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This Week in Cascadia: Seattle's Vinylcentric Bar; Portland's KOi Fusion Truck Opens a Restaurant

Photo: S. Pratt

Welcome to Cascadia Wire, a look at restaurant news from up-and-down the Pacific Northwest corridor.
SEATTLE—ESEA looks inside three new spots: With a vinyl collection of more than 2,500 LPs and 60s-inspired design, Revolver launched on Capitol Hill; Elysian Bar opened its doors downtown, and venerable bartender Murray Stenson is mixing drinks on weeknights; and Agave Cocina started serving its Mexican menu and pouring from its huge tequila list this week at the new EXPO apartments in Lower Queen Anne. [ESEA]

PORTLAND— Two stories this week from Portland's cocktail scene: A chef shake-up rocked downtown destination Clyde Common, and after a six-month stint, chef Johnny Leach (famously an alum of NYC's Momofuku empire) departed, with Chicago's Carlo Lamagna stepping in. Meanwhile, Eater PDX chatted with Angel Face bar manager Kelley Swenson about the charming bar's decision not to feature a cocktail list. The result: "We are making drinks that we didn't know we'd normally be making." [EPDX] 

SEATTLE—"I'll show the world how a woman gets it done." Anu Apte, owner of Belltown bar Rob Roy, is featured in this month's Barkeepers. She talks about keeping staff happy, developing a killer drink list, and being a woman in the bar business. [ESEA]

PORTLAND— Popular Korean food truck KOi Fusion opened the doors to its first proper brick-and-mortar restaurant, which sits on Portland's "Restaurant Row" on SE Division Street. In addition to KOi's familiar line-up of bulgogi beef tacos, kalbi-stuffed burritos, and kimchi quesadillas, owner Bo Kwon's brick-and-mortar plays with new mashups like a Korean-inspired Reuben sandwich (topped with "kimchi sauerkraut"). [EPDX]