The dining room of Flying Fish's new quarters, seen from the bar
Real estate agents are still telling their (scores of) would-be restaurant sellers that they have to drop asking prices even further to attract interest; it's a buyer's market, they all say.
(Hint: to see what kind of joint you're buying, check out the dumpsters in back. If they're empty, the restaurant isn't doiing any business. If they're full of cardboard boxes or styrofoam, the restaurant is cooking out of cans and freezer bags.)
The scavengers are prowling, making shamefully low offers to underwater owners. Most restaurants are bought on contract; the new owner makes a down payment, agrees to pay the balance over two or three years, pays upfront for all the remodeling, and assumes the lease. First six months are easy, if not euphoric; friends and family beat down the door. It's the next couple of years that are toughest. If there's no deep-pocket investor, all that startup overhead has to come out of cashflow. When customers don't come in, or spend less (because of ill-conceived promotions like happy hours), cash flow can't cover the payments.Family-owned restaurants keep tightening their belts, stop paying suppliers, start cutting payroll. And that's not a good thing; the restaurant industry is this state's largest private-sector employer.
But a few of the old pros (as well as the eager neophytes) have confidence that the corner has been turned, the economy's on the upswing, the time to strike is before the iron gets too hot. The point of this exercise isn't to dazzle you with our insider knowledge or to drop the names of celeb chefs. Rather, it's a commentary on the state of the restaurant biz. What are these people thinking, you wonder? Don't they know there's a recession?
And yet, and yet. The last time we saw such a surge was, what, only a year ago, so perhaps there's a cycle after all: the flowers tha bloom in the spring, tra la, etc. Hope springs eternal.
Opened within the past week or so:
D'Ambrosio Gelateria Artigianale at 5339 Ballard Ave NW (206-327-9175)
Heartwarming story here of a young man who leaves his native village in Italy, finds work (and success) as a wine rep for a big outfit in Seattle. That would be Marco d'Ambrosio. He doesn't forget his roots, though, and when he's saved a few bucks he sent for his dad, Enzo D'Ambrosio, who's an accomplished gelato maker, and put him in charge of production for the new gelateria. (He told MyBallard.com that the neighborhood reminded him of his hometown, Sulmona, in Abruzzo.) The gelato is remarkably flavorful (we especially liked the nocciolo, hazelnut), smooth and creamy. It's not ice cream, remember: gelato has a lower fat content and is served several degrees warmer than your basic Baskin-Robbins, so it tastes more intense.
The Noble Fir, at 5316 Ballard Ave NW
Rick Kelly worked for a decade at REI; his wife, Ellen, had a caeer as a lawyer. Now they've launched the concept of a neighborhood tavern that also serves as a community center for outdoorsy types; a tavern featuring trail guides, hiking maps and atlases for that next wilderness adventure. The food will be small plates (meats, cheeses, sandwiches chocolates) to complment the beer, wine and hard cider.
Chloé, in Laurelhurst, where Enotria once gurgled (and Union Bay Cafe before that). You've already seen Cornichon's writeup.
Luc, Thierry Rautureau's homage to his parents and to the tradition of neighborhood cafés.This, too, appeared here earlier
June, in Madrona where Cremant went flat. Owners are Vuong Loc and his wife Tricia, who also run Portage on Queen Anne. They also ran the Pig 'n' Whistle in Greenwood for a while, to mixed reviews; they sold it last year. 1423 34th Ave., 206 323 4000.
Reopened withih the past week:
Flying Fish, in new premises at the corner of Westlake & Thomas (206-728-8598).
Chef Chris Keff closed her long-running operation in Belltown at the beginning of May and moved swiftly into new quarters in South Lake Union, where she'll also have a takeout window ("On the Fly," opening in late summer) in addition to a simplified menu of small plates. Zack Foster heads up the kitchen crew, which turns out familiar items like Sister-in-Law Mussels alongside small plates like pecorino-topped cauliflower fritters.
Sitka & Spruce
Matt Dillon left Eastlake a couple of years ago to start The Corson Building. (Nettletown's in that space now.) But the Sitka & Spruce concept takes root once again, on Capitol Hill this time in the Melrose Project, an ambitious mix of high-quality, butcher-baker-sandwich maker shops at the bottom of the Pike-Pine corridor. 1531 Melrose Avenue.
Marjorie
Donna Moodie built a strong following in Belltown with the original Marjorie (named for her mom). When the building was sold, she went into a sort of hibernation, promising to open a new spot on Capitol Hill as soon as she found a space. Now she has and she did. The new Marjorie is in the Chloe, a newly opened apartment building at 14th & Union, and the foodies couldn't be happier. Running the kitchen is Kylen McCarthy, whose most recent kitchen was at Harvest Vine, just over the hill in Madison Valley.
And that doesn't count the newly remodeled Bisato, Scott Carsberg's reinvention of Lampreia as a cicchetti bar. Old news by now. Is it any good? Yup! You still get Carsberg's mticulous attention to every (tiny) dish.
And still to come
Sullivan's, the third attempt to create a lasting steak house relationship with Two Union Square, takes over the space that began as Union Square Grill and morphed fleetingly into American Cantina. It's a chain, as are virtually all steak houses (Metropolitan Grill's the exception).
Also coming to Capitol Hill in June: La Bete, in the Chez Gaudy space at 1802 Bellevue. The venture is spearheaded by two alums of Ethan Stowell's now-defunct Union, Tyler Moritz and Aleks Dimitridjevitch.
By late June, PaneVino on Capitol Hill, at 416 Broadway E., site of the former Cafe Zhivago. A venture of former Via Tribunali operations director Francesco Angiuli and a longtime friend from the Bay Area (where he owns several restaurants) Gianni Chiloiro. The menu will be Italian comfort food (panini at lunch, pasta.at dinner), and a full bar.
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