This week, some familiar Seattle food favorites are enjoying time in the national spotlight, as local bars and restaurants receive James Beard Award nominations and Ellenos Yogurt gets an $18 million investment. Plus, a new cider taproom, a bakery for dogs, and a mocktail destination arrive, Phnom Penh Noodle House and Taku get ready to open, and Hitchcock chef Brendan McGill announces a pop-up sandwich shop in Georgetown. Read on for details on all that and more, plus weekend events for foodies, like the Washington Beer Open House Past Event Like List . For more ideas, check out our Seattle Cocktail Week calendar and our full food and drink calendar.

OPENINGS
Capsule Cafe
This new Taiwanese cafe, which soft-opened in early February, adds to the U-District's plentiful inexpensive offerings with snacky bites like braised pork, popcorn chicken, and onion rings. Guests can grab a basket and peruse the cafe's buffet to load up on whatever dishes they want.
University District

Downtown Dog Lounge Bakery
Much to the perturbation of pie lovers and to the delight of pet owners, the Downtown Dog Lounge Bakery, a dog treat bakery from the dog grooming and daycare chain of the same name, will have its grand opening Past Event Like List in the former place of Pie this weekend. The festivities will include giveaways, free nail trims, treats, a chance to win a doggie spa day at Downtown Dog Lounge, and a photo contest with a monthly membership to the lounge's upcoming Dog Yard Bar as a prize.
Fremont

Locust Cider and Brewing Co.
Locusts are swarming Seattle: The rapidly expanding cider company, which started in Woodinville, opened its second downtown taproom last Friday, February 21, according to a press release. The outpost is part of Pike Place's newly opened Market Hall, which features other businesses like the recently opened Anchorhead Coffee. (Locust also has a location in nearby Post Alley.) Like other Locust Cider locations, the new taproom has a dozen types of cider on tap, flatbread pizzas, savory snacks, and games like giant Jenga and Connect Four. The walls will also open to let in "sea air" when the weather is nice.
Downtown

Mount&Bao
Move over, Dough Zone: This Chinese restaurant in Lake City, which opened in late January, is racking up praise for its succulent soup dumplings, wontons, hand-pulled noodles, and other delights.
Lake City

SoBAR
Not too long after Dry January, Seattle's first dedicated "sober craft cocktail bar" will have its soft opening Past Event Like List in Greenwood on Wednesday, March 4. Located at the Corner Store Studios event space, the pop-up bar will specialize in zero-proof beverages made with ingredients like fresh juices and Seedlip (a brand of distilled non-alcoholic spirits). Previously, main bartender Chris Guard cut his teeth working for chef Josh Henderson's Huxley Wallace restaurant group.
Greenwood

Soju Anju Bar
Jun Park, who also owns the beloved Musashi's, has opened this Korean bar in the former space of Dao Tai House in the Velocity Dance Center. The name refers to soju, the Korean liquor, and anju, Korean drinking food. Guests can take in K-Pop videos while enjoying soju with plates like squid tempura and tteokbokki (a stir-fried rice cake).
Capitol Hill

CLOSURES
Flying Squirrel Pizza Co.
This laidback, community-focused pizza joint with a fondness for cassette mixtapes announced on Facebook this week that after 11 years of business, its Seward Park location will have its last day of business today, February 28, due to its lease being up. The business's Georgetown and Maple Leaf locations will remain open.
Seward Park

OTHER FOOD NEWS
James Beard Awards semifinalists announced
The prestigious James Beard Foundation has announced this year's crop of semifinalists, and among them are more than a dozen familiar Seattle names, including Steve Luke of Cloudburst Brewing, Liz Kenyon of Rupee Bar, Shota Nakajima of Adana, Chera Amlag of Hood Famous Café and Bar, and Mutsuko Soma of Kamonegi. See the full list of local nominees here.

Ellenos Yogurt receives $18 million investment
The local purveyors of preternaturally creamy Greek yogurt at Ellenos have just received a sizeable financial influx: KIND Snacks founder and CEO Daniel Lubetzky has invested $18 million in the business to help it find a wider audience and expand its new Federal Way production facility. The brand is already nationally distributed, so it may become even more easily available now.

Phnom Penh Noodle House opening soon
Fans everywhere mourned when the Cambodian restaurant and longtime Chinatown-International District fixture Phnom Penh Noodle House closed after 30 years of business in spring 2018. Happily, the beloved institution, which previously announced plans to reopen at a new location in the Thai Binh Apartments building after a successful Indiegogo campaign, has now set an official reopening date of March 14. This Wednesday, Mayor Jenny Durkan visited the restaurant to celebrate a $140,000 grant from the Office of Economic Development, honoring the business for being "an outstanding contribution to the economic vitality and cultural vibrancy of the city.”

Brendan McGill plans Italian sandwich shop
Chef and restaurateur Brendan McGill of Hitchcock and Bruciato is planning to open a pop-up Italian sandwich eatery inside the space that formerly housed his now-defunct Georgetown Deli and Market (and Hitchcock Deli before that). McGill has 18 months left on the space and will use it to create a temporary spinoff of his downtown Roman-style pizzeria Bar Taglio called Panino Taglio, serving five to six different panini varieties made with a focaccia-like dough. The ephemeral model recalls pop-up cocktail bar Dynasty Room, which is taking up residence in the soon-to-be-demolished Four Seas Restaurant until its demolition date (which was recently delayed). Panino Taglio is scheduled to open sometime this spring.

Taku prepares to open
Adana chef Shota Nakajima's long-awaited bar Taku, serving fried Japanese-style meat skewers called kushikatsu, is in the final stages of preparations and will open in Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 11. The bar will join the recently opened bar the Doctor's Office, which also serves Japanese skewers, as another Capitol Hill option for meat-on-a-stick.

Pinball bar coming to Capitol Hill
A new pinball bar called Solid State is headed for Capitol Hill sometime this summer, possibly opening by June. The bar will feature machines provided by pinball enthusiast Joe Ricci (who also supplies games at the Raygun Lounge), ramen noodle cups sourced from all over the world, and plenty of booze.

Self-serve taproom opening in South Lake Union
The techie denizens of South Lake Union are getting a self-pour drinking destination in the Google Cloud building. The spot, called Tapster, is an outpost of a Chicago-based business and will serve 60 taps of beer, wine, craft soda, kombucha, and batched mocktails with touchscreens. A bartender will still preside over the premises to assist guests.

EVENTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
Breakside/pFriem Lager Night Past Event Like List
Chuck's Hop Shop will showcase SoCal Pilsner, a hoppy Pilsner brewed by Oregon-based Breakside Brewery in collaboration with pFriem to celebrate their 10th anniversary. They'll also tap a few "world-class crispy bois" from each brewery.

Hearts & Wine Past Event Like List
Sample offerings from wineries and distilleries across the region paired with tasty appetizers before tucking into a hearty dinner from Herban Feast. Dessert will be served during the live auction portion of the evening, with proceeds from items benefiting Harvest Against Hunger. 

Ramen Night at the Taproom Past Event Like List
Slurp noodles cleverly made from scratch with Lowercase Brewing's repurposed spent grain in a miso broth with crispy pork belly, soft-boiled egg, young corn, menma (fermented bamboo shoots), and nori.

FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 1
Imperfect’s Food Waste Week in Seattle! Past Event Like List
Imperfect Foods, an online grocery service committed to fighting food waste by supplying misshapen-but-still-perfectly-good produce, will partner with Chef Joel Gamoran and restaurants across Seattle to incorporate their supply into special menu items. A portion of proceeds will benefit Food Lifeline.

FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 2
Li'l Woody's Burger Month Past Event Like List
As part of their yearly Burger Month collaboration, Li'l Woody's has assembled a crack lineup of four local chefs to each create their weekly burger specials for February. For the final week, it's the "Manolin Sandwich" with a breaded pork cutlet, onion, and a sweet bun from chef Liz Kenyon of Manolin and Rupee Bar

FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 8
Wild Alaska Pollock Restaurant Week Past Event Like List
The tasty and sustainable Alaska Pollock will star in exclusive dishes from over 25 Seattle restaurants, including Aerlume, Anthony’s, Bar Melusine, Café Presse, Chinooks, Duke’s, Le Pichet, and Luc.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29
Boylston/Harvard Leap Day 2020 Pub Crawl Past Event Like List
Hill hoppers can enjoy food and drink specials around the Leap Day clock at Redhook Brewlab, Life on Mars, Bill's Off Broadway, Linda's Tavern, and Salt & Straw.

Broken Bar Day - Leap Day Edition Past Event Like List
Sometimes Theo Chocolate bars get smashed to smithereens, but you can pick up the pieces at this event, where shattered shards will be on sale for $10 a pound. The first 10 people in line will also receive two free bars of Theo's newest flavors (PB&J and Coffee & Cream Cups), plus a Theo mug.

DGC Ice Cream House Party Past Event Like List
An extra day warrants an extra dessert, provided here by Full Tilt Ice Cream in the form of a vegan marionberry flavor with a chocolate swirl.  

An Extra Day To Be Extra! Past Event Like List
Macaron maven Lady Yum invites you to spend the extra day of the month being "extra indulgent, fabulous, giving and compassionate" with drag queen bingo hosted by DonnaTella HoweHowe and Sativa Queen, animal-inspired watercolor portraits of guests by Taeuber Troupe, and custom macarons and drinks (available at the Pioneer Square location only). Ten percent of all macaron sales at all locations for the day will benefit the Seattle Humane Society.

30th Annual PNA Wine Taste Past Event Like List
Admission to the annual wine lovers' festival gets you samples of 10 wines, plus live music and snacks. If you fall in love with a particular vintage, buy a bottle at the pop-up store—proceeds go to the Phinney Neighborhood Association. 

Washington Beer Open House Past Event Like List
More than 110 Washington breweries will open their doors for a simultaneous statewide open house, which gives beer lovers a unique opportunity to create their own adventure. Plot an itinerary for a personalized brewery crawl, travel to a few destination breweries you’ve always wanted to try, or simply drop by the nearest participating craft brewer in your neighborhood. Each featured brewer will have their own lineup of surprises in store, which may include samples, tours, souvenirs, rare barrel tastings, savory food pairings, and more.

FEBRUARY 29-MARCH 1
Hard Liver 2020 Past Event Like List
Apologize to your liver in advance before enjoying barleywine (a style of strong ale of between 6-11% alcohol by volume) at Brouwer's Cafe's 18th annual celebration, which will have over 40 varieties on tap.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1
Cajun & Creole Past Event Like List
Addo chef Eric Rivera will draw on his memories of life in Louisiana with a Cajun and Creole-inspired brunch tasting menu.

Cortina Pre-Theater Dinner Past Event Like List
Before you watch Elsa belt her icy heart out to "Let It Go" in the musical adaptation of Disney's Frozen at the Paramount Theatre, sit down to a comforting three-course prix-fixe meal with options like smoked salmon bruschetta, rigatoni, burgers, and Meyer lemon cheesecake. There's also a three-course prix-fixe geared towards children, with similar options in a kid-friendly format.

White Claw Release Party Past Event Like List
The outrageously popular spiked seltzer brand is dropping three new flavors of boozy bubbly water. Be the first to try them out, alongside a current popular flavor and four specially created snack pairings with tasting notes, at Capitol Hill's irreverent natural wine bar La Dive.

MARCH 1-8
Seattle Cocktail Week Past Event Like List
This spirited weeklong event puts a spotlight on the movers and (cocktail) shakers of the Seattle bar scene with special libations available at more than 60 participating venues, plus classes and seminars for industry pros, pop-up cocktail bars, bar takeovers, competitions, tastings, parties, and more. Saturday’s Cocktail District event at Bell Harbor Conference Center, a "carnival of cocktails," will feature presentations and demonstrations, a retail store, and a food truck pier with Uzbek street food from Tabassum, Native American fry bread tacos from Off the Rez, Asian fusion eats from Crave by Suite J, and much more.

MONDAY, MARCH 2
Pasta Grannies Cookbook Dinner Past Event Like List
In 2014, Vicky Bennison began a project to document Italy's dying art of making pasta at home by hand. So she began to track down the Italian grandmothers who had learned the craft in their youth and filmed their processes in their own homes. It didn't take long for the delightful results to become an online sensation, with more than 456,000 followers on YouTube and upwards of 236,000 followers on Instagram, transforming nonagenarian nonna into unlikely influencers. Bennison's work also spawned a cookbook, Pasta Grannies: The Secrets of Italy's Best Home Cooks, released in the US last October. In collaboration with the local cookbook store Book Larder, chef Brandon Pettit's Ballard pizzeria Delancey will host a dinner inspired by the book, with sfoglia in brodo, tagliolina with shrimp, pappardelle with wild boar ragu, chicories with Meyer lemon, and "something beautiful and Italian for dessert."