Fanatic followers of Tako Truk, the short-lived street-food experiment known for its tako (octopus) and the lack of a truck (its stationary home was a walk-up window at Eastlake's 14 Carrot Cafe), will be cheered to know this: co-owners Cormac Mahoney and Bryan Jarr plan to move into the recently shuttered Sostanza. But sorry, gang. It won't be another Tako Truk.

No longer Truk'n on Eastlake, but more to come from the owners, elsewhere.
[photo courtesy of Frank Guanco]

"We're still finalizing the deal phase, but it's close-close," Jarr said yesterday, describing the dual-level trattoria at the tail-end of Madison Park. "We hope to take over by the end of the month." Once in, he says, they'll begin a remodel, which according to Sostanza's owner/chef Lorenzo Cianciusi, will involve the reconfiguration of the upstairs bar and the installation of a communal table.

For now, Jarr and Mahoney are keeping mum about the details of their latest endeavor -- dubbed the Madison Park Conservatory. In a week or so, Jarr said, he'll be able to divulge more, adding "We're still a couple months out -- at least -- until we open."

In an interview with Seattle Magazine yesterday, Mahoney admitted this much: "I will be chef/owner/dishwasher/bouncer and my dear friend Zoi Antonitsas will be holding my hand and throwing frying pans around." He insists, however, "it will not be Tako Truk." Jarr concurs: "We might do some one-offs, since we had such a good response to Tako Truk," he told me, "but that space deserves something more refined."

Lorenzo Cianciusi (left) throwing a frying pan around at Sostanza (photo by Heather Trimm) and Zoi Antonitsas (far right, in Santa Rosa with Zazu's Duskie Estes), hiding behind the menu back in her Top Chef-phase. Soon enough, we hear, Zoi will be throwing a frying pan around in the more refined confines of Madison Park with Mahoney.

Given the new restaurant's name, the fact that Mahoney grew up on a farm, and his past affiliation with the locavoracious Sitka & Spruce, one can only imagine what's in store for the Madison Park restaurant at 1927 43rd Avenue East. Anybody have any insight? guesses? Here's what I'm envisioning:

Communal table? Madison Park Conserve-atory? Affiliation with Sitka & Spruce? We'll see!