(Image: Cafe Lolo)

Three cooks are ready to share the kitchen in a new start in Capitol Hill’s historical Loveless Building that will align with the seasons of the Pacific Northwest’s farmers and foragers.

“Having three, each person has their thing that’s theirs, and we feel support from each other” Leah Engel tells CHS about Cafe Lolo, a “seasonally dictated” day and night cafe taking shape in the longtime E Roy home of Cook Weaver which closed as 2025 drew to an end to make way for the new project.

Much as Cook Weaver’s Zac Reynolds balanced family and a food and drink career for a near-decade of service at Cook Weaver, restaurant veterans Engel and Alex Halmi found love and a life together growing Cafe Lolo at Seattle farmers markets and pop-ups.

As they honed the concept for a fixed-place version of Lolo with a residency last year at Roosevelt’s Three Sacks Full, Engel’s co-worker at the NE 64th locally-sourced restaurant Brett Bankson joined the team.

Bankson said the Cafe Lolo local grains-centered approach to fresh pasta and dishes “so nourishing, so satisfying, and deceptively simple” drew him to the team.

Now, after the pop-up and residency growth, Cafe Lolo is taking shape on E Roy just off Broadway.

Its connections to the seasons of the Puget Sound are so solid, even the hoped-for spring opening is shaped by the planting calendar, Engel says. The trio ended 2025 knowing they needed a space for Cafe Lolo lined up — trying to balance starting a fixed-place restaurant and getting ready for another season at farmers markets wasn’t tenable.

Fortunately, the Loveless Building restaurant space and its murals from early tenant Samovar was ready for them. Bankson says Cafe Lolo is planning soft upgrades for the space including new lighting and some tile and ceramic work by Engel’s father. The kitchen, they say, is already a great place to work. And, yes, there is room for all three of them.

Capitol Hill diners may know Halmi from his time as “pastaioli” at 14th Ave’s Cascina Spinasse, Engel and Bankson have been part of the crew at Three Sacks Full. Each are multi-year veterans of the industry.

Halmi’s childhood memory of a mother mixing her career as a chef with a love for life and family is the inspiration for the name. Engel says Lolo was Halmi’s best friend’s mom. Halmi was notorious for raiding Lolo’s refrigerator for delicious leftovers. When she passed away as Cafe Lolo was taking shape, naming the venture in her memory brought that food and drink love to the effort.

Bankson says it is exciting to be part of what he says is a “new echelon” in dining as new, younger owners prioritize stable lives and careers but also try to create restaurants where customers feel connected and part of the community.

In the beginning, Halmi, Engel, and Bankson will handle roles in the kitchen large and small while Engel and Bankson also serve as the face of the restaurant with customers at the front of the house where they are looking forward to sharing “what we’re excited about… and what the farmers are saying they are excited about.”

Expect counter service for daytime hours when servers will still be attentive to table needs. Nighttime will bring a transition to the more traditional sit-down dining service. Cafe Lolo will be open for daytime brunch and lunch Thursdays through Sundays with dinner served Friday through Monday nights. Engel says they are excited to add a Monday and industry night opening to the area when many other venues are closed.

While Cafe Lolo grew with a focus on pasta at the farmers markets, its cooks say that focus was a function of serving in a mobile environment. Local grains will still be the center of things at Cafe Lolo but the fixed-place restaurant will allow the chefs to take on more complicated projects and flavors.

Drinks will center around beers, wines, and ciders with an emphasis, Bankson says, on being able to “drink thoughtfully” with non-alcoholic, and low alcohol choices flavored with foraged botanicals and vegetables and herbs from the kitchen. Bankson says Washington has a wave of amazing beverage creators ready for more attention — “such a bounty of things!” — that he is excited to showcase at Cafe Lolo including food friendly, low intervention wines.

Cafe Lolo will also curate coffees and teas along with pastries and desserts focused on local grains and seasonal flavors.

Their goal is to create a restaurant that follows the seasons while also giving the people who work their an opportunity for a balanced life in a busy city.

Cafe Lolo is planned to open this spring at 806 E Roy. Learn more eatcafelolo.com.

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