacing dearly departed Chutney’s at 15th and Mercer.

Old school (Image: Bagel Deli)

Old school (Image: Bagel Deli)

Not all of the old-timers have stood idly by on the changing street. In 2012, Coastal Kitchen unveiled a significant makeover of its space as it marked 20 years in business on the street. Neighborhood businesses have also rallied together to form a merchants association as the opportunities and challenges in the district mount.

As for the Bagel Deli, we’ll have to wait to learn more from its owner about the closure. Capitol Hill’s bagel needs will continue to be served by an Einstein Brothers outlet on Broadway and the higher concept Eltana wood-fired bagels at 12th and Pine. For now, we’ll leave you with how the deli described itself. Like any good marketing, it seemed to be mostly true:

We believe in keeping things simple. A bagel is not fussy, a bagel is not gourmet. A bagel is wholesome and simple. It is the irresistible combination of wheat, yeast, sugar, salt, and malt, and not much else, in the perfect portable portion. Our bagels are crafted by hand, in-house, in small batches.

(Image: Bagel Deli)

(Image: Bagel Deli)

CHS Schemata | Seattle Asian Art Museum is Art Deco at the summit of Capitol Hill

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5-Courtyard-small-687x486The Seattle Asian Art Museum in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park is a splendid building housing a magnificent collection of ancient and contemporary art. Designed by the Seattle firm Bebb and Gould (designers of many noteworthy structures in Seattle, including many prominent homes on Capitol Hill) and built in 1933, it originally housed the entire collection of the Seattle Art Museum.

(Images: John Feit/Schemata Workshop with permission to CHS)

(Images: John Feit/Schemata Workshop with permission to CHS)

Set within Volunteer Park, SAAM shares its museum-in-the-park setting with other museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose home is in New York City’s Central Park. As private collections predated by centuries those offered for public view, the museum-in-the-park typology finds precedent in that of the manor house in the landscape of either a noble’s estate in Europe or that of the landed elite of the East coast of the United States. Both the museum and the public garden are places of leisure, and their pairing is sensible, for sure, and allows for a full day’s outing both in and out-or-doors. In this tradition, SAAM and Volunteer Park present no less compelling a pairing than their historic or big city predecessors.

Art Deco (approximately the style in which SAAM was designed), to my mind, has always had a somewhat precarious and undervalued place within the history of modernist design. It never garnered the serious attention paid to many other 20th century movements, because it was seen, perhaps, as only a pleasant if not too serious ‘scenic’ detour along the thoroughfare of the more rigorous, international style modernism that eclipsed it. Architects, especially, like to see modernism as the built manifestation of industrialization and of the Enlightenment’s goal of human progress. Modernism’s emphasis on functionality, abstraction, and a machine aesthetic are well known. While modernist, Art Deco was perhaps too populist an expression of modernism’s machine aesthetic ideology, leading to deco’s being ultimately and sadly dismissed by ‘serious’ practitioners and their academies in favor of more somber fare. Ironically, deco’s embellishment with organic motifs and stylized figures doomed it to a short life even if those embellishments were crafted in the same materials, precision, means of that modernism propounded. Given its rather short life and relatively meager legacy, we are fortunate indeed to have such a building as SAAM, and that it is open to all to relish in.Screen-Detail-small-687x422

Among modern materials, aluminum figures prominently, including in many Art Deco designs such as at SAAM. While not a new material, aluminum’s manufacturing costs had been significantly reduced by the late 19th and early 20th century making it more readily available (until then, it was priced as was silver). Continue reading →