Chef Tom Black Heading Up Gourmondo's First Café

Longtime catering favorite Gourmondo is opening its first cafe in downtown Seattle. The corporate folks will get a helping hand from beloved Seattle chef Tom Black (most recently of Bis on Main), who will not only be the cafe's executive chef, but the entire company's.

Located in the Selig Real Estate Building, the café will feature grab-and-go baguette sandwiches, salads, pizzettes, and the like. Plus, they're uber focused on partnering with local loves, like Le Panier, Stumptown, and Pike Place Chowder, along with local wine and beer.

"I'm excited by the direction of this company and the fast-growing industry of fast/casual dining spaces inside some pretty cool companies," chef Black tells Eater. "Essentially, it's an employee perk of sorts to have such good food available." In fact, that was one of Selig's goals in bringing the company to the property — affording high quality food to tenants and neighbors.

Black is excited, too, about the company's culture of autonomy, adding that they let him be "pretty creative and change things without the typical restrictions" of other restaurants he's worked in.

The new cafe is expected to open on Wednesday (Dec. 11).
· Gourmondo [Official Site]
· All Tom Black Coverage [~ESEA~]