Nosh Pit

Plans Move Forward for Marination Outpost at Seacrest Boathouse

Seattle Parks Department rejects an appeal challenging a change in food, beverage operators.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Dec 22, 2011 at 11:09AM 0 Comments

Photo: José Mandojana

Marination’s Roz Edison and Kamala Saxton have their sights set on West Seattle.

It’s been a heady few weeks for the folks involved with the Seacrest Boathouse drama, but now plans are moving forward for Marination ’s Roz Edison and Kamala Saxton to take over operations at the waterfront property.

As West Seattle Herald reported, yesterday the Seattle Parks Department rejected an appeal by Alki Crab and Fish Company challenging a recent decision that named Edison and Saxton the new vendors at the boathouse.

Some background, per West Seattle Blog: For years Alki Crab and Fish Company has operated at the city-owned concession; months ago the parks people put out a bid for potential new tenants owing to Alki Crab’s contract expiring. The department awarded the bid to Edison and Saxton. The decision resulted in vigorous online petitioning and plenty of public outcry from West Seattle residents, and of course a call for review from Alki Crab owner Eric Galanti.

The Marination duo have said they had no intention of endangering an existing business—they thought only new businesses would be competing for the bid. Still, after yesterday’s decision Edison says “we have every intention of continuing the process to make this deal final.”

“We have some remaining due diligence we need to do before anything will be signed—since we have not yet even been inside the kitchen of this facility, and of course until City Council approves this it is not a done deal,” Edison continued via email. “However we hope things go smoothly from here on out, that no facility ‘red flags’ appear, and that we can proceed.”

Stay tuned for updates.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, West Seattle, Dining-World Drama

Chefs Sound Off on Seattle Restaurant Week

“It’s a necessary evil I hope to not be doing in a few years.”

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Oct 18, 2011 at 12:25PM 2 Comments

Restaurant Week and Dine Around Seattle stir up a mixed bag of emotions among local chefs. Photo courtesy Luc/Geoffrey Smith.

As part of Seattle Met ‘s Best Restaurants feature, we asked dozens of Seattle chefs and restaurateurs to give us their take on trends, customers, competition—pretty much everything under the restaurant sun. What we got was an earful of juicy insider insight. We’ll be posting some of the responses here in the coming weeks.

The bi-annual Seattle Restaurant Week got underway this past weekend and we’re already hearing rumblings. So what better time to present results from this question: Which best captures your feelings about Restaurant Week and Dine Around Seattle?

25 percent

Love ’em! “We get [customers] in the door, give them a good experience, and they come back.”

25 percent

Loathe ’em “It’s dumbing down your food for people who don’t want to spend the money.”

20 percent

Restaurant Week: yes, Dine Around: no “The 10 days of Restaurant Week don’t burn your staff out, but those month-long things are painful.”

8 percent

Good for business, but grueling “It’s a necessary evil I hope to not be doing in a few years.”

8 percent

Doesn’t ultimately increase business “Same with the coupons: It brings in people who are after a deal, and those are not your repeat customers.”

8 percent

We can’t afford it “We’re a small restaurant with a small kitchen, and it’s hard to do things the way we want when we’re slammed.”

4 percent

If we don’t do it, we have no business that week “You’re over a barrel.”

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Tags: Dining-World Drama, Seattle Chefs, Seattle Restaurant Culture

Peaks Frozen Custard vs. Peaks Frozen Yogurt Bar

One similar name for two separate dessert shops confuses many people.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Sep 27, 2011 at 08:44AM 0 Comments

The logo for Peaks in Bellevue, not to be confused with Peaks Frozen Custard in Roosevelt. Photo courtesy peaksfrozenyogurt.com.

A couple weeks ago I reported on Bellevue’s newly opened Peaks Frozen Yogurt Bar. As I mention in that write-up, it’s the first location of the pay-per-ounce froyo shop. But as several readers note on the post and another related one, it’s not the first dessert bar in the area to adopt the name Peaks: there’s also Peaks Frozen Custard in Roosevelt.

The latter, about two-and-a-half years old, has secured a rather rabid pack of fans with its Wisconsin-style custard. And some of them are scratching their heads at the double-up in name. Consider commenter Pete: WOW. Bad idea to name this place Peaks. Peaks frozen Custard in Seattle is amazing and I can’t imagine that this won’t cause a ton of confusion… And commenter Jen: Curious. There already is a Peaks Frozen Custard shop in Roosevelt. Could [Peaks Frozen Yogurt Bar CEO and president Tim] Riley not be more original?

Actually, both Peaks parties were well aware of the sitch, they just didn’t anticipate such a confused reaction. “One of our financial partners knows the owner of the other Peaks (Custard) and they had discussed this before the name was decided,” explains Riley via email. “Since custard and froyo and the concepts are so different, they agreed it wasn’t an issue.”

Sound familiar?

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Tags: Dining-World Drama, Ice Cream, Froyo

The Buildout Commences at Terra Plata

This is really happening.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 03, 2011 at 09:55AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Twitter

It appears the soap opera that is Terra Plata really truly finally has mellowed out.

A brief recap: The Tamara Murphy restaurant anchoring Melrose Market was supposed to open over a year and a half ago. Disagreements over the triangular space (and whether it delivered on the promise of a separate dining room, to be exact) led to delays and a very public flare-up between Murphy and developers Liz Dunn and Scott Shapiro. Those two then called off the project. Murphy fired back. Then an also-public, multi-month legal battle followed. Murphy won the suit, though more negotiations were necessary. Throughout it all lingered an is-it-or-isn’t-it-happening haziness.

Pics posted on the restaurant’s Facebook and Twitter accounts suggest the agreement the parties met has stuck: Over the past two weeks construction workers have been busy building out the space. Pictured here are the bar and, below, the tabletops, made with cedar from the original Elliott Bay Book Company.

Terra Plata is projected to open in September.

Photo courtesy Twitter

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Tags: New Seattle Restaurants, Capitol Hill, Dining-World Drama

Gabriel Claycamp Leaves the Swinery

The butcher shop and lunch counter will continue to operate at its West Seattle location.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 02, 2010 at 01:44PM 4 Comments

The Swinery, now with 100 percent less Claycamp.

Well, folks, never a dull day in Gabetown. Gabriel Claycamp, the former Culinary Communion chef, has left the second iteration of his butcher shop, the Swinery. Claycamp, who was backed by an investor/partner he claims is more than 300 thousand dollars invested in the business, says he wasn’t being paid for his work at the West Seattle chop shop. Claycamp says he plans to seek employment as a cook or, if possible, a chef. He says he’s had teaching offers as well.

I spoke with a source at the Swinery who asked not to be named but told me that the West Seattle butcher shop had no plans to close and that the three remaining employees are staying put. “Same hours, same everything,” said the source, adding, “it’s a good change, a step in the right direction.”

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Tags: Restaurant News, Butchers, Pigs, Pork, Gabriel Claycamp, Dining-World Drama