The Woodmark: A Lakeside Hotel with Great Dining Options

On the eastern shore of Lake Washington, at the site of what was once a shipyard, an independent, boutique hotel tempts visitors and locals alike. Every half hour, dockside carillon bells ring out their welcome to gulls and boaters alike. Out of town visitors come for a room with a view and all the luxurious hotel amenities, but many Seattle-area residents flock to The Woodmark for food, spa services, and weddings.

Two waterfront restaurants, Carillon Kitchen and Beach Café offer diners fresh, organic, local foods with a backdrop of Lake Washington and, in the distance, the Olympic Mountains. Executive Chef Brian Doherty, formerly of the Fairmont Olympic and The Four Seasons Seattle, oversees both locations. For twelve years, Doherty’s responsibilities included catering events in the Spanish Ballroom, pretty much the gold standard for private events.

Carillon Kitchen is a chef-driven, community-oriented restaurant offering mouth-watering healthy options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. “Our goal is to make sure everything is fresh and that we’re producing the highest quality product that we can,” says Doherty. “We partnered with Macrina and Olympia Provisions and came up with a beautiful menu.” Other local highlights include Fonté coffee, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, and Ellenos Yogurt. When Covid-19 shut down other dining options at the hotel, Carillon Kitchen’s grab-and-go concept soared. Locals come in for readily available snacks and meals or order ahead for pickup. Hotel guests enjoy high-quality foods they can eat in their room or take to the beach. Carillon Kitchen is currently open daily for limited dining and takeout from 7:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.

Beach Café is a casual dining waterfront restaurant with an innovative, seasonally influenced menu featuring daily seafood specials and signature dishes. “It’s a seafood-driven menu focusing on fresh, local ingredients in a beautiful setting,” says Doherty. The lakeside patio fills up fast in good weather, but many interior tables also offer water views. While specials usually feature fresh catch straight from the docks, signature dishes like the Smoked Akaushi New York Strip or Roasted Rack of Lamb will tempt meat lovers. Currently, the restaurant is open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 P.M. to 9 P.M. Doherty aims to be fully open by the end of the year.

The Woodmark is also one of the top destinations in the state for weddings. Doherty, who has earned the chops to produce high-quality meals for large events, oversees the catering department. “The Banquet Department has taken off,” says Doherty. “We’re booked up almost to the end of the year of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Five to six weddings a weekend. It’s a beautiful venue.”

Just fifteen minutes from downtown Seattle, Beach Café and Carillon Kitchen are waterfront dining options for anyone who loves excellent food in an idyllic PNW setting. Whether you’re interested in grabbing a casual lunch to eat by the beach or looking to linger over an elegant meal with a sunset view, head to Carillon Point in Kirkland and check out The Woodmark.

Sugee’s Box Lunch Company: A Family Affair 

When Sugee’s opened, Microsoft had been in Bellevue for three years and employed 220 people. Since that date in 1982, Microsoft and the Eastside have grown enormously, and Sugee’s has been right there in the thick of it making dependably fabulous food at great prices. That Sugee’s is closing in on forty in a very competitive market is a testament to the loyal following they’ve built one carefully prepared meal at a time.

Sugee’s, a family-owned catering company, specializes in box lunches available for pick-up or delivery. The quality of their ingredients is what makes their handcrafted sandwiches so memorable. They roast many of their meats in-house, which is why their turkey sandwich will remind you of Thanksgiving. The quality of their house-roasted corned beef shines in their grilled-to-perfection Reuben. The roast beef, ham, chicken, and bacon are also custom roasted in their kitchen. You can taste the freshness of their chicken, tuna, and egg salads, which are scratch-made every day from recipes that have stood the test of time (and earned legions of fans). Every box lunch comes with a bag of Tim’s chips, a pickle, and an unbelievably good chocolate chip cookie.

“The specialness of the cookies is in the time and quality that go into the small-batch mix,” says Pat Amador, who along with fellow owner and partner Richard, founded Sugee’s. “Richard’s famous cookies are handcrafted and baked as needed for the day, sometimes hour by hour. We use Guittard chocolate in our products, sweet butter and real vanilla.” Their now-adult children, Jason and Jaime, grew up working long hours at Sugee’s. Jason has stayed involved in operations (Jaime, with her husband Paul, owns Classic Cycles on Bainbridge Island).

Most of Sugee’s delivery is to the Eastside, but they also deliver throughout the greater Seattle area. Customers in Bellevue should allow four hours for delivery. A day’s notice is required for customers outside Bellevue, although Sugee’s will accommodate same-day deliveries if possible.

Over the years, Sugee’s has been involved in many of Seattle’s iconic events—including Summer Nights at the Pier, Bumbershoot, and Folk Life. They’ve also supplied desserts to Nordstrom, the Space Needle, and the legendary Trattoria Mitchelli, where many a late-night diner delighted in the quality of Sugee’s cheesecakes.

Sugee’s used to bake their own bread but switched to Macrina several years ago. “We started with Macrina when we found we couldn’t handle our bread production due to the volume,” says Pat. “Macrina’s sourdough is consistently great, the Bui buns are crackly and fresh and getting more popular with our Italianos and hot stuff, and the rolls and brioche are capable of handling all sandwiches. It’s been a great partnership.”

Plum Bistro: Redefining Vegan Food 

Makini Howell makes incredible plant-based food. For her, eating vegan comes naturally. Not only was she raised in a vegan family, but her family has been in the food business for over 40 years. “It was my mom that started our company,” Makini says. “She still has a restaurant in Tacoma, and my sister actually makes the cookies for Plum.”

Plum Bistro, on 12th Avenue on Seattle’s Capitol Hill in the lively Pike/Pine corridor, is an airy, contemporary space. In pre-Covid times, first-rate servers delivered beautiful plates of food to a bustling room of diners. A glance at a stylishly arranged plate of Makini’s seared spiced tofu with fried avocado, greens, chile powder, and black bean puree, and you might think it was topped with a piece of grilled halibut. But Makini isn’t trying to replace animal proteins in any way. In the introduction to her cookbook she says, “I’m really not trying to replace anything because I don’t feel…like I’m missing anything. I’m just using other sources of protein.”

This approach has won her legions of fans in Seattle and beyond—in 2019, The New York Times recognized her as one of 16 Black chefs changing food in America. Her creative, healthy approach to food and consistently beautiful dishes have led to a steadily growing vegan food empire in Seattle.

Of course, for now, Covid has forced some closures. “We’ve had to close down our Sugar Plum, our food truck, and our Seattle Center store,” Makini says.

Fortunately, Plum Bistro and Plum Chopped (a fast-casual walkup counter next to Plum Bistro featuring hearty salads) are open for dining and takeout, with dining capacity at 50 percent. “We do a lot of family meals now, they’re affordable and conscious of the fact that a lot of people are out of work,” Makini says.

For health reasons or environmental ones, a growing number of people have started eating plant-based diets. Makini, who can make carnivores forget there’s no meat in the food, has been a significant influence. And despite the many accolades she’s received, and the many loyal fans she has throughout the city, she continues to challenge herself in the kitchen. In the introduction to her cookbook, she explains, “This idea of changing the way you taste pushes us to experiment and recraft, to look at our dishes from outside the box and try to make them even tastier, more indulgent, and more vibrant.”

Drop into Plum Bistro or Plum Chopped, or order takeout. They need your support to get through this unprecedented challenge, and our

La Spiga: Poetry to the Mouth

Capitol Hill’s beloved Osteria La Spiga, located in the historic Piston & Ring building on 12th Avenue, has been serving exquisite northern Italian cuisine since 1998. As co-founder and host Pietro Borghesi says, “An evening at La Spiga is like dining in Italy—without the plane fare.” 

More than ever now is the time to support black-owned restaurants in Seattle. One of our favorites is La Spiga, located on 12th Avenue in the heart of the thriving Pike/Pine corridor. The restaurant was born of a love story between a young black chef from Fairbanks, Alaska, and a young Italian man, from Emilia-Romagna. They met in Salzburg, Austria. In an interview with Cuisine Noir Magazine, Chef Sabrina Tinsley said, “I’ve always loved Italian food, but when I tasted authentic Italian food for the first time, I was blown away. It’s so different. It’s poetry to the mouth, for sure.” 

In February, Sabrina was one of ten local black chefs invited by two-time James Beard Award-winning-chef Edouardo Jordan to participate in Soul of Seattle, a sold-out fundraiser for organizations that support youth of color. The event was a smashing success, and fun to boot. “We enjoy each other’s company,” Sabrina says. “It’s nice to be in a room of people who look like you, who share the same experience, not only culturally, but in the same industry.” 

At La Spiga business was booming, continuing their steady growth over the years. Then on March 23, Governor Jay Inslee issued the stay-at-home order and whiplash ensued. Sabrina and Pietro Borghesi, her husband and La Spiga’s General Manager, shifted gears and ramped up their takeout menu. Fortunately, La Spiga’s legion of fans, stuck at home, flocked to their website and ordered their favorite housemade pastas like Tagliatelle al Ragu, Lasagne Verdi, Gnocchi al Pomodoro, and chef’s specials such as Pollo Arrosto and Grigliata Mista. 

Now that King County is in Phase 2, La Spiga recently began limited seating in their spacious dining room. But that hasn’t stopped them from developing their takeout menu and an in-house store where you can buy their fresh pastas, sauces, sliced cured meats and cheeses. During the shutdown, they redeveloped their website for ease of customer use. The new system works very well,” says Pietro. “And we’re continuing to expand the takeout menu, adding things designed for a dinner night at home.” 

Pietro and Sabrina are even planning to open a takeout window right onto bustling 12th Avenue. “The front of the restaurant—the whole front—will be retail for those walking by,” Pietro says. “We’ll have piadina grill right out front. People will be able to grab a hot-filled piadina sandwich and much more. “Eventually, they’ll also add retail items such as cheese, cured meats, and olive oils. 

The recently disbanded Capitol Hill Organized Protest, better known as CHOP, took a bite out of their business and left Pietro and Sabrina with conflicted feelings. “The public lynching of George Floyd activated a different audience and has really put people in the street,” Sabrina says. “It hasn’t just been the black population out there. Now’s the time everybody feels called to action.” 

Once after a couple of shootings at CHOP, La Spiga’s newly opened in-house dining fell off steeply. With CHOP cleared, things have picked up again. “I’m really happy when the protests are peaceful,” Sabrina says. “It’s disheartening when you see all the destruction. Especially the killings. Those kinds of actions really detract from the main purpose.” 

While the coronavirus has led to unprecedented challenges for Seattle’s restaurant community, Pietro and Sabrina have discovered a few silver linings—none better than some quiet time at home with their teenage children. They’ve all been eating dinner together, a rarity for most restaurant families. “That’s been precious,” Sabrina says. “This has been hard on our business, but I know that we’ll look back at the extra time together as a beautiful time.” 

Salumi: The Best Cured Meats in the Country?

Meat lovers speak of Salumi in hushed, reverent tones as though they’re in church, or maybe just worried an eavesdropper will beat them to the Pioneer Square deli and get the last culatello.  

And it’s been this way for 20 years now! 

That kind of hype is beyond incredible in an industry that favors the hot new thing. Just this month Tan Vinh, of the Seattle Times, included Salumi’s porchetta sandwich (juicy, slow-roasted pork laced with fennel stuffed into a Macrina Giuseppe Roll) in his list of the four best sandwiches in Seattle. And this comes on top of just about every major food writer in the country having written in ecstatic tones about Salumi’s meats and sandwiches over the years. 

Of Salumi, the late Anthony Bourdain said, “That is a holy place for me.” In 2005, Ruth Reichl, tasting Salumi’s mole salami, said, “(I taste) cinnamon, clove, a lot of clove. And that faint edge of chocolate. God, it’s so good. It’s such a surprise. It makes the pork seem so sweet. Oh, my god, it’s like he’s invented something new here.” She went on to suggest that Salumi’s mole salami would sweep the nation.  

But salami is not an entirely easy thing to make. It takes a lot of skill, equipment and specialized curing rooms. Despite enlarging their production space, Salumi could never meet demand. This is why Gina and Brian Batali, who took over operations when Armandino, the founder and Gina’s father, retired, sold Salumi in October 2017 to Clara Veniard and Martinique Grigg. 

Clara and Martinique were food lovers with Harvard MBAs and plenty of leadership experience looking to invest in a local business together. “Both Martinique and I were long-time lovers of Salumi,” Clara says. “We’d travel to visit relatives carrying sticks of Salumi’s meats.” Gina and Brian were at a point in their lives where they felt Salumi could take a step to the next level, and they weren’t at a stage in their lives where they wanted to do that. A mutual acquaintance bridged a connection, and after a few coffees at Grand Central, both parties felt they’d found the perfect fit.  

Clara and Martinique donned hairnets and spent the first year apprenticing, listening and learning. “We wanted to learn from as many voices as we could what makes Salumi a really special place,” Clara says. “So many people came together to make Salumi what it is today, Armandino and Marilyn, Gina and Brian, the people that work there, and the customers. We worked in all parts of the organization, including arriving at five in the morning to make salami.” 

In November of 2018, they made their first big change: moving the restaurant from its sliver of a space to the former location of Rain Shadow Meats at 404 Occidental Ave. “We hadn’t planned to move, but it was just perfect for us—only two blocks away from our old location—and as a former butcher shop, it had everything we needed. We reused everything that was already in place,” Clara says. 

Spacious and filled with light, the new Salumi retains the filled-with-good-smells charm of the old space. Beloved features remain, like the private dining room and communal tables, but now there is more seating and a line that moves three times as fast. 

Next up: a state-of-the-art production facility in South Seattle. Clara says, “Last December, we got to the point where we literally couldn’t fill most orders. I remember selling the last salami stick. It was a customer who came to the back door. We had one stick to offer them. My sisters and parents-in-law were shocked at Christmas that I didn’t bring them any salami.” Now Salumi will have the capacity to be able to meet customer’s needs. New flavors and new product lines are also in the works.  

To find the best meats, Salumi is going straight to the farms. “We’re taking a hard look at the farms we source from, and how they treat their animals,” Clara says. “Everything will be all-natural.” 

Through the changes, what makes Salumi Salumi are the same recipes and the same crew. “Culture is number one for us,” Clara says. “We have people who’ve been here since the very beginning. The first person who Armandino hired still works for us. It amazes me the level of care that I see from everybody on the team. They take great pride in what we’re doing here.” As Salumi grows, there will be more leadership roles and room for people to grow with the organization.  

At Macrina, we’re thrilled to be a part of Salumi’s growth and are impressed at the seamless way Clara and Martinique have taken the best parts of a sacred Seattle treasure and made them even better. Ruth Reichl’s prediction that Salumi’s cured meats will sweep the nation just may come to pass.  

Summer Supper: Chez Leslie

When Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley on August 28, 1971, no one would have predicted how much she’d change our understanding of natural ingredients, how we grow them, and how we cook them. The proliferation of America’s local-seasonal-organic foods and the farm-to-table movement grew out of this new approach to eating.  

Flash forward to summer 2019. There is no better place to experience ultra-local cuisine than the smallfarm-filled epicurean paradise of Vashon Island. This is a big part of the reason Leslie chose to host Les Dames D’Escoffier’s 7th annual Summer Supper and Farm Tour at her Vashon Island Farm.  

Thirty guests were treated to an exclusive tour of local farms, followed by a four-course al fresco meal on the patio surrounded by hazelnut trees and roaming chickens. Naturally, the dinner featured Vashon Island ingredients. Each course was paired with wines from Palouse Winery and Maury Island Winery 

The farm tour started at Nashi Orchards, a premium producer of handcrafted perry and hard cider. They grow Asian and European pears and heirloom apples on 27 beautiful acres, using sustainable practices. Cheryl and Jim Gerlach, the owners and cider masters, talked the group through a history of the industry. “We work very hard to manage our soil and the condition of our trees to ensure the flavor from our fruit is in every bottle,” Jim said. They helped guests distinguish the subtle differences in the varieties of fruit and took guests on a tour of their new tasting room in the town of Vashon.  

The next stop was to Old Chaser Farm, where Matt Dillon, the award-winning chef behind Sitka & SpruceBar Ferdinand and The London Plane, led tours of the 20-acre organic farm where he raises vegetables and meat, including cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens. While walking through the fields of ripe vegetables, Matt talked about Seattle’s current restaurant scene and the importance of sustainability in farming.  

Back at Leslie’s for a cocktail hour, guests snacked on appetizers, including a favorite made with local figs and mascarpone, and enjoyed a signature cocktail made from a local red currant syrup, ginger beer, BSB bourbon, apricot puree and soda water. A naturalist, Greg Rabourn, led guests around Leslie’s farm pointing out wild edible plants we might not recognize.  

Before the meal, everyone gathered for a few words about Green Table Grants. Then guests took their seats, and several long-time Les Dames members began serving food that would have made Alice Waters proud. 

Mammoth: Delicious Sandwiches and Beer

Hot sandwiches and cold microbrews (48 taps!) in Eastlake 

Mammoth is a mash-up of your favorite old-school sandwich joint and your favorite taproom. The airy space has a high vaulted ceiling that brings in the light, a long white-tiled bar counter lined with beer taps (and cider and wine), and a dozen or so tables.

By day, the vibe is fast and casual, with diners enjoying a hearty lunch or grabbing a sandwich to go. By night, it’s a mix of families enjoying dinner and beer nerds savoring the many microbrews on tap or from the extensive bottle collection. In fair weather, there is also outdoor seating. Maybe best of all, the prices are more than reasonable–especially considering the hearty portions and premium ingredients.  

Hannah and Grant Carter, the wife and husband duo behind Ballard’s Bitterroot BBQ, opened Mammoth just over four years ago. The passion project honors their favorite old-school sandwich joint in Missoula and their love of the local craft beer movement. Mammoth is the kind of place to kick back with a good friend or two. You can savor a hard-to-find pint of something local and fill up on food that finds the sweet spot between exacting and unfussy. Take the Predator, for example. Served on warm Macrina Pane Francese bread, they fill it with a fried chicken leg, roasted pork belly, swiss cheese, roasted red peppers, arugula and slather it with caper aioli. The chicken and pork belly are crisp, the bread tender but crusty enough to stand up to the juicy ingredients, and the peppers, arugula and aioli pack in the flavor. You’ll need plenty of napkins, or go to work with a knife and fork if that’s your style.  

We’re a family-owned business with a small staff of long-tenured employees,” says John Connolly, Mammoth’s General Manager. The many Eastlake regulars add to the comfortable, familial atmosphere. A diverse range of ages fill the place in the evenings, from hipsters who’ve made it their favorite watering hole to families enjoying dinner.  

Many of the meats are made in-house, including some that emerge from Bitterroot’s smoker such as their pulled pork. Tender roast beef is made on-site as is corned brisket, which plays a starring role in the Irish Elk, their spin on the classic Reuben. Vegetarians will also find plenty to excite the appetite. One sandwich features marinated tofu, another roasted wild mushrooms, and one has fried eggplant. Mammoth serves all sandwiches on Macrina bread with a side of homemade potato chips made fresh in their kitchen. 

Next time you’re in Eastlake—and isn’t Eastlake on the way to everywhere—drop into your new favorite neighborhood sandwich joint. You’ll sate your appetite, find a new favorite beer, and, if you’re so inclined, you can take a growler home for later.  

Menu, hours and catering info are available at mammothseattle.com. 

Mammoth |2501 Eastlake Ave E. | 206-946-1065 

Fuel Coffee: Coffee Done Right

Fuel Coffee is a perfect example of the independent coffee shop, full of personality, passion, and community. I’m honored that Fuel Coffee has been carrying Macrina products for so many years.

Leslie

 

A Favorite Spot

In Seattle, where coffee flows like rain, coffee shops are almost cliché. Yet, despite their prevalence, just about everyone can name their favorite spot. Some are drawn to a particular vibe, others to velvety foam, some to their favorite single-origin pour over, and others to the neighborhood gathering spot. Fuel Coffee is one of those neighborhood gathering spots that has gained fans citywide by offering excellent coffee and food, unpretentious comfort, and an independent spirit. Also, a steady team of experienced baristas spoil the many regulars with velvety foam, perfectly drawn shots of espresso, and even pour overs.

Dani Cone started Fuel Coffee in 2005 after 13 years of slinging coffee at one place or another. Her first barista job was at a deli on Mercer Island while still in high school. A barista job helped her through college in Oregon, and when she returned to Seattle, she worked at Caffe Vita for several years. She loved the subculture of coffeehouses and the kinetic nature of the whole industry. She loved the way coffee houses fostered community and inspired companionship. So she applied for an SBA loan, got it, and opened the first Fuel Coffee on 19th Ave E on Capitol Hill.

“I love how coffee brings together people from all walks of life,” Dani says. “No matter what type of person you are, there’s a place for you.”

Coffee Done Right

Even back in 2005, Seattle had a surplus of coffeehouses, and many told her she was crazy to open another one. But Dani was determined. “I love that there are so many great coffeehouses in Seattle,” Dani says. “There are lots of people and everyone drinks coffee. I wasn’t worried about what everyone else was doing. We just wanted to focus on what we were doing and make sure we were doing it the best, each day, for each customer.”

Fuel Coffee drew a loyal following immediately. Not more than a year after the café opened her landlord offered her a space in Montlake. Dani says, “My original business plan was to open a coffee shop and live out my days as a barista, happy as a clam. That was it.” But the opportunity felt too good to pass up and the second Fuel Coffee was born. Then just six months later a space she’d looked at in Wallingford opened up and that landlord reached out to her. Crazy as it was, she opened her third café in as many years.

While Dani couldn’t possibly be in all three places at once, her personality fills all three locations—in the well-trained staff, the carefully chosen items for sale, and the decor, a mix of hand-picked thrift shop gems, like the old Mobil oilcans and iconoclastic selection of picture books and tchotchkes that line the floor-to-ceiling shelves at the café on 19th.

Fuel Coffee and Beyond

Building on the success of Fuel Coffee, Dani has also gone on to create High 5 Pie (which she has since sold) and Cone & Steiner, a neighborhood market with locations on Capitol Hill and downtown. Dani says, “I love creating places for people to come together over good food and drink. That’s the common denominator. I also just really love coffee and eating.”

Thirteen years later, in this rapidly growing city, Fuel Coffee has become part of the fabric of the city. It feels like the prototype of so many of the city’s neighborhood gems. “I wanted Fuel Coffee to be a welcoming place for all people,” Dani says. “I wanted it to be a place where people would gather over great coffee and food, slow down for a little bit, and enjoy the company of others.”

You can find Fuel Coffee at:

Capitol Hill: 610 19th Avenue East, 98112

Montlake: 2300 24th Avenue East, 98112

Wallingford: 1705 North 45th Street, 98103

Hi Spot Café

Hi Spot Café: A Neighborhood Restaurant

“It’s wonderful to have a place like the Hi Spot Café, a true neighborhood restaurant. Formula places are starting to take over, and speed is always of the essence. The whole ritual of leisurely going out —spending time in the community, enjoying yourself, talking with friends or family, having a delicious cup of coffee and terrific brunch— is such a thrill! Seattle is a big brunch town, and the Hi Spot Café is one of the places that have made it so.”

-Leslie

The History

In a rapidly growing city, where hot new restaurants come and go like wild mushrooms, it is reassuring to find a place that has been making the same mushroom omelette since 1983. Hi Spot Café, located on 34th in Madrona, is so homey, it is actually built into a 1904 Victorian house. You enter through a storefront, which is set up with a coffee bar and pastries. Dining areas are up a short staircase connecting it to the house. The various rooms provide semi-private spaces, making the restaurant feel less crowded than it usually is.

The storefront, which was connected to the Victorian when it became the café in 1983, was originally built as a bakery. The baker and his family lived in the house. In fact, it would be accurate to say that generations of Seattleites have been getting breakfast at this location for 114 years.

Hi Spot Café Store Front

The Store Front

Mike Walker has owned (he bought it with a partner he’s since bought out) and operated the Hi Spot since 1994. He knows many regulars by name, even more by their favorite dish. “When I bought it it was a true to life hippy hangout,” Mike says. Great food, baked goods, tasty brunch, and a relaxed atmosphere made it a community favorite. Mike grew the business organically by focusing on doing more of what already worked.

Hi Spot Café 1994

Hi Spot Café in 1994

In the early nineties, a national CBS ad campaign called Breakfast for your Head had featured Hi Spot Café. “Tourists who’d seen the commercial used to make their way up here to take pictures of themselves at the Hi Spot.”

Breakfast, Brunch & Lunch – No Dinner!

Hi Spot Café serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch, seven days a week. Mike tried dinner shortly after taking over, but it didn’t work. Back then, there were very few other restaurants on 34th, and the neighborhood could be dangerous at night. Madrona, like Seattle, has undergone enormous change and people now flock to 34th for dinner, but Hi Spot Café won’t change again. Old school has worked for them, and they still even have an AOL email address, which to them is a point of pride. As flashy new restaurants draw the headlines, they can sometimes vanish as fast as they appeared, it is refreshing to know a place can thrive by not changing.

“Over the years people have said, You should do this, you should do that,” Mike says. “I listen, but I took over a place that had a vision. I’ve worked to honor that, making small improvements over time. A steady vision of what your restaurant is and what it should be is essential. In a rapidly changing city, we are a point of stability. We know who we are and our customers value that.”

Cherished recipes and a steady vision aren’t all it takes. Finding great ingredients and suppliers is another key. “I’ve been using the Macrina Herb Roll and the Brioche Bun for 24 years. Macrina’s Brioche Buns make the best hamburger buns. I first got to know Macrina and Leslie when I was managing the Pink Door. Later, she lived nearby and frequently came in to eat.”

Eggs All Day

Hi Spot Café has 25 employees, many of whom have been there for years. The chef has been there for 23 years; some waitstaff are going on 15 years. “I’ve got very loyal people,” Mike says. “I treat them with as much respect as possible. I’ve worked in 28 restaurants and I fashion my management style on what not to do with employees.”

When warm weather arrives, the Hi Spot patio opens, doubling the seating. Even with the extra tables, don’t be surprised if there’s a waitlist. In addition to locals, people from all over the city flock to the restaurant. Occasionally you may even spot Mike McCready or Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam.

All of this happens with nothing more than word-of-mouth advertising, but the occasional blast of national attention doesn’t hurt. Four years ago, a recipe from Hi Spot Café was featured in an issue of Rachel Ray Every Day. “I don’t know how they found us,” Mike says, “but I’m glad they did!” The recipe was showcased alongside other breakfast recipes from across the United State, and the “El Pacifico Omelet” was chosen to represent Washington.

“We just keep doing what we do, making breakfast and lunch, eggs and Reubens,” Mike says. “I don’t really change the menu. I carefully add to it. It’s hard these days to find a place that makes a really good BLT, a great tuna melt. We make All-American food, simple with high-quality ingredients, and we consistently prepare it well. It’s an honest plate for $13.95.”

Ten Years of Skillet: Evolved Street Food for the Masses

Skillet’s food has a personality and flair that stands out. It’s been that way from the get go. When I think of Skillet, I think of assertive flavors, great recipes, classic culinary techniques applied to innovative spins on American favorites, and a focus on seasonal and local ingredients. Skillet is a beloved Seattle restaurant and I’m proud they’ve chosen Macrina rolls and breads for many of their classic dishes.

Leslie

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In restaurant years, ten makes you a veteran. For Skillet, the ride has been adventurous. Skillet’s wild years began in a renegade Airstream trailer, involved a few skirmishes with a health department unfamiliar with food trucks, and a couple of run-ins with aggressive tow-truck drivers. But ambition, talent, and a few unforgettable dishes have carried Skillet to a successful but never dull maturity.

In 2007, street-food trucks weren’t a phenomenon. You could actually find downtown street corners without one. Beyond taco trucks—fabulous, yes, but one dimensional—there wasn’t much. Then Skillet’s pioneering street-food truck came along. People stood in long lines to eat the Fried Chicken Sammy, the Bacon Jam Burger, Poutine (not at all ubiquitous then), and the Kale Caesar. When discussing local food trucks, it’s fair to divide the conversation into Before Skillet (the dark ages) and After Skillet (the enlightenment).

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Fast forward ten years, Skillet has grown into a Seattle institution. There are four brick and mortar restaurants—Capital Hill, Ballard, Denny Regrade, Seattle Center—and two food trucks. What hasn’t changed is the food. Skillet’s chef-driven take on American-inspired classics has become a brand unto itself. Their greatest hits—the chicken sandwich, the burger, the Caesar, the waffle with braised pork belly, the griddle cakes with compote—couldn’t be pulled from the menu without risking insurrection, maybe a little like a Pearl Jam concert in which the band refused to play “Evenflow.” It’s not that the new stuff isn’t worth trying—it is—it’s just that Seattle fell in love with Skillet’s classics first and won’t let go. And that’s just fine with Skillet. They continue to source great local food, fix it up, and serve their favorite dishes to customers, many of them long-time devotees.

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The diners are spacious, light and airy, with a menu that expands upon the original food truck menu. To celebrate their tenth anniversary, Skillet is featuring a throwback menu all year that features recipes culled from old newsletters. March features the Lemongrass Pork Sammy with pickled ginger slaw. April features the Porchetta Sammy with hazelnut gremolata.

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That catering plays a role in Skillet’s middle-aged evolution should come as no surprise. Skillet’s burgers, fries, and milkshakes were first introduced at founder Josh Henderson’s wedding. Now, with a team of over 100 talented people, Skillet can cater up to six simultaneous events. Hundreds of brides and grooms have chosen Skillet to cater their weddings.

Catering Manager, Jessica Paul Jones, says that in addition to weddings, private parties and corporate events make up the bulk of their catering. But they can handle just about anything in Pacific Northwest. They’ve even have a china box that can roast a whole pig. One memorable catering event was a party at the top of the Smith Tower. Jessica remembers carrying food and equipment up the stairs (“My legs hurt for days”). Then there was the one at a ‘huuuuge” house in Laurelhurst that sat above the lake with 103 slate steps winding down to the lakeside tables (“My legs hurt even worse”).

When major life events occur, some Skillet fans rely upon their favorite restaurant. One such customer is Brian Benjamin, a weekly food truck regular since 2009. His go-to item is the Fried Chicken Sammy. His parents met his fiancé’s parents for the first time at the Skillet restaurant in Ballard. And guess who’s catering their wedding?

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Brian Benjamin

In a world of coincidences, one that isn’t all that surprising is that Brian is also a Macrina fan. He explains, “My fiancé, Jilian, used to live right behind the Macrina Bakery on Queen Anne. I always loved waking up on a weekend morning to walk over to get a ham and cheese brioche or Morning Glory muffin. We still swing by from time to time to pick up a loaf of rosemary semolina bread. I’m often more excited to eat the bread than I am the rest of the meal.”

Maybe that isn’t such a coincidence after all since Macrina’s potato roll has long been an essential part of Skillet’s Fried Chicken Sammy. At Macrina, we’re proud to be a part of one of Seattle’s favorite sandwiches.

What’s next for Skillet? Ani Pendergast, Skillet’s Director of Marketing, says, “Our focus is on maintaining the same kind of consistency we’ve always had. We’d love to open more neighborhood restaurants. But first we have to feel that we have the capacity to do it, then we need to find the right location. Our primary focus has always been on the food and the service. Whether you hit the restaurants, the trucks, or catering we want to be sure you get Skillet food and Skillet service. So we don’t spread ourselves too thin, we’ll only grow when we’re ready for it.”