Pybus market nearly full with eclectic mix of wares

4 free views left!

Pybus market nearly full with eclectic mix of wares

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Red Rooster Kitchen & Home was misidentified in the original version of this story. The error has been corrected in this version.

WENATCHEE — Frank St. Dennis and Michelle Lak drive by the Pybus Public Market job site a few times a week just to see how the building rehab is coming along.

The dream of their very first restaurant, Pybus Bistro, is taking shape under the fresh plywood of the market’s monitor-style roof.

Frank St. Dennis and Michelle Lak, owners of Pybus Bistro, a casual French restaurant slated for Pybus Public Market

Their vision is in fine tradition with the building’s past as a Columbia River-front storage warehouse for steel angle iron and rebar.

“We’re modeling it after a lot of blue collar bistros in France,” says St. Dennis, an expert in French cooking and graduate of the Portland Culinary School. “It’ll be a casual place where you can hang out, have a glass of wine, some food. Pybus...will kind of be the center of culture, and food culture specifically, in the Wenatchee area. Being in at the ground level was really important to us.”

He and Lak, both Wenatchee High grads in their 20s, have about 20 years of restaurant experience between them, including upscale hotels and restaurants in California and Seattle. He’s currently head chef at Chelan’s Vin du Lac winery.

The couple are part of an eclectic mix of both novice and veteran entrepreneurs who have signed letters of intent and put earnest money down on commercial space at Pybus, the city’s public market project taking shape at the foot of Orondo Avenue en route to an opening by Apple Blossom.

Joining Pybus Bistro are:

Almond Blossom Roasted Nuts, a specialty nut shop owned by Dan and Cathy Rodriguez of Leavenworth. The couple already sell custom-roasted nuts with exotic flavors at their shop in Leavenworth.
Ariana’s Restaurant, a Mexican eatery owned by Arcellia and Norberto Bedolla.
An Auvil Fruit Company fruit stand.
Dolcini, a coffee, dessert and artisan ice creamery owned by Beth Spadoni of Wenatchee.
A tasting room for Jones of Washington Winery.
Mike’s Meat & Seafood, a second location for the Wenatchee specialty grocery store.
Red Rooster Kitchen & Home, a second location for this boutique gourmet kitchen store at Smallwood's Harvest in Peshastin.
Riverside Design, a metal artwork shop where Eric Peterson will make and sell his wares.
The Sweet Kitchen, LeeAnna Dugger’s sandwich, baked good and smoothie stop.
Candy Mecham, owner of Visconti’s Italian restaurants will have a gelato shop that could also feature custom-cured meats and brick-oven pizza.
The Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market will call Pybus its permanent, seasonal, outdoor home, but could also have some year-round tables indoors.
Heather and Kevin Knight, owners of Anjou Bakery in Cashmere, are having a vintage Airstream travel trailer converted into an espresso, sandwich and baked-goods shop with drive-up and walk-up windows. It’ll be set up on the Pybus lot at the corner of Worthen and River streets.

A few additional spaces are still available. Market Manager Steve Robinson says potential tenants have expressed interest.

Document

Pybus tenants

Download .PDF

Excitement is pretty high.

“Pybus is just a great project. It’s so good for the area,” said The Sweet Kitchen’s Dugger, a 23-year-old Eastmont High grad who has been selling her custom-baked goods at the farmer’s market for about a year. “It’s fun to be involved in something new. All the tenants, we all vibe off each other. There’s mutual excitement from everybody.”

Heather Knight of Anjou agrees. “We hope to provide a fantastic, fun and flavorful experience for our local customers as well as those visiting our area!” she said in an email.

Fun and creativity, sans prétention, will be key to St. Dennis’ and Lak’s Pybus Bistro, as they serve modern twists on French classics like ratatouille on their expansive back deck overlooking the Columbia River.

Hand-made pasta and sausage, a France-inspired burger and a separate bar menu with “playful” smaller portions are also in the works.

“The French are one of the few cultures in the western world that take food seriously,” St. Dennis said of his passion for the cuisine. “They eat and drink with passion.”

After traveling around and gaining experience, he and Lak are ready to put their experience to use here at home.

“We did what we felt we needed to do away from home, but Wenatchee was always calling us back, so here we are,” he said.

Christine Pratt: 665-1173

pratt@wenatcheeworld.com

» Recommend this story.

» 24 comments on this story

Want to comment on this story? All Wenatchee World members are invited to comment on stories, by using the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.

coolers53 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Live free I tend to agree with you, there seems to be a lot of food establishments going in and it is a destination place, one has to actually plan to go there and its not very visible, What happens in the dead of winter? I am retired, own a house in East Wenatchee guess im middle class sorta and I will check it out when it opens, but I cannot see a whole lot of trips there just to drop 20 or thirty bucks for food. I hope it makes it also for all the people investing money, they will really have to get out and advertise a lot for it to make it.

davebugg 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I wish the Pybus project a complete success! As other's have stated, however, I won't be going out of my way to spend more time to drive there in order to pay a higher cost on products sold there.

There are already produce stands nearby that are open during our growing and harvest times from late spring to autumn. These are owned and operated by local residents and farmers needing our financial support. They are much easier and quicker to shop at when I want local produce.

Costco has excellent meats at a better price than at Mike's, although I have purchased from Mike's on a sporadic basis when I'm already driving by.

I don't like going to shop at malls. It is one of the reason's I avoid going to that huge antique mall building which sprang up a few years ago in Cashmere. Pybus is, after all, just another type of mall that is located in an inconvenient location. Should Pybus enjoy the kind of success which it is anticipating, getting there will be a much larger and inconvenient snarl than it already is. It will also cost me more time to run in, grab what I want to buy, and then get back home.

As I stated above, I wish Pybus the very best of luck. I just don't see the need for, nor the charm of, such a venture.

2shoe 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I hope The Pybus is not going to be all about food. Maybe some art, jewlery, and other objects will be in there. Yes food is getting expensive but we still enjoy being catered to. So lets give it a hope it works instead on putting the kibosh on it before it has opened. I say good luck to The Pybus.

dryside 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I sure hope they have cable TV to each space. Things can get mighty dead in the Winter.

JimboBear 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I'm still wondering how they intend to heat that old tin shed of a building in the winter and cool it in the summer. Last time I was in there the place was still the old Pybus Steel fabricating shop and it was anything but warm in the winter. No matter how much insulation they install in that draughty old structure, I can't picture anyone being shirt sleeve comfortable in the winter or with enough money to pay the heat bill during those months. I guess I'll have to go in there once just to see how they plan to pull it off.

lonedog3 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Heating not an issue Jimbo--global warming will fix that problem! (HAHA)

JimboBear 8 months, 2 weeks ago

"global warming will fix that problem! "

Now that's an LOL moment! Love it!

kyook 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I kind of thought the Pybus Market was going to be more of a farmers market, which I would patronize, and not so much of a food court, which I probably wouldn't.

JimboBear 8 months, 2 weeks ago

For the sake of those who are investing their money and dreams of the future there, I hope it is successful. I don't hold much hope for that result however.

Call me negative if you will, but I see this entire venture as a small town attempting to present itself as a vibrant metropolitan city, and I don't think there are enough positives there for it to be any more than a short lived tourist draw. Like you say, a farmer's market would have made some sense but this looks like pie in the sky to me.

Dudleydoright 8 months, 2 weeks ago

The one problem with food vendors is the prevailing wind blows directly from the north which brings the city sewer smells right to it. Not good if your dining on the deck.

kyook 8 months, 2 weeks ago

So that's why they are spending a gazillion dollars to de-stinkify the sewer plant!

Great observation Dudley.

milo 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Not everything is a conspiracy.

kyook 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Well, that leaves some wiggle room then, doesn't it?

JimboBear 8 months, 2 weeks ago

How can you be so sure, Milo? ;-)

lonedog3 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Read the partial list of vendors and see not many that could assure a lot of repeat business.( $5 for a small bag hot nuts?) Hope it works out as I would sure hate to have another sales tax increase to bail this thing out. Best of luck and we will see. Not sure why the farmers market needs to have a several million dollar roof over it's head. They have done fantastic for many years in a parking lot.

Suz 8 months, 2 weeks ago

What a great spot for meeting friends for a sandwich, pizza, ice cream/gelato, enchiladas, fresh fruit and so on. They have everything literally from soup to nuts. The food does not sound expensive and will make this a popular spot. How about gourmet hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts in the winter? Yum.

How about a get together for WW posters at Pybus when it opens?

lonedog3 8 months, 2 weeks ago

all foods I can get much less expensive elsewhere.

Suz 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I think you are missing one of the main reasons Pybus will be popular lonedog. It will be a place to gather with friends, to meet friends, to socialize, to relax, to simply step outside your usual experience of shopping. Of course, items may be found elsewhere for less (or not), but shopping has become an activity in itself in our current culture. Some folks may like to stop in at Pybus for a drink, some spiced nuts, an ice cream, or a meal as they stroll or ride the loop (very convenient). Some folks may just want to go there and spend a few dollars as entertainment.

lonedog3 8 months, 2 weeks ago

not missing any point.Seattle? Perhaps? wenatchee with a wanna be pikes place market? maybe not so much. hope for the sake of those investing their precious money into it it works but not going to hold my breath. We were promised the WEA would be a hit as well if you remember. the only hit that dump has been is in our wallets. time will tell.