Nosh Pit

Restaurant Shifts and Shakeups

This week: Yet another opening in Ballard, Bastille gets a new global cocktail menu, and news of a gourmet grilled cheese truck.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on Jan 27, 2012 at 09:15AM 1 Comments

Brand new cocktails from around the world at Bastille.

OPENINGS

The Amber Den
Yet another opening in Ballard: this one a casual wine bar with a Mediterranean menu, set to open in just a couple weeks. Inspired by his mother’s uneasiness at a pretentious wine bar, owner Nick Simonton plans to create a decidedly welcoming space, says Eater Seattle.

Savage Street Cuisine
After a successful fall, Savage Street Cuisine, headed by Rover’s chefs Kalen Schramke and David Howe, is stretching the monthly dinner series at Volunteer Park Café through June. The ambitious chefs have plans for even further growth—more dinners and eventually a food truck.

Henry and Oscar’s
Old-school upscale American dining has come to Belltown, says Inside Belltown. Named after the owner’s grandfathers, the supper club-style restaurant will serve classic fare like filet mignon and buttermilk chicken, accompanied by generous martinis (in a glass etched with your name, if you become a supper club regular).

CLOSINGS

Splash Lounge
It was a short run for this one—the Belltown lounge has closed after just 5 months, reports Seattle PI.

Tenoch Mexican Grill
Another closing in Queen Anne. Eater Seattle reports that the Mexican restaurant on the corner of McGraw Street and Queen Anne Avenue has met its end.

SHIFT CHANGES

Bastille
As first announced back in December, Erik Carlson has now officially taken over managing Bastille Café and Bar and has created an eclectic new cocktail menu that takes bar patrons for a global spin. Classic French cocktails remain on the menu, now kept company by Haitian rum drinks and Italian apertifs.

Canon
Canlis alum Andew Cross has moved from his most recent position at Tavern Law to Capitol Hill’s Canon. Cross and Canon owner Jamie Boudreau have plans to expand the menu and shake up the food offerings more often, and create a food program that’s just as noteworthy as the drinks.

Taste
SAM’s restaurant director Danielle Custer is saying goodbye to museum life and hello to the streets with plans for Monte Cristo, a cheese-dedicated food truck. Custer has a James Beard award and plenty of other accolades on her resume, and her melts will undoubtedly be delicious.

Mulleady’s Irish Pub
The Magnolia bar has two new staff members with serious bartending bona fides, Thomas Bondesson of Spur and Brian Lee of Canon, according to Seattle Times writer Tan Vinh.

Wild Ginger
Two long-time Wild Ginger have moved up in the company—Mat Hayward will be taking over as general manager in Bellevue and Cortney Lease will become the company wine director for the family of restaurants.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Cocktails, Bastille, Bastille, Wild Ginger, Canon Seattle, Shift Change, Savage Street Cuisine

Savage Street Cuisine Extends Pop-Up Series at Volunteer Park Cafe

Talks of other ambitious plans.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 25, 2012 at 09:09AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Savage Street Cuisine.

Blogs have already offered plenty of predictions as to what the coming year will bring food-wise. Pardon the delay, but here’s another one: Savage Street Cuisine is a name you’ll hear a lot.

The fledgling venture of Kalen Schramke and David Howe appeared on the local scene in late October. That’s when the two Rover’s chefs launched their street food-inspired, cross-cultural pop-up at Volunteer Park Café. They’ve orchestrated one dinner a month since, and after a string of sellouts and a slew of repeat diners, plan to extend the series there through June, says Schramke.

Dates are set for January 30, February 27, March 26, April 2, and June 4 (all Mondays). Menus for each dinner will rotate and take inspiration from a different country or region: Africa, Korea, India, Italy—which area is TBD—and Eastern Europe (but not necessarily in that order). Schramke noted he and Howe (who’s also worked with Lark ’s John Sundstrom, Tamara Murphy, Scott Carsberg, and VPC owner Ericka Burke) like to dabble in cuisines that allow them to incorporate their homemade charcuterie.

Of course the idea here is Schramke and Howe will capitalize on the momentum and turn it into something bigger. Both are still working full-time at Rover’s but Schramke said he wouldn’t be surprised if soon they are focusing all their energy on Savage Street Cuisine. Eventually he hopes they’ll host three to four pop-ups a month (they’re scouting other locations, any ideas?), as well as one-off special events. The ultimate goal is a food truck. When will that be? Schramke shrugs at a time frame—could be summer, could be winter—but predicts it will happen in 2012.

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Tags: Volunteer Park Cafe, Seattle Pop-Ups, Savage Street Cuisine

Volunteer Park Cafe to Host Savage Street Cuisine Pop-Up

Rover’s chefs Kalen Schramke and David Howe will cook up street food from various cultures.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 10, 2011 at 10:25AM 0 Comments

Volunteer Park Cafe.

As Kathryn Robinson hinted last week, Volunteer Park Cafe is indeed planning to put on a new pop-up, named Savage Street Cuisine, confirms a rep for the restaurant. At the helm is Kalen Schramke and David Howe of Rover’s in Madison Park.

The first dinner is slated for Monday, October 24, with others planned for November 14, December 12, and January 30. Menus will rotate for each one and take inspiration from various international cuisines. The bill at the kickoff dinner is based on the food of Southeast Asia.

As Robinson reported, Schramke and Howe are using the pop-up to “test drive their repertoire for a food truck they’re cooking up.”

This is the second time VPC’s Ericka Burke has turned over her kitchen to guest toques. In late June then Cuoco chef Erik Jackson initiated A Square Meal. The bimonthly dinners quickly fizzled after their debut, however, then flatlined when Jackson took a gig at the new Coterie Room in Belltown.

Reservations cost $35 (booze is extra) and can be made on the Volunteer Park Cafe website.

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Tags: Special Dinners, Seattle Pop-Ups, Savage Street Cuisine