News

Jun 21, 2023

Restaurateur Juli Norris plans speakeasy on North Bank > Spokane Journal of Business

Lorèn, a French-inspired speakeasy and restaurant tucked away in the basement of Spokane’s Papillon Building, is expected to open in mid-September, says chef and owner Juli Norris. Once open, Lorèn

Lorèn, a French-inspired speakeasy and restaurant tucked away in the basement of Spokane’s Papillon Building, is expected to open in mid-September, says chef and owner Juli Norris.

Once open, Lorèn will be the third restaurant in the Papillon building, at 908 N. Howard in the North Bank neighborhood, joining Outsider and Kasa Restaurant & Taphouse, which is also owned by Norris.

With a touch of “French flair” and some retro characteristics of a prohibition-era speakeasy, the roughly 3,000-square-foot space features walls lined with three different types of stone, exposed wooden beams, secluded booths in the dining area, and the private Sophia Room.

“No speakeasy would be complete without a secret room,” she says.

Separated from the main bar and dining area by a brick archway, the Sophia Room is hidden in plain sight by a specially-designed door that blends into the wall behind the host’s desk. The room can be rented out for private events of up to 20 people, Norris says.

True to speakeasy tradition, passwords are required for guests to access Sophia Room events.

“The main purpose of this room, though, is it is a perk for our social club members,” Norris says.

Lorèn will offer 25 memberships a year to its social club, Norris says. Benefits of purchasing a social club membership include four complementary three-hour bookings of the Sophia Room, a free bottle of sparkling wine, complimentary desserts, early ticket access for Lorèn events, member-only receptions, and more, she says.

At the time of the Journal’s interview with Norris, 16 of the 25 memberships had already been purchased.

Lorèn will feature live entertainment from some local jazz artists, Norris says.

“We’ll have very small jazz performances,” she says. “We have a little space in the restaurant that’s set up for that specifically.”

Lorèn will carry a variety of high-end, French-style wines, Norris says, and will have two house red blends—Premier Rouge and Deuxième Rouge—as well as a house sparkling wine, named Très Belle Lorèn.

The drink menu will also include a variety of creative craft cocktails, says Norris.

“We’re going to have very precise cocktails—some that have a nod to the prohibition era and some that have a nod to the French style,” she says.

All of the restaurant’s dishes will include suggested cocktail and wine pairings.

Both Norris and Lorèn’s executive chef, Tyler Gardner, are “classically trained” in French cuisine and techniques, Norris says.

“We’re going to use a lot of French techniques in a modern way … with the most fresh and seasonal products that we can get here locally,” she says.

The opportunity to fuse some French and Pacific Northwest flavors emboldened Norris to open a French-inspired restaurant, she says.

“They complement so well,” she says.

The menu will include French-style pasta dishes and a steak dish that Norris declines to provide details about at this time.

“That’ll be the signature dish that we open with,” she says.

Everything at Lorèn will be made from scratch, just like at Kasa, Norris says.

“We don’t do any light flavors. Just like with Kasa, it’s very much flavor forward,” she says. “It’s big, bold flavors.”

Some of Kasa’s staff will be cross trained between the two restaurants, which will employ a total of about 40 employees.

Norris says she loves the location of her two restaurants because of their proximity to event venues like the Spokane Civic Theatre, The Podium Powered by STCU, Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, and One Spokane Stadium, which is expected to be completed in September. She says she’s met a lot of athletes and tourists at Kasa.

“We’ve had athletes from all around the world, and it’s been great not only to meet them and show them how friendly Spokane is and how freaking cool Spokane is, but also, they get to taste our food,” she says.

The main entrance to Lorèn and Kasa is on the south side of the Papillon building, facing Riverfront Park.

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