Seattle Culinary Academy students today, hot commodities in Capitol Hill kitchens the next (Image: Seattle Culinary Academy)

A quick search through help wanted ads reveals no shortage of opportunities for cooks on Capitol Hill. Recently, restaurants like Cafe Presse, Smith, Cannon, NAKA, and Lost Lake Cafe were all advertising jobs for line cooks, sous chefs, and other kitchen positions.

Linda Derschang, whose restaurants were also hiring for multiple cook positions, told CHS the the steady stream of openings on Capitol Hill has left the neighborhood in short supply of back-of-house workers.

Ken Wells, director of business development for the Seattle Restaurant Alliance, told CHS part of the explanation could be seasonal as restaurants are typically seeking to fill more positions during busy summer months. But there are larger trends at play — and opportunity for talented, tireless chefs appears to be growing across the city.

Capitol Hill’s boom times can be a blessing and a curse for cooks. Sarah Wong, chief instructor at the Seattle Culinary Academy, said many of her students are finding it difficult to live on Capitol Hill or commute to the neighborhood on kitchen pay.

“Capitol Hill is tricky,” she said. “Many students are looking to work somewhere close to home.”

Wong said that’s led some graduates of the Seattle Central College program to the Eastside, where innovative restaurants are sprouting-up in closer proximity to cheaper housing.

STOUT owner Paul Reder agreed that the lack of adequate public transportation can be a big barrier for cooks, especially Latino workers which he said make up the bulk of his staff. The opening of the new Capitol Hill Station and light rail connection between Broadway, the U-District and the neighborhoods along the light rail line south of downtown could also be a great opportunity for cooks looking to cash in on the boom.

The high demand has also led to high turnover rates as restaurants poach well-seasoned cooks, Reder tells CHS.

“Competitive pay can be a factor and prevent some of the smaller places from maintaining a consistent lineup,” he said.

Many of those cooks have come straight from the halls of SCC’s culinary academy in the heart of Capitol Hill. Mamnoon, Lark, Anchovies & Olives, and Bakery Nouveau are just a few of the Capitol Hill restaurants that have recently had SCC grads in the kitchen.

A search of Linkedin reveals more than 150 profiles listing the academy across the United States, with around 120 in the Seattle area.

If you want a taste of what some future Capitol Hill chefs will be up to, the college offers several cheap opportunities to do so. Interestingly, the culinary program’s restaurants are relatively under-the-radar due to state law that prevents them from advertising and unfairly competing with non-publicly funded restaurants.

One World, Square One Bistro, and the pastries inside The Buzz cafe are the three on-campus venues at Seattle Central for sampling student creations. One World offers a full service, four course meal cooked up in a state of the art kitchen — CHS can attest to that after taking a tour of the sprawling facility last year. Square One is a counter service bistro that serves up a rotating menu that includes pizzas, pastas, and local seafood.

Meanwhile, the culinary program was seeking to replace the program’s longtime dean Linda Pal Chauncey who left to “pursue other opportunities,” according to a SCC spokesperson.

Capitol Hill food+drink notes by jseattle

• After a much longer than expected buildout, Seven Beef from Monsoon’s Eric and Sophie Banh opened for friends and family this week. Watch for a public opening any day now. CHS wrote this summer about the beefy steakhouse project at 1305 E Jefferson with plans to “receive whole cows from local purveyors and break them down into primal cuts and ground beef.”
  

  (Image: Seven Beef)

  

  (Image: CHS Tipster)
• Meanwhile, Monsoon suddenly finds itself in the midst of a busy late(r) night scene on 19th Ave E as Ernest Loves Agnes has joined it and Tallulah’s on the somewhat sleepier side of the Hill. Here is Monsoon’s new contribution to the late night fun:
  Chef de Cuisine Josh Hart and the Monsoon team have re-vamped Monsoon’s late night menu, adding warming soups and other great snacks and drinks.  The menu is available daily from 10pm to midnight in the Monsoon bar area, and starts off with $1.50 oysters. Also on the menu are chicken dumplings and daikon-taro root cakes, both $6. Four soups and a killer pork belly congee are available for just $8—the soups include Monsoon’s famous pho as well as beef stew with toasted baguette and a flavorful vegan curry.There are drinks on offer too, naturally: an Aperol Fizz with Chinese licorice syrup, the house Gin & Tonic with marigold-chamomile tonic syrup and Prosecco, and an Old Fashioned with five-spice simple syrup, all $7. Beer and wine are available as well, for $5 or $6, respectively.  Also, bar manager Jon Christiansen’s stellar spirit flights are 50% off after 10pm—the fun flights offer a great opportunity to learn about Japanese whiskey or American bourbon, smoky mezcals or exotic cane distillates.
• First Hill’s Sugar Bakery has reopened after a freshening up and overhaul. Take a look. Also, yay… “NEW HOURS! 6:30a to 4:30p M-F (and 9a to 1p on Saturday)
  

  (Image: Sugar Bakery)

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  (Image: Empire Espresso via Twitter)

  Columbia City’s Empire Espresso is getting ready to open its new Capitol Hill cafe. The coffee shop will team with Amandine Bakery in the new Chophouse Row development on 11th Ave.

• The Stranger’s annual food and drink edition features a lot of great writing by Angela Garbes including this look at what it means in Seattle when “Five Restaurateurs Own 40 Restaurants” and this set of conversations with “Five of Seattle’s Black Culinary Leaders.”
• Speaking of five restaurateurs owning 40 restaurants…. make it 41.
• How are Uber and Amazon recruiting the Hill’s chefs for their new tech-driven delivery services? Quality… and hype.
• E Pike’s Sam Tavern is “offering anyone showing a vaild ID with the first name of Sam, Sammy, Samanatha or Samuel a free entree.” Only two typos in that offer. They must really mean it. Currently, more than 400 people are RSVP’d to attend the October 21st event.  Sam’s opened on New Year’s 2013 so, nope, we don’t what’s behind the 10/21 timing.
• Hey, Poco has new owners.
• Miss Cafe Septieme’s scones? You know Kurt is back, right? His Kurt Farm Shop doesn’t serve them but he did share the old Septieme recipe:

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