"To your health, Seattle; eat more oysters." Emmett Watson


SEATTLE: Oyster-loving Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proclaimed March 27, 2007 "Oyster Day" to honor the 18th annual Anthony's Oyster Games & Shucker's Ball*. In a day of contests, fun, food and drink, 600 celebrants at the sold-out, popular, rite-of?spring event consumed 30,000 oysters while raising $42,000 to support the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance's clean water programs. Greeting revelers and joining in the fun at the event, Mayor Nickels commended Anthony's for generously sponsoring these games dedicated to bringing celebrities, elected officials, local restaurants, the oyster industry, clean water organizations and the public together to have fun while emphasizing the importance of preserving oyster habitats and the quality of Puget Sound waters. Seattle's Mayor also had a few unflattering words to say about the U. S. Olympics Committee's "cease and desist" order regarding the use of "Olympics" in the event known as Anthony's Oyster Olympics for 17 years.

In the event's traditional event "Oystertainment", oyster and fun- loving Seattle celebrities rocked the house with upbeat, spirited works created especially for Anthony's Oyster Games. Several songs boosted the Oyster's 2000 year-old reputation as a stimulant to love and other's poked fun at the U.S Olympics Committee's stingy "Olympics" attitude. Northwest Cable News anchor Greg Copeland bested 12 area celebrities in the popular Celebrity Oyster Slurp slurping 10 oysters off the shell, no hands, in 7.2 seconds. KMPS's "Tall Paul" Fredricks, came in second in 7.9 seconds with Evergreen State College President, Les Purce taking third. Copeland will represent Seattle in the National Oyster Slurping Finals at Shaw's Crab House's Royster with the Oyster Festival in Chicago on October 19th.

Twenty restaurant teams including, Joe Fortes from Vancouver BC, competed in oyster shucking, oyster identification and wine identification and for the coveted Oyster Gamrs team trophy. David Leck from Elliott's Oyster House was the top shucker with Nhi Luong from Elliott's second and Chris Field from Joe Fortes third. Shuckers are judged on quality of presentation as well as speed. In five heats, the Competition tests skills in opening five species of oysters: Olympia, Pacific, Kumamoto, European Flat and Eastern oysters. In the world's most challenging shucking competition, Leck impressively bested the area's top shuckers in each of the five heats on the way to way to his Anthony's Oyster Games shucking medal.

By Karen Gaudette
Seattle Times staff reporter


What better way to show her husband she cares, Vanessa Love thought, than with a fantastic meal.

Fancy pasta dishes, desserts, a scented candle, chocolate-covered strawberries and rose petals already held court in her shopping basket. But she paused when she reached the abundant self-serve "salad garden" at West Seattle's Metropolitan Market.

SEATTLE - Aug. 24, 2006 - Food Markets Northwest, which owns and operates five upscale Metropolitan Market supermarkets in Seattle and Tacoma, has acquired the Queen Anne location of Larry's Market at 100 Mercer Street North, assuming the store's lease, equipment and inventory effective Sept. 1. The decision was handed down today at a hearing in U. S. Bankruptcy Court, following an auction of the Larry's Market chain.

"I have always admired the McKinney family's supermarket story. The greater Seattle area was treated to a food retailer that was ahead of the rest of the country, and their dedication to bringing the best products to the market was second to none," said Food Markets NW Chief Executive Officer Terry Halverson.

"They assembled a staff that provided a high level of service and enjoyed the food that they sold," Halverson said.

"We are excited to have this opportunity to serve Larry's loyal customer base, and plan to continue to offer the hard to find food products that they became known for, along with many new items from Metropolitan Market. We are also excited about the wonderful staff of foodies at Larry's and hope to add many of them to our team."

SEATTLE - Sept. 22, 2005 - It was a scrubby, overgrown patch of land that for years begged for attention, and when Metropolitan Market opened its Sandpoint supermarket location in 2003, the sad strip bordering its store and the Burke-Gilman trail was in for a serious makeover. Carefully planned with Seattle Parks and Recreation Department's blessing, meticulously executed, and funded entirely by Metropolitan Market, the store celebrates its restoration completion with the Sandpoint community on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the adjacent park.

We are pleased and excited to provide this much-deserved improvement to the Sandpoint neighborhood, said Mark Marsh, Metropolitan Market Sandpoint Store Manager and lead on the restoration project. It brings all of us at Metropolitan Market a great sense of pride to return this area to a beautiful, tranquil park facility that brings families and trail-goers enjoyment and relaxation.

The extensive restoration included the complete clearing of brush, 10 to 15-foot blackberry brambles and other invasive plants; paving a dirt pedestrian access path leading from the Trail to the store, often used by neighbors to access the Market; planting a mix of native shrubs and trees such as Oregon grape, salal, evergreen huckleberry and vine maples; laying sod, which enabled near-immediate use of the area (rather than planting grass seed) ; fencing the store area border; preserving its mature trees; and installing two complete picnic facilities.


Matt Suhadolnik, SvR Design Company's senior landscape architect, worked with Metropolitan Market to design and implement the restoration.

SEATTLE - Sept. 21, 2005 - Metropolitan Market Chief Executive Officer Terry Halverson announced today that 10 percent (or up to $25,000) of the days sales on Thursday, Sept. 29 will be donated to aid relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Sales will be totaled from all five Seattle and Tacoma Metropolitan Market stores and donated to the American Red Cross to directly aid Katrina relief.

Metropolitan Markets donation goal is $25,000 and we believe with strong community support, we can achieve that goal Halverson said.

Metropolitan Market has brought Seattle and Tacoma an extraordinary grocery shopping experience since 1971. Each Market exceeds customers expectations through attentive and friendly service, excellent products, and a warm, welcoming environment. For more information please contact Lisa Nourse at (206) 838-8977 or Ilga Westberg at (206) 923-3710, or visit the company Web site at http://www.metropolitan-market.com.

SEATTLE - Sept. 15, 2005 - Fresh from the American Cheese Society national exhibition in Louisville, Kentucky, Metropolitan Market is serving as a Puget Sound industry front-runner by promoting American artisan cheese with a focus on farmstead cheese. Farmstead is a specialty field of artisan cheese where the products come from a farm or same location where the herds live and milk is produced. The stores will host the nation's leading Cheese Makers and Cheese Experts as they present and share their coveted cheeses during free tastings at all five Metropolitan Market locations from Oct.
6 to 18.

Metropolitan Market has long been committed to a far-reaching artisan cheese program, from direct imports in the early 90's to today's focus on American farmstead cheeses, said Tristan Ambroise, Metropolitan Market Fromagere. We go to great lengths to find the very best and newest cheeses for our customers, and this special celebration underscores that dedication.

Join Metropolitan Market to launch this new, exciting annual series with a specialtasting on Friday, Oct. 7, 12:30 to 2 p.m., free to the public, which features all of the Cheese Makers and Cheese Experts together at the Admiral Metropolitan Market Pavilion. Following this presentation, each Cheese Maker will appear during Metropolitan Market presentations which will be held at all five store locations until Oct. 18.

Featured cheese makers and their cheeses: