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Trio of nightlife vets twin up with Capitol Hill’s fastest growing business family to create the Gemini Room day and night cafe and bar

 

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Tanner Mclaughlin, Jackie Proctor, and loana Andrei (Image: Gemini Room)

A new day and night cafe and bar inspired by the Age of Aquarius decades called the Gemini Room located in the heart of Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine neighborhood opens this week.

During the day, the Gemini Room will feature locally roasted espresso and unique coffee and tea lattes, grab-and-go breakfast staples, fresh seasonal bowls, salads, and sandwiches.

After dark, small plate style dishes and signature cocktails featuring house-infused liquors, herbaceous elements, fresh juices, and glassware inspired by the ’70s will be featured.

The new cafe and bar has been designed to shift seamlessly from morning to night.

“The ‘Gemini’ name derived from that duality of serving both the day and evening but with highly differentiated offerings,” Tanner Mclaughlin, co-owner of Gemini Room, said. “From there, a ’60s/’70s vibe felt like the right aesthetic for the name.”

The 2,000 square foot space, formerly Pettirosso Cafe, is backed by Joey Burgess and Murf Hall of Burgess/Hall. Gemini Room is the debut project of Mclaughlin, Jackie Proctor, and Ioana Andrei who are teaming up with the company behind a growing family of Pike/Pine businesses that ranges from Queer/Bar to Elliott Bay Book Company.

Its official opening day is planned for Friday, December 16th.

CHS reported here on the growing Burgess/Hall group’s plans for Gemini Room and their approach to taking in key neighborhood venues and shops that match the company’s community values and hopes of preserving and growing LGBTQ-friendly culture and nightlife on Capitol Hill.

“We have all worked and lived in Capitol Hill for many years and are part of an incredible community up here,” Mclaughlin said. “In addition Burgess/Hall already owns multiple legacy businesses in the neighborhood so when the opportunity arose to start Gemini Room it seemed like a natural addition to the family from an operations and community standpoint.”

The trio of industry veterans joining Burgess/Hall in the Gemini Room have been part of creating Seattle’s current generation nightlife. Designer Mclaughlin is an industry veteran who cut her teeth in the luxury fashion world of New York City, while fellow nightlife vet Proctor manages back-of-house operations and staffing, and Andrei leads the beverage program. The menu of “day eats” and “night eats” comes by way of the extended Burgess/Hall family that also includes new addition Oddfellows Cafe. You’ll find a range from breakfast sandwiches and burritos, toasts, and salads, to snacks like fried chickpeas, deviled eggs, and steak sliders for your nighttime noshing.

At Gemini, the team hopes to bring a nostalgic feel to the project by featuring unique furniture pieces, “moody lighting, textured materials, and postmodern patterns” inspired by that era to create intimate gathering spaces. There are no shag carpets but think more of a polyester hangout than the American classic look and wide open spaces of Oddfellows.

“Gemini Room blends materials, forms, and colors that are at once both nostalgic, new, and unexpected,” the press release reads. “With warm tones of furniture, paint, and lighting, the interior is perfect for both day and night. Mixed material walls of rockery, greenery and cork are encased in a warm wood slatting lit with color-adaptable lighting to help shift mood and emotion to hit just the exact right vibe. Our goal was to create a space that evokes an emotion of familiarity and warmth while being uncommon and offbeat.”

The Gemini Room replaces a Capitol Hill classic whose ownership ultimately decided to move on over cost and concerns about future redevelopment of the historic building the cafe called home.

CHS reported here in February on the final days for Pettirosso as founder Robin Wright was there to help say goodbye with owners Miki and Yuki Sodos after the cafe’s 28 years of service in the neighborhood. The Sodos sisters said they decided to close the cafe on its “own terms” amid the business challenges of the pandemic and a planned redevelopment of the historic Baker Linen building. Building owner and neighboring Chophouse Row developer Liz Dunn said early in 2022 the Baker Linen street-level space, despite Pettirosso’s exit, would still make an excellent home to a new restaurant or bar with the planned overhaul of the structure still in the planning phases. City records now show early permitting for a “seismic retrofit and two story penthouse addition” to the three-story unreinforced masonry building has been completed. CHS reported on the early plans for the construction back in 2019.

The spirit of Pettirosso, meanwhile, will live on with plans for a new bar and lodging project from Miki and Yuki Sodos on 23rd Ave.

On 11th Ave, Gemini Room is here to stay and is set to become a new hangout in the neighborhood. This isn’t a pop-up or temporary project, its creators say.

“We’re used to doing business in an evolving and ever-changing neighborhood,” Mclaughlin said. “We have a great relationship with the landlord and have a plan in place for the long term for this location.”

The Gemini Room is located at 1101 E Pike with its entrance around the corner on 11th Ave. Hours will run Tuesday-Thursday 9 AM to Midnight, and Friday-Saturday 9 AM to 1 AM. Learn more thegeminiroom.com.

 

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Peter Wilsnack
Peter Wilsnack
1 year ago

The space looks fantastic! I look forward to checking this out. Fingers crossed that they’ll keep the music level moderate to allow conversation without any yelling required…

d.c.
d.c.
1 year ago

Great to have local folks reactivating this space, the Pettirosso crew really made it a great base for something like this. If it was closer to me I’d probably be working from there!

Tailwind Café and Good Weather Bicycles

Glad to have you as neighbors :-)!

Super excited to have everything filled up and activated again in and around the Chop House.

See y’all soon.

So excited
So excited
1 year ago

This place looks amazing! Finally, Capitol Hill gets a new bar with character. I was having to go to Fremont way too much lately.