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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Savor the sweetness: Adam Hegsted’s new Honey celebrates favorite, natural, local ingredient

Savor the sweetness.

On fry bread with huckleberries and butter. With shrimp and wild rice grits, glazed porchetta and a poached egg. Atop double-fried chicken with mashed red potatoes, pickled jalapenos, slaw, a soft roll and melty butter. Or, simply, on a house-made buttermilk biscuit with, of course, more butter.

Adam Hegsted’s newest restaurant celebrates one of his favorite, local, natural ingredients. Honey isn’t found in every menu item at the new Honey Eatery and Social Club in downtown Coeur d’Alene. But it’s incorporated into many of them.

Hegsted, the chef and restaurateur behind more than a half-dozen establishments in the Inland Northwest, said he likes honey for its versatility. Honey, he noted, can be used in both sweet and savory dishes.

“You can cook with it. You can have it raw. It appeals to a lot of people. And,” he said, “it’s playful.”

So is the decor at his latest establishment, which opened in early June. That is, the main-floor restaurant is officially open. The subterranean tapas bar and lounge is slated to open July 6.

Even though they are part of the same space, they’ll be run as separate restaurants. Both will be open seven days per week. But hours won’t overlap.

The eatery offers an industrial, vintage, eclectic, boho-chic vibe. The ceiling is high and tan-painted pressed tin. Chairs are metal and colored orange, yellow, white and black. A feature wall just inside the front doors is slated to display some 260 jars of local honey.

Works from local artists add to the whimsy. Shannon Erwin created the stained glass that decorates the entry way and evokes honeycomb. She also fashioned the sculpture of the head of a bee that keeps watch over the bar area from high in a back corner. Alexandra Iosub painted the murals on the walls of the restaurant featuring a honey bee and stylized flowers.

Once-dark wood posts and accents have been painted over and softened up. Light fixtures have been replaced.

“We wanted to make it a little more cozy in here. We wanted it to feel neighborhood-y, more casual,” said Hegsted, who previously owned another restaurant in the same space.

Honey is located in the same spot that formerly held the Cellar, Hegsted’s upscale but now-closed Pacific Northwest restaurant.

The Cellar focused on fine dining and an extensive wine cellar. Hegsted closed it in January 2017 when the building owner put the property up for sale. Spokane developer Jerry Dicker has since purchased the building, and Hegsted has moved back in with a new concept.

“It was easier to start fresh,” Hegsted said. “We wanted something natural that represents North Idaho and what we’re trying to do.”

And, he noted, “Every civilization used honey in some way. It’s everywhere. It’s one of the most important ingredients.”

Look for it in the honey-cured pork rib served with green onion pancakes and in honey-bacon jam on the signature burger and the butter that’s served on toast or biscuits or Hegsted’s specialty double-fried chicken.

Entrees are contemporary, fun and elevated comfort foods at approachable price points – something for which Hegsted has come to be known.

Early top-sellers, he said, include the avocado toast, shrimp and wild rice grits, cedar-cooked trout, eggs Benedict and, of course, that fried chicken.

Dishes are similar to those on the menu at Hegsted’s Farmhouse Kitchen and Silo Bar in Ponderay. Look for a burrata omelet, big breakfast plank with two eggs and bacon and more, a chop chop salad bowl, mini Scotch eggs made with quail eggs, and a strawberry-rhubarb cast iron pancake.

Honey Eatery is open for breakfast and lunch. The menu, including handcrafted cocktails and firsts such as chocolate doughnuts and “Ourtine,” Hegsted’s take on poutine, will stay the same for both meals.

Shane Clark is the opening chef. Coffee comes from Roast House in Spokane. And there’s room on the mezzanine overlooking the main dining room for private parties or overflow.

Honey Social Club, slated to open in about three weeks, will pick up when service at the eatery ends for the day. The ambiance will be more intimate, with low lighting and a low-slung ceiling, exposed red brick and dark, tufted leather armchairs.

Those familiar with the space will notice a much larger bar, double if not triple in size from when it housed the Cellar. Also new: a self-service wine bar at which guests can help themselves to select wines, paying by card.

The stage is being moved from the south wall to the east wall, so it’s more centrally located. The lighting and sound systems have also been redone, and the plan is to host live music and ticketed concert events.

Hegsted also plans to offer a beer and wine club and is considering hanging works of art from the ceiling as well as maybe the walls, too.

The focus down here is Pacific Northwest-inspired small bites. Most plates are meant to be passed and shared. Nosh on bacon, bread, biscuits, Marcona almonds, patatas bravas or potato chips and caviar.

Larger small plates include a cheese board, charcuterie board, honey Caesar salad, roasted chicken salad, chop chop salad or crispy rice salad with arugula and a poached fried egg.

Some of the same entrees from the upstairs Honey Eatery will also be available, such as the Ourtine, shortrib and eggs, burger and cedar-cooked trout.

The cocktail program at the social club will focus on craft and “renewed vintage” cocktails, with modern and local twists on old favorites such as the Manhattan, Paper Plane, Negroni, Dark and Stormy, and Old-Fashioned.

Hegsted owns or is a partner in IncrediBurger and Eggs, Wandering Table, Yards Bruncheon and Gilded Unicorn in Spokane; Farmhouse Kitchen and Silo Bar in Ponderay; Eat Good Cafe in Liberty Lake; Republic Kitchen and Taphouse in Post Falls; and Le Catering, a catering company.

A second Incrediburger location is in the works for CdA. A retail space for Doughlicious, his new bakery business, is also in the works, likely for downtown Spokane.

Meantime, Hegsted is also working to expand his Vital Fit Meals, a scratch-made meal service that specializes in healthful meals for pick up or delivery.

And, he said, he’s also preparing to produce and appear in a video series called “Behind the Scenes Northwest,” spotlighting the food industry in the Pacific Northwest from a how-it’s-made as well as historical and other points of view. He’s partnering with social media marketer, photographer and videographer Doyle Wheeler on that project.

Hegsted is also gearing up for the second annual Crave Food and Drink Celebration, which he created and launched last summer. The sophomore event is slated for July 12 to 15 at CenterPlace Regional Event Center at Mirabeau Meadows Park in Spokane Valley.