Sunday Morning at Café Septieme

For the last eleven years, Sunday mornings have meant sitting with a book to read, some eggs, and some coffee for hours on end at the Café Septieme. This particular restaurant has always been popular but not too popular so no one ever minded if I stayed for a couple hours. They would keep coming by to refill my coffee and if it slowed down, the nice waiter that I got to know would stop by and ask me about my book. I love this restaurant. Despite my friends that pick on it because they say the service is a bit snooty and the restaurant just seems a little full of itself. I love it. It has dark red walls and mirrors and they rotate local artists work on their walls. I love it because Capitol Hill was my neighborhood for 10 years and this was my neighborhood restaurant. I am a creature of habit and let’s just say that I have seen my fair share of Sunday mornings looking out on Broadway from Café Septieme.

Ok, so now we have the background. And from my other posts, I think it’s clear that there has been a lot of change over the last year. Last weekend, I was feeling this sense of change swirling around a lot and so I decided to drive up to Capitol Hill and have breakfast at Café Septieme. I brought my book. It was raining outside. A perfect Sunday morning.

I got there and it was packed. My favorite waiter is still there but he was working the smoking section and I can’t stand that (it will finally be going away from Seattle!) so I sat on the other side. I had some new waiter. I ordered my breakfast without opening the menu. I opened my book and waited for my bowl of café au lait to arrive. It was delightful. My breakfast was good. I was managing my coffee consumption so as not to overdue it and I was just starting to relax when this new waiter came over and asked me if I was planning to head out soon. You see all the tables were full and “what if someone comes in and wants one”. I AM SORRY? WHAT IF….. Well, I was very gracious and I paid my bill and just as I was leaving another table emptied out -- so now they had room for two tables of what ifs. When I got in my car and closed the door, my face wet with rain, I felt very quiet and also somewhat content. I guess if everything is changing and it’s time to shake it up, it might as well reach all the way to my favorite neighborhood restaurant.