Volunteer Park Café & Marketplace

It's hard to imagine Capitol Hill as pasture land and amazing to think of how the product of hardworking farmers has become cool (who isn't talking about using organic, local, sustainably-grown products?), but put your mind to it in order to appreciate the Volunteer Park Café & Marketplace.

Business partners/friends Ericka Burke and Heather Earnhardt* have opened a café in a building that dates to 1905 on Capitol Hill, just down the street from Volunteer Park. When built, it was bordered on one side by a cow pasture and a creek on the other. Over the years, it was used as a grocery store and meat market, morphing into a coffee shop. Its new life merges the history of fresh, local food with the cool of innovative food and wine dinners.

"We wanted to offer people something that was good for them as well as us," explains Heather. "It's a very welcoming place—we want to offer a home-away-from-home and comfortable meeting spot." Ericka agrees. "We've created a homey spot with a cool edge that will hopefully appeal to everyone—neighbors, students, artists. We want to be here for a long time—the neighborhood has seen a lot of turnover in this spot."

While the look reflects the building's and area's history with an old-fashioned "Groceries" sign over the refrigerated cases, a logo of a milk maid and cow and a tag line of "Always Fresh Goodness," the food and wine offer a more savvy and hipper edge. Wines carried (both for outside consumption and pairing with food in the Café) have been hand selected from local, small producers. Classic food items have playful twists and all are made with high-quality ingredients. Both Ericka and Heather are supporters of the Slow Food movement.

Moving to San Francisco, she worked with the Kimpton Group at the Tuscan Inn. Later she took a six-month course at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. "I was able to work with incredible chefs. One of them was a prodigy of Alice Waters. She taught me respect for quality ingredients and that good cuisine is always simple. If you have the right ingredients, you don't need to mess with them!"

Moving back to Seattle in 1997, she became the chef at Carmelita and met Heather who was also working there. While there, she worked with FareStart, Share our Strength and Chef Collaborative 2000. At one time, she taught mentally challenged people how to eat on $5 week. "It was very rewarding. When I decided to get married and move back to San Francisco, they pooled their money and bought me a cake to say goodbye." She and other chefs from Chef Collaborative worked with grade school kids to educate them about food—that it doesn't all come from cans or at least doesn't originate there.

She married another chef and they worked together on wine dinners and did the food for the James Beard Cucina Italiana gala event. She became the executive chef at Work of Art Catering. In 2000, she and her husband opened their own restaurant Trattoria Pinocchio, serving contemporary Italian cuisine. The marriage and restaurant ended and she moved back to Seattle and worked for Restaurants Unlimited as their Director/Corporate Chef of Research and Development for 3+ years.

Growing up, Heather was surrounded by family members who cooked. "I grew up in the South and food is a huge production. You always make triple what you need," she laughs. "My dad's mom catered out of her home kitchen for 50 years. She would make huge, tiered wedding cakes using a Sunbeam hand mixer and her home oven. She also made pulled mints which can only be done at a certain time of year due to the humidity." While her grandmother cooked, Heather would stay in the kitchen and cut coupons and unload the dishwasher. On the other side of the family, her mother's dad cooked for all 11 grandchildren. Both sides of the family had large gardens and Heather learned to appreciate fresh produce and how to can vegetables.

Ericka (l), Heather (r), courtesy of Richard Gonzales

After majoring in photography in college, she moved to Tucson and worked at Canyon Ranch health resort. Most of her friends were chefs. "It was too hot for me," says Heather. "I had never been to Seattle, so I just got in the car and drove here. My first job in 1997 was as a barista in Madison Valley. In 1998, I was hired at Carmelita."

While at Carmelita, she decided to get another photography degree, this time at the Art Institute of Seattle. She worked for Metropolitan Living when it was a start-up magazine (now defunct). She shot food photos for William Belickis, owner/chef of Mistral and for Carmelita. She did cover photos for Northwest Palate and Green Cuisine, shot for Seattle Magazine and also did portraits, staying busy until she had her children (she met her husband at the Comet Tavern).

"I've never gone to cooking school. I learned to cook from my family and chef friends. And I subscribe to and own far too many cooking magazines and cookbooks. In fact, I just bought five more books yesterday," she laughs.

From these different paths, Seattle-born Ericka and North Carolina-born Heather have come together to give us the benefit of their cooking and food knowledge. We'll thank them as we try to remember not to talk with our mouths full.

*Heather left VPC to start her own spot, Wandering Goose, on Capitol Hill.

January 2007