The ʔálʔal Café () was a restaurant in

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, in the

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. It operated from 2022 to 2024.

Description

The name ʔalʔal (stylized as "ʔálʔal") means "home" in

Lushootseed Lushootseed ( ), historically known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main di ...

. The café operated on the ground floor of a Chief Seattle Club housing complex for people of Native descent. The interior featured Native artworks, including a mural depicting the transition from the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

to modern society. The restaurant had high ceilings and "rustic" tree-trunk tables. It used dark blue mugs stamped with the cafe's name. According to

KSTW KSTW (channel 11), branded on-air as Seattle 11, is an independent television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area. Owned by the CBS News and Stations group, the station maintains its transmitter on ...

, the business aimed 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 included

blue corn Blue corn (also known as Hopi maize, Yoeme Blue, Tarahumara Maiz Azul, and Rio Grande Blue) is a group of several closely related varieties of flint corn grown in Mexico, the Southwestern United States, and the Southeastern United States. It i ...

mush with wojape, wild rice bowls with berry

vinaigrette Vinaigrette ( , ) is made by mixing an edible oil with a mild acid such as vinegar (acetic acid) or lemon juice ( citric acid). The mixture can be enhanced with salt, herbs and/or spices. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing, but can ...

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, c ...

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

tacos A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican dish 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 filli ...

with

pickled Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...

onions, Northwest

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

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 beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. Many ingredients were sourced from Native producers.

History

ʔálʔal Café opened on November 29, 2022. The business was owned and operated by the nonprofit organization Chief Seattle Club, which provides services for Indigenous people living in urban areas. Profits from the café supported the organization. ʔálʔal Café closed permanently on July 24, 2024. Chief Seattle Club's executive director said, "Unfortunately, the Café was not profitable, and to continue operating, we would have had to divert resources essential for providing housing to our community. Although we are saddened by the Café's closing, we will continue to provide housing at the ʔálʔal facility and transform the café into a space for expanded cultural programming for our members and community.”

Reception

In ''Eater Seattle'''s 2023 overview of the city's ideal eateries for

remote work Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of work (human activity), working at or from one's home or Third place, another space rather than from ...

, Harry Cheadle called ʔálʔal a "gem" and a "beautiful" space. Following the restaurant's closure, the website's Harry Cheadle wrote, "ʔálʔal will be missed not just because it was a demonstration of what Native food could be. It was a genuinely cool place to hang out or work remotely."

References

External links

*
ʔálʔal Café
at Chief Seattle Club {{DEFAULTSORT:AllAll Café 2022 establishments in Washington (state) 2024 disestablishments in Washington (state) Coast Salish culture Defunct restaurants in Seattle Native American restaurants in the United States Restaurants in Pioneer Square, Seattle Restaurants disestablished in 2024 Restaurants established in 2022