Food Notes: New restaurants are coming to Downtown Boise

In the life of Downtown Boise's restaurant scene, there is a reoccurring pattern of exits and entrances. First the area is beset by a rash of closings, then after a time the vacuum of open spaces begins to fill.

And so it begins again.

® This week, the Falcon Tavern moves into its new digs, which formerly housed Satchell's at 705 W. Bannock St. It will open for business on Tuesday, June 2.

® The tavern's former space at 780 W. Idaho St. will be taken over by Pho Nouveau, a Vietnamese fusion restaurant from Cody Do, owner of Saigon Grill.

® After more than a year, the vacant space left by MilkyWay, 205 N. 10th St., will be filled with a Caribbean-themed restaurant called Sweetwater's Tropic Zone.

Owners Joe and Sue Zimmerman spun the idea off a restaurant the couple owned in Portland called Sweetwater's Jam House, which closed eight years ago.

It will be a mix of Trinidadian, Jamaican, Cuban, Polynesian and Hawaiian cuisine, said Sue Zimmerman, who also is the chef.

She grew up in Indonesia and lived in Florida, where she experienced all these different tastes and wants to bring the fresh, lively and exotic island flavors to Idaho, she said.

The Zimmermans want to open in July.

"The place will have a whole different feel," Sue Zimmerman said. They will be painting, reflooring and redecorating the split-level space.

The Zimmermans' plan to have a full bar with tropical specialties (as soon as they can locate a liquor license to lease), an oyster bar and a large aquarium upstairs, and a fun, casual atmosphere.

"Very Key Largo," Sue Zimmerman said.

Dinner entrees will run $10 to $23, lunch from $7 to $12.

® A second Cronic Taco will open July 4 in the space formerly occupied by Le Poulet Rouge at 106 N. 6th St. Cronic Taco, a franchise out of California, also has a store at 3240 E. Louise Drive, Meridian. The concept is fresh-Mex with made-to-order burritos, tacos and other Mexican specialties, said co-owner Jose Moreno.

® Shige Japanese Cuisine, one of Downtown's longest restaurant residents, will expand with a teppanyaki restaurant and martini bar in the neighboring spot where Gino's Italian Ristorante, 150 N. 8th St., used to be. Gino's re-opened in Meridian last month.

The restaurant is named for Shige Matsuzawa, who is known as a creative sushi chef in Boise. He also is an experienced teppanyaki chef. He trained in his native Japan and then worked for Benihana's when he first moved to the United States.

Expect Shige Japanese Steakhouse to open sometime mid-summer, said Debbie Matsuzawa, Shige's wife and business partner.

The plan is to have four teppanyaki tables that will seat up to 10 each and eventually have more tables on the "patio" inside the Capital Terrace building.

GREEK FOOD FESTIVAL

A culture that prides itself on its hospitality will again invite the city over for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 5-6.

The 28th annual Greek Food Festival at the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, on the corner of 27th and Bannock streets in Boise, is one of the most popular food festivals in the area.

For two days, nearly 10,000 people converge on the tiny church and its grounds.

Patrons dine on Greek specialties such as souvlaki (marinated pork skewers), spiced lamb gyro wraps, spanakopita (pastry filled with spinach and feta cheese), sweet and nutty baklava and many others.

This year, the volunteers will serve up a new lamb dinner starting after 5 p.m. Friday, June 5, and all day June 6.

Most entrees are $6 or less; the lamb will be $9.50.

When you get there, you must buy food tokens and use those to purchase your meal.

There also is a new pastry house outside behind the church, so you don't have to go to the basement for your baklava.

You can also catch be dancing, music and other entertainment.

GAMEKEEPER EXTENDS ITS STAY

The Gamekeeper Restaurant, in the Owyhee Hotel, 1109 Main St., Boise, will stay open until Saturday, June 13. The longtime Boise restaurant announced earlier this month it would close on May 30, but because of a strong customer response, it will extend its stay.

The Gamekeeper has been a Downtown staple for 44 years.

The hotel's general manager, John May, says he plans to open a new restaurant to replace the Gamekeeper's fine-dining concept in the fall, and he is looking for public comment on what that might be. In the meantime, chef Mark Owsley will prepare special Gamekeeper entrees for the hotel's Plaza Grill cafe.

Open 5:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, until Saturday, July 13.

You can send your suggestions for a new restaurant concept to May at jmay@owyheeplaza.com

Submit dining-related news to doland@idahostatesman.com.