By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Last Friday I was sent on a high-risk undercover mission. My task? To determine just how good the new kosher bakery in Seattle could be. It looked like my childhood dream of becoming a professional doughnut taster was coming to light.
To investigate, I was required to spend the better part of my JTNews salary on pastries. I admit, I was skeptical. The establishment is located in a sort of cold Dunkin Donuts-like space, and with boxes still strewn about and no wall hangings or window treatments to date, I had reason to be judgmental. And I have credentials: I have sat in a lot of European cafes. I’ve drunk lots of good and bad (some very bad) Americanos. And I have eaten a lot of pastries.
But Jane Collins, the owner, will melt any coffee-and-pastry snob’s frost. Petite and energetic, she excitedly laid out her plans to me. All of their offerings were just approved by the Seattle Vaad HaRabbanim, meaning the entire café is kosher. Now she wants to open a parve counter. She wants to hang historic pictures of the café‘s corner and invite older Jewish residents to come and reminisce about the old Yesler Way neighborhood. And she might offer Rosh Hashanah take-out orders. What better way to bring in a sweet New Year?
Now came time for the test. I ordered a feta popper, a smoked-salmon quiche, berry coffee cake, and three cinnamon rolls: A regular frosted, a nut-topped, and an orange-glazed. (No, I didn’t eat them all right there.) I also put her to the Americano test. Could she find the water-espresso balance and provide requisite froth?
To my delight, she passed. The coffee was perfect (despite being served in a paper cup — see below); the feta popper, adorned with caramelized onions, melted in my mouth way too fast; and before I knew it I had inhaled the entire slab of coffee cake.
Beehive will celebrate its grand opening on September 25. I suspect some of the disorganization will be cleared up by then. For now, I give it a rating of four chocolate chip cookies out of five.
Pros:
Cheap. Pastries sweet and savory run from $1–$3. With feta poppers at $1 a hit, I’ll take 10.
Delicious. I can’t say enough about the feta poppers. Or the coffee cake. Or the orange glazed cinnamon roll…
Kosher. An excellent alternative to Island Crust, where you have to schmooze with the entire Jewish community and empty your bank account to have a decent meal. And so far, non-Jews dig the kashrut certificate, associating it with a higher adherence to the health code.
Cons:
Not eco chic. In Seattle these days, there is no reason to still serve on paper and plastic. I have the same gripe with lots of other kosher places. Couldn’t they at least set up for recycling and compost?
Dieters: Stay far, far away. Same goes for diabetics.
On the fence:
Location. At the corner of 23rd and Union Beehive is easily accessible and situated in the historic Yesler Way area. But looking out over a 76 station doesn’t do much for atmosphere.
Ambience. The owners have done a nice job of sprucing up a rather rundown space. But while those huge aluminum windows were lovely for the persistent sunlight last week, I’m not sure how well they’ll do over the next 10 months of gloom.