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SRW | Blog

Restaurants Doing Good

Above Image: FareStart’s James Beard award-winning model for social change helps people overcoming barriers to employment gain job skills while they work side by side with professional chefs to feed the community. Photo: Courtesy of FareStart

This Seattle Restaurant Week we’re celebrating coming together around good food: highlighting our restaurant communities, as well as the farmers, fishers, and food producers who make it all possible. Our favorite restaurants are often the hubs of our communities, bringing together friends and family over good food and drinks, and there’s plenty of SRW participating restaurants doing even more for our community, and planet. 

In this special guide to Restaurants Doing Good, we’re spotlighting some SRW participants who are positively impacting the world around them.

We’re excited to have FareStart as an SRW participant this fall. Since 1992, this James Beard award-winning nonprofit has offered culinary education and training to people who face obstacles to employment, like homelessness or incarceration. They operate food-based businesses that are the hands-on classrooms for their students, preparing both food for their restaurant and catering, as well as daily meals to social service programs and schools around the Puget Sound.

All items on their SRW menu are made by FareStart’s professional chefs and students. The special three-course lunch menu includes edamame hummus, beet salad, a chicken sandwich or fish and chips, with a cookie to finish. South Lake Union. Lunch is $20.

Osteria la Spiga is known for its award-winning authentic dishes from the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, but it’s also a positive force for change in the industry. Their Future of Diversity program supports chefs of color through pop-ups at Osteria la Spiga. A recent pop-up featured Pakistani cuisine by Chef Kausar Ahmed of Karachi Kitchen. 

For Seattle Restaurant Week, Osteria la Spiga is offering a special three-course dinner for $50 with options like tagliatelle tartufo, hand-curled potato gnocchi, lasagne, or braised beef cheeks. Dessert choices include Earl Grey panna cotta, a flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake, or lemon sorbet. Capitol Hill. Dinner is $50.

Plum Bistro

From helping run the casual vegan sandwich shop founded by her mother, Chef Makini Howell has built a plant-based empire with Plum Bistro as the fine dining destination for vegans and omnivores alike in Capitol Hill’s Chophouse Row. A lifelong vegan, she believes that what is good for the individual will be good for the planet and that starts with the diet we choose. Plum focuses on organically grown seasonal vegetables, non-GMO soy, and organic and local fruits and herbs from family-owned farms. Capitol Hill. Dinner is $50.

EnviroStars-Certified

EnviroStars is a recognition program for businesses who are taking steps to improve their impact on the planet and the health of our communities. Recognized businesses have done an environmental assessment of their practices and received resources to start implementing more green actions around resource conservation, pollution prevention, and the reduction of toxins, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Republic of Cider is a majority woman- and Asian-owned cidery passionate about bringing communities and cultures into cider making that are often not represented. Ingredients like winter melon, hatch chilies, Szechuan pepper, and durian are just some of the flavors in their prolific offerings. The Republic of Cider is also an EnviroStar-certified green business, meaning this cidery has significant environmental and sustainable practices. SODO. Brunch and Dinner is $20 and $35.

Palace Kitchen

Palace Kitchen is a Seattle icon from acclaimed Chef Tom Douglas that began in 1996. Settle in for dinner at one of the booths with low, intimate lighting, and enjoy this classic fare made with locally sourced ingredients.

For SRW, Palace Kitchen is offering a $50 special with appetizer selections like applewood grilled chicken wings or goat cheese lavender fondue; entrees like their “plin” Piedmontese style ravioli, Idaho rainbow trout, or the Palace Burger; plus a glass of Serenello prosecco or nonalcoholic Sone Rose spritz. Belltown. Dinner is $50.

Bamboo Sushi

In addition to Bamboo Sushi being EnviroStars-Certified, they are also the world’s first certified sustainable sushi restaurant, sourcing high quality, sustainable ingredients. Watch this video to learn more about how they are networking with other restaurants around these shared values, and solutions they’re implementing to improve their community impact.  University Village. Lunch is $35. Dinner is $65. 

Askatu Bakery by Liberated Foods

Family-run Atsuku Bakery is Washington’s only dedicated top nine allergen-free bakery that always excludes wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, sesame, potatoes, corn, and anything artificial, making this bakery one of the few places safe to eat for those with food allergies, and delectable still for those without. Watch this video to learn more about what changes they were able to make with resources they received as an EnviroStars-certified business, including how they recycle, compost, and upcycle food scraps where possible. They also participate in the Too Good To Go program that reduces leftover waste. 

For SRW, Askatu Bakery is offering Chicken or Mushroom Inasol with Rice, Mango Salad, and Biko Tapol, with two price points to benefit Good Food Kitchens through Give a Meal. Belltown. Lunch is $20 and $35.

Good Food Kitchens Partners

A program of Seattle Good Business Network, Good Food Kitchens funds restaurants who make nourishing and culturally relevant meals for community members facing food insecurity while often sourcing from local producers. Try their incredible food during SRW and know that the same delicious food is going to someone else in need. 

ChuMinh Tofu

Right off of 12th and Jackson St. is ChuMinh Tofu and Vegan Deli, an all-vegan spot for Vietnamese dishes and with a buffet. The restaurant has become synonymous with compassionate mutual aid efforts in Little Saigon. Chef Tanya and “The Eggrolls” (volunteers named after ChuMinh’s popular appetizer) have a regular free Sunday meal for anyone in need. Don’t miss their new sandwich and coffee shop in South Seattle just north of MLK and Othello, also participating in Seattle Restaurant Week. International District. Lunch is $20. Dinner is $35.

Spice Waala

For authentic Indian street food, Spice Waala is where it’s at. Earning rave reviews for their signature green chutney, kathi rolls (meat or vegetable fillings wrapped in grilled roti), and chaat, a variety of snacks, Spice Waala is just as known for their social impact mission. “[We] started with the core values of being a business that bridges the gap between business and social justice,” said Uttam Mukherjee, who owns the restaurant with his wife Aakanksha Sinha. In March 2020, they started a Bhojan program that continues to provide hundreds of vegetarian meals every week to Mary’s Place and the Community Lunch on Capitol Hill. Showing the same care for their team, they also offer staff a robust and thoughtful compensation and benefit model. 

For SRW, try Spice Waala’s special $20 lunch combo at any of their three locations. The combo includes chicken biryani, salan (spicy curry to add for extra oomph), and raita. Ballard. Capitol Hill. Columbia City. Lunch is $20. 

Mojito

The family vibes and Latin American and Cuban dishes at Mojito keep customers coming back for more. Former dishwasher-turned-chef and owner Liam Wersom has been with Mojito’s for all of its 23 years, and in addition to great food, giving back to community is just a way of life. With funding from Good Food Kitchens, Wersom and the Mojito team make hundreds of free community meals each week for the UDistrict Food Bank. They have also been artfully using reclaimed surplus food in their community meals to ensure nothing goes to waste. Watch this video to learn more about one of those initiatives. Lake City. Lunch is $20. Dinner is $35.

Above Image: Albacore Carpaccio. Photo courtesy of Bamboo Sushi.

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We hope you enjoy Seattle Restaurant Week!

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