10 Things to Know About Babirusa, Opening on Eastlake Tomorrow

By Seattle Mag May 12, 2014

babirusa

!–paging_filter–pA little over two months ago (March 4), Eastlake Teriyaki closed down to make way for a new bar called stronga href=”http://blindpigbistro.com/babirusa/” target=”_blank”Babirusa/a/strong. It’s the newest project from owners Charles Walpole and Rene Gutierrez, who also operate stronga href=”http://blindpigbistro.com/” target=”_blank”Blind Pig Bistro/a/strong next door. Tomorrow, it officially opens./p
pstrongHere are 10 things to know:/strong/p
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liThe name Babirusa is a nod to “the genus of our beloved pig friend who watches over us at Blind Pig Bistro,” says Walpole./li
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liThe 23 seat bar will serve lunch Tues-Fri, noon to 3 p.m. and dinner nightly from 5 p.m. to midnight./li
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liThe food at Babirusa will be more casual than next door neighbor Blind Pig; Walpole describes it as food that’s oriented towards eating while you’re drinking — snack type stuff./li
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liimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/photo_43.jpg” width=”375″ height=”500″ style=”float: right;”If you’re good at deciphering chicken scratch, here’s a photo of the menu, still in progress when I snapped it Friday afternoon. The menu includes: pork cracklins; scallop ceviche with avocado and corn nuts; kimchi hushpuppies; lingcod brandade with matzo cracker; fava bean and ricotta toast; and fish and chips with sorrel aioli.nbsp;/li
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liEastlake Teriyaki was just a placeholder for Babirusa. . “We kept it going [as Eastlake Teriyaki] until we had enough money to do the bar,” says Walpole./li
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liA passageway connects Babirusa and Blind Pig Bistro./li
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liBabirusa is coated in the same red paint as Blind Pig./li
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liWalpole stayed close to home to find his Babirusa chef. He plucked him straight from Blind Pig. His name is Kenny Gibbs./li
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liBen Sherwood, who spent lots of time behind the bar atnbsp;stronga href=”http://www.marjorierestaurant.com/“Marjorie/a/strong, will be managing the bar. Gutierrez, another Marjorie alum, will be the General Manager of both places./li
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liGutierrez and Sherwood also used to work at stronga href=”http://www.ethanstowellrestaurants.com/locations/tavolata/” target=”_blank”Tavolata/a/strong together.nbsp;/li
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