Elk Update New Owners Converting Browne’S Addition Store Into Restaurant And Pub

Browne’s Addition landmark that once held the oldest soda fountain in Spokane is being transformed into a neighborhood gathering spot.

Three young men with an eclectic mix of experience are remodeling The Elk into a restaurant and pub.

They bring with them a serious interest in good food and hand-crafted beers.

They are the same owners of the popular Moon Time pub in Coeur d’Alene and they hope to transport their success to Browne’s Addition.

“It’s an ideal location for what we do,” said co-owner John Grollmus, a 1986 graduate of Lewis and Clark High School.

For 50 years, the building at Pacific and Cannon housed Elk Drug, which had one of the last old-fashioned soda fountains in Spokane. In 1991, it was converted to a cafe, but the former owners retained the fountain.

Now, Grollmus and his partners are changing to a different concept.

They removed the fountain and gave away its various components to collectors. They are putting in a new copper-topped bar, counters, food and beverage coolers and wall paneling.

The newly installed waist-high paneling was made from salvaged doors that were fastened together, attached to the walls and then painted black.

Grollmus said the restaurant will be more efficient and easier to keep clean with the new coolers, countertops, sinks and shelves.

Dean Lynch, a member of the Browne’s Addition Steering Committee, said the old fountain had nostalgic value, but the decision of the new owners to make better use of the relatively small floor space makes sense.

“If it needed to come out, I can accept that,” Lynch said of the fountain.

The business district is the focal point of the neighborhood, so residents are curious about what’s going into the Elk, Lynch said.

He suggested the owners come to a steering committee meeting and get acquainted. It’s something other business people have done.

Many neighbors don’t want to see a bar opened, but a small restaurant with beer on tap sounds like it would be acceptable to the neighborhood, Lynch said.

Grollmus said that’s exactly what the Browne’s Addition neighbors are going to get in The Elk Public House.

The Moon Time in Coeur d’Alene already has a reputation for serving interesting food at modest prices, something owners will repeat at the Elk.

They do a gumbo from the 74th Street Ale House in Seattle. Another specialty is a grilled lamb sandwich with garlicky tzaski sauce.

A newer item is a pan-seared chicken breast sandwich with a roasted poblano chili and two kinds of cheeses. They also offer bratwurst shipped from Sheboygan, Wis.

Other offerings have even more of an international flavor.

“Spokane, we figured, was ripe for a place like this,” Grollmus said. “Nobody does really good food for $6.95 to $8.95.”

Grollmus is the spokesman for the group. He and co-owner Brad Fosseen, grandson of a former Spokane mayor, became friends at LC. Fosseen graduated from there in 1988.

After high school, Grollmus attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs and met their third partner, Jeff Meagher.

The three ended up living together in Seattle, working at different jobs and going to college.

Grollmus nearly finished a four-year degree in hotel and restaurant management before job opportunities drew him away from classes.

Meagher worked for microbrewers, and both he and Fosseen did shifts at Seattle’s popular 74th Street Ale House.

For a few years, Grollmus became a ski bum and worked as a cook at Schweitzer ski resort in the winter and the floating restaurant at Hope, Idaho, in the summer.

In 1996 they opened the Moon Time.

Now they are trying to parlay their success there into this second establishment.

And they’re serious. They signed a 20-year lease with John Emacio, a member of the family that owns the property.

It’s apparent they have put thousands of dollars into the new location, but Grollmus declined to say how much. The success of the Moon Time made it possible to secure a loan, he said.

Each of the partners is working on the construction inside the Elk part of the week and at the Moon Time the rest of the week. They bring in a carpenter, plumber and other tradesmen for the skilled work.

Beer drinkers should like it. The bar is being plumbed with 18 taps, and the kegs will be stored in a special basement walk-in cooler.

Guiness and one other brew will be kept at a slightly warmer temperature, and their lines will be pressurized with nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide. That supposedly renders a creamier consistency in the glass.

That attention to detail has become a hallmark for the three friends.

“We have a reputation a lot of people know,” Grollmus said.