Short takes No. 10

Madison Park Conservatory: getting close

Since neighborhood favorite Sostanza went dark in July, many Madison Park gourmands have been waiting with eager anticipation for news about its replacement, Madison Park Conservatory. Co-owner Cormac Mahoney added to the buzz last week by making the rounds of Village shops and charming the owners—or at least several of the female ones. We heard all about it, of course, and that prompted us to go direct to the source and ask the really important questions: when is the place opening and what can we expect to see on the menu?

As to the when, Mahoney says he’s expecting a late November or early December start date for the new restaurant. As to the rest? Well, he promises to divulge all (or, more truthfully, he agreed to speak with us and tell us something) within the next couple of weeks. Construction is quite obviously underway (the dry wall was delivered last week); and Mahoney confirms that, indeed, the fireplace is now a thing of history. But that’s about all of the news we could get out of the guy. Except for one other, not insignificant, fact. He reports that he’s moved to Madison Park from his abode in Eastlake, thereby making him one of the very rare—four or five at best—local business owners who are also residents of the Park.

While we’ve still got hope for a meaningful future dialog with Mahoney, all we’re left with today is this teaser: “Please be satisfied,” he says, “with our current mantra: we will be a Seattle restaurant serving delicious plants and animals with a squeeze of lemon.”

Did we mention the bit about his being young and charming?


MLK sale to FAME approved

As expected, the Seattle School Board (technically, the Seattle School District Board of Directors) last night approved the sale of the Martin Luther King Elementary School site in Madison Valley to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. The vote was 5 to 2. Based on the emails we’ve received, as well as on comments left in response to our blog posting on the subject, the School District’s action is highly controversial, both in our neighborhood and in Madison Valley. For whatever reason, we’ve not heard from First A.M.E. or from any of its supporters since the story broke.


‘Honey’ declared a dangerous animal

The Washington Park Pit Bull which allegedly attacked three women on one day in August, has officially been designated as a “dangerous animal” by the Director of the Seattle Animal Shelter. As a result, an administrative process will now begin during which the owner can appeal the decision. Unless the appeal is successful, Honey, the tan Pit Bull (or Pit Bull mix) will no longer be allowed within the City limits. She is reportedly now living in West Seattle.


Rejuvenation anyone?

Just next door to the new Madison Park Conservatory is Spa Del Lago, into which former Madison Park resident Dr. Teri Burnett recently moved her practice. Although a plastic surgeon with nine years of experience in using more-invasive procedures, Burnett is now specializing in some less-intrusive approaches to helping people look younger: Botox, dermal fillers, and wellness supplements. You can get the details on her no-surgery/no-pills program by checking out her Facebook page, Get Young MD. Spa Del Lago is located at 1929 43rd Avenue. E.


[Madison Park Conservatory is located at 1927 43rd Avenue E. Photo of Spa Del Lago courtesy of Get Young MD.]

Short takes – 7

Competition for Bert’s meat department?

Neighboring blog, Central District News, reports on Bill the Butcher’s new Madison Valley location in a posting yesterday. Bill the Butcher is all about meat derived from sustainable farming practices that don’t rely on hormones, genetically modified feed, or steroids. The shop also features organically or naturally grass-fed beef. This is Bill’s fourth location. The new shop is at 2911 E. Madison Street.


Martha Harris’s connection to Conan O’Brien

The Seattle Times published a cute piece on Conan O’Brien’s Seattle in-laws this week, a story in which well known Madison Park floral and home décor store owner Martha E. Harris gets prominent mention. It turns out that O’Brien’s wife Liza is a former employee of Martha’s. Is it true that everyone but me already knew?


New incarnation for Voila! chef

Another neighboring blog—this one across the water—reports today that Laurent Gabrel, owner of Madison Valley’s Voila! and (until he sold it in December) La Cote Creperie is about to open a new restaurant in Laurelhurst. The Laurelhurst Blogger says that Gabrel will be taking on the space once occupied by Enotria (previously the location of the Union Bay Café) at 3515 Northeast 45th Street. The new restaurant will be called Chloé and will open in June.


Madison Park wins recycling prize

CleanScapes, our friendly garbage company, has announced that the Thursday pickup area, which includes Madison Park, is the winner of the 2010 Neighborhood Waste Reduction Rewards competition. In addition to our neighborhood, First Hill, Capitol Hill, Montlake, Madrona and Madison Valley are all part of the Thursday collection area, and representatives of the respective community councils will soon meet to decide what worthy improvement project from one or more of the neighborhoods will be funded with the prize money.

Short takes - 6

We’ve just experienced another glorious, sunny weekend in the Park; and I can’t help but wonder whether we might have to pay some future price for all of the beautiful weather we’ve had this year. Of course, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I’ve always been a “glass-half-empty” kind of guy.

Today is Columbus Day and therefore a bank holiday (we bankers make every excuse for a day off that we can). This gives me the opportunity to do an unusual weekday-afternoon posting covering a variety of previously unreported topics.

Official maps promulgated (yawn)

Virtually every other blog in town got all excited and did posts last week about both the City’s new snow-removal-plan map and the Seattle school district’s new school boundary maps. If you are interested in taking a look for yourself, just click on the hyperlinks. I think I can sum up the import of both maps by stating that pretty much nothing has changed relative to Madison Park.

The snow removal plan designates E. Madison Street as a “Level 2” road, meaning that the City will try to keep one lane open in either direction in case of snow. Whether this means that it will actually happen, or not, is something that can hardly be predicted from reading the map. Madison Park was, after all, clearly on a second-priority street (or was it third?) when the last snow fell. And we all remember how that worked out.

With regard to the new assignment plan for the public schools, McGilvra’s school boundaries are changed only slightly. Instead of extending south to E. John Street, the attendance area now extends one block further, to E. Denny. Also, a few more blocks around 23rd Avenue E., up the hill, have been added. The biggest advantage of the new assignment plan is the fact that parents are guaranteed that if they live within a school’s boundaries their children can attend that school. It’s not apparent, however, that this policy change will have any impact on McGilvra’s students, only about half of whom currently live within the school’s attendance area.

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Fishin' is easy in the Park?

It’s news to me, but several websites state that Madison Park is a great place to go fishing. Apparently the dock at the E. Madison Street road end is known for “fair-to-good” perch fishing, in season; and smallmouth bass and catfish are also supposedly catchable from that location (maggots are reportedly good bait, but who has them?). We are past the peak fishing season, I am told, but that hasn’t stopped all of the fishing activity. I accosted several people who were fishing off the dock late last month, but no one had caught any fish—or if they had, they weren't willing to tell me about it. I wasn't checking for licenses.

Book sale a great success

The efforts of the Madison Park Community Council to raise a little extra money through a book sale paid off last month. MPCC President Ken Myrabo reports that about $1,200 was raised, including $250 paid by a book wholesaler who purchased all of the remaining unsold books as the one-day sale ended. The extra income is just about enough, Myrabo notes, to pay the Council’s liability insurance premium for the year.

Tile artists happy with the Park venue

At dinner last night I happened to run into one of the artists participating in the Northwest Handmade Tile Festival, held over the weekend in Pioneer Hall. She told me that the show was a great success, with a lot of attendees and quite a lot of tiles sold. Given that success, it is highly likely that the Park will be the venue for the Festival again next year, she said.

Short takes

Missed connection: As we were wandering around the neighborhood this morning looking at graffiti, Ken Myrabo (president of the Madison Park Community Council) pointed out this heartfelt, rain-protected posting on a telephone pole near the parking lot at Starbuck’s. Believe it or not, there’s actually a website for this kind of thing: http://www.missedconnections.com/. No word in this case on whether our CBB realtor has since made her connection.

More on the list of specials than just the Pod Thai? It’s not really a Madison Park story, but it became one when the newspaper and television crews descended on our neighborhood’s Thai Ginger restaurant yesterday to get shots and provide live coverage for the story on the restaurant owner’s day in court. For those who missed the story, owner Varee Bradford has been indicted on charges alleging that she paid various workers tens of thousands of dollars to marry her relatives so they could remain in the United States. My neighbor, Jim Waltz, was the cameraman for KIRO’s live coverage last night, and I’m indebted to him for suggesting the tag line above. For KIRO’s complete coverage, click here.

Watcher in the park is still around: There have been additional sightings of a tall black man supposedly standing around watching children in the playground area of the park. The police advise residents who see any such suspicious behavior to call 911 rather than confronting the man.

Fecal coliform levels remain elevated at Madison Park: King County's regular testing of Lake Washington water at our beach this week again showed higher-than-normal levels of these bacteria. However, the count has declined significantly, from 470 on June 15 to 220 on June 22. This is still considered of "Moderate Concern" under the County's measurement system, but as an individual reading it is not particularly bad news since the trend is in the right direction. According to Dean Wilson, the County's program manager for beach monitoring, higher amounts of fecal coliforms will be present after peroids of rain. The beach is definitely not considered dangerous to swimmers at this level.