Scratch turns 10

Scratch turns 10 on Nov. 14.

To celebrate, the downtown Spokane restaurant is offering a special menu. Look for crispy duck lettuce wraps, a Caprese salad, French hanger steak, veal tongue with a peppercorn demi glaze and Gorgonzola risotto, seafood bucatini and the restaurant’s signature chevre cheesecake. Drink specials include a Champagne toast and “anniversary cake” martini with four different spirits, chantilly and a cake garnish.

Scratch opened in 2007, and its adjacent lounge, Rain, opened in 2008. Both are owned by Connie Naccarato, who used to own Mamma Mia’s in North Spokane with her parents.

Scratch – done in black and white with red accents – opened just days before the Fox Theater reopened. Community and arts advocates had begun a campaign to save the 1931 theater, which had been threatened with demolition. Today, Scratch and Rain, done in brick and blue, are popular pre- and post-theater for dinner, drinks or dessert before or after a show. Scratch has also catered events at the theater.

The name comes from the kind of cooking they do there. “We make everything from scratch,” Naccarato said.

Several signature menu items haven’t changed since the restaurant opened, including the popular “grown-up” grilled cheese with fresh mozzarella, brie, Parmesan, Boursin, pears, hickory bacon and fresh basil.

Other mainstays are the calamari, lasagna, charcuterie board, hummus, crab chowder, gnocchi, hot pot, seafood trio and Scratch salad with baby spinach, bacon, brie, apples, candied walnuts and pomegranate vinaigrette.

Signature desserts include creme brulee, house-made ice cream and the bag of doughnuts, tossed with a choice of powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar and served with chocolate, caramel and huckleberry dipping sauces.

The rest of the menu typically changes three to four times per year, Naccarato said. The new winter menu launched Nov. 1. It includes roasted squash and couscous with Gorgonzola and a blood orange vinaigrette, fried oyster po’ boy, fish tacos, smoked duck with wild mushroom risotto, rack of lamb with caramelized Brussels sprouts and candied bacon, and braised rabbit with butternut squash risotto and pancetta.

The house-made gnocchi, pasta, marinara sauce and lasagna come from family recipes Naccarato used to use at Mamma Mia’s.

There’s a dining room in the back which can be rented for private parties and meetings. Custom menus can be created for private dining.

Happy hour is from 4 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close Wednesday through Saturday and all day Monday and Tuesday. During happy hour, draft beer is $4, well drinks are $5 and the Raindrop Martini – lemon, vodka, simple syrup and Blue Curacao.

The happy hour menu includes hot wings with Gorgonzola sauce, steamed clams, bruschetta, fries, sweet potato fries, a bacon burger and more.

Scratch is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and dinner only on Saturday. Rain is open 4 p.m. to close Monday through Saturday.

Scratch is at 1005 W. First Ave. Call (509) 456-5656. On the web: scratchspokane.com.