Story Published:
Oct 10, 2006 at 7:24 PM PST
Story Updated:
Mar 31, 2008 at 12:23 PM PST
SEATTLE - If you haven't been to Bandoleone lately - you haven't been to Bandoleone.
Owner Danielle Phillipa was forced to relocate her Latin eatery to Fremont after being kicked out of the Eastlake spot she called home for almost 10 years.
"The building that we were in is being torn down. We were told it was going to happen any day now, so we had to get out. We got out, and I think the building is still up," Danielle says.
She says the hardest part about moving to the other side of Lake Union is losing her old neighborhood buddies who would keep her up to date on all the gossip!
"We have a completely new clientele. People who have never heard of us before, or who had heard of us, but for some reason over 10 years had never made the trip around the lake."
Danielle opened Bandoleone after taking a trip to Central America, where she fell in love not only with the cuisine but the way the culture embraced food.
"It's about having a good bottle of wine and good conversation with close friends or family, you know what I mean? A good meal. And you take hours to enjoy the whole experience."
Danielle says the Bandoleone, which looks a lot like an accordion, was the perfect name for her restaurant.
"Because it's lively and it's an instrument that's created for dance in particular, and that's the kind of feel we wanted to have in here, to have dance in the air."
She also explains the peculiar spelling.
"Most people will tell you it's supposed to be spelled Bandoneone with an "n" instead of an "l" in the middle. There's one place, one little town in South America that spells it with an "l" and we just happened to choose that name."
The dance the instrument was created for was the Tango -- the name of Danielle's second restaurant on Capitol Hill.
"Bandoleone is more rustic. Tango is more Spanish and Portuguese with kind of a Northwest twist thrown in for good measure."
Chef Chris Hartfield, who has previously worked at Six-Degrees, Roy's, Bick's and Serafina, has improved upon the old menu by offering small, medium and large plates of things like Caribbean rock shrimp pulled-pork carnitas and dry seared broccoli.
"He's amazing with the grilled meats and the Caribbean sauces and the mojos and the rubs and all those wonderful flavors."
When Danielle's not singing the praises of her chef, she's singing in her country western band, Ruby Dee and the Snake Handlers. She's Ruby Dee.
"We're talking to some record companies right now about getting picked up. So, there's some exciting stuff in the air right now about that."
And what makes Ruby, I mean, Danielle really want to sing and dance these days is the state's new smoking ban. She just ripped down a large "smoking wall" separating the bar and dining room.
"Having the wall down just opens the place up. Just the energy in here - it's like the dance is on again."
Places Danielle likes to Go Eat! : Matt's In The Market, Maneki.
For More Information:
bandoleone.net
www.rubydeemusic.com
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