Seen or heard in the 'hood

New restaurant to take MP Conservatory space

Though we don't yet have the details, we do know that the space on 43rd Avenue E. vacated by Madison Park Conservatory in February will soon be the site of a new restaurant.  Owners Maria and Ricky Eng, doing business as Eng Seattle Restaurants, Inc., applied earlier this month for a liquor license for the site. Ricky Eng confirms that while the name is yet to be determined, the restaurant will definitely be a full-service, sit-down affair. We'll give you the full scoop when we have it.

Founder moves on but pizzeria still going strong

Tom Siegal, who created The Independent Pizzeria in 2010 and who has been the mainstay pizza maker ever since, moved to Providence, Rhode Island earlier this summer.  His wife was admitted to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design--and Tom, quite naturally, decided to relocate to the East Coast to be with her while she's in school.

While Tom is maintaining his ownership of our neighborhood pizza joint, Joe Heffernan and the rest of The Independent Pizza crew are carrying on the four-year tradition of making excellent Neapolitan pizza in Madison Park.  National foodie website Epicurious tapped The Indpendent as having one of the 10 Top Pizzas in the U.S. last year.

Former Mad Pizza space undergoing refurbishment

Construction of a new interior, along with some exterior refurbishment, is underway at the old Mad Pizza location on E. Madison St.  So it looks like what's rumored to be an Asian eatery is going to be part of Madison Park's future.  What's apparently not in our future, however, is a taco stand at the location of the old Best Buds flower shop on E. Blaine.  Nothing much happening there since the notice was taken out of the window months ago.   Both sites have been vacant since last year.

Ann Marie elects to stay

Although Ann Marie Lingerie announced during Spring that it was giving up its "bricks and mortar" in the neighborhood and migrating to an exclusively on-line business, apparently the moving-out sale and the interest generated from the publicity resulted in a re-thinking of that business strategy.  Manager Felicia Klabo reported to us earlier this month that the shop is staying in place.  The efforts to increase Ann Marie's on-line presence continues unabated, however.

HomeStreet almost ready to enter banking scene

It's taken a long, long time to get to this point, but the new Madison Park HomeStreet Bank branch seems to be nearing completion, with an anticipated late August/early September opening date.  The one-time Tully's site, which was vacated in October 2012, has been under such an extensive repair program that it could almost be argued that the result is a new building.  The original structure is over one hundred years old and has served host to many different businesses along the way, but never a bank. What's happening to this space is part of a trend, however, of Madison Park becoming a banking hub. HomeStreet, when open, will be Bank Branch Number Five.

Madison Park 'best' in two categories

Cormac Mahoney and The Independent Pizzeria score

It seems that when the Seattle Weekly comes out with its "Best of Seattle" issue each year, Madison Park makes the list in at least one or two categories---and this year was no different.

For those who are not regular readers of the Weekly, we note that the 2012 awards, published last week, included Madison Park Conservatory's Cormac Mahoney as "Best Chef" and, for the second time, The Independent Pizzeria as "Best Pizza, Thin Crust."

The Weekly described Mahoney as exactly the kind of chef to make New York media types salivate, since he is all about local ingredients, does his own interpretation of trendy dishes, and "stays close in touch with his hipster roots."  And, of course, there's the food: "smart,, restrained, and always exquisite."

The Independent Pizzeria, which was a "Best of" choice when hardly opened in 2010, gets praise from The Weekly for having mastered all of the elements expected of a good Neapolitan pie: crust texture, sauce flavor, and topping ratios.  And, of course, there's that great "near-waterfront location" that "would charm even the most finicky Italian."

Our beach did not get singled out this year, though it was once the "Best Beach for Babe Viewing" (2010) and "Best Spot for Running into People You Never Thought You'd See Again After High School" (2009).  Cactus! made the list in 2007 and 2011 for its cocktails.  Madison Park missed out in 2008.

[Editorial aside:  Another award given by The Weekly has a vicarious connection to Madison Park through the Madison Park Blogger.  As it happens, the "Best Local Girl Gone Bad" for this year is the tenant of a house we own. The apparent downfall of this former Ms. Washington (soon to be on trial for murder) is a lurid story which has gotten a lot of coverage, including this from The Weekly: "Peggy Sue Thomas: Drop Dead Gorgeous."

[The Madison Park Conservatory is located at 1927 43rd Avenue E. and The Independent Pizzeria is located at 4235 E. Madison St.]

Madison Park has it all (or at least some of it)

Madison Park has just been singled out by Seattle Weekly as having both the Best Beach for Babe Viewing and the Best Pizza in Town. These twin honors have been given to our .9 sq. miles of the City as part of the paper's 25th Annual Best of Seattle awards.

First, about that beach award. It seems that we are outstanding only because the people at our beach are imported from elsewhere. To quote the paper, "Owing to its proximity to Capitol Hill and the U District, Madison's shores become crowded with the toned, tanned bodies of gay men and college students." I guess the college students must be the babes then. At any rate, at least according to the Weekly, once the lifeguards leave the beach in the evening, the skinny-dipping babes appear and things get lively. I apparently am in bed by then.

The best-pizza honor is probably a bit more momentous for most of us here in the Park. The Weekly recognizes Madison Park's recently opened and "unprepossessing" The Independent Pizzeria as being a cozy place with great pizza, even though it's located in an "unlikely" neighborhood.

I'm just not sure that we're getting the appropriate level of respect from this paper, but perhaps we can be content in the knowledge that we've got the pizza--and, however fleetingly, the babes.

[Photo of Madison Park Beach courtesy of the Weekly. For all of the Best of Seattle awards, click here. The Independent Pizzeria is located at 4235 E. Madison Street. As a related aside, I note that CitySearch picks Madison Park Beach as the No. 5 Best Outdoor Venue to Meet Singles in Seattle.]

The Independent Pizzeria finds its niche

I was surprised to discover when looking at the blog’s statistics earlier this week that my posting on the opening of The Independent Pizzeria was the most read story ever, with over 500 reads to date. This must be a neighborhood that really likes pizza! So I decided I ought to live up to the promise I’d made to MPB readers that I would get the inside story on the new pizza joint from its owner/manager/pizza maker, Tom Siegel.

Early this evening, therefore, I moseyed on down to the pizzeria (located at 4235 E. Madison Street) to get the scoop. [Before I go any further with this posting, however, let me just interrupt the flow to say that while I was on the premises, I just happened to buy a pizza (the Syracuse), and it was only the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life—and I’ve been to Italy!]

Now where was I? Anyway, the place was not packed when I arrived a little before six, but doing a brisk business. There are only five tables, a few bar stools and some couch seating, so it will be an intimate place during the winter months. Tom told me that Wednesday night had been the pizzeria’s best night ever. The place has not even been open two weeks, but the word is obviously spreading.

There are seven pizzas on the initial menu (Queen, Twin Peaks, Beta, Pepperoni, Norwalk, and The Stevedore are the other six, with “Mama Lil” providing the peppers). The pizzas are all twelve inchers. In addition, there’s a salad option, two different selections of antipasti, and a more than sufficient number of wine and beer choices.

Tom was too busy to be interrogated in detail by me (Question: “Any glitches noticed so far?” Answer: “I will have to think about that and get back to you.” I told him things must be going okay if he can’t remember any major snafus). That's Tom making pizzas in the photos above, by the way.

Luckily for this piece (which is intended to provide some color, after all) I had quizzed Tom by email earlier about how he happens to be making pizzas in the ‘hood. Pretend this is a live interview:

ME: Why another pizza place in Madison Park?

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TOM: I love to talk about, look at, smell, make, and eat food. In the spring of 2002 I experienced my first Neapolitan pizza. It was at a little kiosk in the heart of Naples. it was a six inch pizza with sauce, a dollop of cheese and a basil leave. It was ethereal. From that moment my mission was to open a small pizzeria. When Impromptu closed, my friend Fred from Madison Cellars stopped by my previous job to tell me about the space. Merijo, the previous manager at Impromptu, was kind enough to show me the space. As soon as I saw it I knew this was the place to live out my dream. A place that I could focus on making pizza.
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ME: What's your personal background?

TOM: I was raised by a family of foodies in upstate NY. From my first job as a bus boy at 15, to present, I have worked a variety of different jobs in food and wine. My first experience working in a fine-dining restaurant was as a pantry chef in Nantucket. I owned and operated a small catering business in Prague. I worked at Windows on the World as an assistant sommelier. I have been a wine rep for Triage Wines, a local wine distributor for the past ten years. These are some highlights of my life in the industry.

ME: What kind of pizza exactly are you purveying?

TOM: A craft pizza in a style where New York meets Naples. Thin crust with pure, natural ingredients, baked in an exceedingly hot oven. Our goal is to offer our patrons a tasty and unique selection of local and European beer and wine made by small producers. We want our libations to work well with our food.

ME: Is this a take-out place?

TOM: We invite people to dine in but should someone want a pie to go I would be happy to box one up. Currently we are open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. We will be expanding our hours for the lunch crowd and we will be opening our patio up for outdoor dining by this summer.

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ME: Anything else you think Madison Parkers should know the new joint?

TOM: I'm excited to join Madison Park's merchant gang. I'm looking forward to meeting the neighbors and feeding the eaters in this community.


Well, that’s about it for this pizza roundup. Bottom line: I think Mad Pizza has some competition on its hands, although maybe we’re talking about an entirely different segment of the market here: pizza aficionados. But don’t let my judgment rule. The patrons I spoke with had these things to say about their experience at The Independent Pizzeria: Unidentified (and wanting to remain so) Patron No. 1: “We’re from the East Coast and we know good pizza when we find it!” And Unidentified (I forgot to ask for a name) Patron No. 2: “This is better than Tutta Bella!”

(No, Tom is not paying me for this posting. And, as a matter of fact, I paid for my pizza too).

Some early reviews have been posted on two of the major restaurant customer-review sites, Yelp and Urban Spoon Seattle, and all of them are positive. So check the place out for yourselves. Just don’t show up on a Tuesday!

[Note: to-go orders must be made in person.]

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'Soft opening' for The Independent Pizzeria

We've been waiting and waiting, but the day has finally arrived when we can test out the new eatery in the 'hood, The Independent Pizzeria, successor to Impromptu (4235 E Madison Street). They had sort of a stealth opening this evening at 5:00 (no big announcement, no fanfare), and by the time I arrived on the scene at 5:20 they had already served their first customer. I just missed getting the shot (I guess the guy took his pizza to go, though there is limited seating). Here are a couple of photos to give you an idea of the place.

All I can tell you is there are seven pizzas on the menu (that's a mini pizza in the shot above, not the regular size), with more pizzas to be added later. Wine and beer.

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Owner Tom Siegel promises to divulge all the details to me when they're fully up and running. In the meantime, you can go check the place out for yourselves. The pizza smelled great.

Mad Pizza gets some competition

Apparently you can never have too much pizza. And just to prove the point, we're about to get a new pizza place here in the Park. The construction crew has been working away this past week in the old Impromptu space (4227 E. Madison St.), knocking down an interior wall and installing new pizza ovens.

Word on the street is that it's a "gourmet" pizza parlor, which may be opening as early as a week from now. The name of the new place is unknown, at least to any of the local merchants I spoke to, however. The construction crew tells me that even the construction plans do not include the restaurant's name.

While there are many kinds of food that you cannot get in the neighborhood, pizza is certainly not one of them. In addition to Mad Pizza, the longtime stand-alone pizza parlor further up the street, there are quite a few other options, given that there's pizza on the regular menus of Bing's, The Red Onion, The Attic, and McGilvra's (have I left someone out?).

Of course "gourmet" is another niche. We shall see.