Walking down East Galer Street from Volunteer Park, where the cherry blossoms are at their peak, I couldn't help but wonder. I was in a residential neighborhood of houses I would never be able to afford, with little traffic. It seemed an unlikely place for a café - especially one that is only open in the daytime.
What was I missing? Was this someone's terrible business mistake or a very clever idea?
The Volunteer Park Café, at 1501 17th Ave. E., is in the kind of old building that was the grocery in every neighborhood 50 or 60 years ago.
Large windows on the café's east, and south sides and old-fashioned 12-foot ceilings with ceiling fans and pendant lights give the interior a bright, spacious feeling. The antique oak pastry case, an antique oak buffet plumbed for a sink and drinking water and a board-and-bead order counter provide the space an antique feel without actually filling the place with antiques. A slate tile floor and the building's old "groceries" sign above the kitchen pass-through completes the atmosphere for the 102-year-old building.
I arrived at 2 p.m. and expected the café to be all but deserted. Instead, about half of the tables had an occupant, more frequently two. The majority of the customers were women.
If this was the day's slack period, I wondered what the lunch rush was like. What was I missing here? The cozy atmosphere played counterpoint to the leaden sky, and stepping into the spacious café was like returning to someplace familiar.
What I was missing was the need for any community to have a gathering place, and for the north Capitol Hill community between Volunteer Park and Interlaken Park, this appeared to be it. Add excellent food, pleasant beverages (I really enjoyed the pomegranate lemonade), excellent wine and artisan beer and you have a real draw. You order at the counter, and, please, bus your own plates.
All the food is scratch-built by the owners, Heather Earnhardt and Ericka Burke.
Burke studied at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, was the executive chef at Carmelita, moved to San Francisco as the executive chef of Work of Art Catering, then became chef/partner of Trattoria Pinocchio. She returned to her native Seattle as director/corporate chef of research and development for Restaurants Unlimited, a national restaurant group based in Seattle that operates Palisade, Cutters Bayhouse and Palomino, among others.
Earnhardt trained as a photographer and handled public relations for the Carmelita and Trattoria Pinocchio restaurants. She learned Southern cooking at her grandmother's knee.
"For the past seven years, I've baked for and tested recipes on the garbage man-it's good feedback," she wrote on the café's Web site.
I ordered a cup of potato and leek soup ($3.75), wondering if it would be as good as the soup I make. It tasted a bit spicier, but perfect, with real butter and milk. Both my mind and my mouth told me there were no lo-cal shortcuts in this soup.
My phylo Mushroom tart ($6.95) - chevre, herb-roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions in a delicate phylo pastry shell topped with a cover of arugula so thick the menu calls it a salad - was terrific, and very filling.
"We bake everything here except the croissants," Burke said. And the bread is from Columbia Bakery.
"The first time we looked at the space we loved it," said Burke. She had gone to school in the neighborhood and remembered the building when it was still a neighborhood grocery. Unfortunately, the building had been neglected and refurbishing it was exactly like restoring a very old house. The wiring, the plumbing, even the building's structure needed work. Each time they opened a wall it was, "Surprise!" As a result, their Jan. 11 opening date was about two months later than they planned.
"It took us twice as long as we thought to do the remodel," Burke said.
The women designed the restaurant space themselves. In its regular, daily set-up it can handle about 30 customers. As the weather improves they plan to offer outdoor seating in front of the building.
Though the remodel took twice as long as they expected, the business began flourishing almost instantly. The women had seen that the neighborhood needed a gathering spot of some kind, and they thought that they would do well providing it. Many of their customers are regulars, and they like the feeling that brings to their restaurant.
"It's so nice for Heather and me to come in every day and hang out with our friends," said Burke. The women estimate that 79 percent of their business is local, close enough to walk to the café from home, though it is becoming a destination lunch spot.
"It reminds me of the South, where everybody knows each other," said Earnhardt, a North Carolina native.
The food and wine is organic, an important consideration to the women. They also compost the garbage and collect their yard waste - "so we have minimal garbage," Heather said.
Although the café is only open until 5 p.m., plans call for staying open until 8 p.m. for dinner in the next month or so. They also plan to have dinner to go.
"We want to offer family-size portions to take home," Ericka said.
Even now the café offers a special, reservation only, wine dinner the second Friday of each month. A four-course dinner has each course paired with specially selected wines. There is only room for 45 diners and the cost ranges from $75 to $90 per person.
The Volunteer Park Café and Marketplace is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday. The café address is 1501 17th Ave. E., phone 328-3155. You can visit online at www.alwaysfreshgoodness.com
THE VOLUNTEER PARK CAFÉ'S BASIL BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
What you'll need
Minced shallots- 2 tsp
Fresh minced basil- 1 Tbs
Roasted garlic- 1 tsp
Granulated sugar 2 Tbs
Balsamic vinegar- 1/2 Cup
Olive Oil- 1 cup
Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
And then...
Place all ingredients except for oil in a food processor.
Puree until all ingredients are well incorporated.
With machine running, slowly add olive oil.
Continue to puree until mixture is emulsified.
Makes 1 3/4 cup.
Keeps for seven days refrigerated.
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