This summer we were about to go to press in July with a review of Cafe Neo – one of the only higher-end independent restaurants to survive on the north end of Spokane. I even made a big deal of this fact in the review only to discover in trying to get professional photographs of the food that Cafe Neo wasn’t going to be the exception, but rather another example of the curious rule that keeps sinking restaurants that attempt to open up north without a pre-approved formula. In retrospect my introduction was more prophetic than I intended.
The pictures included are mine snapped during the course of the meals I ate at Neo just before it closed its doors permanently at the end of June 2009. Here is the posthumous review.
One Wonderful “Desperate Case” Of A North Spokane Bistro
Café Neo
An urban growth expert told me once that cities expand north first. This makes real estate north of the current core a typically solid investment, but apparently there is no similar maxim for local restaurants. If there is, Spokane would be a depressing exception since it remains almost impossible for upscale independent restaurants to survive on Spokane’s north side.
Café Neo opened last June, and I immediately assumed it would meet the fate of nearly all the bold bistro pioneers before it. Situated in a half-vacant strip mall on Division by Whitworth University, I expected to see the “Space For Lease” sign back in the window within a month or two. I didn’t even bother to put Neo on my list of restaurants because I didn’t want to fall in love with any dishes that I’d miss if Neo failed to survive like so many of its predecessors.
My pessimism was costly. It kept me from both the delight of Neo’s Pecan Crusted Brie with a tart cherry and roasted garlic compote ($11.98) and their Schezuan Green Beans ($6.98). Both beg to be ordered again, and only several bites in the green beans, I was calculating when I could return or recreate them at home.
Add to these appetizers the Crab Cake Po’ Boy on a Kaiser roll at the heart of the lunch menu ($12.98). While the soft Kaiser roll would be anathema to any Louisiana po’boy purist, the full effect of the two crab cakes tucked inside the roll with fresh shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and stone-ground mustard aioli should not be dismissed so easily. And if you can manage to set aside any fundamentalist dining tendencies for the duration of the meal, live a little and order one of your own.
The truth is that I may have underestimated both the determination and creativity of owners Kara and Scott Cook and executive chef Jeremiah Timmons. The Cooks are anything but new to restaurant work; Scott started work in restaurant management when he was 16 and locally he managed Papagayo’s on Division, Cyrus O’leary’s and then worked on the management team that opened three Chili’s in the area. Likewise, Timmons brings plenty of credibility to the kitchen: he trained at the Western Culinary Institute Le Cordon Bleu in Portland and worked or managed kitchens in Maryland, Seattle, and Ellensburg before returning to Spokane.
Still, I’m convinced that all three are on a first name basis with St. Jude, patron saint of desperate cases, because they have also opened and maintained not only Café Neo but also Ambrosia Bistro and Wine Bar in the heart of the Spokane Valley, another supposed wasteland for upscale independent restaurants. One restaurant in either place would be impressive; two just might qualify as a miracle.
At Neo this miracle includes half price bottle night every Tuesday, and a sit-up-and-take-note scallop dish that one top newspaper man in the city believes is the best entrée available anywhere… period. This dish is Timmons’ pan-seared diver scallops dusted with porcini mushrooms and set on top of spinach and crisp cubes of Boursin cheese grits with a lobster sauce and fried leeks ($20.98). A run-in with bad scallops several years ago makes me avoid most scallops on principle, but I had to see if the newspaper man had discovered the best entrée in town. It certainly is a contender: even with my bad scallop bias, I don’t believe there was so much as a smear of sauce left on the plate, and the grits bordered on perfect.
Timmon’s Rack of Lamb ($24.98) served with a pomegranate-port reduction and mashed Yukon Gold potatoes is another standout on a dinner menu that boasts such creative comfort food a Crab Mac ‘n Cheese ($16.98), Butternut Squash Ravioli ($14.98), and a Walleye ($18.98). I haven’t seen a walleye featured on a menu west of Minnesota for quite some time.
Timmons appears happy to channel entrée inspiration for his seasonally changing menu from all over the country. His experience obviously helps here, but some of menu is simply the result of an active culinary imagination as well – imagination I love to see on the north side of town. Like Ambrosia in the valley, Cooks wanted to create a neighborhood bistro when they opened Café Neo: a neighborhood bistro with a contemporary feel and a wine list worth exploring. They have done just this, and I like the friendly and competent servers they have on the floor.
Bottom line? Café Neo should have been on my restaurant list long before now, and I’d suggest you add it to yours. Together we might be able to help Café Neo thrive on the north side.
Cafe Neo
10208 North Division
Spokane, WA 99218
(509) 467-5961
Slated to be published in Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living, July / August 2009 Issue
The restaurant tucked in next to an Ace Hardware store doesn’t scream 
