Modern Cantonese Restaurant Bako Set for Jade Pagoda Space

Capitol Hill Seattle blog brings us news of Bako, a high-end Cantonese restaurant that will once again bring Chinese food to (at least a portion of) the address that long housed the legendary Jade Pagoda restaurant and divey lounge. Owner Keeman Wong tells CHS the modern space will be "Not Jetsons but not red lanterns, either." Slated to open this fall, Bako will also have a legitimate cocktail program, curated by a mixologist and everything. Modern Cantonese food apparently means local sourcing, unfussy preparations and "a better balance of meat and vegetables."

Jade Pagoda held court on Broadway for six decades, known for it stiff drinks, ultra-basic food and the giant pagoda that dominated the facade. When Jade Pagoda shut its doors in 2006, the Seattle PI chronicled the closing as "One less place that reflects the history of Capitol Hill, going back to when working-class families came for dinner to a dining room that must have seemed exotic then, with its Chinese dragon kites hanging from the ceiling -- before it became kitschy, and maybe a little strange."

A little more than a year after Jade Garden shuttered, Jerry Traunfeld announced plans for Poppy just a few doors down. As CHS notes, Bako will carry on a mini-trend of independent, high-end restaurants clustering on that end of Broadway.
· Capitol Hill food+drink notes: Bako's north Broadway plans, Dine out for Life, Artusi coming soon [CHS]
· Jade Pagoda is Latest to Close on Broadway [Seattle PI]