Porcella Urban Market
05-May-2006
I love living in Seattle and rarely, if ever, wish that I lived on the East side. Not that I have anything against the area, just that I love the wide range of neighborhoods, restaurants, activities, etc, etc, found in and around downtown Seattle and generally feel the East side to be a little lacking in diversity and options.
Last night I attended the pre-opening party of Porcella Urban Market in Old Town Bellevue. This place is going to make me wish that I lived much, much closer.
Porcella is the new venture by Kelly Gaddis. Most recently you may know him from Bada Lounge (currently morphing into Umi Sake Lounge) but prior to that he’s done time at El Gaucho, Campagne, The Ruins, and Flying Fish to name just a few places. Bada Lounge gained acclaim and was covered in Food and Wine, the Wall Street Journal and InStyle magazine.
This newest idea is a combination casual eatery, take-out counter and market. The press releases talk about a fairly wide-ranging list of menu options but last night the offerings were limited to a few beautiful bites. Guests sampled several interesting salamis; rustic pork pate; smoked fish with accompaniments; potato crisps flavored with parsley, garlic and truffle oil; tiny tuna tartlets with a wasabi sauce; fresh quail eggs in potato shells; duck rillettes; and a sampling of dessert tarts that disappeared before I could get to them.
Eveything I sampled would be something I’d like to try again. Everythng. If I lived in the area I might stop by just to check out the market items but it seems to me that its primary use would be for filling out your menu if you were picking up take-out items – I’m not sure that I’d acually go shopping there. That could change, however, once they get the stock completely filled out. There were some interesteing items on the shelves that I’ve not seen other places.
I didn’t catch the actual opening date but it looks as though that could happen in the very near future, if not already open. I’ll try to remember to update this post when it happens. In the meantime, keep the place in mind and swing by next time you are in the area.
Porcella Urban Market
10245 Main Street, Suite 101
Bellevue
425-286-0080
Culinary Fool 
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