Cedar Plaza getting first restaurant
Kendall Yards eatery to open in December
Spokane chef David Blaine said he will open the first restaurant in the new Kendall Yards development near downtown.
Blaine, with more than 20 years of experience in local restaurants, will move into 3,000 square feet of the Cedar Plaza Building south of the state Court of Appeals building.
The restaurant will be called Central Food.
This will be the first sole-proprietorship business for Blaine, who has been head chef for seven years at Latah Bistro.
The office building-restaurant is being built midway between the residential section of Kendall Yards and the string of commercial buildings planned along Summit Parkway leading toward Monroe Street Bridge.
“I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I passed on that location,” Blaine said. The Kendall Yards mixed-use development is one of the city’s most dynamic projects, he said. “It has so much energy behind it. I can’t think of any downsides to doing this.”
When finished later this year, the building will have two retail spaces on the north side. Blaine’s restaurant will sit on the south side with views of the Spokane River. The building’s west-facing open plaza can be used for events and music.
Blaine said he expects to open in December with a staff of roughly 25. It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
He said he chose the name to avoid labels like bistro or café. His style of food planning and cuisine revolve around fresh ingredients. “Follow the ingredients is the 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 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.