Past meets present.

Over the years Brimmer & Heeltap has worked within this beautiful corner lot to maximize what we can do for our community. It started with dinner, then private parties, we added weekend brunch, and now we’re adding a little coffee shop.

Our building is filled with decades of rich history serving the region around us. Looking back to the late 1800’s, this corner held a general store, followed by a grocery store, and a French-inspired restaurant.

Did you know that the word nostalgia is a compound of two Greek words nóstos & álgos, referring to homecoming and ache?

At B&H we take comfort in the events of our past, the personal ties and threads connecting them at this little corner of Ballard. Smell and touch happen to be key factors of evoking such emotions so it’s no wonder we are warm and fuzzy with a pinch of melancholy just thinking about what is happening in the world right now. Nostalgia for last year or beyond, helps carbonate my personal and professional life in way that provides texture, connection, and gives me inspiration to keep moving forward.

A New York Times article a few years back states “nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom, and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders.”

In an industry that breeds newness and change, our memories are among some of the gatekeepers to our development and evolution.

Can our past predict our future? Some dear friends are investors with a team of us that own the real estate the restaurant sits on. One night Ryan and his family came in for dinner and introduced the restaurant to his mom & dad. Within earshot, his mom said “you know your great grandfather owned a grocery store somewhere in Ballard.” Instantly I got chills knowing that somewhere in the history of our building was a grocery store. What were the chances, that unbeknownst to Ryan, he bought into the real estate that once belonged to his family?

As it turns out, the nostalgia must have been flowing pretty good to have his mom say something and was able to dig up this amazing relic. Ryan’s great grandfather George Leu is the one pictured in front of the very door we now call Brimmer & Heeltap and we are reminded of how powerfully connected our past and present can be.

July 1st, 2020 we added another service to our repertoire. Wander through the garden gates, 7 days a week to our little studio to find us pulling espresso and serving up a cup of joe in a quaint, fast & casual coffee shop. Named after the sign that hung above George’s grocery store, Red Arrow Coffee is proud to be your neighbor.