First Look: Local 360 Mercantile
Unlike the oft-compared Melrose Market, Local 360 will not house multiple vendors, nor do the restaurant on First Avenue and the mercantile—once the private dining room of Flying Fish—share an open-air space. Instead, each one has its own entrance; the doorway to the right of the window here is on Bell Street. "We wanted to expose as much of the original as possible," says Charles of the building hailing from the early twentieth century.
A wall separates the entry pictured before and the baker’s quarters, supplied with a hefty mixer straight out of Nana’s kitchen. And yes, these cookies did smell divine.
The mercantile’s butcher will also tend to the needs of the restaurant. Pictured here is Ben Frey. (Check out that tat!)
The idea is not to fill the role of full-on grocer, rather a one-stop-shop for an evening’s worth of noshing, says Charles. One example: ready-to-go BBQ kits in summer.
Lining the walls will be a variety of Local 360–branded products produced in house, such as pickles, dressings, and condiments, like ketchup and mayo, and old-timey tchotchkes and antiques.
"The possibilities with the mercantile are endless," noted flack Kerri Harrop, hinting at bake-at-home meals and restaurant-prepared to-go items. Harrop guesses the mercantile will start carrying these goods come spring. Harrop and Charles envision produce lining the beds behind her, and mentioned sourcing from Full Circle Farms.
In addition to butchered meats, look for cheeses sourced from creameries such as Golden Glen and Samish Bay.
A hang-all-day type of place, the restaurant portion of Local 360 is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and on weekends, for brunch and late-night until 1am. Charles, a Belltown believer involved with the bar JuJu and the Crocodile, thinks this drop-in-whenever atmosphere could help invigorate the neighborhood.
Chef Mikey Robertshaw, a Boston transplant who has lived in Seattle for about seven years, says Harrop. His resume includes stints at several Seattle notables including Union, Restaurant Zoe, and La Bete.
If you stop in for coffee, order a PB&J bonbon to go with it. "People are going nuts over those," Harrop said.
