We drove. We parked. We ate and drank.
Given today’s heavy rain, my wife Paula and I planned lunch together and Métier’s grand opening was the logical choice. We drove over, which is always an iffy proposition in the Capitol Hill neighborhood: It usually takes us longer to find a parking spot than the drive. Despite the rain and heavy traffic, there were two open parking spots directly in front of the Métier.
My order was a bison pastrami sandwich and a cappuccino. Paula had a tempeh sandwich. We both had chocolate caramel cookies, which Paula said were the best tasting chocolate cookies she’d ever had. I wanted a second cappuccino.
After lunch we socialized and toured the nearly-finished facility. Paula is a landscape architect, and I asked what she thought about my premise that Métier is a “new kind of third place.” She said the beautiful space does lend itself to being a third place, but of course it remains to be seen how it catches on. The location on E. Union is being quickly redeveloped: We have memories of parking next to vacant warehouses on E. Union that are now mixed-use buildings. We think the new buildings will promote new foot traffic patterns along E. Union, which in turn will benefit all of the businesses there.
While we chatted with co-owner Todd Herriott he mentioned that there are still a lot of details to finish the build-out (skylights at the top of the list), but the café is open for business and I recommend a visit.
