Oddfellows Cafe + Bar serves up unusually good comfort food
Published: Mar 2, 2009
Oddfellows Cafe + Bar is as offbeat an establishment as its name implies. Much care and work has gone into making this modern Capitol Hill cafe look and feel like the dining hall of an early-century International Order of Odd Fellows lodge -- which is exactly what originally occupied its space.
When the cafe's owners began renovating the 100-year-old space in 2008, they found the IOOF's photographs and flags in the basement and simply put them back on the walls.
While Oddfellows' decor is vintage and unassuming, its menu is contemporary, smart and full of too many wonderful dishes to name. The kitchen takes classic diner chow -- oatmeal, mac & cheese, French dip sandwiches, pot pie -- and thoroughly re-invents it using locally farmed ingredients and a degree of eccentric genius.
Take for example Oddfellows' basic breakfast sandwich -- a grilled panini with poached eggs, bacon, tomato, smoked cheddar and Gruyere. Or the most basic of their appetizers - slices of brioch toast slathered with ricotta cheese and fig jam, and thoroughly irresistible.
The French toast is stuffed with pear and marscapone; the braised pork is served with French lentils and creamed cabbage; and the spinach salad comes piled up with faro, roasted winter squash and garbanzo beans, and is drizzled with smooth tahini dressing. Every dish begins straightforwardly enough, then veers slightly into the unexpected ... and sublime.
It's not the most intimate spot in town -- the room is very open, and the tables designed for sharing -- but if you're looking for a quick bite before an afternoon of work or a night on the town, Oddfellows is perfect.
Just be careful while placing your order at the counter. The register sits next to to the baked goods case, which is always packed with delicious diversions -- peanut butter and jelly cupcakes, for one -- that will tempt you away from the main attractions.
- by Geoff Carter, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro
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