Bastille Day is this Friday, July 14, and there are lots of celebrations in Seattle where you can eat French food, drink rosé, and listen to French music. As our food critic Tobias Coughlin-Bogue writes, "Bastille Day is kind of the French version of Independence Day. It celebrates the Storming of the Bastille, considered the turning point of the French Revolution, and is very much in the same spirit of the common man throwing off the yoke of tyranny. It’s harder to see the Fourth in that light this year, given the yoke of tyranny we’ve currently thrown around our own necks. Perhaps, then, Bastille Day can serve as something of a consolation prize. They had the good sense to ditch xenophobe right-winger Marine Le Pen, which is definitely worth celebrating, and the food is inarguably way better on Bastille Day. Here in Seattle, we’re blessed with a number of lovely French restaurants, and almost all of them throw a helluva fete on the 14th. Vive la France!"

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THURSDAY

Alliance Française
Toast the arrival of summer with the Alliance Française at its annual Bastille Day Party. Enjoy Woodhouse wines, hors d'oeuvres, and a blind tasting competition. The Alliance Française choir will also be singing traditional French songs like "La Marseillaise," and you can feel free to join in if you so desire.
(Wallingford, $25/$30)

FRIDAY

* Bastille
Celebrate Bastille Day with Bastille (naturally!) and revel in the celebrations of French cuisine and libations. The party begins on Bastille's patio and terrace, and continues through the night. Glasses of house rosé will be flowing at just $5 all day, and additional selections of Provence Rosé will be poured throughout the party. Bartenders will be mixing French-inspired cocktails in honor of the holiday, and local Ballard brewery Reuben’s Brews is bringing kegs of Pilsner and Summer IPA. If you have little ones in tow, they'll appreciate the snow cone machine, which will be churning out concoctions for adults and kids alike. Chef Jason Stoneburner will be roasting an entire pig outside, and the kitchen will prepare additional savory snacks—an oyster bar will set up shop on the terrace, too. Live music will be provided by jazz band Second Dimension and New Orleans-style street band Super Krewe, and Shanghai Pearl will start burlesque shows in the evening. Tobias calls this the "perfect recipe for a memorable debauch."
(Ballard, free)

* Bottlehouse
Join Bottlehouse for a Bastille Day Patio Party, complete with live music by Tsunami Piñata, a curated French wine tasting, and Parisian street food specials.
(Madrona, $16)

* Cafe Campagne
Cafe Campagne's annual Bastille Day Party for the Revolutionaries is back for its 15th year, and you can join them that day for a party in Post Alley, complete with live music, burlesque performances, food, wine and beer. Oysters will be available throughout the evening. Tobias writes, "For more centrally located partygoers, Cafe Campagne’s chaotic alleyway carnival simply can’t be beat. Except, perhaps, by their neighbors at Le Pichet, who also serve up a bunch of great French street food and live music. Best of all, both are free to attend—you just purchase the food and drinks you desire—so you don’t really have to pick."
(Downtown, free)

Frolik
Join Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails for a Bastille Day celebration, featuring a menu with French bar bites, performances by burlesque icons, and special cocktails. The performers include Chastity Svelte, Boom Boom L'Roux, Icy London and Persephone Illyri, and the cocktail lineup includes St. Germain and Grey Goose offerings. There will also be a live DJ all night long, and food like toasted baguette with gruyere and goat cheese pudding; moules frites; confit duck leg with runner beans, summer zucchini and pecan salad with black seed mustard jus; and petits pots à l'absinthe, or cream pudding with absinthe and berries.
(Downtown, free)

* Le Pichet
Join Le Pichet for a cafe-style celebration of the FĂŞte du Quatorze Juillet (Bastille Day). There will be a special menu of Parisian street food, and live music by La Foule and The Djangomatics. True to the spirit of the holiday, there is no cover charge and no reservations needed.
(Downtown, free)

* Luc
For Bastille Day this year, Luc is heading outdoors in Madison Park for Chef Thierry Rautereau's annual French buffet celebration, complete with drinks and live music by Brandon Vance, Toby Hanson, Janet "Elle" Rayor, and Clayton Murray.
(Madison Park, $25-$30)

* Marée Bistro & Bar
Commemorate the storming of the Bastille with $7 glasses of rosé, Francophilic cocktails, and head cheese, rabbit, and tartines.
(West Seattle, free)

Maximilien
Maximilien's Bastille Day party will be complete with a special three-course dinner menu accompanied by accordionist Bonnie Birch from 5 pm-9 pm. She'll be playing traditional French music to set the mood. The menu will include Campagne and rabbit paté, moules marinière (steamed Penn Cove mussels), and a warm apricot tart with white chocolate whipped cream.
(Downtown, $49)

* RN74
Join RN74 for a Bastille Day celebration, featuring a chef-attended station showcasing a selection of artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, and local oysters. There will also be a variety of hors d'oeuvres and specialty cocktails, as well as beer and wine. You can choose from either a GA ticket (including unlimited food, "specially selected libations," music, burlesque dancers and a photo booth) or VIP (including everything that GA has to offer, plus a three-course dinner with French wine pairings designed by Chef Ben Godwin and Lead Sommelier Jeff Lindsay-Thorsen).
(Downtown, $54/$150)

* = Recommended

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