Restaurant briefs: New space, new cafe, Revel moving, Piccolo 2.0, Joli reviewed

Geeky Swedes Ballard

There’s always LOTS of restaurant news, so we’ve condensed it into bite-sized briefs…

– NEW SPACE: A new land use application for 5101 14th Ave. NW calls for a 4-story office building with space for a restaurant on the first floor. That’s an early sketch of the building above. It’s too early to know if there’s a specific restaurant the developers have in mind, but we’ll keep an eye on it. Land use documents are available here.

– NEW CAFE: My Ballard reader Fiona asks us, “[I’m] wanting to find out more about the new café opening on 11th and 50th. Construction is almost complete and wondering when it will open.” While we research it, if you have any details, leave a comment or email tips@myballard.com.

– NEW CHEF: Ballard’s Brimmer & Heeltap is bringing in a new chef, Tucson transplant David Valencia, reports Seattle Mag. They expect to have a mostly new menu by spring.

– REVEL MOVING: The Fremont Korean restaurant Revel is moving to South Lake Union — temporarily. The restaurant at 403 N 36th St. is the site of an upcoming 3-story development, and when it’s complete, Revel plans to move back to Fremont, Eater reports.

– PICCOLO 2.0: Speaking of Fremont, the owners of Piccolo in Maple Leaf — which shut down last year after 10 years in business — say they’re opening Esters Enoteca in Fremont next month. They told Seattle Mag it will be a “fast casual” wine bar.

– JOLI REVIEWED: Joli opened at NW 65th St. and 7th Ave. NW in September, and the Seattle Times reviewer says it has an “ambitious menu” and the “bar is likely to become a real draw.”

Any more restaurant/foodie news out there we’re missing? Email us at tips@myballard.com.

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

4 thoughts to “Restaurant briefs: New space, new cafe, Revel moving, Piccolo 2.0, Joli reviewed”

  1. “early sketch of the building above”

    Early as in a 1st grader drawing a picture of a really big shipping container with windows or early as in an architect who had to wake up at 5:00AM to finish a project that he completely forgot was due by 9:00AM?

    We should start an annual award for the ugliest new building in Ballard. With so many candidates it could be a close contest.

  2. Sadly, I think the new Nordic Heritage Museum would be a good candidate for ‘ugliest new building in Ballard’.

    I walked down 28th to Market recently and was aghast at the shear size and blandness of the museum. It appears to lack of any meaningful public interface– it’s just a big blank wall no better than the metal building previously on the lot where they repaired old volvos.

    People keep touting Seattle and Ballard as being ‘world class’ but someone really dropped the ball with this one

  3. I tend to agree with the commenters and I did some research in an attempt to explain/justify the new Nordic Heritage museum. What I found is that the design seems pretty reminiscent of Finnish design architecture:
    https://www.dezeen.com/tag/finland/

    Anyway, I’m getting used to it. But I always hate to see big buildings blocking the view and access to waterfront. That is classic Seattle.

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