On June 11, Kaspar's, the beloved creation of Chef Kaspar Donier, his wife Nancy and brother Markus, stopped serving regular dinners five nights a week, as it had been doing for the past 16 years. To my dismay, it also ended the best happy-hour secret in town, with really good food that was startlingly inexpensive, as well as a great drink and wine selection.
Fortunately, Kaspar's will remain a presence in the Seattle dining scene in almost every other imaginable form.
For quite some time, the Doniers have been working nonstop in an effort to be all things to all people. From full-time restaurant to catering business to cooking classes to wine-tasting dinners to summer cooking camps for kids (of which both upcoming sessions are currently sold out), they seemed to have their finger in every pot. In fact, they'd become so busy with requests for special events, which comprised more than half of their business, that they found themselves repeatedly turning customers away.
Finally, as Nancy Donier recently told me, they decided to become more specialized and focus on events and private parties. Mindful of the fact that the Doniers have two children in grade school, as well as the hectic and demanding nature of owning and operating a restaurant, I assumed she meant that they would be scaling back. However, as I spoke to her I realized that, other than discontinuing regular restaurant service, they'd be carrying on with virtually all of the aforementioned facets of their business. Their "specialty," as it turns out, is diversity. Far from slowing down, they appear to just be shaking things up a little.
Even the closing of the restaurant is not exactly final. Among the many services Kaspar's will continue to offer is the restaurant itself, which will reopen 12 nights a year, on the third Friday of every month, for regular business. On that night they'll host "Kaspar's Favorites," allowing one to order à la carte from the restaurant's standard - which is to say, exceptional - menu.
There is something sort of special about going to a restaurant that keeps such sparse hours. This is particularly true when the food is as good as that served by Chef Kaspar, a four-time James Beard nominee for Best Chef Pacific Northwest, and when the menu is seasonal, fresh and eclectic. Here you'll find an irreverent combination of Continental and international cuisine: butternut squash ravioli with green onion-maple butter, next to Hungarian beef goulash, next to ahi tuna with avocado, wasabi and ginger timbale. It will be interesting to see how, if at all, the menu is altered for "Kaspar's Favorites" and what Chef Kaspar - who seems to be invigorated by change and variety - does on those singular nights that the restaurant reopens.
Kaspar's will also open to the general public on select evenings when the Key Arena sponsors some of its biggest concerts. For those nights, Kaspar will create a menu that complements the show, while the restaurant pipes in music of the featured artist. For example, the night that Brooklyn-born Neil Diamond comes to town this fall, they plan to serve an Italian menu, allegedly Diamond's favorite type of food, with a little Cracklin' Rose playin' in the background.
As you can see, the Doniers aren't quite ready to say goodbye to their regular customers, who comprise one of the most loyal followings of any Seattle restaurant.
However, with the restaurant now closed most nights, Kaspar's is free to open its doors to other events, when you can expect the same quality and range reflected on Kaspar's dinner menu. Thus, the Doniers' primary focus has definitely shifted to catering, both on and off premises. To further boost their attractiveness as a catering location, Kaspar's will undergo some renovations in July, although the layout of the building's interior is already well suited to private functions. Even as a restaurant, Kaspar's had the feel of an upscale catering or banquet establishment, with six individual dining rooms separated by doors, and a small, comfortable bar. The actual capacity of the restaurant - 225 seated diners and almost 300 standing - is surprising given the cozy nature of the rooms. .
Another event that Kaspar's will continue is its popular wine-tasting dinner, held on the first Wednesday of every month. The dinners, for which you may call and reserve a seat, are presided over by manager and sommelier Markus Donier. Kaspar's is widely known both for its extensive cellar and for Markus, whose wine expertise is well regarded and who is the venerated man-in-charge of these dinners. The popularity of the wine-tasting dinners is easy to understand: it's tough to beat a $50, four-course meal, wine included, that promises such treats as a main course featuring smoked duck confit on apple horseradish sauce with organic Swiss chard and potato fine herb terrine, accompanied by a Syrah wine that is undoubtedly the perfect choice for the dish. And that's just one course.
In addition to all of the above, the Doniers will be hosting at least two winemaker events this summer - one of which is already sold out - at their farm in the Mount Baker area. This is the same farm at which they grow (organically) much of the produce that Chef Kaspar uses in the dishes he prepares for the restaurant and events. Further, they will continue with a program of adult cooking classes, private dinners at the chef's table in the kitchen, where Chef Kaspar whips up any variety of treats based on the table's orders and fancy. Additionally, holiday buffets and dinners, including the Oktoberfest celebration, have become a restaurant trademark and will continue indefinitely.
A listing of Kaspar's upcoming events, too numerous to log in this article, can be found on their extensive Web site at www.kaspars.com, where you can also sign up for their Web newsletter and receive monthly updates.
In spite of their transition, it's clear that Kaspar's Catering and Events will remain at least as busy as Kaspar's Restaurant and Wine Bar. I look forward to gathering a group of friends to come together around the chef's table and am already scouting an opportunity to enroll in a cooking class. From an open restaurant on the third Friday of the month, to wine-tasting dinners on the first Monday, it's nice to know that in the midst of their evolution the Doniers have not forgotten their regular customers, and that they continue to be a mainstay in Lower Queen Anne and the community at large.[[In-content Ad]]
