Category Archives: Local Business

Food and Drink, Local Business, Local Events

A Touch of Sweden promises pastries on Saturday

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Photo of Swedish bulle pastry by Dick Rochester.
A Touch of Sweden is coming to Beacon Hill this weekend, bringing Scandinavian cakes and pastries to the Beaconian masses, as well as new life to a building that has been closed to the public for the last year. This new baking business will be catering and selling baked goods to order, including Swedish pastries such as cinnamon rolls, chocolate/almond beskvis, farmers’ cookies, dream cookies, and princess cakes.

Kajsa Soderlund and PopTop Rising are hosting an opening event this Saturday, May 1, to introduce their selection of baked goods. Sampling tickets will be available and everything will be at a reduced, introductory price. There will be Mother’s Day cakes, raspberry mousse cake, and chocolate mousse cake, as well as free coffee. Soderlund says, “We will be taking orders for Mother’s Day cakes or other requests too.”

The event will take place on May 1 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm at the former Culinary Communion house, 2524 Beacon Avenue South.

“A Touch of Sweden” is renting kitchen space from the new tenant of the house, so it won’t be a full-time bakery just yet. However, Soderlund tells us that they plan to have open hours when people can stop by to place advance orders, though the hours aren’t yet finalized.

The kitchen will be busy; we hear that there may be a new restaurant opening in the Culinary Communion building soon. We’ll post more details about the restaurant as we get them.

In the meantime, Soderlund says “We are very happy to be able to bake at this beautiful kitchen and would love to see you there.”

Food and Drink, Local Business

Lot for rent and, elsewhere, a new taco truck

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One fenced lot adjacent to the light rail station has recently sprouted a “for rent” sign. This lot next to the rail station would be a plum spot for some lucky lunch truck, obviously — but what other purposes could such an available space be put to?

Speaking of street vendors, Dylan wrote to the mailing list recently:

Taqueria Latinos II has been parked at the corner of Weller and 12th (just on the other side of the Jose Rizal bridge) for about 4 months now. For those of you who have been lucky enough to swing by, we have enjoyed their generous servings of authentic south of the border cuisine. One of the best taco trucks in Seattle, they use fresh ingredients and are nice folks — can’t beat that. On April 23rd they are moving to 2537 15th Ave S, right behind the Bank of America.

Taqueria Latinos II taco truck

Thanks to Chris, Brook, and Dylan for the tips, and Tim for the taco truck photo!

Local Business, Local Events, Recreation

Egg hunts this Saturday

Red Apple window art for Easter Egg Hunt

This coming Saturday, April 3rd, the Hilltop Red Apple is having their “1st Annual” Easter Egg Hunt at 9am. Stop by the store at Beacon and Lander across from the light rail station or call 206-323-1325 for more details.

An hour later, Jefferson Community Center and Van Asselt Community Center are hosting “Spring” Egg Hunts at 10am Saturday morning:

Bring a basket or a bag to gather up goodies at our Spring Egg Hunt! All children 10 years of age and younger are welcomed to the hunt. Come rain or shine! A pancake breakfast will follow the egg hunt. The cost is $1 per person or $5 per family.

Jefferson Community Center is located at 3801 Beacon Ave S and Van Asselt Community Center is located at 2820 S Myrtle St.

Local Business, Meetings

Neighbors invited to discuss future of ART’s on Beacon Hill coffeehouse

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ART's on Beacon Hill at 13th and Shelton will host a community meeting this weekend and fundraising performances during April. Photo by Wendi.
Owner Michael Perrone sent this letter about the future of the ART’s on Beacon Hill coffeehouse in the former DeVos grocery at 13th and Shelton:

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you for all of your recent and generous support, as we are working hard to provide a community center that supports and reflects the diversity and rich history of our Beacon Hill and Georgetown neighborhoods.

On Saturday March 27, 2010 between 5 and 7 p.m., you are invited to attend a special community meeting at ART’s to discuss upcoming events and options for further community involvement and support. All neighbors are invited so please spread the word!

As you know, we have been working closely with the City of Seattle to renew historic licensing allowing for the reinstatement of ART’s as the community corner where neighbors gather, share a cup of hot beverage, a tasty delight, and news of the day. It is our aim to continue this tradition and reopen the corner coffee shop as a community hub and center of creativity. To assist in this endeavor, ART’s has recently partnered with CULTURE FORUM, a non-profit Culture and Arts organization dedicated to artist and cultural exchange through community building.

ART’s current offering opens April 1 running through May 1, and is entitled MIXED: First Person and is a 42 minute multi-media stage play developed with the Evergreen State College, CULTURE FORUM, and of course ART’s.

We are very close to achieving our goals, but cannot do it without your input, involvement, and support. So please accept our invitation to attend this special meeting, and we hope to see you very soon at ART’s! If you have any questions, please feel free to give a call or just stop on by!

Sincerely yours,
Michael Perrone
ART’s on Beacon Hill
4951 13th ave south 98108
phone: 206-861-6260

Christian Ryser of CULTURE FORUM tells the Beacon Hill Blog that the city has agreed to reinstate the building’s original historic status and zoning, including retail and gallery use, and that they are allowing fundraisers to be held. The Mixed: First Person show is functioning as a fundraising effort for ART’s. He adds, “The bad news is that ART’s is suffering from the same banking malpractice as the rest of the world. Culture Forum has partnered with ART’s to provide artistic direction as well as an avenue for tax deductible donations. We are attempting to find a way to modify and or buy out the absurd loan on the building. ” They are working with an attorney from Beacon Hill in this effort.

Local Business, Meetings

Beacon Merchants Association meeting today

The Beacon Merchants Association is a newly forming organization of all businesses on Beacon Hill, both retail and home-based. They are holding their next meeting today, March 26, at 12 noon at Kusina Filipina, 3201 Beacon Avenue South. The meeting is open to any business or property owner in the area who is interested in improving the business climate on the hill. If you can’t be there, email the BMA at beaconmerchants@gmail.com to be added to their mailing list.

Local Business, Photos

North Beacon Hill’s small businesses

While people are talking about forming a new merchants’ association on the Hill, it’s a good time to look at some of our current merchants (in North Beacon Hill, at least). Joel Lee put together this great collage of North Beacon’s small businesses, and posted it to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. How many of these businesses have you patronized?

If you have interesting photos of Beacon Hill, we’d love to see them in the pool, too!

Local Business

From coffee to kung fu and yoga

Neighbor Jann VanOver reports via the Beacon Hill mailing list that the former Grown Folks Coffee site at 4878 Beacon Avenue South reopened recently as the Jun Hong Kung Fu and Sports Association, with martial arts and yoga classes.

Their Facebook page says, “Here you are not a customer, you are a brother, a sister, we are a family, we are shaolin kung fu.” They’re having an open house on January 23.

Beginning yoga classes are $10 a session, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:00-8:00 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 3:00-4:00 pm. Martial arts classes and practices are also offered throughout the week.

Clean and Green, Local Business

Welcome to a new BHB sponsor: Green Cleaning Seattle

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We’d like to welcome a new sponsor to the pages of the Beacon Hill Blog: Green Cleaning Seattle. They describe themselves as “Seattle’s locally owned & operated green cleaning company,” and offer eco-maid services, house cleaning (“basic clean” and “deep clean”), party and event cleaning, office cleaning, and other services, using “products that are non-toxic and natural.” They add, “We do not use products that contain chemicals or artificial fragrances. We also recycle and reuse our cleaning towels (they are cleaned and sanitized after each use) and recycle and reuse our spray bottles.” You can see their ad in the right-hand column of every page on the blog for the next few weeks.

Thanks to Green Cleaning Seattle for their support of the Beacon Hill Blog!

If you’re interested in becoming a blog sponsor, you can find more information here.

Local Business

Anyone recommend a space for a restaurant?

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Spotted on Craigslist this morning, an ad headlined:

Restaurant Space Needed, South Seattle – $1 (Beacon Hill, Rainier Ave S, Columbia City)

The ad reads:

I am an experienced restaurant owner. I am looking for about 1100 to 1700 squared feet commercial space to lease with class I or II hood for my third location.

The areas I’m interested in: Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Rainer Ave S.

If you like to meet and talk, please respond to my ad.
Thank you

(Light editing and emphasis by me.)

Anyone like to help this person out? Or hazard a guess about what the other two locations might be?

Local Business, Local Events

Cat adoptathon, ROCKiT grand opening this weekend

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You know you want one. Photo by Kpjas.
You know you want one. Photo by Kpjas.
The Seattle Animal Shelter Cat Adoptathon returns to our neighborhood this Saturday, from noon to 3:00 pm at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Avenue South. There will be cats of many breeds available.

Adoption prices for cats range from $102 to $107, and include:

  • Initial vaccinations
  • Deworming
  • Feline Leukemia testing
  • Certificate for free health exam at local veterinarians
  • Spay or neuter
  • Microchip
  • Two-year Seattle Pet License (if applicable)

Also this weekend, ROCKiT space (in the old Buggy location, 3315 Beacon Avenue South) is holding their grand opening event, both Saturday and Sunday. ROCKiT space is a non-profit organization devoted to making music and art accessible to all. They have equipment and space available to members, including musical instruments and P.A. equipment, art supplies, books, rehearsal space, performance space, and more. This weekend they will have “neat stuff for all ages including pumpkin carving, a costume exchange (bring your spare costume stuff!), live music and much more.”