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Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese opens in Cd'A
North Idaho restaurateurs Matt Yetter and Joe McCarthy have opened Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese in the Coeur d'Alene location where Lil' Polpetta, an Italian sub shop, had operated for about three years.
The remodeled, 1,400-square-foot structure at 1735 W. Kathleen, which Yetter and McCarthy leased from the owner, Gary Tolericao, includes a dining room with seating for about 30, and outdoor seating for about eight. Yetter designed the improvements and acted as the contractor for the project.
The remodeling project involved extensive demolition and reconstruction work, says Yetter.
"We literally gutted the building from floor to ceiling," he says. The style is modern industrial with a lot of stainless and galvanized metals and corrugated surfaces. He declines to disclose renovation costs.
The menu has 15 different varieties of sandwiches.
"We make all of our own potato chips, dips, soups, and sauces, including our huckleberry barbecue sauce. It is hard to explain until you try it. We win them over in a bite or two," he says.
The restaurant employs 12 people, in addition to Yetter and McCarthy, and is open Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Audrey Danals
European-inspired cafe opens downtown
Beignets Et Le Cafe LLC, a new European-inspired restaurant, has opened in downtown Spokane, at 121 N. Wall.
Co-owner Ryan Sowards says Beignets' menu focuses on dishes featuring crepes, which are a type of thin pancake that originated in France and often is used in pastries. The restaurant's menu features crepes in its breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, he says.
Sowards says he and his mother, Judie Sowards, who co-owns the business with him, wanted to open a restaurant here that offers something different to customers than what other restaurants in the Spokane area offer.
"I lived in Europe for a couple of years and traveled there a lot, and one thing I wanted to have with the restaurant was great service, ambiance, and to open a creperia, which are so prevalent over Europe," Sowards says. "We don't have any here, and that's a big portion of our menu."
Beignets also has a full-service bar, and Sowards says its bartenders specialize in making craft mixed drinks.
He says the space in which Beignets is located was remodeled, using components of a design created by Spokane-based firm HDG Design Group. Sowards declines to disclose the cost to renovate the space.
Beignets has a seating capacity of 120 people, which includes an outdoor patio. Aside from Sowards and his mother, it employs 32 full- and part-time workers, he says.
Chey Scott
Tinbender distillery to make craft spirit
Paul Ziegman says he'll fire up a pot still at Tinbender Craft Distillery LLC this fall and launch a limited production of pomace brandy.
"We're in the construction phase," Ziegman says. "We're hoping to be operational by October."
The distillery will be based in 750 square feet of leased space in the Knipprath Cellars Inc. winery, at 5634 E. Commerce Ave., a few blocks south of Felts Field Airport in East Spokane, says Ziegman, who, with his wife, Tosha, owns the recently incorporated venture.
Pomace brandy is a distilled spirit produced from leftover grape pressings from winemaking. It's known in Italy as grappa and in France as marc.
"It has a very floral bouquet," Ziegman says of the 80-proof liquor.
Ziegman says he plans to age some pomace brandy in oak barrels, possibly flavored with cinnamon or honey.
"You have to wait four years for the aged stuff," he says.
Tinbender will start as a part-time operation with no other employees, Ziegman says.
"I've still got my day job," he says.
The name Tinbender is a reference to Ziegman's trade as a sheet-metal worker with Spokane-based Krueger Sheet Metal Co., a custom-fabrication and architectural sheet-metal shop.
Ziegman says he built Tinbender's equipment, including a 15-gallon-capacity pot still using products sourced from the Pacific Northwest, and he plans to acquire grape pressings from local wineries.
He says he expects Tinbender will produce up to a case of pomace brandy a week initially.
"I'm still working out a price point," Ziegman says.
Mike McLean
Happy Dragon Express opens near courthouse
David Flores and Ramiro Urbina, of Spokane, have opened the Happy Dragon Express, a new fast-casual Asian food restaurant, at 825 N. Monroe, just east of the Spokane County Courthouse.
Flores says the restaurant's menu features Asian-inspired food that, during lunch, is dished onto customer's plates from steam warming trays. He says this makes ordering faster and more convenient for people who come there from the many government offices in the area to grab a quick lunch.
He says the restaurant's lunch menu includes a two-entree plate for $6.50, which, he adds, is the highest-priced item on the menu during that time of the day. Items that can be ordered as a combination meal or separately include chow mein noodles, rice, pot stickers, fried shrimp, and egg rolls.
During the evening, Happy Dragon switches to a dinner menu, which includes the same dishes, but in larger portions, and patrons are waited on at tables by a server instead of ordering at a food counter, Flores says.
He says the lunch hour is Happy Dragon's busiest time so far.
Happy Dragon employs two part-time workers in addition to the two owners, he says. Its owners invested about $15,000 into remodeling the space, which most recently was occupied by La Esquina Mexican Cafe and before that by Top Notch Cafe.
Chey Scott
New restaurant, bar opens in the Paulsen
A new eating and drinking establishment called Bowl'z Bitez & Spiritz has opened in downtown Spokane.
Jacob Miller, who co-owns the restaurant with Aron Larson, says the establishment opened on June 29 and occupies about 1,900 square feet of leased space on the ground floor of the Paulsen Building, at 401 W. Riverside.
Sir Speedy Printing occupied that space previously.
"We did a top-to-bottom remodel; we built the bar from bottom up," Miller says.
The establishment has a new concrete bar and new concrete floors, and all of the restaurant equipment is also new. Brawner Construction, of Spokane, handled the remodel. Miller declines to disclose the cost of the improvements.
"We have a full service bar, live entertainment, and we are looking into having a band. Right now we have live DJ's," he says.
Food is all served in bowls, with a variety of options: rice bowls, chicken bowls, salads, and soups, and Miller says a new menu is on the way. Food is available until 2 a.m.
Both Miller and Larson have extensive experience in the industry. Miller previously worked at Morty's Tap & Grill, and Larson worked at C.I. Shenanigan's.
Miller says Bowl'z Bitez & Spiritz has six employees and plans to hire a few more in the coming months.
Khalil Beznaguia, of Windermere Manito LLC, handled the lease.
Audrey Danals
New Viking is planned in former Viking space
Jordean Enterprises LLC, of Spokane, has obtained a business license from Washington state and has applied with the state for a liquor license to open a business named The Viking Bar & Grill in the former Viking Tavern building at 1221 N. Stevens, north of the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Viking Tavern, a longtime popular establishment here, closed earlier this summer, according to Washington state Department of Revenue records. The records show that the business license for Spokane-based Phoenix IV Inc., the owner listed for the old Viking Tavern, expired June 12.
The business license for the new Viking Bar & Grill on file with the state says Kim R. Duffy and Troy W. Hardy are involved in Jordean Enterprises. Attempts to contact them, however, were unsuccessful.
The document on file also says the location will be classified as a full-service restaurant, the same designation held by the Viking Tavern.
That establishment had been located in the 5,000-square-foot building on Stevens since 1987, moving there from a 1,800-square-foot building at 619 S. Washington. Another popular Spokane hangout, Ahab's Whale, previously had occupied the building on Stevens.
John Edwards, who had owned the Viking Tavern since 1976, sold it to two local federal employees, Chuck Randazzo and Mark Snover, in 1996.
Jessica Valencia