Boon-Boona Coffee Finally Opens

 

3/17/26 Boon Boona Coffee, Waterfront Overlook

Ever since the Waterfront Overlook opened, it’s been obvious that some sort of venue was planning to move into the new space adjacent to a large area of outdoor seating. The eagerly anticipated venue finally opened: Boon-Boona Coffee, a small local chain focusing on African beans. Roy, Mary Jean and I wasted no time in checking it out. As we’d hoped, it’s a spacious, pleasant venue with excellent coffee and a view of Elliott Bay and Overlook visitors through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Even better, the sheltered outdoor seating is open to the public, so it will be a great location for large USk gatherings when it warms up. I especially appreciate that the patio ceiling is mostly glass, so it still lets in light on overcast days.

On that cold, drizzly morning, I sketched the mostly empty tables outside, wistfully dreaming of warmer days. Halfway through, I regretted taking on the perspective of all those tables and chairs lined up almost in a straight line, but not quite (top of post).

In my sketch journal (below), I relieved myself of the perspective frustration by doing another sketch of the tables and chairs – this time as a blind contour!

After brunch at Pike Place Bar & Grill (end of post), we sneaked in some outdoor sketching at Pike Place Market before the rain returned again. A vintage farm truck had become almost iconic near the information stand behind it. Its purpose is to block auto traffic from entering Pike Place (which is now pedestrian-only except for delivery trucks). At some point last year, the truck had disappeared for a while. I was happy to see that it had returned. If it becomes reliably permanent, it would make a highly visible, easily identifiable “meet here” icon (I’ve always got potential USk outings on my mind).

Pike Place Market entrance

Material notes: Have I said lately how much I love Derwent Drawing Pencils? I may never use graphite again!

Pike Place Bar & Grill