Fire damage fixed, Santé back to full menu

The kitchen at Santé Restaurant and Charcuterie is back in business after a Dec. 11 kitchen fire.

The grease fire caused $35,000 in damage and forced the restaurant to trim breakfast and lunch service, and eliminate dinner service while repairs were made. The fire spared the historic Liberty Building, which the restaurant shares with Auntie’s Bookstore.

Santé returned to full service on Thursday and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Sunday.

“We’re thrilled to get back to our full menu,” says owner and executive chef Jeremy Hansen in a news release last week. “These past several weeks have been tough for us, but to be honest, they’ve also been extremely eye-opening to the level of community support we’ve received.”

After dinner on Sunday, Santé closes while new upgraded equipment and additional counter space is added to help speed production. They plan to reopen in time for Valentine’s Day with a new menu and revamped wine list.

Reach the restaurant at (509) 315-4613. There are more details on the restaurant’s website, SanteSpokane.com or on Facebook.

SAVORx needs a Kickstarter

Pete Taylor is crazy about spice. So crazy, he’s willing to do some downright misguided things to get his spice business started.

Taylor, a chef at Cavanaugh’s in Priest Lake who trained at the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy, launched a Kickstarter campaign last week, hoping to raise $12,000 for his business idea called SAVORx

The idea behind SAVORx is to sell high-quality, pre-measured spices, along with recipes and videos of Taylor making dishes. Taylor hopes to convince home cooks to toss their tired spices and start using whole, fresh spices that they toast and grind themselves.

Kickstarter is a crowd-source funding website that allows innovators to post videos detailing their business idea and solicit start-up money. It’s an all-or-nothing proposition, so if fundraising falls short of Taylor’s goal no one is charged. Find Taylor’s video on Kickstarter.com or a link is posted on my Too Many Cooks Blog, www.spokesman.com/blogs/ too-many-cooks.

The would-be entrepreneurs usually promise a little something in return for pledges. Taylor is offering serious stunts and swag for pledges to the top investors. He’s up to tattooing someone’s name or business name on his body for a $5,000 pledge. A $10,000 pledge will earn a trip to India with Taylor and his film crew as they sniff out the world’s best sources for spice and film a documentary.

The Kickstarter campaign ends on Feb. 19.