Columbia City Source

There’s no official announcement on their website or Facebook page, but the sign in the window seems to suggest Columbia City will be getting Bob’s back very soon.

PCC. Vino Verite (now open). Super Six. Salted Sea. All the Best Petcare (coming soon). Pagliacci (coming soon).

It’s been a crazy year…and the additions to Columbia City’s business district just keep coming. Here’s an update on another:

Walking by today (and doing a little sleuthing on the web) suggests that the next new business to open its doors will be Phase Two Interiors–a furniture consignment shop just East of Rainier on Edmunds. Peeking through the windows, the remodel to the space appears to be nearly finished and there’s already a large selection of furniture ready to be displayed.

Phase Two already has a website up and running  (although limited at this point) that provides some hints as to what we can expect. No exact date on when the doors will open, but all signs point to it being very soon.

Here’s a quick look at the dinner menu:

Salted Sea earned itself a full review from The Seattle Weekly. Here’s the quick summary:

The absolute best thing on the menu? Shrimp toast. Though you may recall it from your childhood Chinese-American restaurant’s pièce de résistance, the flaming pu pu platter, what few people know is that the Vietnamese also have their version, likely influenced in part by the French. Here, small rounds of French bread are slathered in shrimp paste, scallion, ginger, and lime, then broiled. The result is like a savory, shrimp-flavored cheese toast, as the shrimp paste melts and resembles cheese in texture. It’s completely delicious and gooey, and you should get two orders ($8 each) so that, if dining as a couple, you each get three.

As for service, it was somewhat uneven, though always friendly; given the full house and the restaurant’s infancy (it opened earlier this summer), longish waits here and there were forgivable.

If you don’t mind the haphazardness of the Vietnamese influence, you’re sure to find enough here to enjoy. But it may take more than a few visits to figure it out.

To read the whole piece, click here.

Columbia City’s newest offering, Super Six, is set to open this Thursday at 3pm. For more on this new project from the team behind Marination, click here. 

Photo: Joshua Huston, Seattle’s Child

Island Soul’s owner, Theo Martin, is featured in a full write-up in this month’s Seattle’s Child. In addition to highlighting the restaurant, author Caitlyn Flynn explores the important role family and food play in Martin’s philosophy and business.   Click here to read the whole thing.

For Theo Martin, owner of Island Soul restaurant in Columbia City, cooking is a joyful and rewarding family experience at work and at home. Theo’s parents were also in the restaurant business, and “serving others is what makes food a very spiritual and happy field,” he said.  

Theo’s children, ages 14, 22 and 25, grew up at the restaurant and his two oldest kids now work there as a bartender/cook and a manager. It’s “a true family diner,” he said, adding that his brothers and nieces also work at Island Soul. 

Through hands-on experience at the restaurant, Theo’s children learned the ins and outs of running a business at an early age. 

“Teaching kids how to run a business is something you see in a lot of other cultures, but not as much with American families,” he said. “It’s about how to manage money, and how to outright talk about things and not hide or ignore them.”

Island Soul, which opened 15 years ago, has a loyal customer base. Theo’s favorite meal to serve is Saturday and Sunday brunch, because that’s when families come in…

While the official date has yet to be announced (one reliable rumor is as early as the 10th), Marination’s new Columbia City project, Super Six, has dropped a few hints on their Facebook page as to what’s about to open on Hudson St.

If you are excited, click here to vote in Eater Seattle’s poll on the most anticipated fall restaurant openings. Thus far, Super Six has a clear lead.

Update: The Super Six Twitter feed is also active. Here are a few more teasers.

Back in July, a major fire unfortunately shut down Bob’s Quality Meats, a Columbia City institution and one of the oldest (and last) family-owned butcher shops in Seattle. Since then, the shop has been boarded up with many neighbors hoping they will eventually be able to reopen. This week, Bob’s posted the following message to their Facebook page, looking for neighborhood help in securing a historic preservation grant. If you’d like to add your name to the petition, do it soon!…the signed petitions need to be collected on Tuesday. See below for where to find one.

Hi all, we are applying for a historic preservation grant to help repair and restore the building after the July 2 fire. We have created a petition to show community support for rebuilding the business, and we would love to get as many signatures as possible. You can sign it at Claw & Paw’s Pet Grocery in Hillman City, Columbia City Bakery, the Columbia City Alehouse, Full Tilt, or Rocket CrossFit.

We’ll be collecting the petitions on Tuesday afternoon/evening. Please stop by one of these fine local establishments and sign over the long weekend if you can, and stay tuned for more ways you can help Bob’s come back. Thank you!