Visiting a restaurant on its second night open can be risky business.
I’ve worked in these restaurants. Ones where people try for weeks to get a peek behind paper-covered windows, anticipation (and expectations) running high. Restaurants where the first week is a blur that feels like one of Dante’s seven circles of hell.
But sometimes the opposite happens. When I stepped into the newly opened Peyrassol West in Normandy Park, it was like stepping into a restaurant that’s been open for decades.
Co-owner Sachia Tinsley chalks it up to experience. Many of the faces you’ll see at Peyrassol West worked at the original Peyrassol Cafe in Renton, which closed after 15 years last October.
“Much of the touches are theirs,” Tinsley said. “We painted the walls the same color as our old space. Hopefully the people who were our regulars will feel that comfort.”
At Peyrassol West, jazzy music plays at a pleasing volume, candles are lit and the staff is kind and calm. It’s a happy new beginning for Tinsley and her husband, Scott Cory, after a year of uncertainty.
The couple opened the original Peyrassol Cafe in 2010. Located on a dead-end street with a gravel pit for a neighbor, they envisioned a casual enoteca; it was meant to be Cory’s version of a wine bar while Tinsley kept her job as the executive pastry chef at Wild Ginger.
“But it got bigger and people wanted it,” Tinsley says. “It was a restaurant desert right there; the Landing was still getting its legs. So we evolved into a restaurant and now we’re evolving back into our original restaurant.”
After receiving a 30-day vacate notice in Renton, Tinsley and Cory looked to start the next chapter in Kent, Des Moines, Burien and Renton before finally finding this small space in Normandy Park, which “was just sitting here with our name on it,” Tinsley says.
It’s a much smaller space — just a capacity of 28 — and there is no hood, meaning the couple downsized and adjusted their menu. Fans of Peyrassol Cafe (who have been emailing me for years) will be happy to see old favorites like the wedge salad ($10) and the goat cheese provincial ($14) plus new twists on old dishes like the meatballs ($14).
One bite of the goat cheese provincial — rolled in herbs and baked in a puddle of tomato sauce with roasted garlic cloves, caramelized onion and Kalamata olives — and it’s easy to see why I got so many emails. The creamy goat cheese is just short of oozing, perfectly spreadable onto the accompanying crostini and topped with a smooshed garlic clove or olive.
It is a perfect cozy winter appetizer with a glass of wine.
The couple sitting next to me at the bar (yes, this version of Peyrassol finally has a bar!) ordered the wedge salad and meatballs, so I ordered the wedge salad and meatballs.
It was a good call. There’s nothing quite like a good wedge salad and this one comes with just the right amount of Roquefort dressing and thin slivers of crispy pancetta over little gem lettuce, cherry tomatoes and a dusting of crunchy breadcrumbs.
The lamb and beef meatballs — three to an order — are a wee bit bigger than a golf ball and are served swimming in a rich brandy cream sauce. Velvety smooth and almost buttery, the sauce was a lovely departure from marinara.
It was a wonderful dinner in a really lovely atmosphere. And yes, it’s in the shadow of a QFC, but Tinsley hopes that once you walk through the doors, “all that disappears,” and you’ll feel right at home.
In the spirit of feeling right at home — and tips from readers — I found myself nearby at Burien’s Three Tree Point Store.
The store is located in a beautiful old craftsman that, until 2021, had been vacant for 25-plus years. Over the years, the craftsman has also housed a family, a bait shop and a candy store. Three Tree Point Store is now the place to grab coffee, pastries, sandwiches, flatbreads and beer and wine. You can also hang out for trivia on Tuesday nights or pizzas on Fridays.
I grabbed an Italian sandwich ($14.50) piled with rosemary ham, pepperoni, Mama Lil’s, salami and provolone; and a 3TP Pickle ($14.50) with French ham, dill cream cheese, pickles and a layer of Lay’s sour cream and onion chips.
The Italian (served warm) is a hearty, salty, fatty sandwich with creamy garlic aioli. But if you are a pickle lover, don’t miss the 3TP — and ask for it heated up! It’s packed with pickle flavor and the layer of potato chips just adds a great texture and crunch to break up the richness of cream cheese and ham.
There’s a really nice selection of pantry items as well as some great wines, and I’ve got my eye on their flatbreads, too. It’s such a cute, welcoming space; I wish it was in my neighborhood so I could be a regular.