FOOD MATTERS | Alimentary, my dear

Burke Shethar has lived in Madrona for more than two decades, and for most of that time, he has owned a family-friendly tavern at the corner of 34th Avenue and East Union Street called the Madrona Eatery & Alehouse. It proved an immediate hit with the neighborhood: a cozy fireplace, a fairly sophisticated list of beers on tap, a kitchen that served tavern staples like burgers and flatbreads. 

Now he’s making plans to leave the Alehouse behind. His landlord, represented by Cornell & Associates, has declined to renew Shethar’s lease for his 2,750-square-foot space, contending that the property owner (a resident in Hawaii) would rather combine the tavern with the adjacent hair salon (whose owner, for his part, successfully fought eviction last year). 

Is there a new tenant in the wings? Soni Dave and Henry Schock, the couple who own Bottleworks in the next block, might be candidates, since their lease is up this year, but their landlord, Paul Beveridge, tells me he expects Bottleworks to renew its lease and stay put. (There’s been no comment from Dave and Schock, despite repeated messages.)

Leaving aside the obvious incentive for an agent to churn tenants (a fresh commission every time there’s a new lease), Shethar points out that a combined space with more than 100 seats would require a new sprinkler system, new ADA-compliant restrooms and, most expensive of all, a new fire-suppression hood for the kitchen. 

Shethar’s not bitter, just nostalgic. “I have no misgivings about the support the neighborhood has shown us,” he said. And that support has now taken hold on social media.

Earlier this month, civic leader and Madrona resident David Brewster announced on his Facebook page that he had drafted an open letter to the landlords, Etsuko and Frank Harris, to express dismay at “the impending loss of this crucial neighborhood gathering place.” 

In the current economy, Brewster worries that the Alehouse is “irreplaceable.” He’s not the only one.

I asked for comments from both Bottlehouse and the Alehouse property manager, Cornell & Associates but received no reply to repeated messages.

Down the street

Also in Madrona, Brian Clevenger has opened the doors at Vendemmia (1126 34th Ave.). 

A native of Anacortes, Wash., Clevenger worked in France and in San Francisco before returning to the Pacific Northwest and cooking for two of Ethan Stowell’s restaurants (Staple & Fancy in Ballard and Tavolata in Belltown). Now, he’s on his own, just a block away from yet another Stowell restaurant (Red Cow) but with his mentor’s blessing. 

Early reports are mixed: A Negroni variation was simply too sweet, an order of house-made cavatelli was woefully undercooked (a surprising lapse for a pasta pro), but a beet salad was as tasty as it was lovely, and the panna cotta was beyond reproach. 

There’s room for four guests at the chef’s counter: Brian will make your whole dinner while you watch. 

A TV kitchen

Finally, let’s catch up with Celinda Norton, who spent three years in Madison Park as owner and chef at Café Parco (1807 42nd Ave E.), the charming bungalow overlooking the tennis courts. 

In the months since she closed the Café, she’s been busy selling wine...and taping TV shows. 

It turns out, those interview snippets you see on screen are edited down from hours and hours of interviews. And casting directors, who juggle contestants and production schedules like circus performers, are notoriously vague about taping dates (“Could you keep next week open, in case we need you in New York?”). 

Would-be contestants usually send out audition tapes, but Celinda didn’t have a suitable kitchen in her home, so she “borrowed” the kitchen at Il Bistro in Pike Place Market. And she’s writing a blog (fearlessfeast.com) to showcase her recipes. 

An optimist and extrovert by nature, Norton is no stranger to hard work. She started cooking for her family when she was 12 and had run multiple restaurants in the Longview, Wash., area while she was in her 20s. 

For the better part of a decade, before landing in Madison Park, she ran a well-regarded spot in the Market called 94 Stewart. 

“Restaurants are two almost-unrelated businesses,” she pointed out. “The front is a sales and service organization; the back is manufacturing.” And very few people can do both well. “There’s a huge level of stress in business,” she said. “Success is every bit as stressful as failure.” 

She’s hopeful that her upcoming TV appearances will bear fruit, but you get the feeling she’s not too stressed.

RONALD HOLDEN is a restaurant writer who blogs at Cornichon.org and Crosscut.com. To comment on this column, write to MPTimes@nwlink.com.