Tap house owners plan new restaurant

A new gastropub called The Blackbird is expected to open in April in the former Broadview Dairy building, at 904 N. Washington, says Patrick McPherson, who has leased the entire first floor of the building for the new restaurant and lounge.  

McPherson will own the planned restaurant and lounge with his mother, Denise Hanson. The duo also owns Manito Tap House, a gastropub at 3011 S. Grand Blvd. on Spokane’s South Hill. 

Blackbird’s menu will feature a mix of cuisines with a focus on chaucuterie, the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meats like sausage and bacon, as well as brisket and grilled fish, steak, and chicken, McPherson says.

“We focus on fresh and local ingredients. We make our own breads, and the food is made from scratch using as much organic, sustainable, and no-hormone, no-antibiotic meats as possible,” he says. 

The 7,000-square-foot space will seat about 110 people in the main room, separate from two roughly 500-square-foot banquet rooms, a bar area, and a wine and beer cellar. He says included among renovations being made before the opening is a patio that will seat another 125 customers. 

The bar will feature 34 draft beers and four wines on draft, 150 to 200 brands of bottled beer, as well as spirits. 

McPherson expects to have a staff of about 75 to 80, both part time and full time, he says. The Blackbird will be open six days a week initially, and eventually seven days a week, he says.

The concept for The Blackbird is more upscale than Manito Tap House, says Mcpherson. 

“We will have a wood-fired grill and a wood-fired smoker,” McPherson says. “For seating, we will have a mix of booths, tables, and benches.” 

McPherson says his goal is to eventually open the restaurant to serve breakfast. 

—Judith Spitzer

Roast House Coffee remodel underway

Roast House Coffee, a local artisan coffee roasting company located in a 1,300-square-foot space at 423 E. Cleveland, is undergoing a remodel to move its espresso bar display. 

Deborah Di Bernardo, owner of Roast House, says remodeling work to move the espresso display from the production floor to the front of the building, began the week after Christmas and will be finished by the end of February. 

The company is remaining open during construction. Di Bernardo says the main reasons for relocating the bar are to increase production space and to create a better tasting bar experience for potential wholesale customers. The espresso bar, referred to as a “Modbar,” won’t be open to retail customers, Di Bernardo says.

With a Modbar, guests can see the entire process of espresso making, and the work space also will allow for faster prep time and “geek-friendly features like touch screen operation and support for temp monitoring,” she says. Di Bernardo says that, as opposed to commercial machines, the Modbar takes less time to heat up, making it a more eco-friendly option. 

With the Modbar, Di Bernardo says Roast House Coffee can offer samples from all types of coffee making: pour-over, Chemex, AeroPress, and cold brew—not just espresso. She says she hopes that having a less bulky espresso machine will provide for greater visibility of the coffee being made. 

Roast House Coffee employs four full-time workers, not including Di Bernardo. Di Bernardo says the business only supports sustainably grown and processed, organically grown, and highest-quality coffees that are ethically traded. 

 

—Kendall Heintzelman

Specialty shoe shop moves up Division

Rizzuto’s Inc., which operates longtime Spokane wide shoe retailer Rizzuto’s Wide Shoes, has moved and reopened in a smaller space along Division Street, says owner Ron Rizzuto. 

The store opened in its new location, a 1,300-square-foot space at 6208 N. Division, in December. It previously was located in 3,000 square feet of space at 4407 N. Division, Rizzuto says. 

“This really is a better retail location and better rent,” Rizzuto says. 

Rizzuto’s father, Jack Rizzuto, founded the business more than 60 years ago, he says. 

“I’m a second generationer,” he says. “My dad started back in 1952.”

In addition to its physical location, Rizzuto’s also sells its shoes online, through JustWideShoes.com, Rizzuto says. 

“We are a wide-width specialty store, specializing in extra-wide shoes for both men and women,” he says. 

Rizzuto says he contracted with Construction Associates of Spokane Inc. to remodel the space with a dividing wall, shoe cube wall, new paint, and new carpet. 

 

—Katie Ross

IT company moves to downtown space

Spokane information-technology company JT Tech Inc. has moved to a downtown office space from a home-based location, says Brian Jacobson, the company’s president and CEO.

The company now occupies a leased, 400-square-foot space on the fourth floor of the Empire State Building, also known as the Great Western Building, at 905 W. Riverside. 

“JT Tech has grown to the point that we need an office environment for clients and hardware manufacturers to be available for training and demos of our product offerings,” says Jacobson. 

JT Tech currently has two full-time employees, including Jacobson, as well as multiple subcontractors. He says there are plans to add staff in the near future. 

Jacobson says the company offers a variety of IT services, such as hardware and software sales, and network-security and data-integrity assessments, among others. Its clients, he says, include businesses, state and local government agencies, school districts, and higher education institutions.

A recent success story for JT Tech, says Jacobson, was when the company installed a wireless network at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, home field for the Seattle Seahawks. The job included positioning more than 700 wireless access points to provide coverage, he says. 

The ultimate goal with that job, says Jacobson, was to “deliver a more personalized experience to the fans.” 

Colin Conway, of Kiemle & Hagood Co., and Alicia Barbieri, of Goodale & Barbieri Co., handled JT Tech’s lease of the downtown space.

 

—Kendall Heintzelman