Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar's "stone Soup" Warms The Body And The Spirit Folk Story Comes To Life In South Lake Union As Community Gives As Well As

Chef John Howie, proprietor of Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, is as known for his soups that uplift and sustain, as his award winning seafood and steak dishes. This holiday season, in the spirit of the folk story "Stone Soup", John is initiating a food collection for Food Lifeline at his South Lake Union location, which he hopes will become an annual event. From November 3 to 17, donors of non-perishable food items to any of the participating stores at 2200 Westlake will be given an invitation to return and enjoy a complimentary bowl of heart-warming soup prepared and served by Howie in the plaza outside of Seastar from 4:30 to 7 pm on November 17. Like the "villagers" in the story, it will be a celebration of community spirit as the Seastar Catering Truck is loaded with donations on the Thursday before Thanksgiving for Food Lifeline and the hungry people the organization serves throughout Western Washington.



In the event's namesake tale, some travellers come to a small hamlet, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with them. The travellers then go to the neck of a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. Eventually, a curious villager asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor, The villager does not mind parting with just a small bit of carrot to help them out, and it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup, which has not reached its full potential yet. He hands them a little bit of seasoning to help out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.



Chef Howie will be serving Vegetable Barley Soup with Herbs, from his upcoming cookbook "Passion and Palate". Participating 2200 Westlake merchants providing drop off boxes for food donations include Align Chiropractic, Be Luminous Yoga, Clover House, Dr. Roger Anderson, DDS, Salon Azur, Scraps Dog Bakery, Tutta Bella, Vida Spa, Whole Foods, the Pan Pacific Hotel and Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar.



Food Lifeline is a local hunger relief organization, efficiently serving the Western Washington area by using 96% of revenue to directly feed hungry people. Last year Food Lifeline delivered more than 24 million meals to hungry people through their network of nearly 300 neighborhood food banks, hot meal programs and shelters. Food Lifeline is also the local member of the nation's largest hunger relief organization, Feeding America.