The Chophouse Row building is slated to be complete and ready for shops and offices to open in October (Image: CHS)
Timmermeister talks with Hillebrity Dan Savage at a recent Town Hall appearance (Image via Facebook)
A Vashon Island farmer with Capitol Hill roots, Kurt Timmermeister watches the seasons change and has seen Pike and Pine and Broadway’s season of discontent come — and go — before.
“I bought Andy’s Cafe in 1994,” Timmermeister said. “The people that went to Andy’s Cafe thought that *that* was the end of the world.”
A stroll down the Chophouse Rose mews connecting through the block between 11th and 12th — now under construction (Image: Dunn + Hobbes)
Andy’s became Septieme and Septieme’s sale in 2004 became the nest egg Timmermeister would hatch to fund his legendary Kurtwood Farm.
The farm-to-table pioneer is now planning his food+drink return to the neighborhood with a new, teensy-tiny shop in Liz Dunn’s Chophouse Rose development on 11th Ave between Pike and Union. Kurt Farm Shop, to be located along the project’s internal mews corridor, will give Timmermeister a 300-square-foot patch in the city to share his farm’s creations.
“I have this farm out here,” Timmermeister explains. “And it’s really important to me. We grow beautiful things. And I realized I have this tremendous privilege. I get to live this life in this really great place. I just really want to share that. People should taste this.”
The shop will feature a selection of dairy products from the farms of Timmermeister and friends including the best cheeses of Puget Sound, yogurt and ice creams flavored by the bounty of the great Pacific Northwest.
“The flavoring is very much my kind of ethos — there’s great local food here. It’s not pineapple. It’s not chocolate. It’s not vanilla. I would want raspberries, blueberries, rhubarb, herbal flavors that are grown here.”
Timmermeister’s project will be one of a handful of micro-shops planned for the Dunn development that is incorporating the bones of the old auto row structure most recently home to the Chophouse rehearsal studios. Dunn, who also developed the locavore-focused Melrose Market, described her new project as “a mix of retail, restaurant, and creative office targeted to co-workers, startups and small companies.” You can see more of how it will look when construction is wrapped up later this year here — What Liz Dunn’s 11th Ave office+’mews’ project will look like. With an emphasis on daytime activity with the planned offices and small businesses, Dunn is bringing in Volunteer Park Cafe’s Ericka Burke for two food and drink venues two anchor the new building. We’ll have more soon from Burke and Dunn about the exciting new development but in the meantime, you can learn more about the restaurant and juice bar plans here via Seattle Met Magazine.
For Timmermeister, Dunn’s conception of a new marketplace and office building in the heart of Pike/Pine was enough to stir his imagination and get him thinking about how to be part of it.
“The building is fascinating,” he said. “The building came before the store for me.”
He said the opportunity for a teensy-tiny shop also held great appeal.
“I don’t know of something quite like what this will be — which is why it’s only 300 square-feet,” Timmermeister said. But it’s also not an experiment before he marches on to bigger ventures or tries to put his ice creams on the shelf at a grocery chain.
“I put my name on the door,” Timmermeister said. “It’s a very personal expression — this is what I think food is. I enjoy being in the city. Part of the time on the farm, part of the time in the city.”
You can watch for updates at kurtwoodfarms.com.
Capitol Hill food+drink notes
- The Rhino Room — not yet open.
- Changes at the Central District Cortona Cafe on E Union? In 2011, the coffee and waffles shop went nonprofit. Now we find a liquor license application for the address for a project titled simply “Food Restaurant.” We’ve sent Cortona several messages in recent weeks but no response. Let us know if you know anything.
- When we reported on the opening of the Cone & Steiner market at 19th and Mercer we told you the team behind the venture including Skillet’s Josh Henderson and Fuel’s Dani Cone were already planning more locations. News this week comes that the next Cone & Steiner will be located in Pioneer Square.
- The Stranger on Tallulah’s:
Tallulah’s is good—neighborhood-spot good, with the kind of menu where you’ll find a thing or two you really like. It’s a nicer place for nice people, in the new, grown-up world of Capitol Hill. - Come on, Capitol Hill cat-preneurs. The fundraising campaign for KitTea — “San Francisco’s first cat tea house” — has launched with a $50,000 goal.
- Waid’s is at risk of losing its liquor license.
- “Imbibe, the national magazine and website of liquid culture, debuted its annual regional issue today—The Pacific Northwest Issue.” Here’s who made the cut in their “Capitol Hill Bar Guide“
- E Madison’s Bottleneck Lounge celebrates seven years this Friday.
- Now at Bleu Grotto, house infusions:
These single serve bottles are for in house consumption only. Brand Specialty Liqueurs an our own infusions 30 to 45 days infusion process and vary from 1.5 ounces to 2 ounces.
Many are Bleu Bistro’s Grotto own special blends made from real Botanicals and Herbs. - Time for Chico Madrid’s new bar plan:
- An account of the Kedai Mekan crew’s trip to Malaysia and a look at the walk-up’s first year of business:
“I would love a real wok. We’ve done really well with what we have. But if we just have a semi-equipped kitchen I think it could be phenomenal. We’ve really learned a lot working in this space.” - Cherry Street Coffee is opening in new construction at Pine and Bellevue.
- “There are only a handful of cafés that truly define the café culture of Capitol Hill, and Café Vita is definitely one…“
- Having already kissed Capitol Hill goodbye, B&O is gone for good. Many good wishes to the Lukatahs in their retirement.
- Did you check out our first look at Mezcaleria Oaxaca Capitol Hill? Have you visited? Foodie photographer Suzi Pratt also has some fantastic shots of the new space.
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It’s very exciting that Kurt Timmermeister will be opening a store in our neighborhood. He is a quality farmer and I’m sure the products he offers will be first-rate. I’ll be there!
And Liz Dunn’s project sounds wonderful as well….especially the mews down the middle of it ….very different and creative. It will be a great addition to Capitol Hill.
[…] Park Cafe. Playing a smaller part but still expected to make a big splash is the Kurt Farm Shop, a cheese and dairy counter from farm to table champion Kurt Timmermeister. Together, developer Dunn is again bringing […]