Ride your bike for a good cause tonight!

For those planning on going out to dinner tonight, skip the car and ride your bike to one of 14 restaurants participating in Spoke & Food. A new event in Seattle with the goal of trying to get more residents riding their bikes instead of driving, Spoke & Food  restaurants will also be donating 15% to 20% of dining revenues to local non-profit Solid Ground's Lettuce Link program.

Two NE Seattle Restaurants, The Scarlet Tree (Roosevelt) and Fiddler's Inn (Wedgwood), will be participating. Jump on your bike and ride over to one of these tonight!

For a list of all Spoke & Food restaurants, here is a listing: http://www.viewhalloodesigns.com/spoke_restaurants.htm.

Community meetings galore - tonight!

I'm excited about all the community organizing in NE Seattle lately.  From City transportation projects to resident-led community gardens, there are so many ways to get involved in what's happening in your neighborhood. Tonight alone, we have four meetings taking place:

Thornton Creek Alliance Meeting
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Lake City Presbyterian Church
3841 NE 123rd St., Room B-2

The Thornton Creek Alliance will be discussing the Hubbard Homestead Park, Thornton Creek Park naming, and their 2010-2011 Work Plan. Bruce Johnson, of the TCA Executive Committee, had these meeting details to share:

Bruce Hubbard will share his memories and his vision for this new park (near Northgate Mall) due to be completed this summer. Also, the Park Naming Committee wants your input. (What kind of name is Park #2, anyway?) TCA's general membership meeting is the place to meet neighbors, learn more about the watershed and the people & wildlife who live here, share your interests & concerns, find a committee to work on, and join a work party. It's free & open to the public, so invite your friends. Hope to see you there!

North Link Light Rail - final design discussion

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Roosevelt High School Commons
1410 NE 66th Street

Thanks to the new Roosiehood blog for posting details about tonight's light rail design meeting. For those who don't know, the North Link is a 4.3-mile extension to the light rail system with stations at the University District, Roosevelt and Northgate. Tonight's presentation will share engineer drawings and recommendations and discuss what the next steps in the design will look.

Maple Leaf Reservoir Park meeting
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Olympic View Elementary
504 NE 95th Street

The final design meeting is tonight! For those of you following the progress of the new reservoir park, or those still interested in getting their two cents in, tonight is your last chance before the design schematic is approved.  Friends for a Greater Maple Leaf Park and the Maple Leaf Community Council have graciously sponsored professional childcare...so there's no excuse not to go.

Lake City Community Council meeting

Seattle Mennonite Church - community room
3120 NE 125th Street (Enter from parking lot in back.)

Tonight's meeting will be focused on neighborhood events that will support local businesses (The Restaurant Crawl), make the neighborhood safer and build community (Night Out August 3rd), clean up streets and raise awareness about the 33rd Ave NE Vision Project (fall workparty for 33rd Ave NE), and raise awareness about the new park (PARK-ing Day).

Piatti's 3 for $25 dinner ends Thursday

If you find yourself shopping down in the University Village this week, you might want to try Piatti's special spring menu deal before it ends on Thursday, June 10th.  Three courses for $25 is tough to beat and the menu looks delicious:

PRIMI PIATTI

ZUPPA - Asparagus, Cream, Leeks & Agrumato

INSALATA DI FRAGOLE - Arugula, Strawberries, Goat Cheese, Almonds & Raspberry-Mint Vinaigrette

SECONDI PIATTI

RAVIOLI - House-Made Goat Cheese & Caramelized Onion Ravioli; Asparagus, English Peas

& Grape Tomatoes

PORCHETTA - Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Green Beans & Pan Jus

RISOTTO - Arborio Rice, White Prawns, Leeks, Fennel, Thyme & Lemon Zest

SUGO D’ AGNELLO - Pappardelle Pasta, Braised Lamb Ragu, Calabrian Chili & Ricotta Salata

DOLCI

BUDINO - Rich Chocolate-Orange Custard, Candied Orange Zest & Whipped Cream

GELATO OR SORBETO - Selection Changes Daily

For more information, check out Piatti's website or call: (206) 524-9088.

Farmers Market season has started!

After months of anticipation, the Lake City Farmers Market opened yesterday to excited crowds and an even more rare occurrence these days - no rain! I couldn't wait to get out of my Pioneer Square office and on the bus home so I could check out what opening day farmers had to offer.

Despite the winter-like weather we've been having, the start of the Farmers Market season signals that, indeed, summer really is here. I had to buy a couple beautiful heirloom tomatoes from Kittitas Valley Tomatoes since my own plants have yet to even send out a single flower and I couldn't pass up the Alm Hills pea vines.

Next week I definitely plan on sampling one of the newest additions to the market this year- Pan Africa. The deliciously intoxicating smell of African food followed me from from stand to stand and haunted me as I went home to a much more boring dinner. I will not pass that up again!

To get your farm fix, the Lake City market runs every Thursday from 3-7pm from now through October 7th. It's located next to the Library at NE 125th and 28th Ave NE. There is a free underground parking garage right next to the market on 28th Ave NE, and plenty of street parking on the surrounding streets.

If Thursday isn't a good day for you, try the Meadowbrook Farmers Market. Starting this Sunday, June 6th, and running until October 31st from 11am-3pm at the Seattle Waldorf School (2728 NE 100th St).

Wondering what's open/closed today?

Maybe it's this lovely winter-like weather we're currently having, but it seems like there are more people opting to stay in town this Memorial Day weekend instead hitting the open road.

In case you're wondering what's going to be open today, The Seattle Times has a great list of City and public transportation services closure information, here.

Memorial Day special at Blue C Sushi

According to Daniel over on the Eat Bellevue website, Blue C Sushi is honoring all those who have served our country with a Memorial Day special.  Spend $15 or more on your meal and receive a free dark blue plate option, such as: V-8 Roll, Sea Urchin, Yellowtail Nigiri, Spider Roll, Eel & Cucumber Roll, Las Vegas Roll, Salmon Albacore, Tuna, Octopus, Mackerel, or Seared Tuna.

Print out this coupon to get the free plate:

The closest Blue C is in the University Village; hours are 11am - 9pm. If you aren't in the neighborhood then check out Daniel's list of all restaurant locations in the Seattle area.

Fatal car crash in Northgate last night

The Seattle Police reported a fatality car collision at 1:33 am last night:

An Acura Integra driven by a 27 year old male with two male passengers and a dog was travelling northbound on 24th Avenue NE. As the Acura approached NE Northgate Way, it failed to negotiate the left curve and left the roadway colliding wit a tree on the east side of 24th Avenue NE.

The Seattle Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced the driver dead at the scene. Seattle Fire transported the two passengers to Harborview with non life-threatening injuries. The dog was transported to a local veterinarian with non life-threatening injuries.

There is no word yet as to if the driver was under the influence but The King County Medical Examiner was on the scene to gather additional evidence.

Back from hiatus

No, Northeast Seattle Life hasn't disappeared! Just a combination of beautiful sunny days (remember when we had those?) and an incredibly busy work schedule kept me quiet for a little bit. My yard really thanks you for your patience.

My abandonment of blogging for gardening shouldn't come as a surprise to many people because, as most residents know, when living in this city it's hard not to have a total and complete infatuation with sunny days. It makes Seattle seem ten times more beautiful, exciting and full of activity. 

So as I write this on a cold, dreary morning, on a day which makes our city have the coldest maximum high temperature so far this year of any major city in the lower 48 states, I remind myself that the sunny days WILL be back...and how all this rain is really good for my garden.