Learning pizza production at Culinary Communion
All posts by Wendi Dunlap
Beacon Bits: gloom, despair, and agony
Not to be a downer, but the news hasn’t been so good lately. We’ll start with some cheerful neighborhood organizing and then move on to the more depressing Bits:
- The Othello Neighborhood Association will meet on Tuesday, 7:00 pm, at Holly Park Community Church, for an open-forum discussion and for nominations for ONA’s 2009 Executive Board. All who live or own property in Othello (bounded on the north by Graham, south by Kenyon, east by Rainier Avenue, and west by Beacon Avenue) are welcome — Rainier Valley Post
- A rape attempt was reported at Franklin High School last week; a 15-year-old girl says a student of the same age pulled her into a boys’ restroom while a 16-year-old boy held the door closed — Seattlest
- Beacon Hill resident Deb Manuma has paid her rent faithfully for years, but, unjustly, will have an eviction on her credit record anyway, because of a deadbeat landlord — Seattle P-I
- A couple was assaulted in a restaurant lounge just south of Beacon and Columbian last night. There was a verbal altercation, then five suspects hit the victims on the head with beer bottles. Police were called, the victims were taken to a hospital to be treated for cuts on the head, and the suspects fled the scene. — SPDBlotter
- What is going on this weekend? 11 people shot and one stabbed in the Seattle area this weekend, including a shooting in Southcenter Mall and others in the Rainier Valley, Belltown, Skyway, and more. (When Jason told me about this Sunday evening, it was only nine people shot at that point.) Three of the victims are dead so far. When did Seattle turn into Detroit? And what can we do about it? — Seattle P-I
A November Sunday afternoon on Beacon Hill
We visited the old Comet Lodge cemetery late Sunday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and the cemetery was quite moving and suitably autumnal.
(Photos by Wendi. See more at the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.)
Blondish burglar brazenly breaking into Beacon bungalows
A few days ago we wrote about a series of possible break-ins on the Hill.
There was also a series of blatant break-ins on Wednesday, with a different MO. A Beacon Hill mailing list reader from North Beacon, near Taejon Park, wrote:
“We woke up to find a young white male, early 20’s, about 5’10”, fairly thin opening our kitchen window. He already had (his) head stuck through the window. We confronted him, he said he knocked (not possible we have three dogs) said he was beaten up and his truck was stolen. We called the police. I watched where he went when he left and wanted to follow him. He preceded to go through a gate in my neighbors yard a 1/2 hour later police were back. He broke in to their house and the alarm went off. Then he went a 1/2 block down and broke a window to get in another house…
“…This guy also only had his left shoe on a grocery bag on the other foot and was limping. He has a tattoo across his neck a name of some sort, short blondish spiked hair, no coat on, thermal long sleeve shirt and jeans. Almost forgot he opened my neighbors window in her bedroom while she was sleeping and tried to get in her window… This guy was seen again in my next door neighbors yard at 3pm the same day as the break in. My neighbor asked what he was doing and he replied he was just resting.”
A BAN list subscriber this week also mentioned having confronted the same guy in a neighbor’s back yard two weeks ago.
In response to this, another reader had a good point. Neighbors should probably have each other’s contact info, so when we see strange people crawling through a neighbor’s window, we can call and ask if the strange person is a stranger or just the neighbor’s son, home from college without his house key.
Thanks to Waldene and Linda on the mailing list!
The Orient Express has arrived
So it was good news to see that, rather than the teardown or removal to the suburbs that we thought would be in the old railcars’ future, that a new restaurant has moved in — an Asian restaurant called (of course) Orient Express. We checked out the Express recently, expecting possibly OK food, and fearing that the charm of the interior might have been remodeled away.
The place has been spruced up a bit. The cars’ exteriors have been repainted and the interior now sports a mechanical maneki neko with a beckoning paw, and a huge fish tank. The dining cars have booths with tall, dark seat backs, giving the seating a bit more of a Thirteen Coins vibe. The train pictures on the wall, however, are still there, and it’s not really fundamentally different in appearance from Andy’s. (The restroom could still use a major upgrade.)
The food, however, is a different thing entirely. The menu is both Thai and Chinese; not as huge a menu as some, but there are plenty of options to choose from. In our first visit with a group of four, we started the meal with Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce and Crab Cheese Wontons. The rolls were delightful, with fresh vegetables. The peanut sauce was overly mild for my taste, but the flavor was otherwise good. The wontons were quite tasty.
We continued the meal with a huge bowl of Hot and Sour Soup. Normally this comes with seafood, but one of the guests in our group asked if it could be made without it. This was not a problem, and the soup turned out to be the star attraction of the evening — spicy, but not too much so, and with flavor to spare.
We followed this with Orange Chicken, Honey Walnut Prawns, Phad See Yew (with tofu) and Pineapple Fried Rice. I don’t eat chicken, but the poultry eaters at the table reported that the chicken had a wonderful orange flavor, not too garish, but nicely citrusy. The Phad See Yew and Pineapple Fried Rice were excellent, and the Honey Walnut Prawns were a sweetish contrast to the rest of the meal with honey sauce and candied walnuts: delicious.
Our group loved the food, and we stuffed ourselves silly. The portions were generous, so we had quite a bit left to take home.
On our second visit as a group of two, we started with Tom Ka soup with tofu (five stars of spiciness, out of five). As in our earlier visit, the soup was once again excellent. It was brightly flavorful and very rich — almost buttery rich — and although we had asked for five stars, the spiciness in no way overwhelmed the flavor. The “two-person” bowl was large enough to fill more than four soup bowls. We followed the soup with General Tso’s Chicken which my chicken-eating spouse enjoyed (not garish orange in color as in so many restaurants, it actually looked like real food instead of food coloring), Yellow Curry with tofu which was rich and flavorful, and Pad Priking, which struck the only off-note of the evening, and that only slightly: the beans and spices were good, but the beef was a little bit tough. Despite that minor flaw, the meal was excellent and we will be back. One other small flaw: Diet Cokes there have that awful watery “bar coke” flavor. Avoid them and try the Thai Iced Tea, which is sweet and good.
The waitstaff are very friendly and helpful. The prices are quite reasonable, and the restaurant is open relatively late. The menu has photographs of the dishes, and proudly proclaims “No MSG.” Need more info? The restaurant’s website includes menus, photographs, and the history of the restaurant, including the background of Andy’s Diner before the trains became the Orient Express.
Orient Express
2963 Fourth Avenue South
Monday-Sunday: 10:30 am – 10:00 pm
Bar open until midnight, but 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday
Happy Hour: 3:00 – 7:00 pm Monday-Friday, 10:30 am – 5:00 pm weekends: 15% off.
A walk in Seattle Parks
Seattle Parks and Recreation are seeking your input on their Walk in the Park program, and on better ways to get people to enjoy parks without cars. They are asking for activity ideas, locations for events and activities, suggestions of parks that are suited to road closures, and other similar ideas. Do you have an idea or an opinion? Fill out the survey here, or go to the Walk in the Park page to find out more.
Thanks to Mike Cheney for the heads-up!
Buggy Knit Night tonight
Buggy’s also hosting a Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 7th from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm. They promise “gifts for super heroes, dancers, animal lovers, cooks, babies, and more,” along with gift wrapping, refreshments, and a special gift with purchase.
Buggy is located at 3315 Beacon Avenue South.
The newest grocery store on Beacon — or is it?
There is a big building at the junction of Beacon and 15th, a large building that seems as if it ought to be a major retail destination in our North Beacon Hill business district and urban village. But it’s not. It’s a warehouse. There is nothing visible inside but piles of boxes, and a small paper sign.
This is interesting, because the site is zoned Neighborhood Commercial 2 P 40. Neighborhood Commercial 2, or NC2, is “a moderately-sized pedestrian-oriented shopping area that provides a full range of retail sales and services to the surrounding neighborhood.” Typically an NC2 land use might be a coffee shop or drugstore. 40 means that the zoning allows 40-foot tall buildings to be built there. P means that it is a “P-zone” — a pedestrian-designated zone, which is designed to encourage pedestrian activity in a neighborhood business district by requiring ground floor uses that attract pedestrian activity and interest. This means things like retail stores, restaurants, hair salons, etc., but not research labs, administrative offices — or warehouses.
Regardless of the building’s P-Zone status, warehouses and wholesale showrooms are not allowed in NC2-zoned sites. This building has been used as a warehouse for some time now. The business based there, Hui Intertrading, is a rice wholesaler and importer, who supplies many local restaurants with their rice.
Hui Intertrading’s use of the building as a warehouse has been a thorn in some folks’ sides for quite a while, as was the earlier similar use of a building directly across the intersection. And people have filed complaints over these violations of the land use code, in August 2004 and May 2008. For a while, a land use notice board appeared on the building, listing a proposed change to retail use, but the board eventually came down with no noticeable change in the use of the building.
After the earlier complaint, the building failed 11 city inspections before finally passing one in February 2008. After the most recent complaint, it took 4 inspections before it finally passed, and the case was closed — in other words, it’s no longer considered to be violating land-use codes. But, have you been by there lately? It’s still a warehouse. Nothing has changed.
Oh, wait — except for that small paper sign I mentioned earlier:
It’s just a pile of boxes behind the sign, with no sign of any retail activity or retail fixtures.
Could it be that putting up a sign like this is all you need to be a retail business and get the Department of Planning and Development off your back? Business owners, take note!
On the other hand, despite appearances, maybe it is a retail shop. Has anyone tried to shop at this “food grocery retail store”? Please tell us how it went.
Complaints to the DPD may be filed online.
(Can you imagine this building as an old-style movie theater with a nice big neon marquee? I’ve always thought it looked like it should be one.)
Volunteer opportunity: make a difference in a local elder’s life
Kerrie Carbary sent us this local volunteer opportunity. (Anyone have other volunteer opportunities on Beacon Hill? Let us know.)
“Would you like to spend a few hours a month with a friendly, energetic, and charming 86 year old woman? You can make a difference in her life by helping her with light housekeeping and easy yardwork. She loves her garden and keeps a beautiful home, but finds herself unable to bend easily to mop, vacuum, and mow the lawn. She’s very independent and still feels comfortable driving, going out to lunch, and meeting with friends, but has decided she could use a bit of extra help in her home. She’d really prefer someone who can visit her during the weekday. She’d prefer a female volunteer and lives in zip code 98108 (Beacon Hill).”
This volunteer opportunity is through Volunteer Chore Services, a program of Catholic Community Services. Volunteers must complete a registration packet, provide three personal references, pass a background check, and attend an orientation.
For more information, please call Kerrie Carbary, the West Region Volunteer Coordinator, at 206-328-6858; the Volunteer Chore Services main intake line at 206-328-5787; or email kerriec@ccsww.org.
Possible break-in attempts on North Beacon Hill
Tamara reported to the Beacon Hill mailing list that there have been a couple of possible break-in attempts on North Beacon Hill.
In the first incident three weeks ago, two male teenagers knocked repeatedly on a resident’s screen door. The resident was sleeping inside, then got up and stood on his side of the door listening to the activity. The teenagers then opened the screen door, pounded on the wood door and started turning the door handle. The resident, who just so happened to be a police officer, opened the door and confronted the teenagers. When confronted, they asked if “Tommy” lived there.
On November 18, the same police officer saw a group of three 14 year old youths acting strangely. They walked by a house, and one went up to the house and knocked on the front door while the other two kept walking. No one answered, so the kid went down the stairs and caught up with his friends. All three came back to the house and opened the gate to the backyard. The policeman confronted them, and they asked if he knew who lived in the house. He answered “Yes I do, and it’s not you.” The policeman told them he knew what they were up to, and the kids denied it and left.
This is similar to some other incidents that have been reported elsewhere in Central and Southeast Seattle.