Eyvind opening pushed back to autumn

The opening for Tony Brown’s new restaurant, Eyvind, has been pushed back to autumn.

The new opening date will be – “hopefully,” Brown said – sometime in September or October.

There’s “still a way to go on the new spot,” he said. “I’m taking my time.”

Brown is the chef and owner of Ruins, a North Monroe Street eatery that opened in 2014 and is known for its ever-changing small plates, themed menus and theme nights. Sunday is ramen. Monday is McRuins. Tuesday is for tacos.

Eyvind, named for painter Eyvind Earle, will be located on the first floor of the Bickett Building, 225 W. Riverside Ave. Brown gets to design the space from scratch, and that’s one of the things that excites him about the project. He also said he sees potential for growth in that area of downtown.

The menu at Eyvind will change, although not as frequently as the one at Ruins. Brown said he’ll likely switch it up three to four times per year and offer seasonal specials with ingredients he picks up at local farmers markets. The specialty will be seasonal and scratch-made Inland Northwest cuisine spotlighting local ingredients.

The restaurant’s namesake, who died in 2000 at age 84, joined Disney in 1951. He’s perhaps best known, at least in his Disney days, for the background and styling on “Sleeping Beauty” from 1959. But he also worked on “Peter Pan” and “Lady and the Tramp,” among other animated films.

“He’s a surrealist, basically,” Brown told The Spokesman-Review in January. “I like his stuff. It’s technical yet whimsical, and there’s a level of virtuosity. And that’s how food should be. It should have a level of virtuosity, and it should be appealing to the eye. I’ve always been influenced by visual stuff. I’m a very visual person.”