ʔálʔal Café (pronounced "all-all") is a restaurant in
Pioneer Square
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...
,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, in the
U.S. state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
. It opened in 2022.
Description
ʔálʔal, which means "home" in
Lushootseed, is a restaurant in
downtown Seattle
Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...
's
Pioneer Square
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...
neighborhood. The café operates on the ground floor of a Chief Seattle Club housing complex for
people of Native descent. The interior features
Native artworks, including a mural which depicts the transition from the
pre-Columbian era
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the Migration to the New World, original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, w ...
to modern society.
The restaurant has high ceilings and "rustic" tree-trunk tables. It uses dark blue mugs stamped with the cafe's name.
According to Anthony Monzon of
KSTW, the business aims to "
eclaimand
eintroduce Indigenous cuisine of the Americas
Indigenous cuisine of the Americas includes all cuisines and food practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Contemporary Native peoples retain a varied culture of traditional foods, along with the addition of some post-contact foods ...
"in a modern café setting". The menu has included
blue corn
Blue corn (also known as Hopi maize, Yoeme Blue, Tarahumara Maiz Azul, and Rio Grande Blue) is several closely related varieties of flint corn grown in Mexico, the Southwestern United States, and the Southeastern United States. It is one ...
mush with wojape, wild rice bowls with berry
vinaigrette,
braised
Braising (from the French word ''braiser'') is a combination-cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats: typically, the food is first browned at a high temperature, then simmered in a covered pot in cooking liquid (such as wine, broth, coco ...
bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
tacos
A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filling ...
with
pickled onions, Northwest
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
,
cornbread
Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread. Dumplings and pancakes made with finely ground cornmeal are st ...
,
and
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
. Many ingredients are sourced from Native producers.
History
ʔálʔal Café opened on November 29, 2022.
The business is owned and operated by the nonprofit organization Chief Seattle Club, which provides services for Indigenous people living in urban areas. Profits from the café support the organization.
Reception
In
''Eater Seattle'''s 2023 overview of the city's ideal eateries for
remote work
Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
, Harry Cheadle called ʔálʔal a "gem" and a "beautiful" space.
See also
*
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...
References
External links
*
ʔálʔal Caféat Chief Seattle Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:AllAll Café
2022 establishments in Washington (state)
Coast Salish culture
Indigenous cuisine of the Americas
Pioneer Square, Seattle
Restaurants established in 2022
Restaurants in Seattle