Nosh Pit

Restaurant Shifts and Shakeups

This week: Regent Bakery and Café opens in Capitol Hill, West Seattle loses Avalon, and Branzino’s new chef has big plans.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on Feb 10, 2012 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Brightly colored pastries keep company with savory hot pots at the new Capitol Hill Regent Bakery and Cafe. Photo courtesy of their website.

OPENINGS

Pomegranate Bistro
The sunny Redmond restaurant is adding a bar—Pombar —on Thursday, February 16. The Bistro website says that to celebrate the opening, happy hour will go on all night, from 3:30 till the bar closes at 10.

Ben and Jerry’s
The Greenlake ice cream shop re-opened Thursday after getting new owners and a remodel, says My Green Lake. Now we just need another sunny ice cream-worthy weekend.

Regent Bakery and Café
The new Pine Street outpost of the famed Redmond bakery opened Wednesday on the corner of 14th and Pine, reports Capitol Hill Seattle. The shop does, of course, have pretty Japanese-meets-French pastries, but to our happy surprise, also a full-on savory Chinese lunch and dinner menu with items like hot pots and fried rice. And booze! The new restaurant plans to capitalize on the neighborhoods nightlife, with hours from 11 to midnight and a full bar.

The Amber Den
After a softly-open first week, the laid-back Ballard spot is now officially open. Eater Seattle’s got photos, and it’s the sunniest wine bar we’ve ever seen.

Paseo
Fremont Universe brings the good news that Paseo reopens today, after a long, Cuban sandwich-less winter break.

COMING SOON

Hot Cakes
For the past 4 years, former Theo chocolatier Autumn Martin has been providing Seattle with decadent treats, first in the form of chocolatey bake-at-home jarred cakes, more recently with cookies, hand pies, and sauces. She’s been selling at farmers’ markets and in a few retail locations, but Rebekah Denn of the The Seattle Times says that Martin just signed a lease for her very own space on (where else) Ballard Ave and has plans to open in May.

Five Hooks Fish Grill
Recently shuttered Tenoch Mexican Grill atop Queen Anne will soon be replaced by a “renewable seafood” restaurant, according to Eater Seattle.

CLOSINGS

Big news. Le Gourmand and Sambar
Bruce and Sarah Naftaly are are closing down their seminal Ballard restaurant and companion cocktail spot in June, after 27 wonderful years. Cookbooks, baking, and family time will replace the bustle of kitchen life for the Naftalys. More here.

Avalon
After just over a year, this fine-dining option in West Seattle is closing its doors. Owners told the West Seattle Herald that the rent was too high, the location was far from ideal, and that maybe there’s only room for one fancy restaurant in West Seattle. Or maybe not.

663 Bistro
One of Tom Douglas (and our) favorite I.D. BBQ spots was temporarily shut down by the Health Department, says The Stranger. …We did say “dodgy.”

SHIFT CHANGES

Branzino
After hopping around from Verve to Oddfellows to Terra Plata, Chef Garrett Michael Brown seems to have finally settled at Branzino, where he’s planning to revamp the menu and revivify the restaurant.

RN74
A new chef and perhaps some big menu changes for Michael Mina’s Downtown French restaurant. Seis Kamimura of Spago and Boka (among others) is taking the helm, and though he was trained at the French Culinary Institute, expect “bold interpretations” of the classics.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Shift Change, Pomegranate Bistro, Ice Cream, Sambar, Le Gourmand, Seattle Restaurant Closings, Bar Openings, Bar Openings, Closings, Branzino

Gingerbread House Decorating with Lisa Dupar

She’s our very own Martha Stewart, people. Come learn from her pastry team.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Dec 01, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Don’t you want to take a class with this woman?

This Saturday, December 5, the Redmond catering kitchens of culinary luminary Lisa Dupar—right next to her terrific Pomegranate Bistro —will be abuzz with all-ages teams of gingerbread house decorators.

You could be one of them.

Using gingerbread house frames pre-constructed by Dupar’s chefs, teams (Dupar’s encouraging child-adult pairings) will learn the finer architectural properties of icing and candies. Decorators will break for sustenance of grilled cheese and tomato soup, then take their masterpieces home.

Class will be held from 1pm to 3pm and costs $65 for a team of two.

(And while you’re there, pick up Dupar’s new cookbook, Fried Chicken & Champagne, a celebration of her down-home Southern aesthetic with recipes aplenty.)

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Tags: Holidays, Lisa Dupar, Pomegranate Bistro,

Where to Eat on Mother’s Day

Spoil the old gal AND support your struggling local restaurant

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on May 07, 2009 at 09:00AM 2 Comments

Not for nothing is this Sunday the biggest day in the restaurant year. Mom shouldn’t have to cook and you sure as shootin’ aren’t going to.

So go ahead, son, crank open that wallet. There you go. Now grasp hold of that sparkly platinum thing inside. That’s the one. Say it with me: c-r-e-d-i-t c-a-r-d. Remember your credit card? Remember spending?

We thought you did.

A few places for you to practice your new skill this weekend:

Andaluca will serve breakfast (7am to noon) and lunch/dinner (3pm-9pm) off its Mediterranean menu, which includes pintxos, tapas, and paella. Or choose the pris-fixe special: pintxos, entree, and dessert for $30.

Got a cultural mom? Take her to the Seattle Art Museum and enjoy a meal in its terrific cafe, Taste. Either pay $35 per person (includes a three-course lunch, admission for one to the museum, and a gift from the SAM shop) or $100 per person (all of the above plus a SAM family membership). Remember: kids 12 and under get into the museum free, every day of the year.

Eastsiders, take note: At Redmond’s Pomegranate Bistro from 9am to 2pm, Mother’s Day brunch will start with Mama Royals (Pama Liquor & French Sparkling Cremant) plus donut holes with strawberries and cream…and just get better from there, with entrees from cardamom French toast to smoked salmon Bennies. $28 per grownup; $10 per kid.

At the lovely Campagne, Sunday’s menu will include sparkling wine cocktails, Dungeness and leek quiche, black truffle omelettes with housemade sausage, and pan-roasted beef with fried eggs and smoky harissa rouille. Yum.

Or, for a little hobnobbing with the celeb chefs, bring Mom to Palace Kitchen’s Ballroom where you can brunch with owner Tom Douglas at his “Mom and Tom” brunch. Douglas will conduct a cooking demo of the dishes on offer (plus give away the recipes), and award prizes for the top ten hats worn to the occasion. Should be a hoot. Starts at 11am; tickets are $60 a pop.

For a Tuscan feast, bring Mom to Ballard’s Volterra for chestnut pancakes and wild mushroom and truffle cheese scrambles, to wash down with a peach thyme Bellini or five. Brunch happens from 9am to 2pm that day…with dinner starting just three hours later.

On North Capitol Hill, neighb favorite Tidbit Bistro will be peddling its brunch menu items, including frittatas and crepes…while across town at Elliott’s Oyster House the order of the day will be smoked salmon scrambles, Tenderloin Bennies…and stiff Bloody Marys.

Finally, for those who are up for nine courses and $189 per person—what better day than Mother’s Day to get out to the famous Herbfarm? It’s dinner, starting at 4:30, preceeded by a tour of the lovely gardens. And this year, to sweeten the deal, a chauffeur-driven town car from anywhere around Seattle is included in the cost.

So you, dear child, can get a little soppy right along with Mumsie.

Find them all.

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Tags: The Herbfarm, Mother's Day, Campagne, Taste Restaurant, Andaluca, Pomegranate Bistro, Palace Kitchen

Is It My Imagination, Or Are Restaurants Still Crowded?

Okay, this is weird

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Feb 27, 2009 at 12:00PM 4 Comments

I’m reading the papers. I’m traumatized by my retirement fund statements. I’m panicked and so are you. So answer me this: Why are restaurants packed?

I’m not going to pretend I have a shred of hard evidence for this. Instead I have third-hand hearsay and anecdotal observation. I have the testimony of friends who tried in vain to get a table in a Bellevue Square restaurant a few weeks ago. (I know, I know…"Bellevue Square Restaurant"…words that have never before appeared together in a sentence. Until this Saturday, actually, when Blue C Sushi opens there.) Anyway, that particular night there wasn’t a single two-top to be had.

I have my own experience cruising Belltown and Ballard and peeking in windows (what restaurant critics do for thrills) and seeing tons of butts-in-seats, even lines. Sitting in the hottest new Pike/Pine eateries pressing flesh with every other foodie in town. Literally feeling up some poor woman—I didn’t mean to ma’am, honest—just sliding through the bodies to get to my table at the latest see-and-be-seen It restaurant, Barrio.

I ran into one of my favorite waiters, Sara from Kirkland’s Trellis, and she told me business is so solid—you know, like 75 walk-ins-a-night solid—they’re opening both sides of the outdoor patio this spring.

Part of this undoubtedly is that Trellis is a bona-fide terrific restaurant, fresh and elegant, plying its trade in a burg that offers little by way of competition.

But I can’t help suspecting that something else is afoot…something that’s actually inspiring. It’s restaurateurs stepping up to the, um, plate, to market their restaurants with resourcefulness and wit. It’s all-new Happy Hours, good ones, at restaurants from Barolo to Pomegranate Bistro, and everywhere in between. It’s smart pricing at those Happy Hours, like the 2-buck tacos at Barrio. It’s putting brunch in the Sunday morning lull that once saw chairs stacked on tables. It’s aiming away from precious dining and into comfort food, which appears to be what everyone wants to eat right now. It’s lowering prices, like the ever-savvy Ethan Stowell did proactively at Union.

It’s making do, creatively, to get through it—and diners are responding with their pocketbooks.

Because here’s the thing: nobody wants to stop going to restaurants. We just want restaurateurs to make it easier for us to do it.

And they are. And I love ’em for it.

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Tags: Ethan Stowell, Pomegranate Bistro, Barrio, Blue C Sushi, Trellis, Barolo, Union

Some Restaurants Really Want You

And Here’s What They’ll Do To Get You

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Feb 20, 2009 at 04:00PM 0 Comments

A few good deals to munch on over the next few:

Lisa Dupar’s Pomegranate Bistro is delighting Redmond with its Happy Afternoons, available Tuesdays-Fridays from 3-5pm. It features a $4 menu with options like a pulled bourbon braised beef sliders on mini blue cheese biscuits, calamari and artichokes with citrus aioli, or an organic green salad. A glass of red or white, or of Pomegranate’s signature ‘pomerita,’ is just $5.

At El Gaucho in Seattle, ‘Power Hour’ has been extended to include Sundays from 5pm-11pm. Eat in the bar/piano lounge and the entire bar menu is half-price, from the Mac N’ Coastal Cheddar Cheese Penne to the half-pound (big enough to share) 410 Burger. Select cocktails are $7; a glass of wine is $5.

Tango Restaurant offers rotating discounts-by-the-day during the springtime. Mondays are half-price bottles of wine, Tuesdays are half-price El Diablo desserts, Wednesdays they’re offering happy hour prices in the bar all night long, and Thursdays they don’t charge corkage fees for those who want to bring their own wine. There’s got to be a bargain for everybody in that list.

Finally, Ponti is offering its “Plenty for Twenty” promotion, where every night til the end of February $20 will buy a dinner of smoked salmon spinach ravioli, braised Hawaiian short ribs, or Jumbo Gulf Prawn linguini. Soup or salad is even included.

—Katie Zipper

Pssst: An addendum from The Tablehopper. The latest issue of Seattle Metropolitan will hit the stands next week…and inside it offers insider intelligence on the aforementioned El Gaucho (a review of the new Bellevue branch and some love for its Bananas Foster) AND Tango (more love for its El Diablo dessert). Yeah, it’s our desserts cover…and it’s really too sweet to miss.

I’m just sayin.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Lisa Dupar, Pomegranate Bistro, Seattle Food Deals, El Gaucho, Ponti Seafood Grill, Tango Restaurant