Eastern Cafe was a coffee shop in

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 ...

's Chinatown–International District, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. Owned by I-Miun Liu, the business operated from 2013 to 2023, closing as a result of financial difficulties associated with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Description

Eastern Cafe was a two-story, Western-style coffee shop in

's Chinatown–International District. The business operated in the Eastern Hotel building on Maynard Avenue. Aimee Rizzo of ''

The Infatuation The Infatuation (formerly known as Immaculate Infatuation) is an American New York–based restaurant recommendation website and messaging service, created by former music industry executives Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal in 2009. They are mos ...

'' said patrons working on their laptops made the shop reminiscent "of a college town cafe in the middle of finals week". ''The Stranger'''s Sarah Galvin described the interior as "appealingly industrial without any distressed-jeans-esque overkill", and Jacqueline E. Wu of the ''

International Examiner The ''International Examiner'' is a free monthly Asian American newspaper and media nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington's historic Chinatown International District (CID). It was founded in 1974 by Gerald Yuasa and Lawrence Imam ...

'' said the restaurant had an "industrial, yet lofty, feel". The interior had small tables as well as communal seating, high ceilings and gray walls, and "interesting" rotating artwork on display. Eastern Cafe's food menu included

crêpe A crêpe or crepe ( or , , ) is a dish made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served ...

gelato Gelato (; ; ) refers to a specific type of ice cream of Italian origin. In Italian, ''Gelato'' is the common word for all types of ice cream. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of ...

, sandwiches, and pastries such as pear turnovers. In addition to coffee and

espresso Espresso (, ) is a concentrated form of coffee produced by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Originating in Italy, espresso has become one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods worldwide. It is cha ...

drinks, the cafe had a rotating selection of beers on tap, a small

wine list A wine list is a menu of wine selections for purchase, typically in a restaurant setting. A restaurant may include a list of available wines on its main menu, but usually provides a separate menu just for wines. Wine lists in the form of tasting m ...

, mimosas, and "beermosas".

API Flying Bookshelf

The cafe housed a small collection of books by

Asian Pacific Americans Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian ...

(API) known as the 'API Flying Bookshelf'. Works in the collection included the graphic novel '' American Born Chinese'' by

Gene Luen Yang Gene Luen Yang (; born August 9, 1973) is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of ...

, John Okada's novel '' No-No Boy'', and others by

Grace Lee Boggs Grace Lee Boggs (June 27, 1915 – October 5, 2015) was an American author, social activist, philosopher, and feminist. She is known for her years of political collaboration with C. L. R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya in the 1940s and 1950s. In t ...

Yuri Kochiyama was an American civil rights activist born in San Pedro, California. She was interned at the Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas during World War II, an experience that influenced her later views on racism in the United States. While in ...

, and

Thích Nhất Hạnh Thích Nhất Hạnh ( ; , Huế dialect: ; born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo; 11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet, and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, ...

. An

honor system An honor system, trust system or honesty system is a way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. The honor system is also a system granting freedom from customary surveillance (as to students or prisoners) with ...

meant there were no checkouts, notices, or fines for borrowing. The project was launched at Eastern Cafe in 2014; founders intended for the collection to remain in the cafe during July and August, before traveling to other cafes throughout the city. The project was started by Sabrina Chen, who was inspired by the Asian American Curriculum Project in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, as well as Derek Dizon. The project's logo and mascot was an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

bookshelf with eyes, legs, and wings, designed by artists Angelo Salgado and Jillian Redosendo. Wu said the mascot "represents the ability for APIs to rise in visibility through literature".

History

Eastern Cafe opened as one of the district's only Western-style coffee shops in 2013, in a space which previously housed a "stale and confined" office clinic. The cafe was owned by I-Miun Liu, who wanted to create "a place where people can gather, study and meet for work". Liu reportedly took out loans and "maxed out" credit cards to open the restaurant in the "ballroom-like" space, which was vacant for approximately three years before he signed a lease. He had carpet and drywall removed, revealing original fir floors and mint green and yellow cement walls. According to Liu, Eastern Cafe had a slow start, but gained a following as "the vibe caught on". In 2014, Assunta Ng of ''

Northwest Asian Weekly The ''Northwest Asian Weekly'' is an Asian American newspaper based in Seattle, Washington's International District. It was founded in 1983 by Assunta Ng, publisher of the '' Seattle Chinese Post'', and published free weekly editions until Ja ...

'' said the business was generating revenue and expanding. Liu said mayor Ed Murray's proposal to increase the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

to $15 an hour would put Eastern Cafe out of business. In 2014, the told

KCPQ KCPQ (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside KZJ ...

that he was considering a closure of Eastern Cafe in order to open a cafe outside Seattle, mentioning

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to: Places Australia * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales Canada * Bellevue, Alberta * Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...

or Renton as options. Among events hosted at the cafe was a "conversation hour" in 2014 by Eric Pettigrew, a Democratic member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

, and an election night party in 2019 by

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

commissioner Sam Cho. Upon the arrival of the

in 2020, Eastern Cafe closed until early March 2022. During the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

and

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

, Mari Shibuya painted a portrait of

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor (June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020) was an African-American woman who Killing of Breonna Taylor, was shot and killed while unarmed in her Louisville, Kentucky home by three police officers who entered under the auspices of a No-kn ...

on one of the restaurant's exterior panels. Eastern Cafe experienced staffing and supply shortages, among other financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic. Despite receiving government assistance and financial support from local API organizations like the Chinatown–International District Business Improvement Area, the cafe closed permanently in September 2023.

References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Seattle 2013 establishments in Washington (state) 2023 disestablishments in Washington (state) Asian-American culture in Seattle Restaurants in Chinatown–International District, Seattle Coffeehouses and cafés in Seattle Defunct restaurants in Seattle Restaurants disestablished due to the COVID-19 pandemic Restaurants disestablished in 2023 Restaurants established in 2013

Description

API Flying Bookshelf

History

See also

References

External links