Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
borhood. Amazon's new $1-billion campus comprises 11 shiny buildings that stretch
along Boren Ave N and Terry Ave N for four blocks. With an estimated 9000 employ-
ees ultimately set to move in, the area has seen an explosion of shops, cafes and restaur-
ants built to cater for the new workers. Aside from some well-established Seattle mini-
chains, including Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts, Blue Moon Burgers and Zoka Cof-
fee, South Lake Union has drawn in name chefs such as Tom Douglas and Vikram Vij.
Still up in the air is the nature of the evolving neighborhood's personality. Will it be
rakish and hip? Salt-of-the-earth? Corporate white-collar? Watch it develop.
A Taste for Innovation
Away from the headlines, Seattle's industrious army of technologically savvy innovat-
ors continues beavering away in garages and bedrooms dreaming up next year's
Amazon, Starbucks or Microsoft. Regular visitors to planet earth will have already
tasted the city's world-famous coffee and craft beer. But keep your ear to the ground for
recent Seattle-fueled crazes including micro-creameries (ice cream), micro-distilleries
(whiskey and gin), vegan doughnuts, nano-breweries (pint-sized brewers for ultra-seri-
ous beer drinkers), crusty pie shops, and restaurants that forage mushrooms, nettles and
wild vegetables from the surrounding countryside.
