A few Wallybits back, we mentioned a new restaurant, called Satay, that’ll soon be opening in the old Avila space. Satay (1711 N. 45th St.) will offer quick casual Malaysian street food for lunch and dinner. The restaurant now has a website (www.satayseattle.com) and is scheduled to open sometime in December.
Satay is the brainchild of owners Peter Ringold and Patrick McCredie — two friends from college who toured Southeast Asia during their junior year of college. They were really impressed with the quick, cheap, and delicious food offered by street vendors and in food courts all over Malaysia. The idea of bringing that food concept back to the States stuck with them, and after graduation, they spent a year developing a business plan, working with focus groups, and looking for suitable space.
“We were searching for neighborhoods that had a lot of foot traffic–places where we thought we could be successful,” says Ringold. “Wallingford’s a good spot. I grew up in Seattle, and I had friends who lived here. We’ve been told that we’re filling a niche here because while there are a lot of fine dining restaurants around, this will be a quick walk-in for folks who’ll spend $5-7.”
Ringold is no stranger to Malaysian food—his aunt has been whipping up specialties from her homeland since he can remember. She’s a huge influence in their concept and gave Ringold some great recipes to use. “My aunt taught us everything–from the peanut sauce to the satay,” Ringold says, “We’ll even be grinding our own spices.”
What sort of items will you expect to find at Satay? Aside from the choice of beef, chicken, lamb, or tofu satay with a side of jasmine rice and a salad with lime, coconut milk, and chili dressing, Satay will also offer Laksa–a spicy coconut soup with shrimp and yellow noodles and tofu puffs, as well as a red curry dish. Wine will be sold by the glass, and two Southeast Asian beers–Beer Lao and Tiger Beer will be offered to round out the authentic dining experience.
Satay will be open Monday-Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Stay tuned for their grand opening announcement.
We’ve been told that we’re filling a niche here because while there are a lot of fine dining restaurants around, this will be a quick walk-in for folks who’ll spend $5-7.
YES!!!
Nice! Sounds like a nice addition.
super
Welcome to the nieghborhood!
Sounds great, but they would be wise to include one or two additional beer options beyond the two nearly indistinguishable and flavorless light Asian lagers listed. I’m not saying they need to break out any Pacific Northwest hop bombs, but just serving those beers really degrades the experience, no matter how “authentic” (note that Budweiser is arguably the most “authentic” of all US beers because it dominates the market). Authenticity does not necessarily equal quality and, in this case, the beers listed are nothing more than the Bud of Malaysia (not worth importing, let along drinking). Let’s hope they at least consider bringing in something like Trumer Pils, which could satisfy the perceived need to serve something clean and crisp without sacrificing flavor completely.
Don’t drink beer, but we LOVE Malaysian food!! Welcome to the ‘hood!
Remember how Jitterbug used to get the espresso you ordered at brunch? Without a machine of their own, the servers went over to Sbux for it. No need for Satay to carry an extensive beer inventory with Bottleworks right across the street!
Hope they do well. Have you heard if they are using the previous funishings. We about gave Avila a couple of the oak pews from our church.
While I’m happy to welcome Satay I really do regret the passing of Avila. They did such a good job with their meals and their service. We really enjoyed them and do miss them.We liked sitting at the bar in front of the kitchen and watching the activity.
thank you iqytoo.
I remember this with fondness and happiness.
namaste
and happy thanksgiving