Rejoice! Afrikando is back

Excerpts from her blog,

All You Can Eat

What good news! Jacques Sarr, the Senegalese chef who turned Seattle on to West African food in Belltown (and then sadly closed the place in 2005) is at it again. He's reopening Afrikando just south of Columbia City in the Hillman City neighborhood (5903 Rainier Ave. S., 206-448-5183; afrikandoafrikando.com). The new Afrikando Afrikando (so nice, he's named it twice) is set to make its debut any day now.

Back in 1999, I gave props to Jacques for his peanuty mafe, fiery thiebu djen and oniony yassa au poulet, and you can rest assured I'll be heading to Hillman City to eat those house specialties again, and soon.

While in the neighborhood, where ethnic groceries and small cafes abound, I might also consider feasting on some whole roast pig at Tropical Hut, checking out the pork chop inihaw at Kawali Grill and stopping into the West African market near Afrikando Afrikando for some hot guinea fowl.

Book takes a look back at Seattle restaurants

In 2003, I spent time at the Seattle Public Library, researching a column about its little-known Northwest Menu Collection. I could have spent days there lost in the past, thanks to the menus that inspired me to write:

"Every menu tells a story, and the scores of them comprising the Northwest Menu Collection — a small but significant treasure trove of Seattle restaurant history — tell ours. Three flat gray boxes, stored in the depths of the Seattle Public Library's main branch and retrieved for perusal, afford hours spent lost in the luxury of time travel."

I had a blast doing that research and was able to easily envision those once-popular restaurants — places that may have vanished physically, yet live on in our collective memories.

And then, last week, I got my hands on a new book that brought that same sense of history to my living room: "Seattle's Historic Restaurants" ($19.99) offers more than 200 vintage images and is available in local bookstores (and via www.arcadiapublishing.com). This pictorial history includes restaurants like the Merchant's Cafe in Pioneer Square, serving Seattle almost continuously since 1890. And others that opened after the horse-and-buggy era was long past.

Among the photos, postcards and menus in "Seattle's Historic Restaurants" are familiar names like Ivar's and El Gaucho — reincarnated and/or replicated between then and now.

The book features photos of late restaurateurs I've heard a million stories about. Like Victor Rosellini. And Peter Canlis, whose grandsons Mark and Brian are doing an impressive job of carrying on the family tradition.

Author Robin Shannon is a Duvall resident and former waitress who spent seven months gathering the visuals. She pored over photos from the Seattle municipal archives, spent time in local libraries and garnered considerable assistance from the folks at the Museum of History and Industry. Restaurants like Canlis and the Salish Lodge (where she once worked) were generous with their time and archives. I, too, loaned her a handful of vintage menus that are replicated in the book, and she amassed a vintage-menu collection of her own — courtesy of eBay and a credit card.

This material has been edited for print publication.

Nancy Leson's blog excerpts appear Wednesdays. Reach her at 206-464-8838 or nleson@seattletimes.com