Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Last Night

Arts & Culture   March 15, 2010 at 8:52 am Advokat

Last night, my partner and I ate a wonderful winemaker’s dinner with Anna Schafer of aMaurice Cellars at the Volunteer Park Café on Capitol Hill—our first dinner at one of our favorite haunts for breakfast and lunch.


Anna Schafer is a young, successful winemaker who happens to also be a joy to chat with. Her wines are an equal joy.  We tasted the aMaurice Viognier, red blend, Malbac, Syrah and a port with dessert.  And the cafe’s chef-owner Ericka Burke—joined by the newly recruited Nick Castleberry (formerly of Sitka and Spruce)—made wonderful dishes that brought out the best in the wines.

My favorite: seared scallops with pear, vanilla, tarragon, and Sauvignon Blanc that perfectly brought out the taste of the Viognier.  Other dishes included a mushroom risotto (red blend), smoked pork tenderloin with chimichurri sauce (Malbac), and rack of lamb (Syrah).  We are already looking forward to the next winemaker’s dinner in June with James and Poppie Mantone of Syncline Wine Cellars.




  • splurging is tea at tully's…

    I had $5 to spend on food today, and I found Safewqy has two avocdos for a dollar. The two navel oranges were a $1.61, kind of a splurge. Then I got a bag of romaine lettuce for $1.99. I already have on hand a can of beans, and this weekend I bought the 6.99 tillamook jack cheese with the little peppers in it? and I had bought some corn tacos for just 1.29. So I can have bean and cheese burritos with avacodo and a side salad of lettuce with my oil and vinegar, very healthy, and that will be dinner for a few days. Or, I can put the avocado on the lettuce!

    Also lunch. And if I keep getting a couple of oranges a day that's darn healthy eating. And maybe I can walk the mile to the fruit stand and get their oranges which are only 60 cents a pound, too.

  • dmitri6

    What's with this nerd bio? Seattle does not have white shoe law firms. I practiced law downtown for 25 years and never saw a white shoe. Maybe the occasional Air Jordan. Even with the Mossbacks overrun by East Coast immigrants, no white shoes…