Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend brings cool food events to Seattle

Summer technically doesn’t start in Seattle until Monday, but with the increasing safety of in-person outdoor events, warm weather, and two major celebrations colliding this weekend, it’s a big week for some cool food celebrations.

While the South Seattle Emerald did an excellent roundup of Juneteenth events, keep reading for a few food-centered happenings this weekend to add to your schedule.

Father’s Day Native Art Market

While the Duwamish Tribe, on whose land Seattle is built, continues their long battle for federal recognition, they also continue generously sharing their traditions with the rest of the local community. All weekend, June 19 and 20, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is hosting a Native art sale and salmon bake at their West Seattle space. The doors open each day at 10 am for shoppers to browse the jewelry, affordable art prints, one-of-a-kind crafts, and healing medicines for sale, then the food beings at noon. The alder-cooked salmon lunch runs for $25 and includes the fish, roasted red potatoes, a salad, fry bread, corn on the cob, and a berry dessert. Shoppers can also purchase fry bread or corn on the cob separately for $3. The food is scheduled to run through 3 pm but often runs out at this sort of event, so arrive early. The market runs through 5 pm.

Jackson’s Catfish Corner Reopening

For anyone who grew up in the Central District, the distinct black sign with orange illustration and white lettering of “Catfish Corner” remains seared into their mind and immediately conjures up the smell of soul food. On Saturday, June 19, the perennial favorite returns to the neighborhood, resurrected once again – and, unlike the last few tries, it seems like it’s for good.

The restaurant originally opened in a low building at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and E Cherry St. in 1985, cooking up the signature fried-to-order catfish fillets, beloved hushpuppies and incredible spicy tartar sauce. The original owners, Rosie and Woody Jackson, first tried to move to 23rd and Jackson back in the ‘90s, but the location became a Starbucks. They eventually sold the business in 2008, at which point both the quality of the food and the operations went downhill. By the time it closed abruptly in 2014, it owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and taxes.

Terrell Jackson grew up working in his grandparents’ restaurant, though, and hated the way their decades of hard work dissolved. So in 2015, he revived the business, opening up Jackson’s Catfish Corner in the Rainier Valley. Even then, he looked at space at 23rd and Jackson, hoping to get back to the spiritual home of the restaurant, the Central District. Unfortunately, in 2016, the South Seattle spot once again abruptly closed, before springing back up at 21st and Yesler, where it lasted two years. Then, in 2019, Terrell opened his next attempt, a Catfish Corner Express in Skyway. But now, a full Jackson’s Catfish Corner, “bigger and better," per his Instagram opens, and Saturday is the celebration it deserves.

“Locked it down for the next 25 years,” reads the announcement inviting everyone to come and celebrate “the new staple in the community.” The event begins with a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m., and will have a merchandise giveaway, live music, and “special guest appearances.” As the post says, “It’s gonna be an amazing day,” and Jackson is “super excited to be back where it all began.

Cooks for Black Lives Matter Juneteenth Pop-Up

Cooks for Black Lives Matter has been putting together monthly boxes of delicious prepared food from cooks at restaurants like Salare, Rupee, and Rachel’s Bagels and Burritos, plus produce from local farms. This month, they are changing gears and hosting their first pop-up at Roosevelt’s Distant Worlds Coffeehouse. The collective sells the boxes to raise money for Black-led equity initiatives in the Seattle area.

The pop-up features two Black-owned businesses: roJo Juice and We Be Jamin’ Bakery. The former will be selling three local, organic juices, including “Sparkle,” a combination of blueberry, ginger, pineapple, and lemon. The latter is selling jars of jam that combine Caribbean flavors with Pacific Northwest fruits, which results in flavors like strawberry hibiscus champagne. Both are available for preorder, and Cooks for Black Lives Matter will also be selling merchandise at the pop-up to support the cause.