A pastry chef and her sommelier husband have given up the Seattle pace to rescue Southport’s only cafe with a refined menu built on familiar flavors.
“I always knew I wanted to do something again that was a little bit smaller,” said chef Sachia Tinsely.
Tinsely and husband Scott Cory gutted the dark cafe, which had once sold sandwiches made with pre-cooked ingredients from a warehouse store.
The counter, which only had panini grills and a sink, was expanded to include a full kitchen.
They named it the Peyrassol Cafe, after their favorite bottle of rose wine.
Peyrassol is brighter and comes with expanded outdoor seating, but what shines about the cafe is Tinsely’s passion for quality ingredients.
The bread is baked in Seattle, and she uses Caffe Umbria espresso beans. The cage-free eggs come from Eastern Washington, where she also found her fruit farmer.
She couldn’t buy enough fruit to make the drive to Renton worth it for the farmer, so she collected fruit orders from the whole Southport apartment complex, which borders Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park.
A pastry chef, Tinsely also knows how to bake. Her quiches change daily, depending on what’s in the kitchen or what’s in season.
Gourds and squash fill a box in the storefront, a gift from the local community garden. She quickly made plans for a dessert.
“There is so much community in this place,” she said. “I love it.”
While the menu changes daily, customers can still expect to find soup and sandwiches at lunch and entrees at dinner.
Peyrassol’s menu is simple but delightful.
With only three items, the dinner menu is still longer than the lunch menu.
“I rather do a few things really well,” she said, adding, “I want to fill it with stuff as it comes along.”
Don’t expect to see it grow by much. Tinsely favors rotating items over creating ultra-long menus.
“We’re inundated with choices,” she said. “If you don’t have so many choices, then maybe you’d feel better about the one you made.”
At dinner costumers have taken well to the Boeuf, a popular French dish made by slowly braising beef in burgundy, she said.
The pasta is also handmade at the cafe. She hopes to introduce a pizza, as soon as she can find a dough that works with her new oven.
The couple comes with plenty of experience.
Tinsely got her start in the restaurant world when she opened La Spiga in Capitol Hill with her sister and Italian brother-in-law.
She started by managing the business side of things, but eventually began making all of the restaurant’s fresh pasta.
The owner of Wild Ginger, which has won several awards, was impressed by a cake she made, and asked her to come on board as a dessert chef, she said.
Tinsely led the team with success, introducing a creative menu that included a popular cheese plate, she said.
“It was exciting,” she said. “I was very emotional leaving there.”
Her husband Cory focuses on the cafe’s wine selection and bar. A wine expert, he still manages the wine selection at the QFC in University Village.
In the winter the couple began considering the Renton cafe, when friends from Southport told them about the opening.
The slower pace of life was attractive, and so was the space. Married in June, the couple wrote a business plan during their honeymoon.
The landlord managed the cafe in the meantime.
Cory and Tinsely began the renovation in September and opened Oct. 1.
“We’re right on the lake, and you can’t ask for anything better,” she said. “The food is great, and the company is even more awesome.”
The Peyrassol Cafe at Southport
1083 Lake Washington Blvd. N., No. 30
425-282-5472
Hours: Open 7 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday; 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday; 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday; 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday; closed Sundays and everyday from 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. for lunch
Happy Hour: 3:30-5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday
Prices: $3-$7, breakfast and lunch items; $9-$13, dinner entrees
