(Image: Pike/Pine)
Last winter, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport tried to capture a little of the local spirit with its new Capitol Hill Food Hall. “Nailed it,” CHS giggled.
The airport’s new Pike and Pine shop from the Hudson airport newsstand folks, part of an overhaul of the offerings at the North Satellite terminal including a SEA Roast Coffee House and a Filson shop, is equally funny to any E Pike regulars.
Turns out, the names of Capitol Hill make for popular branding around the world. CHS reported on Brighton, United Kingdom restaurant Pike & Pine here in 2017.
Another sincere homage can be found in Bangkok, Thailand where chef Clare Brillantes created the Pike/Pine Open Kitchen and Bake Bar.
We reached out to Brillantes last year to learn more about the restaurant but never had the chance to bring her work to the attention of CHS readers amid the pandemic. The good news? Pike Pine is still going strong.
At the time, Brillantes said she hadn’t had a customer from Seattle, yet, but that the name of the 2019-born restaurant was a source for plenty of questions from customers.
“Customers ask about the name all the time! It shows that not a lot of Thais really know of Seattle,” Brillantes wrote. “A lot of people thought that it’s a name of two siblings Pike and Pine.”
Brillantes trained at the The Art Institute of Seattle before working in the city with Mollusk Brewing, Ballard’s Carnivore, and Fremon’ts Eve.
“I worked in three different restaurants in Seattle as a line cook,” Brillantes said. “The experience was what I was hoping to get when I decided to go on this culinary journey. I always had the goal of coming to Bangkok and open a restaurant of my own. So, I learned a whole lot about cooking and managing a restaurant from working.”
As for the name, Brillantes said it is as simple as finding something that connected her to the city.
“The name Pike/Pine came to me at the very end when I tried to come up with a name that has a deeper meaning for me personally,” she said. “I have spent about three years in Seattle and it helped form me as a culinarian.”
Like in Seattle, Bangkok’s celebrated food scene has been decimated by the COVID-19 crisis and restrictions even as rules were loosened late this summer to help spur the economy. As she was weathering the pandemic, Brillantes said watching Seattle restaurants provided inspiration — and a few ideas.
“Obviously, people still have to eat during the outbreak,” Brillantes said.
Pike/Pine continues on, a “tasty bakery and western food at a reasonable price” with limited in-person dining and ramped-up takeout efforts.
Pike/Pine is located at 8 Thetsaban Rangsan Nuea Soi 2, Lat Yao, Chatuchak, Bangkok. Learn more at pikepinebkk.com.
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