SilverKris Magazine - IT'S A GREY Seattle morning, and sheets of rain beat down on a yellow building in the city’s Ravenna neighbourhood. Just a few miles north of the Amazon headquarters, this quiet residential area houses three restaurants owned by acclaimed chef Edouardo Jordan, including Lucinda Grain Bar, which opened last December.
I duck in from the rain and enter the tiny space that has just two dozen seats – it feels intimate and familiar, like someone’s home early in the morning. Wainscoting and cabinetry are painted dark blue, and glass bottles and jars line the walls, filled with dried beans and grains. But despite its diminutive size, one can expect great things to happen here, because Jordan runs the show.
Jordan, dressed in jeans, clogs and a black JuneBaby sweatshirt, welcomes me with his characteristic broad smile. JuneBaby, his outrageously popular Southern American restaurant next door, earned a prestigious James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant last year, among countless other accolades, making it difficult to score a table. Facing a rain-streaked window, he explains the concept behind Lucinda and how it differs from his other two restaurants – JuneBaby and the Italian-inspired Salare. When the space next door to JuneBaby became available, he leapt at the chance to consolidate the functions of the three eateries. “We also thought, since we use ancient grains at the other restaurants, let’s do more of that,” Jordan reveals.
I duck in from the rain and enter the tiny space that has just two dozen seats – it feels intimate and familiar, like someone’s home early in the morning. Wainscoting and cabinetry are painted dark blue, and glass bottles and jars line the walls, filled with dried beans and grains. But despite its diminutive size, one can expect great things to happen here, because Jordan runs the show.
Jordan, dressed in jeans, clogs and a black JuneBaby sweatshirt, welcomes me with his characteristic broad smile. JuneBaby, his outrageously popular Southern American restaurant next door, earned a prestigious James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant last year, among countless other accolades, making it difficult to score a table. Facing a rain-streaked window, he explains the concept behind Lucinda and how it differs from his other two restaurants – JuneBaby and the Italian-inspired Salare. When the space next door to JuneBaby became available, he leapt at the chance to consolidate the functions of the three eateries. “We also thought, since we use ancient grains at the other restaurants, let’s do more of that,” Jordan reveals.