At Café Soleil, along 34th Avenue in Madrona, on an October evening, a group of people are sitting around discussing how Madrona used to be. They mention race riots, Black Panther headquarters.
One diner says, "No one would come visit me."
Madrona is now one of Seattle's trendier neighborhoods, and once a month, a group of residents get together as the Madrona Dining & Sipping Society to share drinks, stories and food at one of seven restaurants in the area.
'A life of its own'
Audrey Seale, who started the group a couple of years ago, remembered when she first moved to the neighborhood as a young homeowner. After many years, she realized she didn't know all of her neighbors and began the club through the neighborhood's monthly newsletter.
"It has a life all its own," she said of the club.
There is no fee to join; all one has to do is RSVP after seeing the notice in the newsletter. According to Seale, anywhere from 10 to 30 people attend each meal. She hopes more people in the neighborhood will attend and get to know one another.
Many of the diners at Café Soleil are meeting for the first or second time, despite the fact the majority have been living in Madrona for many years. Yet, the conversation at the table flows from wine to baseball, to the City of Seattle's port policies.
Henry Kuharic, a retired physician and longtime resident of Madrona, mentions how he enjoys the Ethiopian cuisine of Café Soleil "the traditional way," as everyone around the table broke off pieces of bread and scooped up spicy dishes of lamb, chicken and spinach.
Kuharic is filled with many anecdotes about the neighborhood. He talks fondly of growing up on the east side of Lake Washington and taking the ferry across.
"A great cheap date," he says.
He also speaks of the many writers and artists who have lived in Madrona through the years, culminating in a story about traveling in Latin America and coming across an exhibit full of works by Seattle artists.
As a result of the monthly dinners, Kuharic now meets with Madrona artist Alix Lorance to study Spanish.
A different experience each time
Though there are only seven restaurants in Madrona, the club has been exposed to more, Seale says: Every time a new place opens, the group tries to dine there. The group usually eats at a couple of the restaurants multiple times a year, but Seale notes that since different people attend each meal, it does not get repetitive.
With the holiday season upon us, the Madrona Dining & Sipping Society will take a break and convene again in January, when it meets on the last Thursday of the month.
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