Tasha’s Bistro Café will be opening soon at the former Culinary Communion house on Beacon Avenue South. We spoke on Saturday with owner Tasha Sawabini, who also operates the Elegant Gourmet Catering company. She told us that the restaurant will be serving Northwest cuisine, and that she hopes to be able to open by Memorial Day weekend. The current plan is for the café to offer brunch on Saturday and Sunday and dinner on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

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The Seattle Office of Emergency Management is hosting a disaster preparedness workshop at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South, on this Tuesday, May 4 from 6:30-7:45 pm. At the “Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare” workshop, you’ll learn simple steps to safeguard your home before disaster, take a quake-safe action wherever you are, and create a neighborhood team. The workshop is free, and no pre-registration is necessary.

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The PTA at Dearborn Park Elementary will host its first Dearborn Park Bazaar and Festival on May 22 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. They will sell garage sale items, arts, crafts, plants, and food, and have games and performances. For information on renting space to sell your own items or performing at the event, please contact Nelrica Mosqueda or Angela Sheffey at 206-252-6930 or email dearbornparkpta@yahoo.com. The group also needs monetary and/or gift certificate donations to make the event happen.

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The open house for A Touch of Sweden was at the former Culinary Communion house (soon to be Tasha’s Bistro Café) this weekend. Baker Kajsa Soderlund told us the event was a big success, and while we were there we saw quite a few people come in to try out the baked goods, which included cinnamon rolls, “Dream” cookies, and other treats. (The items we tried were tasty, and we hope there will be a storefront on Beacon Hill someday for A Touch of Sweden—which is currently open only for advance ordering.)

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The Beaconettes, an all-women a cappella singing group who “cleverly satirize Seattle’s icons, issues and celebrities with a specific focus on Beacon Hill and neighborhoods south of the ship canal,” will be performing at the Mount Baker Community Center on Thursday, May 13 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm to help raise money for Kimball Elementary’s Annual Fund.

The suggested donation is $15 per person. Contributions will help support Kimball’s Annual Fund which pays for arts and afterschool programs, bilingual translations, field trips, books, school supplies and more.

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State Senator Adam Kline (D-37th District) will stop by Quarters 1 at the PacMed Campus on May 11 to meet with community members and hear what his constituents have to say. The meeting is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Tuesday, May 11, in Quarters 1 at the northwest corner of 14th Avenue South and South Judkins Street. If you are driving, please park on the street.

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If you didn’t get your Census form mailed in, you should expect a knock on the door soon. Census takers are out and about this month visiting households that didn’t return their census forms. In most cases, census workers will make initial visits during afternoons, early evenings and weekends.

If a 2010 Census worker knocks on your door, here are some ways to verify that person is a legitimate census taker:

• The census taker must present an ID badge that contains a Department of Commerce watermark and expiration date. The census taker may also be carrying a black canvas bag with a Census Bureau logo.
• The census taker will provide you with supervisor contact information and/or the local census office phone number for verification, if asked.
• The census taker only will ask you the questions that appear on the 2010 Census form.
• The 2010 Census taker will not ask for social security number, bank account number or credit card number and will never solicit for donations or contact you by email.

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Health Department inspectors recently visited a few more establishments on Beacon Hill: The Pacific Asian Empowerment Program, M C Foodstore, St. George School, Graham Street Grocery, and Beacon Hill Foods. (Click on the links to see the full report for each inspection.)

Congratulations to the Pacific Asian Empowerment Program, M C Foodstore, Graham Street Grocery, and Beacon Hill Foods for getting perfect scores of zero!

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Thanks to everyone who sent in notices this time!