Lorna Yee Gets a Sneak Peek at Bastille in Ballard

I first met chef Shannon Galusha when he was cooking at Veil, a restaurant in Queen Anne that closed last year. My husband and I were Veil regulars, and enjoyed Galusha's cooking so much that we asked him to do the hors d'oeuvres at our wedding. He has an easy smile, and a self-effacing quality about him that is antithetical of the hyper-macho, egotistical “chef character” some have come to accept as par for the job. I was disappointed when Veil closed, but Galusha soon called me with news of Bastille, and invited me to come down and take a look at the space before its June 29^th opening.

So a few days ago, I pushed my way through a makeshift wooden door at the Obermaier Machine Works building to what will soon be Bastille, a 200-seat Provencal-style restaurant on Ballard Ave, at the corner of NW Vernon Place. Galusha was standing in the middle of a major construction zone, looking a little frazzled as he spoke to a group of contractors as the screech of band saws and hammers littered the air.

The first thing Galusha wanted to show me was the zinc bar, a single, hand-carved 45-foot long functional showpiece. “This zinc bar is probably the biggest in America, maybe next to the one at Balthazar [famed bistro in New York],” Galusha says proudly. As we wind through the space, I ask Galusha if other restaurants inspire his vision for Bastille. “Café Charbon in Paris, definitely,” he answers. He also cites Balthazar, and Pastis in New York, and Anisette in Santa Monica as inspirations.

Much of what you’ll find at Bastille is handmade: the tables (including an 18-seat communal one), enormous carved mirror frames, and bar tables are all made from alowooe wood, a black-stained, hardwood product injected with an organic resin compound. The grand bar you’ll see to the right as you walk into the restaurant, Galusha tells me, is a late 1800s piece harvested from a local estate and was entirely rehabilitated by two carpenters over the course of three weeks. 

As we walked through the restaurant, it became apparent that the owners, Deming Maclise (Caffé Fiore) and James Weimann (who helped open Peso’s and May, among other local restaurants), were dedicated in their quest to use as many reclaimed materials as possible. Many of the pieces in the restaurant--the fifty, late 19^th c. French lamps (many recovered from old churches), the three thousand-piece chandelier from an old Ballard mansion, the hundreds of postcards used to panel the restroom hallway, the salvaged fencing from Martin Luther causeway, and the black and white mosaic tiles--are relics Maclise and Weimann found on their travels overseas over the course of two and a half years.

Galusha has nothing but praise for Maclise and Weimann, citing that his major attraction to this project is that they’re both really good guys and amazing partners. (Galusha will act as managing partner, operations director, and chef when Bastille opens.) Other major players include Peter Lewis, founder of Campagne, who will be training the FOH staff and helping out with the wine list, and James Lechner as FOH manager (formerly of Monsoon and Café Campagne.) Galusha heaps praise on them too, calling them “the most gracious, service-oriented individuals in the city.”

The first stop on our tour? The kitchen, of course. Galusha ushers me in, and his excitement over a large rotisserie oven from Paris is palpable. I’ve seen these rotisserie ovens on TV before—they spin a great number of chickens at once, while the delicious drippings baste a tray of cut-up potatoes, turnips, and carrots at the bottom of the oven. “This,” says Galusha, “is the Cadillac of rotisseries!” These rotisseries typically retail between thirty and forty thousand, but by a stroke of good fortune, his partners found one on EBay for a mere ten grand. “We had lost out on two auctions already for this rotisserie, so one afternoon, all three of us sat at Caffé Fiore with our laptops out, escalating each others’ bids as the final minutes ticked down.” Galusha tells me he built his entire kitchen around this device, so that diners can catch a glimpse of it from the dining room.

When I ask to see a sample menu, he seemed a little hesitant to discuss the offerings, only because he said he didn’t want to promise a dish and not have it appear on the menu on opening day. With a tiny bit of prodding, (and after I promised I’d let it be known that this is a working menu, with possible changes to come), he acquiesced:

“We’re going to do basics like rooftop salads, Croque Madame, Croque Monsieur, and Croque Savoyard, and a bigger version of the Veil lamb burger. Then comes the small/large plates section: duck leg confit, French onion soup, you know, warmer weather French classics, maybe tuna fresh off the boat cooked in olive oil sous vide. Grilled octopus with argan oil, and preserved lemon.” He does not pause; I scribble furiously. “Then two mains: the poulet roti, and steak frites. We are working with a farm to get the chickens processed just for us. No, don’t write that down.” I cross the name of the farm out, and he continues: “Halibut, capers, fingerlings. Skate or monkfish bourride—“ he pauses, “do you know what that is?” I nod. (It’s similar to a fish stew, with aioli, in case you don’t.) “The plats du jour will be fun: squab, maybe I’ll get whole baby lambs in. Or lamb fricassee.” The food at Bastille will be more casual than Veil fare, with starters ranging from $4-$14 and mains ranging from 14-$22.

Desserts have always been a particular passion for Galusha, and he smiles when I ask what he has planned for Bastille. “There’ll be a salted peanut butter crème anglaise—I’ve had a lot of requests for that.” (He is, of course, referencing the peanut butter ice cream Veil was known for, a recipe featured in Bon Appetit.) Galusha continues: “Profiteroles, with hot fudge or chocolate sauce. Lavender crème brulée with pistachio biscotti.” (The lavender will, of course, be plucked from their rooftop garden.)

Galusha is not stingy with praise when it comes to Jason Stoneburner (ex-How to Cook a Wolf), his new chef de cuisine. When I ask him how he’ll manage all these dishes, plus pastries, without a pastry chef, he replies: “I have Jason, the best cook in Seattle. He’s very talented.”

From the kitchen, we continue on to Back Bar, an esoteric, speakeasy-type lounge behind the main dining room, where the lighting will be darker, and the atmosphere more adult. Continuing Bastille’s sustainable theme, the liquor shelves were constructed from old bookcases from a local estate, and the backlit, stainless bar is an original piece from the Obermaier Machine Works building. Armin, late of Black Bottle in Belltown, will be pouring value-oriented wines, most of them from France, with some local bottles rounding out the list. There is a recessed mezzanine in Back Bar, though Galusha doesn’t know what’s going in there yet. “I’m pushing for dry storage,” he says, “but…and I want to say this carefully—this area might turn into a DJ booth. We’re going to play old school KEXP records, Edith Piaf, world beats, that stuff.”

From the mezzanine, we go upstairs to the rooftop garden, where the Seattle Urban Farm Company has planted different test batches of herbs and lettuces for the restaurant. He plucks some arugula for me to taste. “This stuff is amazing—from seed to harvest in thirty days!” Galusha exclaims. “God, it’s so good, it tastes like nothing you’d get from a grocery store!” He savors another handful. (Galusha definitely has an affinity for growing produce—he helped Thomas Keller start the French Laundry garden when he worked there.) He estimated that the garden will be able to produce at least fifty pounds of lettuces a week, and that hopefully by next year, they’ll be able to expand the garden by another 5000 sq. feet. He is looking forward to growing, in his words: “weird herbs”, tomatoes, garlic, squashes, and onions.

We make our way downstairs to the outdoor patio. Next week, he says, the construction crew will be pouring concrete boxes alongside the patio for tomato plants to grow. The take-out window is located behind the forty-seat patio, and will be offering rotisserie chickens, grilled sardines on toast, frites, falafel, and pissaladiere—typical French street food. The owners have even applied for a retail certificate on their liquor license, so you’ll be able to purchase a bottle of wine with your chicken. “Maybe I should stick a whole lobe of foie gras on the rotisserie to draw the crowds in here from the street,” joked Galusha. Something tells me that crowds will come in droves even without the rotisserie foie, though we share a smile at the delicious visual.

Bastille Café and Bar
5307 Ballard Ave
www.bastilleseattle.com

Open seven days a week from 4:30pm-10pm, with dinner service beginning at 5:30pm; open for brunch Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-3pm, and late night dining until 1am

Back Bar: Full bar and late night menu from 4:30pm-1am, 7 days a week