Holy shit, we're six years old!

Well, it's hard to believe as I sit here and write this, six years ago I was finding where things fit in refrigerators, stocks boiling and and lamb tongues brining and braising for our first dinner service August first, 2020. We wouldn't be here without the continued support from our regulars, South Seattle community, our industry friends, travelers and food writers!

Every time you choose to join us, we're honored, and appreciative of you. While we love what we do very much, a restaurant takes a village to thrive, and we're so grateful to be here six years later.

So, to talk about our festivities for our birthday month!

Our incredible friend Keiji Tsukasaki of LTD sushi is joining us for our six year anniversary, but, if you're reading this, you probably already know that.

Our die hard newsletter fans filled up over sixty reservations in under ten minutes, I was not only impressed, but surprised how quickly it happened, I thought I screwed up a the back end reservation system!

Luckily, we planned for this, and fret not, we have a lot of space left!

For Saturday, August 1st, we'll be walk in only when we open at 5 pm!

We're revisiting our old days, when we never booked out the restaurant with reservations, so we're opening on a first come, first served basis. So, the first person to show up outside Off Alley on Saturday, will be guaranteed a seat! We'll have the entire inside, outside, and standing rail available when we open!

So, if you're a little more like me, and don't religiously check your e-mail, you've still got a chance to grab a seat for this once a year event. Show up early, grab one of the first seats, or throw yourself on the wait list and grab one of our allocated walk in spots. We're keeping space available for walk ins all night, so don't let a lack of reservation deter you!

We also know, waiting in line and/or on a waitlist can feel like a drag, so we've partnered with our dear friend Jason Marvin who recently took over Vino Verite across the street! He's gonna have some tasty sips and snacks (snacks provided by Keiji and myself) for anyone waiting to join us. So whether your waiting in line before we open, or on our wait list, pop in across the street to kill some time!

Continuing our August celebrations, we're inviting our dear friend Jarad Hadi of Grape Ink to join us Sunday, August 23rd for our fifth annual Grape Ink wine dinner.

Jarad Hadi and myself became close friends quickly over Rainier beers and pizzas years ago, so much so Jarad offered to raise a pig for Off Alley, among other animals. Needless to say, we have since pushed each other to the limits of creativity and chaos, driving everyone around us insane.

Once a year Jarad and I spend months and many late nights deciding on which wines to select for these special dinners, often with wines Jarad has made special for the event. I'll dissect and pull apart each wine, and build a unique one night only menu to serve with the best Jarad has to offer. Often, these dishes are never recreated, as our small kitchen get's pushed to it's limits. If you enjoyed our tasting menus in the past, this is one of the few events a year we bring back our coursed out experience.

This year promises to be a wild one, with a handful of wines Jarad has put aside just for this dinner, alongside a cellar of old wines from previous vintages drinking at their best. Dinner will last a little over two and a half hours, with glasses of wine to highlight and pair with the dishes we've designed for each bottle.

Many of the wines are so rare that they'll never again be opened as a glass pour. Bottles that often sit in our cellar waiting for those special evenings when a guest splurges on a very special bottle, so this provides an opportunity to try some of the best Willamette Valley has to offer.

Prices include both dinner, and the wine pairing for the evening. For those who chose not to consume alcohol, we may suggest another evening for you to join us as this event will be focused on Grape Ink's incredible wines, and will not be able to discount the bill for non-drinkers.

As always, we invite our newsletter readers first access to reservations for these very limited seats on our once a year events. We'll have very limited seats, less than thirty available for this unique evening so we expect them to go fast.

For those of you who prefer our more casual, shared plates style of service and want to meet Jarad, we've got a secondary event planned!

Monday, August 24th, We're hosting a Grape Ink glass pour take over. While some of the rarest and most expensive wines will be reserved for our dinner the night prior, we'll exclusively be pouring Grape Ink wines the following Monday!

Monday will follow our standard Off Alley service, with 10% off Restaurant Industry folks, and a shared plates menu. We'll bring over a few of our favorite pairings from the menu from the prior evenings service, and our classic offal focused fare. Jarad will be present, and all the glasses of wine available will be from Grape Ink that evening. If you're a Francophile and need your French wine, sorry, you'll have to order a bottle that night!

For our Industry friends, we'll be hosting a trade tasting Monday afternoon with Grape Ink, so send us an e-mail for more details there if you're curious to try his wines. This however, is not open to the general public, professionals only!

We look forward to celebrating with you in the month of August, and as always, so grateful for your continued support.

Sante!

Evan Leichtling

Chef / Owner / Joyful Dishwasher