This week's top hits from Eater Seattle, Curbed's sibling bar, restaurant, and nightlife blog.
THE SHUTTER -- Poor Vespolina. It's been a rough ride all around for the downtown sibling of Spinasse and Artusi since it opened its doors 18 months ago, and now this Friday, July 24, it will close them. In March, Vespolina brought on the 24-year-old Katie Gallego as head chef, who had learned under Stratton at Spinasse and Artusi since 2011. Three months later, the restaurant started lunch service, but apparently it wasn't sufficient to bring in the traffic it needed. Vespolina will close tomorrow after dinner service.
BEER HERE -- Seattle takes its beer seriously. The proliferation of craft breweries here is positively mind boggling, with new openings announced seemingly every month. It's tough to go wrong at almost any brewery in the city; these small-batch brewers tend to know their stuff, producing solid line ups of supremely drinkable IPAs, stouts, and more. But a few breweries truly stand out above the pack, setting the bar high for the rest of the group. Head over this way for Eater's picks for 13 of the best breweries within Seattle city limits.
VITAL UPDATES -- Renee Erickson is planning a doughnut shop as part of the trio of new spots she's opening on Capitol Hill this October. It will be called General Porpoise Coffee and Doughnuts and will also double as a multiroaster coffee shop managed by Jeff Butler of Milstead and Co. You'd be hard-pressed to conceive a more perfect combination of people and consumables under one roof. More information on Erickson's Capitol Hill plans here.