Date night in Seattle can quickly add up, so if springing for a sitter—in addition to dinner at that new Capitol Hill hot spot and a movie—makes a night out a budgetary no-go, check out SittingAround.com, an online baby-sitting co-op. Launched last year by Phinney Ridge parents Erica Zidel and Ted Tieken, Sitting Around is…

Longtime friends and bartenders Trevor Garand and Rita Dixson opened casual neighborhood bar The Bridge this year in dive-bar Redline’s old space in West Seattle. It’s now a clean, welcoming bar (hooray!) with an outdoor patio and a fresh food and drink menu. The VibeWarmly lit with deep red walls and single candles atop dining…

Countless recipes. Thousands of taste testers. Bacon. All of these ingredients were essential in Alissa Leinonen’s plan to make her dream of producing a line of fresh salad dressings a reality. Leinonen’s light, flavorful dressings—which are included in the popular boxed lunches created by Gourmondo Catering, her 15-year-old South Park company—have long infatuated locals, who…

CAFÉ PRESSE Straight from Paris, the rich, silky chocolat chaud is made with 71 percent origin unico (single origin) solid chocolate, French Cacao Barry cacao, half milk and half cream. Served Parisian style with fresh whipped cream on the side. $5/8 ounces. CHOCOLOPOLIS Infused with red chiles and spices, the milk in the spicy dark…

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I…

The phrase “old soul” is overused, but it’s perhaps never been more appropriate than in the instance of 24-year-old Allen Stone, the local singer/songwriter whose voice brings to mind Stevie Wonder, Prince and anyone else who can sing the hell out of an R&B song. Hailing from the small town of Chewelah (north of Spokane),…

Seattle generally doesn’t give locals the tabloid treatment, but that wasn’t always so. In the 1950s and ’60s, the press was obsessed with Seattle’s answer to Brangelina, the gorillas Bobo and Fifi. Bobo was the 500-pound local-celebrity primate, an ape raised by humans since infancy that became the number-one attraction at the Woodland Park Zoo….

The 12-Stack Burger Burger MadnessSoDo, $18.98Twelve beef patties, each topped with a slice of American cheese. Finish one with a combo meal (includes fries and a drink) in less than 30 minutes and you’ll get a $20 gift certificate. The Goliath BurgerCoffee Club Diner Bremerton, $50Ten beef patties create a 5-pound burger, held together by…

Turkey Burger5-ounce Turkey Burger at Teddy’s Bigger Burgers Woodinville$9.89At the retro-diner-esque Teddy’s, the perfectly seasoned, moist and completely delicious turkey burger—topped with Teddy’s special sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles—is so good, the beef burger at the table was all but forgotten.Favorite sides: Beer-batter-dipped onion rings ($3.59) and a Dreamcicle shake ($4.99) Duck BurgerDork Burger…

Wistful remembrances, stories told and retold (“Back when I first met your dad”)—hanging out at these classic burger places colors the memories of friends, parents and grandparents. Dick’s, Burgermaster and even the comparatively young Red Mill are Seattle burger icons, beloved for far more than just fries and shakes. Dick’s Drive-InWhen the big city starts…

Sure, your smartphone can talk the talk, but can it do the robot? Seattle-based robot enthusiasts Peter Seid, Phu Nguyen and Keller Rinaudo are the human minds behind local startup Romotive (romotive.com) and the company’s pride and joy: “Romo,” a mobile robot that resembles a plastic toy tank and uses a smartphone as its brain….