Skip to content

Ballard Restaurant Addo Expands Pastry Offerings from a Hyperlocal Source

Seattle magazine food editor’s cakes by the slice are now available at chef Eric Rivera’s new restaurant in Ballard.

By Daria Kroupoderova July 19, 2018

TinBoxBakeShop_Jan2015-22-1

Chef Eric Rivera’s buzzy new pop-up eatery, Addo, which recently landed a permanent space in Ballard, is about to get a little sweeter. As of July 13, the hard-to-describe space (part incubator for new food businesses, part all-day restaurant) offers cake by the slice from Seattle magazine’s very own food editor, Chelsea Lin.

Lin, who has been writing for Seattle magazine since 2014  launched her side hustle, Tin Box Bakeshop, in early 2015 while she was freelancing and exploring options on how she can pursue food in different ways, rather than just writing about it. She takes custom cake orders, mostly for birthdays but also the occasional wedding.

“People always ask me if I want to open my own bakery, and that’s never been the goal,” says Lin.

Rivera, who took over the Royal Drummer space in June (though they will still be doing coffee service in the morning) when he was looking for a permanent home for his incubator/restaurant, Addo, put a call out for pastry professionals and cake vendors on Facebook. He heard about Lin’s delicious cakes based on a few referrals from their mutual friends.

“Obviously, because of my job [at Seattle magazine], I don’t have time to be baking every day. But I told him I’d start with a couple cakes a week, delivered on Fridays,” says Lin.

This Friday, the featured flavors will be vanilla cake with strawberry-rhubarb jam and chocolate cake with espresso cream. Look forward to coconut cakes with pandan custard, ginger cakes with cardamom cream cheese, vanilla cakes with lemon curd and many more other not-overly-sweet flavors, which is Tin Box’s sweet spot in Seattle’s growing cake-by-the-slice offerings.

The Seattle edit staff certainly has indulged on occasion when we’re lucky enough for her to bring some in. Lin’s cakes will be available at Addo’s walk-up pastry counter all day on Fridays until they sell out. Plus, there is a dessert happy hour on Fridays from 4-6 p.m. and again from 9-10 p.m. where you can celebrate the weekend with a glass of rosé and a slice of cake for $12.

“People who don’t like cake think that they’re going to be both dry and super sweet—mine are neither,” says Lin. “I love baking for someone who thinks they don’t like cake—I have a pretty good success rate of changing their minds!”

Follow Us

Restaurant Roundup: Game-Day Brunch and Last Calls 

Restaurant Roundup: Game-Day Brunch and Last Calls 

Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.

January is a month of reinvention and fresh starts—and Autumn Seattle in Phinney Ridge is taking that idea and running with it. The restaurant’s last day of service will be tomorrow (Jan. 17), but in the first week of February, it will reopen as GH Pasta & Pizza. Executive chef and restaurateur Brian Clevenger wants…

Restaurant Roundup: Mocktails, Blindfolds, and an Oyster Soiree

Restaurant Roundup: Mocktails, Blindfolds, and an Oyster Soiree

Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.

Making dinner reservations, like New Year’s resolutions, means looking ahead and committing to something without being entirely sure of the outcome. To help you know what you’re signing up for in your forays into Seattle’s dining scene, the newly minted Resy Hit List has some valuable tips on where to focus your efforts. Taking the…

5 Things to Eat in January 

5 Things to Eat in January 

Make trying a neighborhood restaurant your New Year's resolution.

It was a long wait to get into Kabul, Wallingford’s longtime favorite Afghan restaurant. This was the last week of service before it shuttered. I have passed by this place for years and even worked at a restaurant across the street. Kabul’s mural of the National Geographic Afghan Girl cover—an image that has come to…

Restaurant Roundup: Christmas Dining and Copine Closing

Restaurant Roundup: Christmas Dining and Copine Closing

Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.

Sometimes the best gift you can receive (or even treat yourself to) is to not have to cook during the holidays, so why not take advantage of the restaurants that are staying open? From Blue Water Bistro in Leschi to Ben Paris downtown and Maximilien in Pike Place Market, there are plenty of options on…