Spokane chef plans first restaurant for Kendall Yards

Spokane chef David Blaine said he will open the first restaurant in the new Kendall Yards development near downtown. Blaine, who has worked in area restaurants for more than 20 years, will move into 3,000 square feet of the Cedar Plaza Building south of the State Court of Appeals. The restaurant will be called Central Food, Blaine said. This will be Blaine’s first sole-proprietorship business, after working for a number of area restaurants, including Latah Bistro, where he’s been head chef for seven years. The Cedar Plaza is being built midway between the residential section of Kendall Yards and the string of future commercial buildings planned along Summit Parkway leading toward the Monroe Street Bridge. Blaine said “I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I passed on that location.” He said he considers the Kendall Yards mixed-use development one of the city’s most dynamic projects. “It has so much energy behind it. I can’t think of any downsides to doing this,” he added. The building, when finished later this year, will have two retail spaces on the north side. Blaine’s restaurant will sit on the south side of the building with views of the Spokane River. The building’s west-facing open plaza can be used for events and music. The building should be finished this fall, and Blaine said he expects to open in December. He said he expects to have a staff of roughly 25. It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. He chose the name in order to be non-specific and to avoid labels like “bistro” or café. His style of food planning and cuisine is driven by available fresh ingredients. “Follow the ingredients will be our guiding principle,” he said. For the moment the plan is general and evolving. “We’ll be looking forward to the process of discovering what kind of restaurant it will be become. We didn’t want to pick a name and sound heavy-handed,” he said. Greenstone began developing the 78-acre Kendall Yards project in 2010, just west of the Monroe Street Bridge on former railroad property. It now includes more than 60 occupied or already purchased residential units. Future commercial projects along Kendall Yards’ eastern half will include several buildings expected to be started in the next 18 months, Greenstone officials have said.