Spring Harvest with vegan feta and spring peas with a Spruce Dirty Gibson on the side.

Capitol Hill is reopening and there is symbiosis on Bellevue Ave.

Finch and Pine, the seasonal Pacific Northwest cafe, is one of the newest dining spots in the neighborhood and its horseshoe counter is ready for a steadily growing number of indoor diners. Like most of us, new owner Sara Moran saw her life change during the pandemic. For her, dreams of owning her own restaurant were suddenly on fast forward.

“I thought I was going to have more time,” Moran said. “I knew I had to do something. The next step was to find a place. I came in here for coffee one day and heard it was for sale.”

CHS told you here about the new project in the former Cafe Barjot space from Capitol Hill food and drink veteran and first time owner Moran whose vision for a restaurant of her own was partly shaped by her time in the kitchen at the dearly departed Sitka and Spruce and her hope for “a symbiotic relationship with the community, the farmers, the fishermen” that come together to create a menu.

A confit tuna tartine on honey oat with black garlic aioli and a “Barista’s Negroni” on the side

The new life for the space is still a work in progress as Finch and Pine takes shape. Inside, there is a new feel with artwork and plants bringing life and nature into the cafe. Moran said other elements like new furniture for the patio are still being worked out.

Moran told CHS she hopes to shape Finch and Pine as a day and night neighborhood cafe gathered around the restaurant space’s unique horseshoe counter. For now, Finch is beginning as a cafe and brunch spot with plans to “progressively open up” to dinner service over the course of the year.

These days, mornings at Finch and Pine start with fresh baked goods like pastries, matcha mochi muffins, and vanilla cake with jam, plus the house tartines, thick toasts piled with mushroom pate, English peas with whipped violife feta, or confit albacore tuna. The horseshoe bar also whips up coffee, espresso, and lattes, including seasonal specials, plus a menu of cafe and brunch-appropriate craft cocktails. With sit down service now an option, Sundays will begin to provide an even more grand vision of Finch and Pine’s future with a full brunch menu (PDF) that adds stratas, baked eggs, and pancakes to the offerings.

Finch and Pine is also food sensitive forward. Nothing dairy, for example, is included as an ingredient on the menu.  You are, of course, welcome to add your own half and half or grab some cow butter if you aren’t into the vegan plant butter. Moran said she wants the menu to be friendly to all diners including pescatarian, vegetarian, and items that “just happen to be” vegan or gluten free.

Walking inside, you can smell the change. CHS’s visit to Finch and Pine was filled with delicious smells of house vegetable stock and rhubarb jam on the stove, and roasting sunchokes in the oven — even through a mask. Moran said the menu will change seasonally but there will be small additions and tweaks regularly as opportunities arise.

As for those hopes of symbiosis, Moran said she is already seeing Finch and Pine regulars including some neighbors who stop in for coffee and come back later in the day for lunch.

Finch and Pine is now open for takeout and limited sit down dining at 711 Bellevue Ave E. Learn more at finchandpine.com.

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