Monday Food News Roundup

Tako Truk. Photo Credit: Randy Stewart from our Seattlest Flickr Pool

What's stewing in food this week in Seattle? We've got the lowdown on all the openings and closings, recent restaurants reviews and gossip, as well as some food-related musings we've sniffed out from the far reaches of the Internet.

Openings/Closings:

• Perhaps the opening we're most excited about is the return of Tako Truk at Madison Park Conservatory this Sunday, June 26. Frank will have more about this "pop-up" later this week, so keep your eyes peeled. We predict he'll tell you all about a special "green drink," plenty of fried things and raw things, and, of course, tacos.
• Love Taylor Shelfish? You're in luck: their new Melrose Market shop is opening Monday, June 27! At the shop, you'll be able to purchase oysters, clams, mussels, geoduck and scallops seven days a week.
• Over on Bainbridge Island, Hitchock Restaurant is gearing up to launch Hitchcock Counter, a lunch stop designed to put that big wood-fired oven to good use making authentic Neapolitan pizza. They'll also be offering soups, salads and sandwiches from 11-2 on Saturday and Sunday.
• We just got the word that the city's first culinary focused bookstore is opening in Fremont this fall--think October. Book Larder will be run by the team behind Kim Rickett's Book Events, and we expect it will be akin to other cookbook stores, like Omnivore Books in San Francisco, but much cooler. Perhaps they'll bring a bit of what we've come to know/love from the Cooks and Books/Words and Wine series?
• Portland sushi chain Mio is coming to SLU to the retail space below Rolins Street. They market themselves as casual and family-friendly, which we expect will go over well with the Amazon crowd. Mio also emphasizes a focus on sustainable seafood compliance is an added bonus, because, as we've mentioned before, farmed sushi is pretty fishy.
• Mercantile, the retail space adjacent to Local 360 will open this Tuesday, June 21. Keeping line with the restaurant's mission, 95% of the products sold will come from a 360 mile radius, particularly favoring small and independent producers. Produce from Full Circle farms, dairy products from Twin Brook and various assorted dry goods.
• Despite the plethora of city-sanctioned street food (read: the beloved hot dog cart outside the club), someone else has decided to join the circuit. Doggy Style Gourmet Franks is serving up five styles of dogs named after the traditional dressings that are popular in other major US cities. Find them at City Hall Park, which is actually the second location for the cart that originated on Lake Stevens.
• Dots Delicatessen in Fremont is keeping us updated on their pending opening (still slated for July 27) via Facebook. They're also noted that the former owners of Cremant will be collaborating on the project. Pictures indicate the are making their own sausages and bacon, which we're into--we've also noticed from several Tweets from Il Corvo that there is much partnering going on on that end as well.
• Rancho Bravo Tacos coming to West Seattle? Sort of. For now, a trailer serving the fare traditionally found at Rancho's Wallingford and Capitol Hill locations is parked in the old West Seattle Motors spot on Fauntleroy, per the West Seattle Blog. They've also reported on another interesting tidbit: the owner has leased a spot and is plotting a different kind of eatery. He'll debut it in Wallingford and hopes to expand it to West Seattle by next spring. For now, the trailer will be a mainstay in the triangle.
• Don't worry, though. Huarachitos, the Columbia City taqueria isn't closed for good. Seattle Weekly reports they unfortunately lost the majority of the restaurant to a fire early Thursday morning. We have great hope that they'll bounce back.

Reviews & Write-ups:

• Seattle Weekly Food Editor Hanna Raskin tackles Tommy D with a review of his newest SLU trio. She notes Seattle's "food pharaoh" is serving some "carbohydrate-packed plates," some of which are hits, while others are woeful misses. At Ting Momo, the Tibetan food is inconsistent--one potato samo provided her best bite of the trio, while others fell flat, leaving Raskin to believe the food will shine, once the new spot overcomes the first quarter stumble. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Raskin finds Cuoco, where the prices are "ludicrously high and the portions are measly." Where T-Doug really reigns king, she writes, is at Brave Horse Tavern, where the beer flows and almost every dish has a touch of porcine love. The burger will "glide to greatness" and "a meal at Brave Horse should end with cherry pie."
• Have a set of functioning taste buds? Erica C. Barnett of Publicola (who makes a rare and delicious venture into food writing) insists you head straight to White Center for Uncle Mike's BBQ. Get the pork ribs, she says, which in a battle could beat those found at a shabby shack in any of the lower Southern states. Even the sides hold their own, including salty, vinegary and peppery collards.
• Serious Eats' Adam Lindsay tells us what to enjoy and what to avoid at Madrona's new Pritty Boys Pizzeria. The meaty pizzas are prolific, and garner two thumbs up for ground beef bacon. Lindsay also touts the pillowy pizza crust from Phoenecia alum Byron Hummel, which handily make the transfer to Pritty Boys. The downside, he says? The swarms of children--specifically toddlers. If you are childless or don't want to add to the breeding ground, take your pizza to go.
• We know Tacoma isn't technically Seattle, but we have a certain affinity for a small apothecary bar in the 253, 1022 South. Seattle Weekly's Sonja Groset explains why this is exactly what the doctor ordered and then some. Full disclosure: Seattlest food editor (yours truly) joined Groset for this field trip down I-5, and yes, it truly is more Parisian than Pierce County. If 1022 was in our hood, we'd find ourselves bellying up to the bar often.
• Allecia Vermillion of Eater Seattle (and formerly of this very site), chit chats with Where Ya At's Matthew Lewis on his first year running his very successful Creole food truck. What's it like dealing with the critics, the fans? How does it feel to cook 15 or more menu items from a truck? Allecia's got the scoop, including the following quote from Matt: "I love feeding people and sharing that part of myself with them."
• Today is Meatless Monday! Why not celebrate with a steaming dish of hearty lentil soup? While we aren't likely to order the legume-based soup when eating out, Seattle Met's Jess Voelker makes us reconsider by finding three renditions of lentil soup that hold their own.

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitter):

• Canlis once again finds a way to shine. The secret is out behind the valet parking. No fancy behind the scenes computer action, just memory. And clues as reminders. Next up, national author and restaurant critic Steve Plotnicki reviews the lost art of fine dining. And in honor of Fathers Day Brian Canlis explains to Eater National how his father taught him to scan the dinning room for details in the matter of seconds.
• What really goes down in the Whole Foods parking lot? Well a hip-hop YouTube video went viral this week about just that, "It's getting' REAL in the Whole Foods Parking Lot." Yoga pants, Quinoa and kale salad all on the list plus really he's looking for an under $20 of Pinot Noir.
• This is the week for hip-hop food videos, however this one comes rom the hood. Local band Blue Scholars produce Fou Lee featuring some food-centric footage shot in Beacon Hill.
• You know that red haired guy wearing shorts and orange crocs? Well he's hiring, however the listage of requirements seems like Mario is enlisting a superhero to be his Media Production Coordinator.
• What are the 10 most boring dishes you can order on a restaurant menu? Zagat includes the steakhouse staples: wedge salad, baked potato and steamed veggies. However, we don't agree on olives, there's nothing better than briny house-cured olives often not available at the average local market.
• Want to know more about the team who is design some of the lovely spaces you've broke bread at recently? Well, Nancy Leson talks to perhaps the dream team of restaurant design.
• We might be remorse not to share this poetic Tweet from Seattle's Surly Gourmand who professes his love of oatmeal which is akin to cat vomit.