The 18th annual ‘Dining Out For Life’ is Thursday, April 28th, and two Burien food establishments will be participating – Eat Local and The MARK Restaurant.

When you dine at a participating restaurant, grocery store, cafe, or bakery on this day, a percentage of your purchase is donated to Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and the fight against illness and hunger in our community.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Annual Dining Out For Life AIDS Fundraiser.

WHEN: Thursday, April 28th

WHERE: Two Burien establishments:

• Eat Local – Specialty Food/Grocery; Tel: (206) 432-9849
  Meals served: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
  Location: 810 SW 151st Street, Burien, WA 98166
  Cuisine type(s): Chef-Prepared Takeaway meals
• The MARK Restaurant & Bar; Tel: (206) 241-MARK
  Meals served: Lunch, Dinner
  Location: 914 SW 152nd Street, Burien, WA 98166

INFO: Here’s info from an email sent out by The MARK:

On Thursday, April 28 Mark Restaurant will be donating 30% of our daily sales to Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s DINING OUT FOR LIFE. This will MARK or 4th year for participating and it is always a wonderful event.

Bring yourself, bring a group just come out and help support DINING OUT FOR LIFE. Proceeds from DINING OUT FOR LIFE help feed those living with chronic illness in the Puget Soung region. Services provided by Lifelong include pickup and delivery of nutritious meals and groceries, housing assistance, medical insurance coverage and comprehensive counseling services.

Warren Knapp Art Special
One day only 20% of any art purchases will be donated to Dine Out For Life.

On April 28th you can enjoy fine food , collect an original piece of art and support a worthy cause.

We will be donating from our entire day and plan to stay open till 1 am.

(206) 241-6275 or markrestaurant@aol.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information, check out the Dining Out For Life website here, or their Facebook Page here.

BTB Advertiser Eat Local wants our Readers to know about their innovative and healthy Thanksgiving food solutions, which involve them growing their own Eat Local “Heritage Turkey Flock.”

One thing you should know before getting too excited though is that, unfortunately, this year’s flock is all sold out (just remember to mark your calendars for next year…). However, Eat Local has plenty of other great, healthy and local Thanksgiving foods available.

“We still have the entrees that we have made from our flock of Heritage turkeys,” said Eat Local Owner Greg Conner. “But the other items will sell out too so Readers should act soon to get them!”

We don’t have to tell you have rare it is for a local Burien store to go up against “corporate food.” Not many small stores like this would raise their own flock of turkeys to ensure that their customers have local, organic and heritage turkeys for the holidays.

Here are some Thanksgiving-related food ideas you can still get at Eat Local, open 10am to 8pm every day, and located at 810 SW 151st Street; phone: (206) 432-9849.

• Roulade of Turkey with Sage Stuffing
• Turkey with Organic Northwest Cranberry Sauce
• Braised Turkey with Organic Northwest Vegetables
• Cornbread Stuffing
• Turkey Gravy Organic
• Cranberry Sauce
• Organic Roasted Pumpkin and Roasted Vegetables
• Garlic Mashed Potato
• Hazelnut Pie (Northwest Hazelnuts instead of Pecans)
• Organic Boistfort Valley Farm Pumpkin Pie with Handmade Wholewheat Crust
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Kathryn and Janet at Stokesberry Organic Farm holding a couple of turkeys from the Eat Local Heritage Turkey Flock. As you can see they are already quite large. When they are not being held they feed in open pastures protected by 'chicken tractors'. These tractors are moved every day to ensure the fields are fertilized, the poultry is protected, and the birds get to have fresh grass and bugs every day.

The B-Town Blog would like to welcome our latest Advertiser: Eat Local!

In September, Eat Local celebrated their one-year anniversary in Burien (read our previous coverage here), at their location near the Fire Station at 810 SW 151st Street, where they’re open from 10am to 8pm everyday.

Owner Greg Conner chose Burien because he’s a native – he attended Kennedy High School – and he has made it their main production kitchen.

He wanted to come home to “one of the best little cities in the Seattle area,” he said. “I think Burien is going to just get better and better in the years to come,” he added.

According to their Facebook Page:

Eat Local is an artisan food store offering prepared meals made with seasonal, organic ingredients bought directly from local farms. We have a store in Queen Anne and our Kitchen Store in Burien where you can see the food made from scratch.

Burien native Greg Conner wants you to "Eat Local."

As we do with all our Advertisers, we’re allowing them the blog podium (blogium?) to say a few words about their business:

Eat Local has over 80-years of Washington farming heritage behind our passion for real food.

Eat Local prepared foods are made with Northwest farmed, organic or sustainably grown produce, grass fed and finished meats & free range chicken.

Everything on the menu is hand-made in our kitchen, from scratch, using traditional methods & house-made stocks.

Our meals are frozen to maintain flavor, nutrients and quality without the use of added chemicals, preservatives or fillers.

Our food is available in either BPA free, biodegradable packaging or reusable glass containers that can be bought and returned through deposit as you would a milk bottle.

We use only natural sweeteners such as evaporated cane juice, honey and maple syrup.

Visit our Queen Anne store open 8am to 8pm, Everyday or our Burien Store open 10am to 8pm Everyday.

Choose from the extensive offering of appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts.

Take home and heat from frozen, relax, and enjoy some extra time with family & friends.

We ship our frozen foods with dry ice keeping our food frozen until it reaches your doorstep.

Visit us in the store for other great products such as Empire Ice Cream, Theo Chocolate, Eat Local wine, Fish Tale Organic Beer, Parker Pickles, and Holmquist Hazelnuts.

Park for free in the Diamond lot next to our Queen Anne store or in front of our Burien while shopping at Eat Local.

Use Eat Local appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts for parties & larger events.

Eat Local is located at 810 SW 151st Street, next to Bicycles West, near the main Fire Station.

They’re open from 10am to 8pm everyday, and their phone number is (206) 432-9849.

For more information, check out their website here, where you can also shop online.

On Thursday, April 29th, two Burien food businesses will be participating in “Dining Out For Life,” a national fundraiser for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance – MARK Restaurant & Bar, along with Eat Local.

This great event is happening in cities across North America and in 150 local Seattle Restaurants. This is Seattle’s 17th year and Mark Restaurant’s 4th year of participating.

The restaurants will be donating 30% of their proceeds for the day to Lifelong AIDS Alliance to support people in need.

Here are the details:

WHAT: “Dining Out for Life” fundraiser for Lifelong AIDS Alliance

WHEN: Thursday, April 29th, 11am – midnight

WHERE: Locally at MARK Restaurant & Bar (918 SW 152nd in Olde Burien), as well as Eat Local (810 SW 151st).

INFO: From a flier sent out by MARK:

Dine Out and Make it Count!

On Thursday, April 29th two Burien businesses will be participating in Dining Out For Life, a fundraiser for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance – MARK Restaurant & Bar, along with Eat Local.

This great event is happening in cities across North America and in 150 local Seattle Restaurants. This is Seattle’s 17th year and Mark Restaurant’s 4th year of participating.

The restaurant will be donating 30% of their proceeds for the day to Lifelong AIDS Alliance to support people in need. There has never been a better time to get Appetizers and Dessert!

We want to personally invite you to come join us with our Ambassadors Scott and Rodger in this wonderful event. We look forward to seeing you for Lunch, Dinner or maybe just a Drink – it all counts.

ARTWORK SALE
50% off all artwork that day and night, with 10% of proceeds going to Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

We are bringing in some new artists in the next few weeks so Warren’s art will be moving back to his gallery.

Take advantage of this wonderful deal.

See you Thursday,
Debra, Chris & Nicholas
Mark Restaurant & Bar
206-241-6275

Reservations recommended but not necessary. Call (206) 241-6275 or e-mail markrestaurant@aol.com.

For more information, including other area restaurants that are participating, visit the Seattle “Dining Out for Life” website here.

Word travels fast here in B-Town.

I was just gathering my courage to call my dentist to make an appointment for a tooth scrubbing when Margi, the receptionist at Dr. Abolofia’s office phoned me—for the third time.

“Shawn, so glad I finally caught you at home, how are you? Have you heard of ‘Eat Local’? I bought the Chicken Pot Pie, and it was to die for! By the way, you are way overdue for your six-month check up!” She said all of this in pretty much one breath.

“Yeah, I have been meaning to go there, isn’t it right next to the bike shop?” I said.

Maybe if I kept the conversation away from overdue appointments she would forget why she called . .  . It could happen. But it didn’t. However, I did visit ‘Eat Local.’

The first thing I noticed when I walked in the door was the Thundering Hooves sign on the wall. That sign alone gave me the feeling that a cow could be grazing out back. The store feels homey and it should because everything is prepared right on site. There are a wide variety of choices from, appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts and wine. A fair amount of the hand-made entrees were packaged in reusable glass containers, which can be bought and returned through deposit as you would a milk bottle.

Greg Conner, Eat Local owner and extremely affable fellow took me on a tour of the store. All of the ready-to-serve items are produced from ingredients procured locally from nearby farms that specialize in organic produce. I was amazed to find such specialties as Pork Cassoulet, made with pork, beans and sausage and then slow cooked in a wine sauce. I haven’t eaten cassoulet since I lived in France seven years ago. Thundering Hooves beef and poultry is pasture raised and hormone-free. I wonder if the cows and chickens are having menopausal issues—being hormone-free and all.

Speaking of local—Greg’s a homeboy. He grew up in B-Town and attended Kennedy High School. He opened his first Eat Local store in Queen Anne and is excited to be back in his hometown, and frankly I for one am very glad to have a place to pick up a quick ‘made from scratch’ meal for my peeps. I was just contemplating another cooking strike—just for the heck of it.

So, give yourself a break and visit the friendly folk at ‘Eat Local.’ It’s not to be missed.

Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives Humorist Shawn Underwood much fodder for her writings.

All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments.

Or something like that.

Read more of her humor at her website here.

New Burien business Eat Local will be hosting artist Nikki McClure this Sunday, Dec. 13th from Noon-1pm, when she will be signing her 2010 calendar.

According to owner Greg Connor:

Nikki does very few public events. We will be doing a tasting and it would be an opportunity for your readers to meet her.  As you probably know Nikki is an artist recognized on the national stage. Her children’s book All In A Day is a New York Times bestseller and should win several prizes this year.

Eat Local is located at 810 SW 151st, next to Bicycles West.

Using only an X-Acto knife, a single sheet of paper and the inspiration that surrounds her at her Olympia, WA home, Nikki McClure lovingly creates her intricate and beautiful papercuts. Her work constructs a bold graphic language that translates the complex poetry of family, nature and activism into endearing, positive and disarmingly powerful images.

This is the first year the cover has had more than just two colors; and what a wonderful use of color it is; only the threads in the sewing case are colored.

January also features a distinctive background; a first in Nikki’s calendars where she’s used a combination of two different cut papers. The background texture is a white paper creating a new sense of realism for the piece.

Happy Holidays!
Greg and the Eat Local Team

Click here to learn more about Nikki McClure, and here to learn more about Eat Local.

Sustainable Burien is teaming up with Gregory Conner, owner of the new Eat Local store in Burien (located at 810 SW 151st, next to Bicycles West, near the fire station) for a special (and FREE) “Taste, Tour and Talk” on Monday, Oct. 19th beginning at 5:30pm.

Here are the details:

WHAT: TASTE, TOUR & TALK with Gregory Conner of the new Eat Local store

WHEN: Monday, October 19th starting at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: The new Eat Local store in Burien, located at 810 SW 151st next to Bicycles West

COST: FREE, but please RSVP to Rebecca at rdare2@yahoo.com

INFO: From Sustainable Burien:

Greg will give us a taste of some of the food they prepare, a tour of the store, and a talk about local farms and lessening carbon footprint, etc.

Please RSVP to Rebecca (of Sustainable Burien) at rdare2@yahoo.com so we have an idea of how many people to expect.

by Janet Grella
Photos by Michael Brunk

EXCLUSIVE: Eat Local owner Greg Conner has selected Burien for his stores’ second location in the greater Seattle area – he’s opening his 3500-square foot store at 810 SW 151st soon, right next to Bicycles West. His Queen Anne location has been open for three years.

Greg hopes to have Eat Local open by early fall of this year. He will also be locating Eat Local’s open kitchen in the Burien location.

Eat Local is a speciality food store, not a restaurant, or a grocery store,” explains Greg. “It’s a concept store specializing in food products purchased from local northwest organic farmers. It is also an artisan food store offering prepared meals made with seasonal, organic ingredients bought directly from local farms.

Organic farmers include:

• Thundering Hooves for pork, beef and lamb
• Salmon from Loki Fish
  
• Grains from Bluebird Grains Farms
  
• Stokesberry Farms will supply the organic eggs

…just to name a few.

Greg Conner is returning to his roots so you can "Eat Local."

Eat Local will be selling entrees, sides, baked goods, desserts, soups, all cooked on-site and frozen to keep the nutrients in. All the consumer has to do, is take it home and mike it (as in “microwave it“).

They will also be carrying a selection of other items, including:

• Rockridge Orchards cider
• Bluebird Grains
  
• Empire Ice Cream
• Tiny’s Organics
• Blue Cottage Jams and Woodrings Spreads
• Local cheeses, dairy and eggs
• They’ll also have their own wine label from Mt. Baker Vineyards and beer from Georgetown Brewery
  

Why Burien?

Greg grew up in Burien, and is a graduate of Kennedy High School. He wanted to come home to one of the best little cities in the Seattle area. I think Burien is going to just get better and better in the years to come.

If you can’t wait for the opening to enjoy their prepared food items, you’ll find them at Burien’s Thursday Farmer’s Market, which is one of four local farmer’s market selling the Eat Local products. You can also visit their location in Seattle at 2400 Queen Anne Ave. North.

For more information, visit their website here.