South Lake Union welcomes Portage Bay Cafe to the neighborhood

Lately, it seems that any local restaurant worth its salt has taken a perpetually endless waiting list to mean that they ought to spawn a sibling. Thus we have a great new crop of twists and spin-offs that have ridden the reputations of their older counterparts to some solid success over the last year.

Good for the owners of Portage Bay Cafe, then, for interpreting that long line for what it really is -- a bunch of hungry people who love their food. The only problem with the 10-year-old University District brunch favorite was that it could indeed be the next ice age before you got to stick your fork into a crab Benedict.

So John and Amy Gunnar took the right cue and opened the doors of their second restaurant in South Lake Union, without changing a thing. This is much better than a little sibling. It's an identical twin.

Word seems to be out, because on a recent Saturday morning it was obvious that some of the U District overflow had made it across the lake. But although the cafe was full, every bum was seated and forks were making blissful contact with eggs of all kinds.

If the Roosevelt Way location was never on your radar, here's an idea of what you've been missing: the Pork Sausage Omelet with house-smoked sausage, caramelized organic apples, shallots and 5-year aged gouda ($10.50); The Black Bean/Pancetta Cake Benedict with organic homemade cornbread, black-bean and pancetta cake and a poached egg, topped with house-smoked tomato-and-saffron sauce ($10.95); and last but not least, the famed toppings bar, a magical island of fruit compotes, fluffy whipped cream, nuts and steroidal berries, where you get to go when you order anything of the French toast or pancake variety.

And variety is the key word here, with everything from Swedish Pancakes ($9.95) to mascarpone-filled Berry Blintzes ($10.95), gluten-free options and even a Vegan Pancake ($8.95) made with whole wheat, organic bananas, oats and coconut milk.

This menu rests on a pedestal of greatness by virtue of its wholesome ingredients: organic everything, fresh local meats and seafood, and an A-list of quality suppliers: Isernio's, Great Harvest Bakery, Humboldt Fog and Laura Channel cheeses, Mighty Leaf Teas and Font Coffee.

Weekday lunch seems to be getting the customers it deserves. At noon in South Lake Union, there are more suits looking for a quick sandwich than there are college kids rolling out of bed in the University District.

There's an Ahi Tuna sandwich with jalapeno glaze ($12.95), a free-range chicken club ($10.50), and beef and garden burgers with roasted red pepper aioli. Or go for one of 10 entree salads, like the Organic Prawn and Chicken Salad with mixed veggies and Udon noodles in a red curry and coconut milk dressing ($11.50), or the Northwest Salad: field greens with radishes, a hard-boiled egg, sun-dried tomato, toasted pine nuts and grated gouda topped with either grilled flank steak, seared rare Ahi, chicken or Portobello mushrooms ($9.95-$12.95). And for the occasional late riser, there's still breakfast all day.

The warehouse-like spaces characteristic of Paul Allenland are a good fit with the restaurant's airy aesthetic (Allen seemed to think so too -- Portage Bay Cafe leased here on a personal invitation from Vulcan).

With the exception of a separate bar nook, though, the majority of the tables in the 6,000-square-foot sprawl are set in one square, cool room underneath a high ceiling of exposed concrete and pipes. It has all the intimacy of a cafeteria and is rather acoustically challenged. But for a place that could pack Safeco Field with diners who just want to get next to their breakfast, that kind of intimacy is hardly an issue.

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