Food & Drink
Must List: Chinatown-ID Night Market, Emerald City Blues Festival, Grilled Cheese Grand Prix
Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events
By Gavin Borchert & Kendall Upton September 12, 2019
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MUST CELEBRATE
Chinatown-ID Night Market
(9/14) Gather under the historic Chinatown Gate for this year’s Night Market, during which neighborhood restaurants will serve their favorite dishes and the streets will be peppered with local vendors, live music and even the occasional break-dancing battle. 4 p.m.–midnight. Free to attend. Chinatown-International District; cidbia.org/night-market
MUST SAY FAREWELL
Elton John
(9/17-9/18) After a half-century career, more awards and chart-topping songs than there are keys on your piano, the biggest-selling single ever and a biopic, you’re entitled to a little downtime—especially if you’re 72 and have two kids younger than 10. Elton John is taking more than two years to say goodbye in his hit-heavy, five-continent “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, slated to wrap up in London on December 16, 2020. 8 p.m. Prices vary. Tacoma; tacomadome.org
MUST LISTEN
Kim Brown Seely
(9/17) The Kermode bear—more poetically dubbed the spirit bear—is a subspecies of brown bear with a gorgeous, slightly ruddy off-white coat found almost exclusively on a few British Columbian islands. Medina-based travel writer Kim Brown Seely set out to glimpse one for inspiration, to counteract the loneliness she felt after all of her children moved out. To add to the challenge, she and her husband, novice mariners, decided to buy and repair a sailboat and travel up there by sea; she tells the story in her first book, Uncharted. 7 p.m. Free. Capitol Hill; elliottbaybook.com
MUST DANCE
Emerald City Blues Festival
(9/13-9/15) Lace up your fancy shoes for a weekend of dancing at the Emerald City Blues Festival. After the festival’s eight-year hiatus, it’s back to celebrate blues dance, music and history in Seattle. Learn from local and nationally renowned blues dancers by day and watch (or participate!) in dance competitions by night while listening to tunes from the often-described “master solo guitarist” Brother Yusef, among other blues virtuosos. Prices, times and locations vary; emeraldcityblues.com
MUST SAY CHEESE
Grilled Cheese Grand Prix
(9/14) Celebrate all things cheese, bread, and the magical product of what happens when you combine the two. Grilled cheese is the theme for this week’s South Lake Union Saturday Market, where each food truck will be offering their take on this comfort food classic. The 30+ vendors will also include other grub, from tacos to macarons, for the cheese-intolerant or those simply in the mood for something else. 11 a.m. Free to attend. South Lake Union; Facebook: Grilled Cheese Grand Prix
MUST RUN
Run the Mountain Trail Run
(9/14) Hit the trails this Saturday to benefit the child-advocacy efforts of NuHope Street, a nonprofit whose mission is to help youth in foster care. The mountain trail in question is in Squak Mountain State Park, just south of Issaquah. Participants have the choice of running a 5K, 10K or 25K through the autumn-turning Cascade foothills, with the mountain summit showing off beautiful views of Seattle and the Issaquah Plateau. Proceeds from the run will help provide necessary school items including clothing and school supplies to kids and teenagers in foster care. 8 a.m. $55. Registration closes online on 9/13 at 11:59 p.m. Issaquah; nuhopestreet.org/run-the-mountain
MUST CHAT
An Evening with Debra Messing
(9/14) The Seattle Jewish Arts + Music (SeaJAM) Festival kicks off this weekend to celebrate the 2019-2020 Arts + Ideas season for the Stroum Jewish Community Center, the only Jewish community center in Washington state. Benaroya Hall is the setting for a discussion with actress Debra Messing, who will touch on her career as an actress as well as her role as a Global Health Ambassador and other human rights advocacy pursuits. 8 p.m. Prices vary. Downtown; sjcc.org