Archipelago

10/07/2026

At the Hillman City Block Party, we brought a handful of our team sweatshirts to help clear out the restaurant… and they went fast. Since then, so many of have asked about them that we’re considering making a set in a new color, heather navy, to help support Archipelago through the renovation closure.

Since storage and funds are limited right now, we’ll only make what’s needed. Interested? Fill out the quick form at the link below. No payment yet, we’re just trying to see if there’s enough interest to move forward. If there is, we’ll open preorders and reach out to everyone who signed up.

Form closes 10/12/26

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgb-M8enPK-zgxEtrFDHNnoeDMTrfjU1z6SvFl2iQThXML5A/viewform?usp=header

10/02/2026

2026 Summer Experience. Our last tasting menu in the space where we started. Big thank you to Chris Roberts Photography for documenting this final week of service 🙏🏽❤️🍻 Swipe through to see not only the oral histories represented, but the stories consumed and carried home with each guest, mind and body.

Though every day is Filipino American History Month at Archipelago, we’re excited to use this year’s pause to join you all out in the community to learn, remember, and celebrate. Happy Filipino American History Month!

Portal to the Pacific

The Cable Layers

Strawberry Queen of Bainbridge

Two Marias

09/25/2026

Last Saturday, Aaron took the stage closing out the first-ever TEDxIssaquah, themed Roots & Rise, a celebration of what we see and what made it possible. His talk was about what our food carries: the people, histories, and communities behind every plate, from Uncle Bob Santos to Maria Orosa to Auntie Dorothy Cordova. We couldn’t be prouder.

We left just as moved by the speakers around him, each asking us to look again at what we take for granted: how we age, how we compete, how we stay safe, how we design for everyone, how we care for our local news, and how everything, from soil to gut, is connected. Every idea on that stage had roots of its own.

Thank you to our fellow speakers:
Healthy Active Grandparenting™ Wellness Coach Grandparents|
Ruchika T. Malhotra | Uncompete
Cheryl Yamamoto
Martha Rodgers Carlin
Adam Pinsky
Anthony A. Oren
Krishiv Goswami

And a huge thank you to Priscila “Pree” Silva and the TEDxIssaquah team and volunteers who built Issaquah’s first TEDx from the ground up.

The talks are being edited now. We’ll share Aaron’s as soon as it’s live.

————

Thank you Chris Roberts Photography for capturing the night.

09/16/2026

“It’s good! I like it!!!” — Tita cut Aaron off before he could finish describing the dish, and sometimes that’s the highest praise.

We’re closed but far from idle — there’s constant work behind the scenes. Though reopening is our focus, we also know it’s because of our community, our elders, that we can exist. A day like today was worth the intentional time. When Georgina and Tanya, registered dietitians with Tilth Alliance, invited us to build lunch for a group of Filipino elders visiting Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, we said yes. The day they built was about cultural relevance, nourishment, dignity, and joy.

Aaron has always cooked to include — finding a way to feed anyone safely, regardless of allergy or restriction. As we get older, a lot of us lose access to the foods we grew up loving. He built this menu around giving that generation the taste they remember, without the risk the traditional ingredient might carry now.

We cooked with produce grown on that same soil, while our elders wandered the u-pick rows and visited the farm stand — walking, touching, and eating from the same ground felt like getting back to our roots, literally and figuratively.

Grateful to Georgina, Tanya, and the rest of the Tilth Alliance team for trusting us with that part of the day. Truly a gift.

09/08/2026

Our chef and co-founder Aaron Verzosa is taking the TEDx stage.

On September 19, Aaron joins the lineup at TEDxIssaquah 2026 — Roots & Rise — sharing the ideas that have shaped Archipelago since we opened our doors in 2018.

For Aaron, a menu is never just a menu. It’s a living archive — locally sourced, research-driven, built to surface the histories that got left out of the history books and keep the Filipino American experience alive at the table. We’ve always called Archipelago a community classroom, and this fall, that classroom gets a bigger room.

He’ll bring this same thinking to Issaquah as a 2026 James Beard National Semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, speaking on food as archive, as gathering place, and as a way of understanding where we come from.

Roots & Rise
September 19, 2026 | 3:30–5:30pm
The Fleming Arts Center, Issaquah
Tickets at tedxissaquah.com — link in bio. Come cheer him on.

08/15/2026

A quick but important update: we’re postponing Heritage Grains & The Open Flame at Chimacum Valley Grainery.

With burn bans in place across the region this wildfire season, we explored shifting to cook over coals — but even that felt both irresponsible and disrespectful given how serious this fire season has been and the terrible loss our region has felt. It was a difficult decision to make — we know many of you had planned weekend trips — but being good stewards of the land we work with, and of each other, is so important to us.

If you’d already signed up, Chimacum Valley Grainery reached out to you directly last week — thank you for your patience. For everyone else who was hoping to join, we’re looking at bringing this workshop back in October, just in time for Filipino American History Month, once conditions are safer. We’ll share details as soon as we have them.

Thank you for understanding. We’ll see you at the source soon.

08/10/2026

When we chose this stretch of Rainier Ave back in 2017, many didn’t understand why. Some of the early press we received focused in on this as if it were a puzzling choice. But it was never a question for us — it was very clear, our community was here.

To everyone in the South End who has shown up for us — when we opened our doors, through the pandemic and now through this transition — thank you. Getting to finally serve you at the neighborhood block party meant more than you know.

Big thank you to Oli for helping us moving this forward each year, your love and care is felt in all you do. Thank you so much to Daniel for organizing prepping this during the craziness of closing up shop. Thank you to Jon for DJing and to our team for jumping in to lend a hand.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Hillman City Neighborhood Association for all that you do for us. It was a beautiful day to reconnect with old friends. In the words of Hillman City “Because together, we’re what’s good.”

08/07/2026

Taking down the tinikling today.

This carved piece has been part of our home since my parents started their family in the ’70s — long before it ever hung in Archipelago.

When we opened in 2018, it was just the two of us — so I brought my childhood house with us. My parents’ wedding plates and other serving pieces that my mom sat decoratively in a cabinet in our dining room. Pieces my parents built a life around. It was easy to be careful with them when the team was small.

As we grew, we swapped most of it out. But starting that way, surrounded by things that were theirs — that were ours — gave us something we needed: a place to feel grounded in who we are. Unapologetically Filipino American.

We’ll see it again on the other side of this renovation.

08/03/2026

People often think that running a special-occasion restaurant means you can’t build community when you only see guests once a year. If there’s anything we’ve learned over 8 years of running one, it’s the complete opposite. Being part of people’s special moments — for some, major life events — is an absolute blessing that connects us for years. We’ve fed expecting parents who now send us photos of their growing children. We’ve met more and more of our guests’ extended families. We’ve witnessed promotions, career changes, whole life transitions.

Earlier this year, returning guests reached out to see if they could reserve a table for their wedding dinner. We said of course, it would be an honor — what we didn’t realize is that they’d let us into their celebration, ending the dinner by making it official right at their table. Our team, Isabelle and Paula, signed as witnesses. We can’t stress enough how lucky we are to share in these experiences, and to have the trust and friendship of our guests.

Nicole shared these photos on the day of our last service before we close for renovations. They serve as a reminder for why we do what we do, and motivation to get the doors back open soon.

Nicole and Justin — congratulations, and thank you, thank you for bringing your love and joy into Archipelago. Sending you both so much love.

07/30/2026

come join us for...

Heritage Grains & The Open Flame with Chef Aaron Verzosa
Sunday, August 16
12 - 3 pm

In this workshop, we will work with the local grain berries themselves, learning to manipulate their texture and earthiness through the primal control of charcoal-fired cooking.

Tracing the roots of Filipino-American resilience from the soil of the Northwest to the embers of the hearth, Chef Aaron Verzosa of Seattle’s Archipelago brings his unique lens of progressive cultural cooking to the Chimacum Valley Grainery.

Simultaneously, we will integrate the grains into a wood-fired sourdough, mastering the techniques required to craft a crust and crumb that honors both traditional fermentation and contemporary regional agriculture.

As the fires burn, we’ll ground our practice in the narratives of Filipino-American farmers in the Northwest and the immigrant journey of my own parents.

This class is an invitation to feed both the body and the spirit, exploring how the simple act of breaking bread can serve as a vessel for history, memory and the evolving story of our food system.

Space is limited, sign up today!

Sunday, August 16 12 - 3 pm In this workshop, we will work with the local grain berries themselves, learning to manipulate their texture and earthiness through the primal control of charcoal-fired cooking. Tracing the roots of Filipino-American resilience from the soil of the Northwest to