West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
That’s an eight-second peek inside The Bohemian (3405 California; map) from our visit a few days ago. At the time, proprietor Jason Todd Rice wasn’t ready to speculate on when they would finally be able to open — but we just called to check before posting this story, and he told us the health inspector’s given thumbs up, so they’re expecting to open their daytime cafe operations as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, with the nighttime/bar operations a week or so later, pending state signoff on that. Read on to see what else he told us about how things are shaping up:Read More
Driving by the under-construction Cafe Revo (former Murphy’s) site on Avalon this evening, we noticed the new neon sign was lit — which indeed was supposed to happen this week, per an e-mail update sent to the Revo mailing list a few days ago, which also said:
We are waiting for our building permits to be finalized. In the meantime we have finished building all of our tables and the custom bar is halfway done. The exterior of the building is finished and the neon sign made for us at Western Neon, has been put up. … We plan to add some nice planter boxes in the front of the building soon as well. We currently are working with artist Glenn Case on some murals for the interior and our busy working with our vendors to get our equipment and front of house items chosen and ordered. Our cousins in Italy have e-mailed Sean more authentic recipes, including some recently from our close family friend in Cuneo, in the Piedmont region. Our hope is to be opened no later than early October, but once we have our permits in hand we will have a more clear opening date.
Cafe Revo proprietors Sean and Sofia Zadra Goff also have posted more in-progress photos (even their tables!) on one of their webpages (see it here); if you missed it earlier this summer, we talked with them for an in-depth preview back in June (read it here).
For months, we’ve seen an ad about a West Seattle restaurant for sale, in business 20 years; it was speculated that the business in question was Angelina’s Trattoria in the Admiral District. However, the ads never included the name — till now; this one turned up on CL this afternoon (hat tip to Lora Lewis from WSB sponsor Hotwire Coffee), and it not only identifies Angelina’s as the restaurant for sale, but also includes a photo. Price: $290,000.
The Weekly’s food blog Voracious says Mural, the Harbor Properties project in the ex-Petco parking lot, will include a restaurant called Fresh, involving folks from Herban Feast, which recently moved HQ from West Seattle to Sodo.
A few weeks after we talked with Sean Goff and Sofia Zadra Goff for this WSB preview of their restaurant-in-progress Cafe Revo on Avalon, they just sent this update to their mailing list (which you can sign up for here):
Our building plans have been submitted to the Department of Planning. We now wait for the approval so we can begin the permit required buildout. Meanwhile we are hand building all of our wood tables for the restaurant. (see website for photos). The building of our hand-crafted wood bar will also begin soon. Painting continues on the outside of the building. We have been busy meeting with many wonderful companies, choosing our vendors mainly based on that they are local businesses and that their company works in a ‘Green’ friendly way. We have also recently gotten other permits in place (electrical) and our sign permit is in process. The tentative date for the fabulous Cafe Revo sign to go up is August 7th, thanks to our signs creator, Western Neon. We also have decided to use Seattle’s own Caffe Vita for our coffee and espresso. We hope to open by the end of September. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful support already of Cafe Revo. We appreciate it more than words can say. Sean and Sofia
The e-mail update also points to a page on their website introducing “Nonno,” who — as explained in our story last month — is Sofia’s dad, called that by the Goff kids because it’s Italian for “grandpa,” but also how the Goffs hope their customers will come to know him too. They’re inviting people to e-mail him (address is on that page) with questions about the restaurant, his family’s ancestral hometown (and the restaurant’s namesake) Revo, and/or “about growing up in West Seattle in the ‘good old days’.”
Two food items to mention first thing this morning: First, if you’re going to the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (10 am-2 pm, southeast corner of 44th/Alaska), here’s the latest fresh sheet — standard disclaimer, it’s the citywide list, so some items are marked as only available at other markets. Second, since we’re looking at another 90-ish day, we made an ice cream/gelato map for West Seattle and slightly beyond (click the snowflakes for name/address, and click-grab the map to pan around to make it easier to read if needed; note the 4 Alki locations are so close to each other, the snowflakes overlap till you zoom in):
Wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve missed somebody, though, so if we did, please leave a comment or e-mail us.
Just checked with Charlestown Cafe co-owner Larry Mellum, and he confirms the grand reopening is still on for 6 am Monday (as first reported here a week and a half ago; then we showed you photos last Monday of the CC team getting everything ready), almost five months after the fire that shut the Charlestown down. We’ll be there to bring you the online equivalent of a live report. Says Larry, in an understatement: “Should be fun!” (WSB Charlestown Cafe coverage is archived here, newest to oldest.)
That’s how the exterior of Cafe Revo – at the former Murphy’s site on Avalon – will look soon, compared to this:
and if you want to go back further (almost 60 years), here’s a blast from the building’s past:
We got those pictures while talking last week with Chef Sean Goff and wife Sofia Zadra Goff, who are happy to report they now have the liquor license and electrical-work permit – which means work can accelerate on the Italian restaurant they are creating in the space (first reported here on WSB early last month) – Read on to learn more about their plans (and to see a video tour of the space before construction really revs up):Read More
Perhaps timing this announcement with perfect sidewalk-cafe weather, the office of West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician (gotta use that term every so often just to keep the search results high) just sent this:Read More
Tama and Sacha are two of the Charlestown Cafe team members working hard today to get the beloved restaurant back in shape for its grand reopening, now just days away, as first reported here last Thursday. It’s been a long and bumpy road to get the restaurant reopened after the February fire that at first left cafe co-owners hoping they’d only be closed for “days”; here’s one reason it took so long:
That’s the new hood system required as a condition of reopening. But as our photo shows, it’s in place and ready to go, and the place was abuzz with work when we stopped by earlier today:
Our Charlestown Cafe coverage — not just the fire, but also the development controversy that unfolded in preceding months — is all archived here.
Summer starts in a few hours and outdoor dining starts this weekend at WSB’s newest sponsor, Beato Food and Wine. Here’s more on that and other announcements that Beato’s Brandon Gillespie wants to share as his restaurant joins the WSB sponsor lineup (find that full list here):
A Big Thanks to West Seattle!
The staff and I at Beato want to thank all of West Seattle for providing us with such support over the past year and a half. We love being a part of West Seattle and we couldn’t have done it without you. As we approach summer, we have a couple of announcements to make with regards to the restaurant.
SUMMER PATIO OPENING SOON:
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The meterologists are predicting warmer weather for the beginning of summer this weekend and with it, we plan to open the patio on Saturday, June 21. Throughout the summer season, for anyone enjoying a glass of wine on the patio between 4:30-6pm, we’ll offer complimentary summer snacks, such as housemade sunchoke chips or house-brined olives. So be sure to stop by on your way home from work and enjoy a glass of wine and a few bites in the summer sun!SUMMER HOURS
Starting this week, we are open for dinner inside from 5-10 pm on Tuesday through Thursday and from 5-11pm on Friday and Saturday. The patio will open at 4:30pm whenever the weather is warm and dry enough. We will be closed Sundays and Mondays for the summer.Thank you for your continued support and I hope to see you soon at Beato Food and Wine.
-Brandon Gillespie
When last we updated you on the repair work to get the Charlestown Cafe open again — it’s now been four months since fire forced it to close — co-owner Larry Mellum was hoping for a reopening around June 10th. We just checked back with him today, since that date’s almost here; here’s his reply, with two bits of news:
Things are progressing well on our construction. I will try to give you a more specific “reopening” date later this week but we expect to be open before the end of June.
I know many people have asked about our staff and what will happen with them. Last week we held a meeting to get an idea of how many people we will have to replace. Everyone attended!!! So, it looks like we will have a good staff to “reopen” with.
If you want to catch up on all our WSB coverage of the Charlestown Cafe — both the fire situation and the development proposal that had been tabled just before the fire hit — check out this archive.
We just spoke to Chris Deering, the sister of the last two operators of The Corner Inn at California/Fauntleroy in Morgan Junction, and she confirms that The Corner Inn is closed. The building has reverted back to the owner and is now being advertised for lease. Chris says that on behalf of her late brothers she’d like to thank the many people who came to The Corner Inn over the years. 10:50 PM ADDITION: Before tips came in today about the shutdown (thank you to everyone who e-mailed and texted), we had been checking on the “for lease” sign that had appeared on the west side of the building (see the photo above). Worth noting that there was a development proposal (described on the city project page as a three-story apartment building with ground-level retail) filed for this site back in 2006 — no activity since June of that year.
Besides these two anniversaries mentioned yesterday — the Skylark newsletter that just landed in our inbox reminds us, the North Delridge venue celebrates its 2nd birthday next Saturday. From the newsletter: “Next week we officially enter the Terrible Twos. Expect tantrums, public nudity, and incessant yet adorable questions from now on.” Skylark remains the only West Seattle eatery with a menu mentioning WSB (see why, here).
After we reported the news a week ago that Capers in The Junction was ending food service at the end of May, more than a few laments were posted. Now, here’s the first account of what blogger e_bourne called “the last supper” (maybe more like the last lunch). (P.S. Capers is about to join WSB as a sponsor – and the official welcome tomorrow will include a question for you – so keep an eye out.)
We were just over at Westwood Village and noticed passersby squinting at those two big orange posters (photo above) in the window of Vatsana’s Thai Restaurant, so we had to check it out too: Liquor license suspended till 10 am Wednesday (five-day suspension, for “furnishing alcohol to a minor”; the restaurant’s regularly closed Sundays anyway, so no one was there tonight).
Just realized we never wrote about Capers‘ announcement earlier this week that it’s closed its Fremont store and consolidated operations in West Seattle. In the announcement, Capers owner Lisa Myers said, “We want to refocus on one location and go back to our roots,†and added that her store’s about to celebrate its 23rd anniversary with a sale starting June 6th. Since we got that news release, multiple tips (thank you!) have noted a sign is up in Capers in The Junction saying food service is ending in the store as of next Saturday, but coffee/beverage availability will continue.
Thanks to PS for snagging and sending that photo this morning. As we reported last weekend, the Charlestown Cafe finally has its permit to proceed with the work needed to get the restaurant back in shape after fire damage closed it in February, and then co-owner Larry Mellum told us a few days later that we wouldn’t see a lot of site activity immediately because the new hood is being built offsite. He’s hoping to reopen next month sometime; a lot of CC fans are anxiously awaiting that, like PS, whose e-mail accompanying the photo included: “… activity this morning at Webster’s! At last! Mmmmmmmm. French toast!” (Reminder, you can find out the latest on the CC situation any time by going to the WSB Categories list down the right sidebar and clicking Charlestown Cafe; WSB Categories archive all coverage that we filed under those categories, in newest-first order – you can also use the links next to their titles to add specific categories to your RSS reader, if you read WSB that way.)
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
(Updated 12:51 pm with that short video peek inside the new restaurant) We dropped in quickly a short time ago to verify a tip that Spring Hill in The Junction is about to open, and indeed, they tell us tonight is opening night, open for dinner 7 nights a week, 5:45 pm-midnight. (Previous WSB coverage: January Q&A with owner here, sneak peek inside last month is here, and just for the historical record, our very first mention it was coming was November 9, 2006.) EARLY SATURDAY P.S.: Note the comment just posted from a self-identified insider, including menu excerpts.
SEACREST SEAGULL, ER, LOL-GULL: Yes, we know, there are a million places to generate your own goofy captions for photos. However, an actual blogger from our Other Blogs list has a thread going that might appeal to those with a twisted sense of humor, as she’s inviting captions for a photo of Seacrest’s famous one-footed seagull. We contributed one already.
MORE ON WHAT THE BOHEMIAN’S GOING TO BE LIKE: We’ve told you about The Bohemian, going into the former Leslie’s Country Store space next to Spiro’s in the 3400 block of California. Its previous one-page website is now expanded into a site with full details on what they’re planning to do. (Mini-update on the future Prost West Seattle next door – it’s applied for a liquor license, and one reader got e-mail from the owner saying they hope to open in August.)
Quick followup to our update the other day mentioning the permit’s been granted for repairs to the fire-damaged Charlestown Cafe: We heard back from co-owner Larry Mellum, who explains you’re not seeing signs of work onsite because “The hood is being fabricated offsite … We will know a little more by the end of the week but at this juncture it looks like we COULD be opening around the 10th of June. It is early so don’t hold me to that but it is looking that way!!”
Two weeks after Charlestown Cafe co-owner Larry Mellum told us the restaurant finally had the green light for the work needed to recover from the Feb. 4 fire that closed it — the city website reveals a permit was officially granted Friday. We’re checking for an update on the timetable for reopening. (You can see all our archived Charlestown coverage here.)
Balloons mark the spot as Olympia Pizza and Pasta on Delridge marks its first day in business, two months after we first told you it was coming. 5605 Delridge (map); open till 11 tonight.
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