Six degrees of Carmelita

If, after a months-long opening-date delay (thanks, building permit department!), the gods shine down on Greenwood next week, Dan Braun and Sarah Hughes-Giles will have opened Oliver's Twist (6820 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle; 206-706-6673).

"A lot of neighbors had the idea that this was going to be a full [-on] restaurant," says Braun, who held big-time posts in the kitchens at nearby Carmelita (7314 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle, 206-706-7703; www.carmelita.net), as well as downtown at the Dahlia Lounge and Lola, over the better part of a decade. But he says he sees the new venture as more of a comfortable cocktail lounge, meant to complement — not compete with — neighboring bistros like the Stumbling Goat and Carmelita, where he met Hughes-Giles, who's waited tables there for the past seven years.

Once open, you'll find Hughes-Giles running the front-of-the-house at Oliver's Twist — named for their 2-year-old son — while Braun has set up shop in his self-described "one-man kitchen." With the help of a bartender buddy, he's developed a cocktail list with drinks concocted with food-forward ingredients like elderflower, quince and blood orange. He describes his nosh-worthy menu as simple, affordable (with all items under $10) and focused on local artisans. Hours: 5 p.m-1 a.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (closed Tuesdays) and 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays.

Carmelita alumni: Take 2

Back in 1999, before Braun took over the Carmelita kitchen from his predecessor, John Sundstrom (who left to become chef-exec at Earth & Ocean before opening Lark and Licorous), I had the pleasure of reviewing the place when the chef-in-charge was the very talented Ericka Burke.

Burke later moved to San Francisco and then back again, and spent three years working in corporate development for Seattle-based Restaurants Unlimited. And now, in keeping with her latter-day kitchen-counterparts at Carmelita, she's going into business for herself.

In keeping with this column's "All Carmelita, all the time!" theme, she's set to open Volunteer Park Café & Marketplace next month with longtime friend and business partner Heather Earnhardt. They met — surprise! — when Earnhardt was waiting tables at — guess where. Their 45-seat cafe (1501 17th Ave. E., Seattle, 206-328-3155; www.alwaysfreshgoodness.com), known in its most recent incarnation as Café Europa, is said to have been established as a market as far back as 1905.

"I love this space," says Burke, who went to high school nearby and recalls the Capitol Hill corner-store setting as a quick-stop-shop during her teen years. Today she sees the place as far more "wholesome and good." To that end, she says they'll be serving "simple comfort food, with pastries, breakfast panini and coffee in the morning," adding baked eggs and French toast on weekends. Lunch will feature soups, salads, quiche and panini. And on the second Friday of every month they'll host special four-course wine dinners.

Taking a "we'll see how it goes" approach, Burke says she and Earnhardt plan to develop their specialty-market concept slowly, initially focusing on wines and eventually adding artisan cheeses, goodies from the area's better bakeries and, during farmers market-season, as much gorgeous produce as they can sell in-house. Once things are moving smoothly — and if neighbors are receptive to the idea — they might even consider serving light suppers. Hours: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Earth & Ocean and Carmelita

Adam Stevenson has never worked at Carmelita. But the newly appointed executive chef at Earth & Ocean in the W Hotel (1112 Fourth Ave., Seattle, 206-264-6060; www.earthocean.net), recently promoted from his longtime position as banquet chef, did work as sous-chef under former Carmelita chef-exec Sundstrom. That was before Sundstrom ceded his Earth & Ocean post to Maria Hines, who recently left to open Tilth in Wallingford. Hines — who has never worked, nor dined at Carmelita — says she's certain that Stevenson will do a great job at his new post, and that diners will no doubt be wowed by his housemade charcuterie, an area of expertise where he "really shines."

But enough about Carmelita!

Many readers have written, wondering what was up with the abrupt summer closure of Calypso Caribbean Kitchen, and more than a few asked what was to become of their favorite Roosevelt restaurant and its owner-chef, Paul Dekker.

After many failed attempts to contact Dekker, I can at least report that the place has reopened under new ownership as Divine (7917 Roosevelt Way, N.E., Seattle, 206-526-7919), a Greek-accented Mediterranean restaurant whose owner-operator turns out to be none other than Dekker's former landlady, Vivian Peterson.

According to Peterson, Dekker "is onto a new fast-food venture" involving (not surprisingly) Jamaican jerk chicken and plantain chips. "Paul sold us the [restaurant] equipment in August," she says, and she's since given the place a major cosmetic makeover, adding a warm-weather patio and full-service bar. No stranger to the business, she and her husband, Zach, also own Dante's Steak & Grog (5300 Roosevelt Way N.E., Seattle; 206-525-1300).

Peterson bought the building where Calypso resides in 1999 (the year after Dekker opened Calypso), and says she always intended to someday open a restaurant of her own on the premises. That someday came last week when, with the assistance of managing partner and head-chef Broc Thomson (late of the Columbia Hospitality group), Divine made its debut, offering specialties like calamari steak ($9), braised lamb shank ($14) and pasta Bolognese ($12). Dinner is served from 5 p.m. till closing (usually around 10) Tuesdays-Sundays.

Lending chef Thomson a hand in the kitchen is Peterson's mother, Titika Vlahos. "She's Greek," and "brings in the special touches," according to her daughter. Vlahos is no stranger to a commercial kitchen, having worked at Santorini Pizza & Pasta for 12 years, and before that at La Piazza, which is now Greenwood's Stumbling Goat Bistro and which — I can't help but point out — is down the block from Carmelita.