Seattle Chef Competes on Food Network’s ‘Halloween Baking Championship’ (and More Updates)

Welcome back to Eater News, a semi-regular round-up of mini news bites. Have info to share? Email intel to seattle@eater.com.

• Oasis Tea Zone and Eastern Café owner I-Miun Liu will soon occupy the former home of Sun Liquor’s distillery and bar on E. Pike St. Liu will install the East Trading Company, an Asian-inspired restaurant and lounge with herbal and tea-infused cocktails.
• Seattle can kiss the plastic straws and utensils goodbye starting July 1, 2018, when a ban on such throw-away items goes into effect at restaurants. Star Adrian Grenier’s (best known as Vince from Entourage) nonprofit, Lonely Whale Foundation, is partnering with the likes of chef Renee Erickson and Centurylink Field for a “Strawless in Seattle” September.
• Jasmin Bell, of Seattle’s Bells Pastries, is competing on Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship, premiering Sunday, September 25 with seasonal challenges like baking candy-filled cookies and “scream puffs.” Bell is no stranger to TV competitions; she threw down in the first-ever dessert version of "Chopped" back in 2015.
• Recreational shellfishing is shut down on Vashon Island — except for Quartermaster Harbor — due to unsafe levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poison. Commercial stock isn’t affected.
• The deal heard ‘round the world, online retail giant Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, is complete; here are the 13 best tweets about the merger. Amazon immediately started dropping prices, including that of avocados, at the notoriously expensive grocer. Amidst the changes, Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey was spotted strolling through the South Lake Union location.
• All this Amazon growth has essentially turned Seattle into “the biggest company town in America,” with Amazon’s footprint more than double that of any other company in this city — and the growth shows no signs of slowing. Tom Douglas, who owns several restaurants in and around Amazonia, is cool with it: “We should be thankful for the prosperity we have right now. I think we should embrace it.” Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, meanwhile, called upon Amazon owner Jeff Bezos to convene a national conversation with employers “about fair work, schedules, and livable wages” in the gig economy.