Keeping up

Eaglet soars: Several blog readers reported seeing the Broadmoor eagles in flight with their offspring over the weekend (we and our camera, unfortunately, were late to the party).  But never fear, Montlake photographer and bird watcher Larry Hubbell took many excellent shots of the eaglet in flight on Saturday and posted them on his blog, Union Bay Watch, to be enjoyed by those of us who missed out.

Music in the Park:  The line up for the summer concert series has been announced. This almost-every-Thursday-evening-in-August musical experience, which has become a popular summer tradition, features the same line up as last year's: Two Scoops Combo on August 8, Jonathan Kingham on August 15, Gin Creek on August 22, and The Side Project on August 29. The music will begin promptly at 6:30 and end at about 8 pm. The concerts, which are free, take place in the grassy area of the park and are sponsored by the Madison Park Business Association.

Best Buds moving on:  The colorful neighborhood flower shop with its quaint red English phone booth out front will be abandoning its space at the end of this month. But Best Buds is not shutting down, it is simply going to begin a new life around the corner in the lower level of Cafe Parco (1807 42nd Avenue E.).

In the new location the shop will be more about cut flowers and less about plants for the garden, so we're told.  This move is apparently a win-win-win situation for Best Buds (which is happy to be vacating its current space), Cafe Parco (which was not making good use of its lower level), and restaurant-building owner Karen Binder (who gains another paying tenant).  Perhaps it's not a win for the red-phone-booth owner, however, since the soon-to-be vacant location is just too tiny to accommodate another bank.

Italian cooking comes to Madison Valley:  They're working away diligently on renovating the interior space of what for many years was La Cote (2811 E. Madison St.).  As we reported in June, the French bistro is being replaced by Bar Cantinetta, which is an offshoot of the very-well-received Wallingford-based Cantinetta. We've been told that the Madison Valley incarnation will be a more intimate affair (there's not much space, after all) and will feature small plates. The signs in the windows say the new place will be open in August. To this point the owner has been less than forthcoming about his plans, but perhaps as we get closer to the opening...

Bing's shakes things up:  There's a revamped website, new menu items, a seven-days-a week Happy Hour (3-6 pm), a Kid's Happy Hour (50% off all kids' items, M-F, 3-5 pm), gluten-free items on the menu, Bottomless Mimosas during brunch on weekends, and a new price point for many offerings, including the $8 Signature Burger during Happy Hour, that are all part of the new Bing's experience, says owner George Marshall. Details are available on the website and on Bing's Facebook page here.

Restaurant Bea closes:  Owner Kate Perry announced on the restaurant's Facebook page yesterday that Restaurant Bea is no more. This is the third well-received and highly-rated (but ultimately unsuccessful) restaurant to occupy the same Madrona space (1423 34th Avenue E.).  Cremant was first in the series, followed shortly thereafter by June. This three-strikes development is sad for foodies, for Madrona, and for the people who tried hard to make their dreams come alive.  We were fans.

[Eagle photo by Larry Hubbell.]