SEATTLE — Having trouble choosing between Chinese or German cuisine? You can have both at a new spot in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood!
Cardoon serves dishes from both cultures, thanks to married owners Tiffany Hu and Alex Sippel. The menu is unlike other daytime cafés in the Northwest.
“Delightfully surprising - that's kind of one of our core values is to foster delightful surprise,” Sippel said.
The dishes and coffee options draw from their individual backgrounds and shared life.
"I'm German-American, my mom was born and raised there so I'd spend my whole life going back and forth and visiting family there,” Sippel said.
Hu is Chinese-American.
“My parents are from two different places in China,” Hu said. “I just grew up eating a bunch of different food… (Alex and I) started dating after we went to a Chinese restaurant outside in Chicago, and he was the one who ordered a dish and I was like, 'Wait, how does he know about this dish, this rural Illinois boy?!'"
Cardoon highlights ingredients shared by both of their cultures, from spices and grains to proteins and pickles. The Tomato “Egg” Rice is a vegan dish that incorporates German curry ketchup flavors with traditional Chinese egg and rice (with tofu used as an egg substitute.)
There’s also a breakfast sandwich made on a traditional German roll with a green scallion egg.
The coffee options are equally unique. The most popular drink is a latte made with soy sauce caramel and topped with seaweed.
Customers can also indulge in a zero-proof cocktail.
"I've been sober for a little over 2 years now," Sippel said. "It's just really important to us to offer a space for that. And there's just so many cool spirits out there, the market is huge.”
They also encourage international members of their staff to ideate menu ideas of their own. They believe it’s all a way to build connections.
"We always loved hosting lots of events just personally, we used to do these salons where people would come in and share something they were interested in,” Hu said. “This felt like just a natural extension of that and almost a way to bring that to more people."
While the menu might be new to customers, it evokes a familiar feeling - no matter where they're from.
"You can see it in their eyes when it registers for them, and they tell us it reminds them of their grandma's cooking or reminds them of this dish they had when they were traveling,” Sippel said. "And that means the world to us. If we can tie it to a fond memory, that means they're leaving the space in a lighter state and bringing that to the rest of the world."
Cardoon is open from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday. It’s located inside the Ballard Yards at 2423 NW Market Street.
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