Picnic in Phinney Ridge fills your basket with the best of local gourmet treats

Summer may be over, but the time for Picnic has just begun. Opened just last week, Picnic is a food and wine boutique located in the bottom of a new condo building on Greenwood Avenue in Phinney Ridge.

Run by husband-and-wife chefs Anson and Jenny Klock, the new shop sells everything one could hope to eat and drink on a picture-perfect picnic: wine from Walla Walla (and beyond), sandwiches made with local Cremenelli salumi and locally baked organic bread from Boulangerie Nantaise, housemade charcuterie and Theo chocolate bars.

Picnic is modeled after Napa Valley's 120-year-old Oakville Grocery, which the couple fell in love with on their honeymoon more than 10 years ago and dreamed of emulating ever since. With its wall of wine, and carefully selected cheeses, olives and pastas, Picnic captures that footloose feeling of lingering over delicious food, even if you're not stretched out on a blanket under a cloudless blue sky.

The Klocks have been on the culinary scene in Seattle for years, both working at Cassis, a now-defunct French bistro on the northern slope of Capitol Hill. Anson worked at Crush during its first few years, making charcuterie, fresh pasta and sausages. Together with former Crush sommelier Chris Tanghe, the Picnic crew is a culinary dream team.

The menu focuses on approachable, honest, good food, impeccably executed with French techniques. On the day I visited, the sandwich selection included corned beef with Comté cheese (a French cow's-milk cheese) on multi-grain bread and salami with provolone on a baguette. A lovely piece of Coho salmon with a side of roasted potatoes and wine by the glass tempted customers to sit and stay a while at the long communal dining table.

As they settle into their new space, the Klocks plan on adding fresh pasta and sauces, as well as to-go dinner options after 4 p.m. Picnic will also host wine tastings on Thursday nights, with the first one planned for Oct. 16, featuring the wines of Eastern Washington's O'Shea Scarborough Winery.

Prices are around $8 for sandwiches, and $8 to $20 for dinner entrees. Wine ranges from $5 a glass to $8 to $50 for a bottle. Charcuterie and cheeses start at $8.

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