St. Clouds drifts over to NAAM

Sure, every cloud has a silver lining, but take a peek into St. Clouds and you'll find 24-karat gold. The Madrona restaurant and bar is not only one of Seattle's great neighborhood joints, it's also one of the city's most community-minded dining venues. At seven-year-old St. Clouds (1131 34th Ave., Seattle, 206-726-1522), there are many ways in which owners John Platt and Paul "Pablo" Butler — along with head chef Michael King and their friendly crew — pay it forward in the neighborhood and beyond.

For one: their long-standing Homeless Cooking Project, held at the restaurant the third Wednesday each month (see the "community" page at www.stclouds.com for details). That's when anyone willing to don an apron and lend a hand is invited to come on over and help prepare "homemade" food — enough to feed 275 at six area shelters. And as of this month, St. Clouds brings us another inspired reason to gather together: St. Clouds Café (2300 S. Massachusetts St., 206-518-5258) in the Central Area's new Northwest African American Museum.

There are only 28 seats in the cafe, whose lunchtime hours mirror that of the museum, housed in the historic Colman School. The modest-priced menu mirrors, in part, that of its nearby sibling, with Memphis-style slow-roasted ribs served with cornbread and slaw, mac 'n' cheese, a Hoppin' John burger, collard greens and sweet-potato pudding.

St. Clouds Café also holds the catering contract for NAAM events, leading Platt to comment, "It's not only an honor to be part of the museum — it's a great opportunity." One, he says, that came about thanks to museum curator Barbara Earl Thomas, a longtime patron of St. Clouds (does that make her a patron saint?). Familiar with African-American chef Michael King's fine foodstuffs, Thomas "planted the seed" with the museum's visionary and executive director Carver Gayton, says Platt, "and St. Clouds just fit right in."

It's a pair for Pair

Felix and Sarah Penn, whose darling small-plates restaurant, Pair (5501 30th Ave., N.E., Seattle, 206-526-7655, www.pairseattle.com), celebrates its fourth anniversary in May, have a second Ravenna restaurant in the works. They hope to debut their as-yet-unnamed bistro in June, just a few short blocks from Pair.Neighbors will know the site, at 2614 N.E. 55th St., from its earlier incarnation as those oddly conjoined twins the Sterling Café (an organic restaurant) and the Sterling Salon (a beauty salon), closed since last summer. Industrial designers Jacob and Lucas Mihoulides, who did a stellar job with Queen Anne's How to Cook a Wolf, are set to work their creative magic, turning the dual storefront into a 40-seat dining room with an adjoining 20-seat lounge.

The new place will have "a clearly different identity than Pair," says Sarah. And though its menu and physical layout "is evolving as we speak," we can expect a contemporary take on American classics, highlighting seafood and steaks. The Penns plan to divide their time between the two restaurants.

There's Poppy!

In the ongoing discussion of "Where's Poppy" — former Herbfarm chef Jerry Traunfeld's new Capitol Hill restaurant, slated to open this summer — a deal was finally struck, a lease signed, and Traunfeld's happy to announce his restaurant's address: 622 Broadway Ave. E.

For those who need to play restaurant geography to get a bead on that site: it is not the old Jade Pagoda location, as reported in a certain local alt-weekly, but it is nearby. Poppy will reside just north of Siam on Broadway, across from the DeLuxe Bar & Grill and a short walk from the vacant storefront last known as pastry chef Sue McCown's short-lived dessert lounge, Coco la ti da.

Speaking of Sue McCown ...

I've had umpteen inquiries from people wondering what's become of McCown after the closure, a year ago, of her wholesale baking company and much anticipated signature dessert lounge, Coco la ti da. After spotting her in the flesh at a chef's conference earlier this month, I got the answer. McCown, long known for her stellar work for the W Hotel's Earth & Ocean restaurant, has hooked up with another big corporate outfit: Starbucks. Yes, she's still baking, but her business card now bears the famous mermaid logo and reads "Senior Product Developer, Global Food Solutions, Research & Development."

And just in case you were wondering: She loves it. "The creative part is exciting and fun," McCown says. "I'm creating product that may or may not show up on the shelves down the line." As part of a research-and-development team, she may be asked to create a pastry under 500 calories, with a specific fat content, and if she doesn't get it right, her job is to re-create it until she does. "If you go to any Starbucks worldwide, you know that if you order a latte, it'll taste the same no matter where you buy it," she says. Which brings us to another part of McCown's job description: ensuring consistency. It's up to her team to make certain "if you have a blueberry muffin in New York and you have one in Singapore, it's going to taste the same.

A lot of people say, 'You sold out. You went to Starbucks' but I don't feel that way at all," says McCown, who sees Starbucks as a place where people have "a lot of passion, a lot of heart."

"I'm 44 years old, and when Coco [la ti da] ended, and I thought about going back to working in a restaurant, about working 16-hour days, I realized I didn't want to be 54 and doing that same routine. I may not be making a product that says 'Sue McCown' anymore, but I'm part of a team now, and I've always been a team player."

"When I left Coco, I was busy crying. I'm not crying anymore. That was the worst year of my life, and I'm still recovering to a degree. If somebody said to me then that this time next year I'd be at Starbucks, I'd say 'No way.' But it was the right decision, made at the right time, and I'm glad I didn't just limp along and get myself in more trouble." What's more, says McCown, "I have a life now. It's amazing. I snowshoe, and I'm taking yoga for the first time. I have time to read. Maybe someday soon I'll start dating." Note to potential dates: She's not only talented, she's gorgeous.

Nancy Leson: 206-464-8838 or nleson@seattletimes.com.

More columns at seattletimes.com/nancyleson.