August 23, 1999

Pride of plate: cheap eats to nourish body and spirit

By SAM BENNETT
Journal Staff reporter

When Jill Curtis tells colleagues about her new restaurant, they usually want to know one thing.

"They ask me, 'How will you deal with wealthy lawyers looking for a cheap meal?"' she jokes.

Whether it's wealthy lawyers, real estate tycoons or homeless men and women, Curtis won't ask customers for more than they can give.

The restaurant, Boomtown Cafe, is the first of its kind downtown. Prices will be, to put it mildly, affordable: $1.25 for breakfast and $1.75 for lunch.

Opening this fall, Boomtown is an experiment of sorts -- a notch above a soup kitchen but no Sazerac either.

The restaurant, at 513 Third Ave. between Yesler and James, will be operated as a non-profit. Its hours will be 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To pay for remodeling the site of a former teriyaki restaurant, Boomtown received a Community Development Block Grant, as well as private contributions from organizations such as the Boeing Employees Community Fund.

The operation will continue to rely on public and private support, since meals will be served at below cost. Boomtown will also prepare contract meals for other social organizations such as the Hammond House, and do private catering.

Its mission will be to serve affordable meals to a wide range of diners.

Jill Curtis, administrative coordinator for Boomtown Cafe, said the Pioneer Square establishment will open its doors to rich and poor. Photo by Sam Bennett

Michael Campbell, vice president of Boomtown's board of directors, said the restaurant will have a dual purpose of offering inexpensive meals to those who need them most and bringing together customers who might not typically interact.

"The seating policy is going to be open seating, to promote interaction between people from all aspects of life," he said. "We're hoping there will be a cross-section of people who can afford our low prices and people who can afford 15 times that."

For those who cannot afford even $1.25 or $1.75, the restaurant will offer quick jobs to allow bartering for meals, and will accept food stamps. Curtis said, however, that all employees preparing and serving food will be trained and certified by the Health Department.

Rick Friedhoff, executive director of the Compass Center, said Boomtown will be a welcome addition to the Pioneer Square community.

"I think it will fit in very well," said Friedhoff, whose organization serves 100,000 meals a year to the homeless. "I expect it to be a really good place to eat and a friendly place that can be used by all people who call Pioneer Square home and do business here."

Campbell said he did not expect that Boomtown, which expects to serve 58,000 meals a year, will make a significant dent in the need for services provided by agencies such as the Compass Center. Nor will it greatly reduce the number of people who frequent those agencies.

Instead, he said Boomtown will offer those who rely on soup kitchens a choice of what to eat and when, as well as some measure of pride.

"We are going to be very conscious of the fact that we are providing people with a meal to eat with dignity," he said.