My Ballard

Through a non-descript door in a building on Market Street is a chocoholic’s dream. Claudio Corallo Chocolates opened last week in Ballard (1715 Market St., near Egan’s Jam House) and it’s getting a lot of attention.

The Seattle Times profiled the owner who says that their high-quality chocolates come from the “high quality of Corallo’s cocoa beans, which come from heirloom-style plants that have not been genetically altered since they arrived from Brazil in the 1820s.” Sounds tasty. But believe it or not, chocolate is a competitive market here in Seattle. “Is Seattle going chocolate crazy?” explains Gastrolust, which details some other chocolate shops springing up around the city. (Thanks everyone for your tips on the new shop!)

PhinneyWood is reporting that Phinney Market will go out of business on Friday. The store has been struggling with financial problems. There will be a farewell BBQ from 4-7 p.m. this Friday.

Earlier: The Wicker Basket market closing its doors

The neighborhood market at 70th St. and 8th Ave. is closing, and the store’s entire inventory is for sale.

The Wicker Basket’s last day is Tuesday, and an employee there told us that a restaurant is planning to replace it sometime soon. No word on what kind of restaurant, so stay tuned…. (Thanks David for the tip!)

There’s a new cafe opening across 6th Ave. NW from Sambar and Le Gourmand. The Sun Cafe has a sign on the door that says “opening soon.” The place is all papered up, although we tried to peak through the cracks, anyway. An email tipster tells us that they have an espresso machine and a pie cooler. A sign installer told our tipster that they hope to open at the end of the month.

This is just across Market St. from where the new Veraci pizza will be opening soon. (Thanks Brian and Eden for the tip!)

A Ballard institution, Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods may close, according to one of the owners who spoke with us today. Reidun and Anita Endresen, who have owned the shop for the last 12 years, say they’re struggling with rising food prices. So the sisters are planning to sell Olsen’s to a friend. The new buyer, if the purchase goes through, will most likely keep the traditional Ballard stock of Scandinavian foods and gifts. But if their friend is unable to secure a loan, the two women said they’ll put Olsen’s up for sale for any interested buyer.

That, of course, would be a huge loss for Ballard. Olsen’s has a long history stretching back to 1960 when it was named “B.D.& D.” and then “Johnsen’s Scandinavian Foods.” Reidar Olsen bought the store in 1972, and then sold it to his son in 1992. Reidun and Anita bought the store five years later. (Tip via Ballard Gossip Girl, which first heard Olsen’s might be closing.)

Locks Fan sent us an email today saying that Honore Bakery on 70th (that we wrote about back in May) is close to opening. We went by there this afternoon and sure enough, they said they’re hoping to open on Saturday.

The dark brown furniture is in place, white plates are on the shelves and the cash register is ready. When we walked in, the pastry chef was whipping up some sort of chocolate morsels that smelled delicious! The baker told Locks Fan that he would be selling croissants, brioche and puff pastry treats. There was also a stack of Pierre Herme cookbooks for all you chocoholics out there.

The Floating Leaves teahouse is moving from 22nd and Market to 17th and Market in August, reports the Seattle Weekly. To celebrate the move, they’ll throw an in-store party this Saturday. (Link via Keith at the Ballardite Blog.)

Last week we wrote about the fact that the popular boutique Olivine is closing. We spoke with the manager today who confirms the store will close in September — it has sold and will re-open as another boutique under a different name. We’re told that the annual sale starts on Friday and will continue until everything is gone. By everything they mean the clothing, the racks, the lights, the fixtures… everything. Local shopping blog SeattleChic also spoke with the owner who has details on where the owner is headed (to Fremont).

“Birth and Beyond” has a store in Madison Park, and now they’re expanding to Fremont. We noticed these posters in the windows on Evanston, just off 36th.

“Our Madison Park location will remain mostly focused on Mom, while the Fremont store will give us the freedom to expand our line of products for baby!” reads the website. Birth and Beyond hopes to open in July.

Fremont’s Destee Nation has been around since 2004 — perhaps you’re even wearing one of their “real shirts from real places,” like this one of the Tractor Tavern — but things have been a little busy for the company lately. First, they landed a profile in NY Times Magazine. Then a distribution deal at Nordstrom. And now they’re selling 10,000 T-shirts a month. Wow. Some of their coolest local shirts are Sunset Bowl, Sunset Tavern, High Dive and the 74th Street Alehouse.

We received an email tip from My Ballard reader Gooner who had heard that Olivine on Ballard Ave. is closing. Sure enough, a phone call to the popular shop confirmed that it’s going out of business soon.

The clerk who answered the phone couldn’t give us any details, but did say she didn’t know the exact closing date. She asked us to call back and speak with the manager on Monday. Once we get details we’ll post them here.

Back in March we wrote about Nau, a socially-conscious boutique going into the old Sonic Boom location in Fremont. Well, Nau has ceased operations due to a lack of funding and sold to another clothing retailer.

Instead, Mooberry will go into the south half of the old Sonic Boom space — to the right of the photo above — and the north half is still available. (Thanks Patricia for letting us know about Nau!)