Handle on business: French-Italian eatery to open on Sherman
If everything goes right, veteran Coeur d’Alene chef Adam Hegsted will open Le Piastre, a French-Italian restaurant, in the space formerly occupied by Cafe Doma at 501 Sherman Ave. later this month.
Hegsted, who was raised in Spokane, said the food primarily will be from Northwest ingredients with simple fare such as seared salmon, with sweet and sour breads, and buttermilk pancakes. He was educated at Inland Northwest Culinary Academy in Spokane and the Art Institute of Seattle. In Coeur d’Alene, he started with Black Rock, then Cedars and now Brix.
“I love the area and plan on staying,” Hegsted said. “I hope to make a difference in the community of food. I love my job, and I love doing it here in North Idaho.
Le Piastre will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Jill Sheffler, general manager, and Ryan Stoy, sous-chef, will oversee about 15 employees. The restaurant will seat about 50 customers inside and 20 outside in the summer. The décor
will be warm, cozy and casual, Hegsted said.
You can’t miss the Red Shed
With its bright red, oddly shaped home, somewhat like one of the buildings from the movie “Popeye,” Red Shed Espresso opened last weekend at 233 W. Dalton Ave.
Appearing to be much more than a standard coffee hut, the five experienced baristas serve three choices of Thomas Hammer Coffee – medium organic roast (Santiago), darker roast (Fireball) and medium roast (Signature) as well as Swiss Water Decaf. They add Torani syrups and sauces, and offer Ghirardelli chocolates and cocoa, ice cream or yogurt-based smoothies, several teas, ice-blended drinks, biscotti, baked goods from Sweetwater Bakery in Spokane and Cyrus O’Leary pie. The process is done with state-of- the-art machinery, according to owner Dave Atkinson.
Hours are from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Call 762-4222.
Steel Structures building new home
Steel Structures of America is building a new home for its offices at 3051 E. Seltice Way, Post Falls. The 10,000-square- foot building will replace its 4,300-square-foot place at 3635 Covington St. in late summer.
The company builds pole structures ranging from a two-car garage to a 15,000-square-foot commercial building. Examples include Premier Electric and Fred’s Plumbing in Aviation Business Park, Hayden. Owners and brothers Shawn and Justin Sternberg took over the business from their father in 1999. They have 14 employees.
“We have grown to be the largest pole-building company in the Northwest,” Shawn said. “Our company builds nearly 600 pole-building garages, shops, barns and commercial structures a year.”
Their buildings are in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Phone 777-7290.
This week’s tidbits
“A welcome, special touch is uniquely available at the Bistro on Spruce Restaurant in Coeur d’Alene. Don’t worry about not bringing your reading glasses in to see the menu; a pair is offered in glasses (of course) at each booth and table. The staff is very helpful and friendly. The owner and chef even come by to see how you’re doing. And the food is just fine. They’re not even giving me a free meal or glass of wine for writing this. Besides, our newspaper policy won’t let us accept it. Rats. And, yes, my scruples are too high for freebies anyway. Heh heh.
“Hmm. Rumors are that a Marriott hotel-something is coming to town. But it’s probably just a rumor. Other oft-heard rumors have to do with a Cracker Barrel Restaurant, which so far isn’t fact either. The rumor we want to hear is that a Trader Joe’s store is coming. Sorry. Not true either. Rats No. 2. We also hear that Wal-Mart plans are alive again in the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 95 and Honeysuckle in Hayden but “dead” near Cabela’s. However, Target and two hotels are planning to come to that area. We’ll see.
“Watch for a new access road into Fred Meyer from Kathleen Avenue. Neighbor Parker Toyota will be expanding its facility, and in doing so, the current car lot to the west will become attached to the rest of the property by moving the current access road to the west side of the car lot. More on the Parker changes later.
Contact Nils Rosdahl at 769- 3228 or nils_rosdahl@nic.edu.