Seattle, WA
Happy Food Is Very Quietly One of the CID’s Best New Restaurants
She goes by Chef Ye to her regulars, but her full name is Aifang Ye, the “Ai” being the Chinese character meaning “love.” Love is what Ye and her new restaurant Happy Food exude despite challenging circumstances: Her English is limited and she works mostly alone, operating Happy Food on a corner of the Chinatown-International District that — like many corners of downtown Seattle — struggles with visible signs of poverty and drug use.
Like Tanya Nguyen at nearby Chu Minh Tofu, Ye sometimes helps feed her unhoused neighbors. Volunteers who help with Nguyen’s food giveaways acted as translators so Eater Seattle could interview Ye in Mandarin.
The Happy Food owner hails from Taizhou, a coastal town in Zhejiang Province, about 200 miles south of Shanghai. She first learned cooking from her mother (who she describes as just an average cook), and by age 10 she had mastered the complexity of making zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped with bamboo leaves). She upped her cooking game upon getting married and needing to cook for family, then brought that passion to bidding for the business to run a buffet-style cafeteria in a factory setting serving nearly 200 workers.
In 2019, Ye followed her husband and son to Las Vegas where they easily found construction work, while she became a pui yuet, or confinement nanny — someone who prepares meals and herbal medicines for new mothers, who in the Chinese tradition stay at home to recuperate 30 days after giving birth. She continued that work when she moved with her family to Bellevue in 2021 for a nicer environment with cooler weather. But soon, with desire to be independent and entrepreneurial, she jumped on an affordable opportunity to lease a less-than-desirable spot at the corner of 12th Avenue and Jackson to open Happy Food at the end of 2023.
Save for occasional moments when her husband comes to help, Happy Food is a one-woman show: Ye greets customers with an exuberant smile, beckons them to sit, takes orders, cooks, serves, and cleans — all with little more English than “Thank you very much.”
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Happy Food’s menu is simple and understated (think “potato chips salad” and “braised chicken leg”), making it hard for diners who don’t know Chinese characters to anticipate the dishes and to know what to order. And while Zhejiang cuisine is considered one of the eight traditional cuisines of China, that’s not the restaurant theme. Ye says that her food reflects a variety of dishes she ate in Taizhou, prepared with her own spin.
What diners can count on is that the food is delicious. The stir-fried green beans pack the punch of ya cai (a type of preserved mustard green). Fish filets float in a sauce of fragrant house-made scallion oil that finds people reaching for another portion of the self-service rice. Cabbage comes rustically stir-fried in large pieces, available “plain” or spiked with vinegar. Especially popular with Asian clientele are the braised pork intestines, cut large for extra chewiness and mixed with meaty and tender King oyster mushrooms, cooked to the desired level of spiciness.
There’s more — not all of it on the menu. Ye will enthusiastically show other dishes she can make, many doughy delights like pumpkin mantou and dumplings made with mugwort in the wrappers and zesty pork and vegetables in the filling.
People are still learning about the place, perhaps skeptical of the location, but the regulars happily return. On a recent visit, a table of diners delighted in the food, saying that whether from Taiwan or different parts of China like Hong Kong and Shanghai, they feel at home when eating at Happy Food. The restaurant truly has a home-style vibe, the food reasonably priced and served with a warm smile.
Ye wouldn’t let Eater Seattle take a photo of her. She declined to talk about the homelessness and drug use endemic to the area. What’s most important, Ye says, is that “Anyone can come in and really enjoy the food. Having people enjoy it brings me happiness. I have passion for it.”
Santa Clara—When Seattle’s defense stepped on the field for the Week 18 matchup against the 49ers, they had a few goals in mind, winning was of course one of those, but they wanted to show everyone watching they are the best defense in the league.
“We made up our mind that we were going to be the best defense in the NFL,” linebacker Uchenna Nwosu said. “We were going to show the world tonight and that’s what we did.”
As has been the case for the entire season, the Seahawks’ defense was once again a highlight in their 13-3 win. The Seahawks won, in part thanks to a dominant performance by the defense that held the San Francisco 49ers to just three points. The last time Kyle Shanahan’s offense was held to just three points was in his 49ers head coaching debut in 2017. Since then, San Francisco has scored at least 6 points in every game, until Saturday.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the 49ers were riding a three-game streak of great performances by its offense. Throughout all three of those games, San Francisco was averaging 42.3 points per game, 455.3 yards per game and 29.3 first downs per game.
Seattle’s defense held San Francisco to just 53 rushing yards, which included 21 yards from quarterback Brock Purdy, 127 yards through the air, a lone field goal, and just nine first downs. They also picked off Purdy once, sacked him three times and forced the 49ers to punt four times.
“They’re a tremendous offense,” head coach Mike Macdonald said following the game. “Probably top whatever in the league and have been doing it for a long time. They have great players, they have great coaches, and the numbers back it up. Our guys played great complimentary football today. They really did. I can’t say enough, but I can’t wait to watch the tape. There’s a lot of assists going on in there, guys rushing unselfishly to free somebody else up or to let somebody else have a two-way go so they can cover for them. How we played in the back end, it felt like we were ahead of plays. These guys did a great job. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Christian McCaffery, one of San Francisco’s top offensive playmakers in both the run and passing game was held to his lowest rushing yards all season with 23 yards through the night and his fourth lowest receiving yards with 34.
Nick Emmanwori who had a team high seven tackles, as well as a tackle for loss and quarterback hit said, “Our front seven is the best in the world. Our D-Line is the best in the world. Got dudes like Jarran Reed, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy. Our edges are dogs. They handle business every week. We’ve got the best run defense I the league. It makes it easy for us on the back end.”
We’ll have to wait one more day to learn who takes the NFC South crown.
The Buccaneers, losers of seven of their last eight coming into today, were able to piece together a tough, 16-14 win in bad weather against the Panthers. It was a calming three hours for the Bucs and their fans, who had seen their team go from theorized Super Bowl contender in the early months of the season to bottomless freefall.
Had the Panthers found a way to win today, the NFC South, and the #4 seed in the NFC, would have been determined. Instead, we’ll have to wait another day, as a matchup between the two NFC South rivals who are eliminated from the postseason entirely will now determine everything. Certainly ironic, but great for drama.
The New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow to wrap up their respective seasons, and while they’re not playing for much more than pride, both the Buccaneers and Panthers will be watching with great interest. If the Falcons win, today will prove to be little more than a minor setback for Carolina, and they’ll win the division regardless.
However, should the Saints get the road upset, everything gets flipped. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were seemingly skidding towards a shocking early offseason, would be awarded the division on tiebreakers. Their Week Eight 23-3 victory over New Orleans, at the time seemingly innocuous, would end up salvaging their playoff spot.
Both Atlanta and New Orleans are on hot runs right now, the Falcons winners of three straight and the Saints on a four game streak. It’s a surprisingly compelling game given that both teams are guaranteed losing records on the season.
And this is very relevant to the Seattle Seahawks, because depending on tonight’s result in San Francisco, the NFC South division winner will either possibly, or definitely, be the team they play in their first playoff game.
If Seattle prevails tonight and takes the top seed in the NFC, it is entirely possible that their Divisional Round opponent is whoever comes out on top here. As the top seed, they play the lowest remaining seed, which would be either Carolina or Tampa Bay if all three home teams win on Wild Card Weekend. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it’s entirely possible.
On the other hand, if the Seahawks drop their game tonight and end up the #5 seeded NFC squad, then they’re drawing the winner of the NFC South in the first round for sure. Seattle has already played both teams this year, dropping an early-season bout to Tampa Bay 38-35, and just last week handling Carolina 27-10.
Of course, the Buccaneers were a far better team in that Week Five matchup, and the Seahawks have changed radically over the last three months as well, so it’s a matter of debate which team Seattle matches up better with. I imagine most Seahawks fans would feel good about either opponent, but there’s probably a preference somewhere in there.
Regardless, we’ll be waiting one more day to find out who the opponent will be, by which Seattle will already know if they’re watching the first round of the playoffs on a bye, or facing off against the south’s winner on the road.
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Kicker Harrison Mevis aims to get back on track when the Rams play the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Mevis, signed by the Rams in November, made all eight of his field-goal attempts before missing from 48 yards late in the fourth quarter of the Rams’ 38-37 overtime defeat by the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 18 in Seattle.
“Just continuing to keep firing away,” Mevis said. “I’m not going to be perfect in my career — nobody is. And it’s all about how you respond and bounce back and make the next kick.”
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Gary Klein breaks down everything you need to know heading into Monday night’s matchup between the Rams and the Atlanta Falcons.
In the aftermath of the loss, which included a fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown by the Seahawks, Rams coach Sean McVay fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn.
Three of the Rams’ four losses have resulted from major kicking-game miscues, and Blackburn’s firing was just the latest change made to solve the issues.
When the Rams signed Mevis to replace Joshua Karty — who last week was signed by the Arizona Cardinals off the Rams practice squad — they also brought in veteran snapper Jake McQuaide to replace Alex Ward.
The game against the Falcons will serve as Ben Kotwica’s debut as interim special teams coordinator.
Kotwica has worked in the NFL for most of the last 18 years, and he coached with McVay on Washington’s staff. Kotwica was the Denver Broncos special teams coordinator in 2023 and 2024 before joining the Rams staff as a special teams assistant.
“We’ve had a couple of plays that have cost us during the course of the year, but I love the way that our guys are going about the business,” Kotwica said. “They understand the urgency. We’re part of a championship football team and we’re just ready to contribute to holding up that Lombardi [Trophy] early next year.”
Key injuries
Rams: OL Kevin Dotson (ankle, out); DB Josh Wallace (ankle, out); WR Davante Adams (hamstring, doubtful); OL Alaric Jackson (knee, questionable); DL Braden Fiske (ankle, questionable but expected to play); CB Roger McCreary (hip, expected to be activated to roster from injured reserve).
Falcons: CB Mike Hughes (ankle, out); CB Clark Phillips III (triceps/illness, out); DL Sam Roberts (knee/ankle, out); WR Drake London (knee, questionable).
How to watch and listen to Rams vs. Falcons
The Rams (11-4) and the Atlanta Falcons (6-9) will play at 5:15 p.m. PST Monday. The game will be shown on ABC in the Los Angeles area and nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. In Southern California, fans can listen to the game on 710 AM, 93.1 FM and 1330 AM (Español).
Betting odds and lines for Rams vs. Falcons
Who will win Rams vs. Falcons?
Gary Klein’s pick: A few weeks ago, this looked like a potential easy victory for the Rams. Now it could be more difficult. Still, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will outduel Kirk Cousins. Rams 30, Falcons 24
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