We’re all in this together.

In a recent letter addressed to the Edmonds City Council,  Edmonds restaurant owner Shubert Ho expressed his appreciation for the city government support that has enabled Edmonds businesses to continue and thrive in our community.

“I’m writing to thank you all (councilmembers) for passing the Streateries Ordinance, which has ensured the vitality of our restaurant and retail industry in Edmonds,” Ho said.

His letter went on to praise the “diligence and speed of drafting this code by the City Development Department,” and the impact this made on ensuring restaurants can continue to do business. “You all heard our cry for help,” said Ho, who along with partner Andrew Leckie operates six restaurants through their Feed Me Hospitality and Restaurant Group.

“In response, our local restaurants banded together to make our structures a beautiful asset of downtown Edmonds,” Ho continued. “Feedme Hospitality provided a blueprint that was approved by the building and fire department to be immediately implemented.” This not only saved review time for the city, but also provided a valuable design — for free — that saved architectural costs for restaurants that participated, he added. “We shared order guides from Dunn Lumber to make it easy to source materials for restaurants, which saved time and money for all involved.”

Restaurants have had a tough time in this pandemic. Restaurant News has noticed how willing both restaurants and community leaders are to come together to support economic vitality with safety in mind.

Shubert expressed hope that the city council will consider extending the streateries ordinance, which was passed on an emergency basis. Restaurant owners recognize that streateries take up parking spaces, he said, and in his letter he assured councilmembers that owners “empathize with our retail neighbors and have been vigilant in making sure employees do not park in front of other retailers, or outside of employee parking zones.”

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Niles Peacock comes full circle with a move back to Edmonds, into former Evviva Pizza location.

He begins our visit with a question. “What is your favorite pizza here in Edmonds?”

I recall a recent article about Pizza and Pandemic… “There are so many great choices.” I say. “Depends on what I’m in the mood to taste on any given day.”

Peacock is all smiles as he points out the space for a to-go window, next to the newly installed garage door on the façade of Niles Peacock Kitchen & Bar. This soon-to-be-opened endeavor is located at 178 Sunset Ave., in the Salish Crossing complex. Visit his Facebook page for a preview.

“BBB! I tell everyone this place was Built By Bartenders!” Peacock grins as he tells me about all the aspects of work accomplished by his teammates, as they literally rebuilt the entire restaurant interior of the former Evviva Pizza space, from the floor coverings to the ceilings.

He credits mentoring from other local restaurant owners, and specifically calls out Salish Sea Brewing’s Jeff Barnett.

“Jeff took time out of his busy schedule, to advise me, when I opened my place down in Seattle,” he said. Peacock followed his mentor’s word on “what to tackle on his own, and what was best left to a professional.”

That theme continues as he takes me through the steps needed to bring the former pizzeria up to speed. He bought a brand-new oven, a Marsal double stack unit built in Vermont. This pizza oven uses bricks, which enhance the flavor the pizza. Over time it will just get better.

He let me know that fully loaded, the weight of the oven with the bricks will be about 4,000 pounds.

He pointed out the newly tiled floor and walls as he walked me through some of the pieces that traveled from his former restaurant in Seattle to this new location.

Peacock and his staff have literally pulled apart the interior of the Seattle space and resurrected it in Edmonds location. Some items were “repurposed,” he chuckles, and wonders aloud if folks will recognize the wood bar surfaces that now serve as shelves on the walls.

He then indicated the border of deep blue that rims the top section of sparkly white tiles that cover the entire surface of the restaurant walls. “See those pipes?” Peacock asked, pointing to a series of small tubes camouflaged in the blue paint. “It would’ve cost a lot of money to reroute all that, much easier to blend it into the background.

Another set of fixtures that traveled from the old location: some amazing halo chandeliers.

During the day, with the extra light coming in through some new window fixtures in the ceilings, they look pretty cool. At night, against the navy blue ceiling, they appear as floating halos.

Light now infuses the entire space. “It was rather dark here,” he said. “Even the kitchen area had only one lone light fixture, and I don’t know how they could see what they were doing.” I nod in agreement.

“It all counts, it all adds up,” Peacock said, referring to his partnership with a group of amazing entrepreneurs, as well as activity in Edmonds community. Participation runs the gamut: He’s on the board at Edmonds Center for the Arts, and equally involved at the Edmonds Food Bank.

“Whenever I am asked to participate, I always say yes,” Peacock said. “I love the collaborative events with the other chefs, tasting all the special signature foods. One of my favorite things is Steven Ono’s Ahi Poke Nachos.”

“Create a signature cocktail for Seafair? No problem,” said the guy who’s been featured on local news segments doing his thing at sensational bar events. Even the James Beard Foundation asked Peacock to do an event.

Let’s move on to the particulars of this new establishment, due to open in about a month.

His tried-and-true menu, from the Seattle location, will be expanded. “We want collaboration, feedback from our guests, to fill in menu choices,” he said.

Peacock shared an example: A tremendously successful item on the menu at his Seattle location is a blue cheese Nutella pizza.

“It’s a Brazilian thing,”he said, suggested by a friend who hails from South America, where chocolate pizza is a big deal.

I reminisce on past chocolate experiments, companies like Lily Belle and others, who produced amazing truffles concocted of chocolates, bacon and blue cheese.

As Peacock described how they leave the crust on this Chocolate Nutella sort of “soft and squishy,” the effect incites salivation. Hot Date — another fun pizza name –stretches the imagination as it tantalizes the taste buds. Hmmm…I’m making a mental list of items to order when he’s open. Dinner and dessert, definitely covered.

“We want to give guests the items that they’d like to eat, within the scope of ability,” Peacock said. “Time and ingredients must be doable — is the requested recipe executable?”

The conversation shifted: Had Niles seen a foodie movie called Big Night? Stanley Tucci’s role as big brother to Chef Primo, who wants to cook authentic foods like risotto, but frustrates New Jersey patrons with long preparation times in the kitchen. The film’s example illustrates the challenges that face creative chefs.

Cocktail ideas also come in to play on the menu suggestions from guests. Peacock wants patrons to feel included, but to also enjoy the drinks that garnered him the title of Best Bartender in Western Washington, a few years back. 

As noted earlier in this column, collaboration — not competition — is the vibe in the Edmonds restaurant community, and Peacock feels the inclusion and partnership among establishments. Furthermore, he said, the community at large takes stewardship of the food and beverage economy in Edmonds. He hears “pride of ownership.” A new restaurant becomes “our restaurant.”

— By Kathy Passage

A specialty gourmet food broker for over 30 years, Kathy Passage has in-depth knowledge on food and the special qualities of ingredients used in the exquisite products she helped bring to market. Kathy brings this unique perspective from the “other side of the plate” to writing about the food and restaurant scene in Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.