When in Ellensburg, Eat at the Valley Cafe

Driving back from Spokane after a morning spent running in the Bloomsday race, my Dad and I stopped at the Valley Cafe in Ellensburg for a bite to eat. Not having spent much time in Ellensburg I wasn’t sure what to expect, but stepping into the Valley Cafe was like entering a classy time warp. The space itself is small and elegantly casual, hearkening back to an earlier time with its art deco light fixtures and carved wooden and stainless steel booths. The smooth sounds of Miles Davis played gently in the background. This place is all about aesthetic and ambiance, but the food does not suffer. Our warm, understatedly friendly waitress brought over a fantastic baguette to start with and the accompanying dish of olive oil and balsamic was filled with tiny bits of red pepper, parsley and diced garlic. Perusing the appetizer menu I was torn between the baked Camembert and the ahi skewers, but finally settled on the Camembert. It was served with crostini, candied pecans, and sliced apples, pears and kiwi. The cheese was gooey and warm, the pecans finely chopped and delicately sweet, and the crostini’s light crunchiness nicely offset the heaviness of the cheese. The house salad of fresh mixed greens, cherry tomatoes and roasted pumpkin seeds came lightly dressed and perfectly tossed with a yogurt herb dressing. A well tossed salad is becoming a lost art in most restaurants, but Valley Cafe got it right. No globs of dressing or naked bites of lettuce here. The entrees are in the $15.00 range and include many pasta options, tuna, crab cakes, and chicken marsala. The slightly spicy crab cakes came served with a red pepper aioli and were densely packed with crab, not filler. They were delicious, if a little burned on the bottom. They were served atop a serviceable pesto penne that went mostly ignored. The Valley Cafe also offers several local Washington wines and has a more casual bakery/cafe next door.

Driving away toward Seattle, our meal digesting happily in our full stomachs, we were afforded a spectacular view; to the north and south were giant, flat clouds like swept sand, colored rosy by the setting sun. Farmhouses dotted the green of the landscape and Rainier was softened by a fuzzy blanket of cloud. Ahead of us to the west ominously black, flat-topped storm clouds encroached on the friendliness of the scene, but I held onto the warm comfortable feeling left by the Valley Cafe and, entering the wind and rain, I was perfectly content.

Valley Cafe

105 W. 3rd Avenue

Ellensburg, WA 98926

(509) 925-3050