Ten ways to eat, drink and play in Seattle.
Last fall, the Burke Museum, a 130-year-old natural history museum on the University of Washington campus, unveiled its giant new facility dedicated to sharing the restoration and preservation efforts of its scientists with the public for the first time. A decade in the making, the new Burke Museum, designed by Olson Kundig, is a whopping 113,000 square feet, with enough space to finally bring its massive collection of fossils and Native American art out of storage.
Glass-paned labs allow visitors to see scientists at work, and “activity alcoves” encourage interactive learning, with items like touchable canoes and a climbable orca. The “Fossils Uncovered” exhibit features one of the Burke’s most famous artifacts, a preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skull considered one of the best in the world. And the Northwest Native
There’s never any shortage of things to do — and ways to eat and sip and play — in this glittering capital of Pacific Northwest fun. We’ve been knocking delightful things off our Seattle bucket list for years, but even so, that list seems to continually expand, not shrink. Here are 10 awesome things to add to your list.
Art Gallery features contemporary art, including basketry, carvings and multimedia installations, with six Pacific Northwest Native artists answering the question: What is your artistic heritage?
DETAILS >> $22 for adults; $14 for youth. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 4300 15th Ave. NE, Seattle; www.burkemuseum.org
2 SAVOR FRYBREAD TACOS (INSIDE THE BURKE)
What started as Seattle’s first and wildly popular native food truck is now a stand-alone cafe inside the city’s new Burke Museum of natural history. Off the Rez owners Mark Mcconnell and Cecilia Rikard whip up the traditional frybread and Indian tacos Mcconnell grew up eating at his family gatherings and Blackfeet powwows.
Located at the museum’s entrance — you don’t need to pay the Burke entry fee to eat here — the cafe serves sweet and savory breakfast frybreads topped with everything from scrambled eggs and chipotle slaw to honey and lemon curd. But it’s the Indian tacos stuffed with slow-braised shredded bison or 12-hour smoked pulled pork that pull in crowds. Off the Rez also does lunch salads and breakfast pastries, bagels and coffee.
DETAILS >> Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends at the Burke Museum, 4300 15th Ave. NE, Seattle. Direct entrance is on 17th Avenue NE; www.offthereztruck.com
3 SIP HARD SELTZERS LIKE AN ISLANDER
Restaurateur Ethan Stowell has opened the West’s first taproom devoted to hard seltzer, that trendy, low-calorie, no-sugar-added booze that’s sweeping the nation. Located inside Sodo Urbanworks, a warehouse district of breweries and wine-tasting rooms, San Juan Seltzery is decorated in a nautical theme with weathered wood tables and Adirondack chairs meant to transport you to the nearby San Juan Islands.
It also has a full kitchen and bar, so think tasty bites, like fried oyster sandwiches and cups of hot chowder, with one of those 12 seltzers on tap. Clear as rain with subtle flavors, like Oregon pear and Rainier cherry, the hard seltzers are inspired by the Pacific Northwest. They also taste fantastic in cocktails, including the Snug Harbor, made with bourbon, lemon, Aperol and Fuji apple seltzer.
DETAILS >> Open noon to 8 p.m. daily at Sodo Urbanworks, 3901 First Ave. South, Seattle; www.ethanstowellrestaurants. com/seltzery
4 WITNESS THE REIMAGINED ASIAN ART MUSEUM
After three years and $56.5 million, Seattle’s Asian Art Museum reopened last month in its original home in lush Volunteer Park. You won’t notice the much-needed seismic upgrades to the 1933 art deco building, but you will appreciate the new gallery, expanded education space and an elevator large enough to carry its most famous resident: “Some/one,” a massive suit of armor sculpture by Korean artist Do Ho Suh, which is made from tens of thousands of stainless steel dog tags.
What else has changed? The museum is no longer organized by country or epoch but by broad, cross-cultural themes, like worship, birth and death, or celebration. Seeing a bodhisattva from Pakistan next to a stupa from India and a demon from China invites bold and enlightening perspectives, as does the museum’s new in-gallery texts. No longer written solely by the museum’s curators, they also include thoughts from the artists and community members.
DETAILS >> $15 for adults; free for kids 14 and younger. Open Wednesday-sunday at 1400 E. Prospect St., Seattle; www. seattleartmuseum.org
5 NOSH — FINALLY! — ON A GOOD BAGEL
The modern Jewish deli movement has finally hit Seattle. Schmaltzy’s Delicatessen, from the folks behind Napkin Friends, the food truck famous for its latke press sandwiches, is bright and cheery, with white subway tiles and red, white and blue accents. The deli offers a mix of classics, like matzo ball soup, chicken liver schmear, glistening beet-cured lox and thick, housemade pastrami on rye, alongside clever twists, like the Charoset with the Mostest. The vegetarian sandwich features roasted and shaved root vegetables with charoset, a fruit-and-nut spread typically eaten at the Passover Seder, but made here with crispy pear and citrus-mint pesto. And yes, those latke sandwiches are on the menu. Try the Jewbano: Cuban-style braised pork shoulder and kosher beef bologna topped with pickles, mustard and Swiss cheese. DETAILS >> Open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily at 928 NW Leary Way, Suite 102; schmaltzysdeli.com
6 CHANNEL YOUR INNER VIKING
Open less than a year, the striking, zinc-clad National Nordic Museum rises dramatically from Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, its dramatic 57,000-square-feet of fjord-like exhibit space offering a glimpse of 12,000 years of Scandinavian history and culture, Vikings and all. There’s a faux birch-forested “Sense of Place” screening room, fascinating galleries, a smørrebrød-centric Nordic cafe and a special events lineup that ranges from Nordic crafts and cocktails to a concert of Finnish fanfares and Icelandic children’s story time. DETAILS >> Admission is $10-$18. Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-sunday (until 8 p.m. on Thursdays) at 2655 NW Market St.; www.nordicmuseum.org
7 BITE INTO A CHUNG CHUN RICE DOG
A popular Korean street food has hit the city’s International District, and hot dog fans are losing their minds. Chung Chun Rice Dog makes a variety of meat sticks — 12 in all — that are dipped in rice batter, fried, then coated with toppings ranging from panko breadcrumbs and crispy potatoes to ramen noodle chips (yes, seriously). There’s even a squid ink version — the rice flour batter is hit with the salty ink and surrounds an added layer of mozzarella cheese. The result? A crunchy corndog with way more umami than the American variety. Lunch lines can be long, so you may want to hit this tiny strip-mall spot for an early dinner. DETAILS >> Open 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 502 S. King St.; www.chungchun hotdog.us
8 DISCOVER MODERN PHILIPPINE FOOD
There’s no better introduction to Seattle’s hot Philippine food scene than stepping into Melissa Miranda’s Beacon Hill restaurant, Musang. It was, without a doubt, the most highlyanticipated restaurant opening of 2020. Just two months after its unveiling, the community-driven restaurant, designed in dark wood accents to mimic the multigenerational heritage homes in the Philippines, is already experiencing hourlong waits for brunch and dinner. Miranda, who raised more than $90,000 via Kickstarter to turn her pop-up into a brick-and-mortar restaurant, specializes in refined, homey dishes made with local ingredients. Look for tender adobong pusit pancit, made with squid caught by Miranda’s dad, as well as rich beef mechado and bola bola, bacalao and rockfish fritters served with an apple dip made from produce grown in Musang’s front garden. DETAILS >> Open 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesdaysunday and 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends at 2524 Beacon Ave. South, Seattle; www.musangseattle.com
9 REJOICE IN FUNKY BEERS
Don’t like bitter IPAS? It’s OK, this is a safe space. Fair Isle Brewing, a new craft brewery in the Ballard brewery district, specializes in funky, farmhouse beers. In a city famous for its IPAS, Fair Isle crafts tart saisons and American wild ales created with ingredients farmed and foraged in the Pacific Northwest. They’re fermented with Fair Isle’s house culture made from wild yeasts and bacteria, including cultures gathered near the Ballard Locks. The beers have throwback names just as unique as the brews themselves, like Petra, a saison with lemongrass notes, and Sadie, a Pilsner-meets-winter-wheat with pineapple flavors. Enjoy them in the taproom, which is cabin-like and minimalistic, with concrete floors, wood-planked walls and gray and cognac leather chairs. Another difference? Unlike the other breweries in the neighborhood — Stoup, Populuxe and Reuben’s Brews — Fair Isle doesn’t allow pets or kids. DETAILS >> Open from 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday-friday and from noon weekends at 936 NW 49th St., Seattle; www.fairisle brewing.com
10 TASTE YOUR WAY THROUGH AN ERICKSON TRIO
The restaurant empire owned by Seattle powerhouse chef Renee Erickson includes some of the city’s most irresistible spots — and her newest trio gives us even more to explore. Bistro Shirlee, which opened in the Laurelhurst neighborhood about 5 miles north of downtown last spring, is a chic Francemeets-seattle vision — all blue hues, marble-topped tables and bentwood chairs, with outdoor seating when the weather is fine. Tempted by brunch or lunch? Think croque-madame, flaky quiche, salads and seafood from the Salish Sea, the coastal waterways that stretch from Seattle to Vancouver. Erickson also opened two hot spots in late 2018 at the base of Amazon’s futuristic The Spheres. Named for a thistle that Victorian British botanist Ellen Willmott loved so much, she secretly planted seeds in friends’ gardens and public parks, Willmott’s Ghost is all rosy shades of blush with a curving marble-topped bar, pale pink tile and Italian-inspired fare, including wood-fired Roman-style pizza ($21-$29), tiramisu and cocktails. And you’ll find the dark, atmospheric Deep Dive bar one dome over, serving small bites and clever craft cocktails, like the bourbon-based Love Through Space & Time, a gin-tinged Duc Duc Gooseberry and — for Sherlock Holmes fans — Five Orange Pips. Bistro Shirlee is open for brunch on weekends, lunch on Fridays and dinner daily at 3600 NE 45th St., Seattle; www.bistroshirlee.com. Willmott’s Ghost is open daily for lunch and dinner at 2100 Sixth Ave.; www. willmottsghost.com. And Deep Dive opens daily at 4 p.m. at 620 Lenora St.; www.deepdiveseattle.com.