The Harborview cafeteria: delicious, affordable, and kind of a secret

Down a hallway and tucked into the basement of Harborview Medical Center, an affordable and unexpectedly delicious culinary scene unfolds every day.

What looks like a typical hospital cafeteria is, in fact, one of Seattle’s most surprising hidden food destinations. The Harborview cafeteria, however, is not a total secret.

“We get outside guests just come here to eat the food because they appreciate it and always tell us how good it is compared to other hospitals,” said Chris Tharpe, retail manager at the medical center.

The cafeteria’s growing fanbase includes everyone from hospital staff and patients’ families to construction workers and local residents making the trip just for lunch.

The driving force behind Harborview’s surprising deliciousness is Executive Chef Vanessa Gray, who brought a bold vision—and a non-traditional résumé—to the job.

“I come from sports and entertainment… I wanted to make our cafeteria a fun place to eat with surprising food, not the same thing, hamburger, hot dog, pizza, kinds of things you see in a lot of cafeterias,” Gray said. Continue reading

Keep Denny Blaine Nude? Neighbors sue city over ‘public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking’

(Image: Denny Blaine Park for All)

Homeowners in the wealthy neighborhood surrounding Denny Blaine Park and nude beach are suing the city over its management of the lakefront public space.

“It is now a regional venue for criminal and uncivil behavior that includes public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking that prevents fire trucks and ambulances from reaching neighborhood homes,” the complaint from lawyers representing the Denny Blaine Park for All “association of concerned neighbors” reads.

The lawsuit was sent to Seattle media and television stations this week but is not yet available from the King County Superior Court.

The Seattle Times posted a copy of the complaint Wednesday.

The lawsuit from Seattle’s Foster Garvey PC firm is a major wrinkle in any efforts hoped to bridge the gaps between area homeowners, Seattle Parks, and the nudist and queer communities working to “Keep Denny Blaine Nude” while also addressing concerns about access, cleanliness, and safety around the park. Continue reading

With 25% of Seattle lacking infrastructure needed for multifamily housing, legislation would change the way developers pay for water lines and utilities

As the city slowly but surely works toward a new 20-year growth plan that is hoped to spread development across the city more equitably, the Seattle City Council began debate this week on legislation to change the way infrastructure improvement costs are shared with developers.

The city says more than 25% of blocks outside of the downtown core lack a water, sewer, and/or stormwater mainline.

Officials say under the current structure, costs in areas that lack infrastructure land on the first developers hoping to pursue multifamily housing in the neighborhood: Continue reading

As memorial to classmate lost to gun violence grows at Garfield, district safety changes include ramped-up spring patrols, uniformed security, and ‘AI phones’

Images of the memorial for Salvador “Junior” Granillo

A memorial of flowers and chalk messages for Salvador “Junior” Granillo grew this week in front of Garfield High School.

His death comes as school officials this week said the city’s campuses have new protections against gun violence that are ramping up as summer approaches.

In front of the 23rd Ave high school, some students drew to say goodbye to their friend. Others drew messages against gun violence. Each of the messages was an expression of love and grief for a classmate lost in the prime of his young life.

CHS reported here on the weekend shooting that took the life of Granillo outside a party in Yakima early Sunday morning. The Garfield senior was 18.

A 21-year-old was tracked down and arrested later Sunday afternoon and is being held for investigation of second degree murder. As they prepare charges, prosecutors have revealed new details of the fight that led to the shooting as a scuffle quickly escalated with deadly consequences.

A memorial fund has been set up to aid the victim’s family:

Our community has recently suffered the unimaginable loss of our beloved student, friend, brother, son, nephew, uncle, and grandson. His friends, teachers, and family describe him as an extraordinary soul who was extremely kind, upbeat, compassionate, and made things happen. He was an active member of Razas Unidas, a manager of the Garfield gymnasium, an opioid awareness ambassador, a business entrepreneur, and a senior in the class of 2025 just months shy of graduation.

Gun violence has taken a painful toll on Garfield’s class of 2025.

Last June, 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine was shot and killed during a lunchtime altercation in the school’s parking lot. Murphy-Paine’s killer remains at large. Continue reading

How Indian restaurant and bar Mint & Martini expanded to Capitol Hill… from St. Louis

By Matt Dowell

Mint & Martini, a new restaurant replacing Barrio on 12th Ave, aims to open by the middle of May. They’re bringing modern Indian and Indochinese cuisine to the big space.

Beyond the food, they want to make a fun place for people to hang out that fits the Capitol Hill scene.

“We’ll have a bar. It won’t be just your typical Indian restaurant,” the ownership tells CHS. ”We want people to come and sit at the bar, have drinks, chat, and do happy hours.”

The bar will feature a variety of cocktails and mocktails, including seasonal drinks “resonating with the Indian summer.”

Its hoped for arrival this spring will also represent one of the less heralded paths to joining the Capitol Hill food and drink scene. Mint & Martini’s ownership is not only coming to a new neighborhood. It is leaping to a new region of the country and a new city with hopes based on price per square foot and demographic opportunity.

As CHS reported in January, this isn’t the group’s first Mint & Martini. They opened a location last year outside of St. Louis, where they also own Red Chili Indian Cuisine & Bar. The St. Louis spot offers Indian-Italian fusion, like the Tikka Vikka pizza, “which substitutes the classic pizza red sauce for a spiced tomato- and cream-based sauce that adds a sweet and earthy touch”, according to one reviewer.

But Capitol Hill’s Mint & Martini won’t borrow much from St. Louis beyond the name. Continue reading

Voters set to approve levy renewal for King County’s $23M a year fingerprint system

Screenshot

Voters are set to approve the renewal of a longtime property levy that pays for King County’s $23 million a year Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Tuesday night’s first tally in the April special election shows nearly 60% of ballots approving the renewal. Continue reading

Earth Day 2025 in Seattle: A plan to update its Climate Action Plan… next year

Weather, as measured by monthly highs and lows, has grown more extreme in Seattle (Image: ClimateCheck)

(Image: City of Seattle)

Mayor Bruce Harrell and Seattle city officials spent Earth Day like many of the rest of us — promising to do better.

Tuesday, Harrell signed an “Earth Day executive order” directing city departments to “respond to Seattle’s current and future climate challenges with a focus on building resilience, growing a green economy, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from transportation.”

The order’s most significant element sets Seattle on track for updating its key Climate Action Plan by the summer of 2026.

“Climate change is impacting more parts of daily life than it did a decade ago. Hotter summers are making living and working more uncomfortable and often dangerous,” Harrell said in the announcement of the order. “Severe storms are damaging infrastructure and flooding homes, pollutants are worsening air quality, and much more.”

The update will be the first for the plan since it was formed in 2013.

The average global temperature in 2013 was 58.3 F. Continue reading

911 | Groping, keg-tossing suspect busted in Crescent Lounge melee

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Chaotic Crescent assault arrest: Seattle Police arrested a suspect as he attempted to drive away across Capitol Hill after a chaotic melee of groping and damage inside E Olive Way’s Crescent Lounge early Tuesday. Police were called to the 1400-block dive bar just after midnight to a report the nightspot was shuttered as a man had been locked out of the bar after assaulting and groping people in attacks on staff and patrons. SPD says the suspect reportedly “threw a full keg of beer,” groped “several” people, and “hurled a beer bottle at a bartender” during the melee. According to East Precinct radio updates, the suspect was quickly tracked down while fleeing the area in his vehicle and was identified in part thanks to the flip-flops he was wearing at the time of the assault. Police say the suspect appeared to be “clearly impaired” and a field sobriety test was conducted. The suspect also had an open alcoholic beverage in his car, and was driving on a suspended license, SPD says. He was also required by court order to have an ignition interlock device but did not. SPD says the suspect was booked on multiple investigations including three counts of Assault, two counts of Special Allegation – Sexual Motivation, Harassment, Driving Under the Influence, Operating a Motor Vehicle Without an Ignition Interlock Device, and driving with a suspended/revoked license in the 3rd Degree. Police say the chaos didn”t stop with his arrest. According to SPD, the man also managed to assault an officer as he was taken to Harborview under a search warrant for blood evidence. “Hospital staff did not draw his blood due to his unsafe behavior,” SPD reports. No serious injuries were reported at the Crescent.
  • Montlake DUI crash: Police say an SUV flipped multiple times and a suspected DUI driver fled the scene of the crash after a collision Monday afternoon that caused a traffic nightmare at the Montlake Lid 520 interchange:
    At 1543 hours, police responded to a report of a collision where a vehicle flipped multiple times at the intersection of Montlake Blvd E/E Lake Washington Blvd. It was reported a gray SUV traveled at a high rate of speed southbound on Montlake Blvd E in the opposing lanes of traffic, when the driver quickly swerved back into the correct lanes of traffic colliding with a black SUV making an eastbound turn onto E Lake Washington Blvd. The collision caused the gray SUV to flip multiple times and hit a white SUV waiting to make a westbound turn onto 520 eastbound before coming to a stop on the curb located on the southwest side of Montlake Blvd E. Officers arrived quickly and spoke with witnesses who provided information about the suspect driver. The male suspect driver fled from the scene on foot but was located a short distance away. No one was seriously injured from the collision.
    Police say the suspect driver was arrested for hit and run, DUI, and reckless driving and was to be booked into jail once medically cleared at Harborview.
 

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Another delay as sentencing in Elijah Lewis murder trial postponed to May

Already a delayed journey, the path to justice in the Elijah Lewis murder case will stretch out for three more weeks.

“Barring extraordinary circumstances, this will be the last continuance,” King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell vowed in his decision last week to grant a final continuance for the sentencing hearing for defendant Patrick Cooney.

In February, Cooney was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and first degree assault for the April 2023 scooter road rage shooting that took the life of the 23-year-old Lewis at the corner of Broadway and Pine. Continue reading

‘$15 Now’ — Seattle marks ten year anniversary of a new path for the city’s minimum wage

Marches and “fast food strikes” like this one in 2015 outside the First Hill McDonald’s were part of the push for the new minimum wage

By Domenic Strazzabosco

April marks the tenth anniversary of Seattle taking a new path on its minimum wage. On April 1, 2015, the city became the first in the United States to enact a $15 minimum wage and a process to lever the wage higher to account for rising costs and inflation. As of January 1st, Seattle’s minimum wage sits at $20.76 an hour.

It has been a long climb to get here. A look around Capitol Hill shows some of the impact.

CHS checked out local postings to see what employers were offering new workers come the decade anniversary of the legislation. Continue reading