Latest news with #enRama
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spot with ‘best sandwiches in T-Town' closes. New owner plans to revamp menu
Outpost Sandwiches at Court House Square, one of the city's best lunch restaurants, closed its most recent chapter last week, as a new owner — a chef with many years of experience in the local industry and beyond — plans to revamp the space and concept. Partners Adolfo 'Fito' Calles and Lauren Hernandez said goodbye to their sandwich shop after service on May 15, ending a journey that began in 2017. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in an Instagram post the next day, it appeared that personal reasons drove the decision. 'Well we are speechless. 8 years. 120,000 sandwiches, a pandemic, a baby… and shortly another baby. Thank you everyone who has come by this week or reached out. It really means the world to us,' they wrote under a photo of toasted and untoasted bread — likely Macrina Bakery sourdough, the shop's loaf of choice. 'We get asked by friends and family, why we decided to move to Tacoma and this is clearly one of the reasons … we've really felt the love of the community.' Dave Cooper, most recently of the venerable Marzano in Parkland and Le Pichet at Pike Place Market, has bought the business. Like en Rama and Liftbridge Coffee upstairs, the developer of Court House Square, A Street Associates, built the restaurant spaces and contracted out the management of them to industry professionals. Last year, the building owner sold en Rama to new owners, and now Outpost has followed a similar path. The News Tribune also reached out to the building owner's representative for more information. Court House Square was originally built in 1919 for the U.S. Postal Service. It was renovated in the early 1980s, according to county property records, but its modern life really began in 2012 when A Street Associates purchased it 'with the intention of bringing its 72,000 square feet back to life,' according to the organization's website. In addition to the food and drink businesses (which, years ago, included Ice Cream Social's production facility and an Infinite Soups next to Outpost — then called The Countertop), the five-floor structure is also home to a few dozen small businesses, from tattoo shops to recording studios, florists to therapy. The fourth-floor holds a desirable ballroom event space and the third floor co-working office The Pioneer Collective. There is still a working post office on the main floor. Outpost was beloved not only as a top choice for a quick lunch downtown but also as a destination for sandwiches made with care. Calles comes from a family of restaurant-industry professionals and worked for many years in kitchens around the Bay Area and food trucks in Los Angeles before settling in Tacoma. In an interview with The News Tribune in 2022, he said the shop had offered relatively 'safe food' when he and Hernandez took over in 2017. They kicked things up several notches, focusing on homemade touches by roasting beef, pickling onions, whipping lemon-herb mayo and fresh basil pesto. 'Homemade is our biggest push as a sandwich shop,' said Calles in 2022. 'I want it to be comforting.' In the downtime of 2020, they developed a Friday pizza ritual, perfecting the recipe for their Grandma-style pie — available only by the slice, and only on Fridays — over the next few years. Outpost shared many Instagram stories last week from fans. 'Best sandwiches in T-Town. Period,' said one. 'Y'all were seriously so good at what you did,' said another. On Reddit, a Fircrest resident said, 'I eat lunch there every time I work from downtown Tacoma.' Cooper anticipates various updates, both aesthetic and menu-wise, he confirmed in an email to The News Tribune. Bringing years of experience in the kitchen, including at respected restaurants in Chicago, he hopes to share more details next month. ▪ 1102 A St. (basement level — main entrance on South 12th Street) ▪ Details: new owner for Court House Square sandwich shop; target opening early summer 2025
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fusion hot again at new Tacoma restaurant. Butter-chicken pasta, masala-spiced ribs await
The many scents of masala radiate from the revamped storefront at 2715 6th Ave., where Grann, one of Tacoma's most anticipated new restaurants, has begun serving its intriguing medley of Southern, Creole and Indian cooking. After a few friends-and-family nights earlier this year, chefs Reginald Jacob Howell and Denzel Johnson soft-opened their first standalone spot in March. They anticipate hosting a casual grand opening party April 4, followed by a quick break, but reservations are now available for dinner Tuesday through Saturday. The first edition of the menu kicks off with 'chaats and thangs,' referencing a variety of savory Indian snacks. Chicken skins are fried Southern-style with cornmeal, seasoned with chaat masala (a tangy, funky spice blend) and accompanied by wasakaka sauce, an herbaceous, citrusy, Caribbean mojo. Yams and potatoes, to scoop through spiced yogurt, get the barbecue treatment, while puri — the delicate semolina rice shell — can be popped with a classic-leaning masala tea, chickpea and potato filling or, in a Southern hat-tip, pimento cheese. The curried Caesar with paneer and cornbread crumbles has stood out to customers in the first few weeks, said the chefs, as have the vegan coconut masala collards. That cruciferous green is cooked for several hours with Indian spices and spiked with coconut milk toward the end, explained Howell as he plated dishes for some early diners on a recent Wednesday. Also among the sides: vegan black-eyed peas, baked in a smoked tomato 'gravy' that also stars in the signature butter chicken pasta. 'It's a simple dish,' said Howell of the original Indian iteration, whose (contested) origins date to the first half of the 20th century. 'But you can play with it and have fun.' Grann marks Howell's return to Tacoma, his hometown, after several years cooking at several restaurants in Seattle. He led the kitchen at en Rama in downtown Tacoma, where he specialized in pasta-making and began experimenting with unexpected flavor combinations, encouraged in part by trips to visit his wife's family in India. Johnson, an old friend and King County native with Southern roots, leads the smoked-meat charge. He had to get pretty creative within the confines of a modest kitchen, but the tandoori ribs develop nice flavor on the grill, enhanced by the more-masala mop sauce. Smoked beef also stars in the biryani, and a lamb-beef patty — the meat ground in-house — sits on a homemade coconut bun with mint chutney aioli, tamarind BBQ and American cheese. The combo intends to provide what Johnson calls 'palate shocks,' like 'you're at the club dancing, but to your own rhythm.' Cocktails, whose names honor prominent Black figures, also reach deep into spice world. The Beyhive blends curry with lemon and bourbon, the Love Jones tequila and cardamom-laced mango lassi, and the In Grann Fashion garam masala and overproof dark rum. The Table occupied this space for almost a decade, closing just a few months after chef-owner Derek Bray was named a semifinalist in the prestigious James Beard Awards. (Much of the staff moved to Corbeau in the Proctor District.) Howell and Johnson purchased the business and most of the equipment from Bray, including the signature, 18-seat, high-top communal table that has anchored the room since 2014. 'It's like your grandma's table,' said Johnson. 'It's just kind of essential to what we're doing.' They painted the walls rich hues of emerald green and rusty orange and wrapped the ceiling's sound panels with similar shades of velvet fabric, as well as a custom Indian-inspired print with the numbers '253' also used for staff aprons. The industrial-vibe ladder and other light fixtures have been updated and adorned with creamy-white mala, the flower garlands that often decorate Indian weddings. The restaurant's name, pronounced as in 'granma,' hearkens to that sense of family and belonging, and the chefs often emerge from behind the open kitchen. Near the host stand, a collage of picture frames shows Howell and Johnson with their families. In the center is a worn piece of paper with the 'Recipe for Grann': a bowl-full of family, care, community, creativity, hospitality, soul, and — this is Tacoma after all — grit: 'A pinch of the unexpected, a nod to tradition, a bite that lingers … best enjoyed at a full table, with hands reaching, stories flowing, and the promise that every guest leaves with more than just a meal.' ▪ 2715 6th Ave., Tacoma, ▪ Tuesday-Thursday 4-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 4-11 p.m. ▪ Details: new Indian, Creole & barbecue fusion restaurant; reservations recommended through Tock ▪ Grand opening planned for April 4, follow Instagram for updates
