i’ve been a huge fan of molly wizenberg of the fab food blog orangette forever, and when i read her book, ‘a homemade life’ i became an even bigger fan. she’s so candid and forthcoming in what is a cookbook, but also a book full of wonderfully well-told stories involving each of the recipes. so i wrote molly, and asked if i might share with you a little bit of her latest adventure, the opening of her new seattle restaurant, delancey, with her husband brandon (who, those of you singles taking notes, she met through her blog!). Molly and I had a little Q&A via email, so read on to hear all about what it takes to start your own restaurant and do it so well. thanks again, molly, and continued success to you and brandon with delancey!
Whose idea was the restaurant?
It was my husband’s idea. Brandon is obsessed with pizza. He’s originally from New Jersey, and when I met him, he was living in Manhattan and going to graduate school in Brooklyn – all places where he had access to great, great pizza. When we were dating, I would visit him in New York for long weekends, and pizza was always a big part of the agenda. We even ate it (at Di Fara, in Brooklyn) on the night of our engagement. When he moved to Seattle, he missed it. He had been experimenting with his own dough for a while, and one thing led to another, and he decided to try to make something of it, to open a restaurant that would serve the kind of pizza that we like to eat. So that’s what we did.
What neighborhood is Delancey in?
Delancey is in Ballard, in northwest Seattle. We’re in a primarily residential part of the neighborhood, but our little block has a great bakery, a small restaurant specializing entirely in local foods, and an umbrella shop. We love it. We feel lucky to be there.
What kind of hours do you commit to delancey each week?
When we first opened, we were there about 15 hours a day, five days a week. The restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday, but we were there then too, especially on Tuesday, to receive deliveries and do prep work for Wednesday. I’m happy to say that it has gotten a lot easier. (THANK GOODNESS!) We were able to hire a prep cook, and that lightened the load significantly. Brandon still works 12-hour days, but I’m down to 8- to 10-hour days. And I recently cut back my schedule at the restaurant quite a bit, so rather than cooking there five nights a week, I’m down to two nights. As of December, I will no longer be cooking there on a regular basis. It’s just been too hard for me to work a regular schedule there and keep up with my other job, my writing. I wind up not doing any of it very well! The tricky thing is, as owners, there is so much to do – not only cooking, but financial work, managerial work, janitorial work(!), payroll, errands, scheduling, working up new dishes, etc. – that even when I’m not actually working a shift there, I’m often still doing restaurant-related work at home. It’s been hard to keep a sense of balance. And the truth is, I still think of writing as my primary job, in spite of all this.
How many tables can you accommodate each night?
The restaurant can only seat about 35 people at a time, but on an average night, we serve around 100 people.
What are the favorites to date on the menu?
Starter-wise, I love the burrata, which is basically a ball of fresh mozzarella stuffed with a mixture of mozzarella and heavy cream. We have it overnighted twice a week from LA, where it’s made, and we serve it with olive oil, gray salt, and toasts. It’s so simple, and the flavor is unbelievable. Pizza-wise, our most popular is the sausage pizza – we make our own pork-fennel sausage in-house – but I also love the Manila clam pizza with creme fraiche, fresh mozzarella, chile oil, and parsley. And as for desserts, I don’t think we can ever take the chocolate chip cookie off the menu, and that’s fine with me! I eat one every day.
Do you give out the recipes on orangette?
When I can, I definitely do! Some restaurant dishes don’t lend themselves easily to being condensed into a bloggable recipe, but when they do, absolutely. I don’t believe in secret recipes, not even for a restaurant.
Are you finding keeping up with orangette more challenging with so much work at the restaurant, or do you think it helps promote it?
Ha! Yes, it’s been incredibly challenging. That’s an understatement, really. I had no idea – not a clue – that this restaurant would swallow us up the way it has. It’s hardly left time for anything else. And now, even when I’m working there less, I have so much catching up to do on other work. I have only cooked a real meal at home – something more than scrambled eggs, I mean – twice in the past four months. I hate that. I miss that part of my life. I miss the blog! But I’m trying to get back to it, and I will be there soon.
Is there still a wait list for reservations?
We only take a few reservations each night, and they’re for large parties only. The rest of the tables are for walk-ins. There isn’t a wait list for reservations, but yes, there is almost always a wait for a table. If you come in anytime between 5 pm and 7:30 pm, there will likely be a wait, just because we can only seat so many people. But after about 8 pm, things usually slow down a lot. So, everyone: eat late! If you come in for dinner at 8:30 or 9, you can often get a table right away.
[ *all photos courtesy of molly of orangette. ]