A Maryland Seafood Chain Brings Maine Lobster to Downtown Seattle

Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, a popular Maryland seafood chain, is opening its first West Coast location in Downtown Seattle on August 4. The chain’s signature dish is a fluffy roll loaded with Maine lobster meat and served hot with warm butter, chilled with lemon butter, or with bacon, lettuce, and tomato. It also serves shrimp rolls and clam chowder along with some other lobster dishes like lobster mac and cheese, lobster grilled cheese, lobster bisque, and lobster salad.

Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls was founded in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2014, and quickly expanded across southern East Coast states and to Colorado, Texas, and Arizona in the following years. Though the company doesn’t have much name recognition on the West Coast yet, it’s likely to be a hit among Seattle’s seafood-obsessed diners, adding to an already-stacked roster of lobster roll restaurants in the area.

There will be a grand opening event on August 4 at the restaurant, located at 1307 1st Avenue, a short walk from Pike Place Market, across from the Seattle Art Museum.

Jack’s Barbecue is roasting a whole steer with live music for an August party

Jack Timmons, the man behind popular Seattle barbecue chain Jack’s Barbecue, is bringing back his Low and Slow barbecue event on August 20 at the 35731 West Valley Highway South, Algona Washington. There will be live music from artists including Kitty Mae, Stag, Brian Nova, Andy Timmons, and Randy Hansen, and the team will be roasting a whole steer. Tickets ($35) include a free roast steer sandwich and drinks, and are available on Eventbrite. This is a 21+ event.

The sous chef of Manolin is organizing an exciting cookbook by some of Seattle’s best chefs

Sarah Monson, the sous chef of Fremont restaurant Manolin, is releasing a cookbook of hand-written recipes by chefs at some of Seattle’s most-respected restaurants and pop-ups this summer. She says the project started as a strategy to bring the restaurant community together during the pandemic. The first two editions sold about 1000 copies. This year’s edition includes recipes from restaurants and pop-ups like Cafe Munir, Ben’s Bread, Layer’s Sandwich Co., Ohsun Banchan, Rupee Bar, Local Tide, La Dive, Cafe Besalu, Westward, and Burn Unit BBQ.

There will be a pop-up maker’s market event in the courtyard of Manolin where people can meet the creators of the book and pick up copies on August 15, and the book will also be available at The Book Larder. Find more information on Monson’s Instagram.