Executives from Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (“RSIR”) Bobby Moore Restaurants (“BMR”), and Bellden Cafe have announced the official grand opening of “Moore Café”, a joint-venture retail café to offer daytime food and beverage services at the flagship retail storefront located at 10237 Main Street in downtown Bellevue, Washington. The popular neighborhood hangout is already operating Wednesday through Saturday evenings as Bar Moore, offering bespoke bites, craft cocktails, and live entertainment. Now daytime operations from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday will offer curated coffee drinks, breakfast and brunch menu items, and other refreshments and retail items. The storefront will provide a casual and convenient collective for neighbors to work and socialize, including members of RSIR.
“We’ve been working for several years to attract the right operators to realize this vision for a dynamic lifestyle center at the very heart of Old Main Street in downtown Bellevue,” said Dean Jones, President and CEO of RSIR, and the leaseholder for the building. “I am elated to be working with Bobby Moore and Claire Sumadiwirya, for they are such noted experts in the industry for visionary restaurants and cafes, respectively.”
The café offerings will feature exclusive coffee beans roasted in the Pacific Northwest called “Continuum,” an exclusive brand that was created for RSIR and Café Moore. In addition to coffee drinks and freshly squeezed juices, Café Moore will also offer select breakfast items such as signature breakfast sandwiches, or gourmet vegan burritos, among other pastries and healthy options too. Expanded lunchtime items and weekend brunch options will soon also be explored. Most distinctly, Bellden’s philosophy is to hire qualified refugees who are establishing themselves in the US, and Sumadiwirya is proud that her team produces most of their own recipes and even their own syrups for coffee flavoring. A portion of Bellden’s revenue is invested in multiple charities including Jubilee REACH, Vision House, and Bellden Community Fund. Sumadiwirya is an active board member on community organizations such as Overlake Medical Center Foundation, Bellevue School Foundation, PorchLight, and Bellevue Downtown Association.
“We’re not just serving an elevated food and beverage experience, but we’re elevating the good that an enterprise can do for the community,” said Sumadiwirya. “We’re honored to build out the café operations for Bobby Moore Restaurants and add this daytime segment to an already successful nighttime establishment with Bar Moore. You could say we’re just adding more to Moore and we’re all better together!”
Sumadiwirya is the founder and owner of Bellden Café a few blocks east on Main Street, which has proven to be a successful social enterprise venture and led Jones and Moore to explore the collaboration. Moore believes the time is right to expand the Bar Moore operations into café services as well as offer the retail venue for private parties and special events. To be sure, retail and restaurants have made a slow recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic, and return-to-work in urban environments continues to repopulate and that helps support retail services of all kinds in the city center. Moore also owns and operates Bis on Main, located next door, which was established in 1998 and is celebrating a quarter century in business.
The collective also points to a residential boom in the neighborhood with nearly 1,000 new apartments and condominiums proposed within walking distance, not counting the anticipated job growth for nearby employers like Amazon, who state they will add more than 14,000 jobs to the 11,000 already working in downtown Bellevue.
“This is a gorgeous buildout of a nostalgic building within a historic, pedestrian-oriented main street with a bright future,” said Moore. “We’re doing our part to open up our storefront in time for the holidays – we hope this is one more gift to the community as we come together at such a festive time of the year.”
Jones is finally realizing his vision for a dynamic retail environment for his real estate professionals and their clients to mingle and collaborate, whether that’s coffee talk during a professional conference, or over a cocktail and appetizers during an evening enjoying live music, comedy, or a fashion show. The 3,600-square-foot main-level retail facility was designed to host a myriad of events, to attract and service the RSIR clientele, and to become a neighborhood hangout. Jones foresees the hybrid retail as an escape from the home office to work individually and meet clients, to the screening room to watch a sporting event amongst a few friends, or a stage to host an exclusive event for hundreds. In addition to a phenomenal retail location, the venue benefits from valet parking services and built-in business from the top-performing real estate professionals who frequent RSIR.
“We’ve always had a very unique approach to our real estate offices, and this is a flagship example of where we think that’s heading next,” said Jones. “We want to create a living room for the neighborhood, with hospitality services and lifestyle integration through events, promotions, and bringing people to congregate. We know that we can spark conversations that lead to real estate opportunities. We are very proud of Bar Moore and now Café Moore, with special thanks to Bobby and Claire for their shared vision and continued leadership.”
To help with private events, Jones has appointed Danielle Cuevas as Retail and Events Manager for RSIR’s venues, which include locations across six branch offices on the Eastside, Seattle, and Bainbridge Island. Cuevas recently installed a retail showcase for local fashion designer Luly Yang, known as a “LulyPop” in RSIR’s Kirkland retail location, and she’s managed numerous special events for third-party businesses and individuals alike. The RSIR venues have proved to be popular with routine attractions such as the First Friday Artwalk on Bainbridge Island, which has become a much-anticipated highlight of the month, and endured through the Covid-19 pandemic. This concept has since been repeated at the Mercer Island branch as well.
“The event venues offered by RSIR are extraordinary and they are further activated by operators for food, beverage, and entertainment attractions that make them sing,” added Cuevas. “I think it’s clever of RSIR to offer a distinctive alternative to a private dining room in a restaurant or a ballroom at a local hotel. I feel consumers prefer retail visibility and accessibility, but also, a highly-personalized service level and experience.”
The new retail operations are a welcome signal that downtown Bellevue’s vitality is alive and well. In locations as pivotal and as costly as Old Main Street, it’s imperative that business owners find ways to maximize the retail connections day and night.
“Exciting and innovative collaborations like this one between Bar Moore, Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, and Bellden Cafe are the reason Old Bellevue continues to be an excellent location to live, work, and socialize,” concluded Anthony Mackay, Vice President of Old Bellevue Merchants Association. “Come on down to Cafe Moore and experience the awesome energy and delicious cafe culture firsthand!”
To commemorate the grand opening of Café Moore, a ceremonial ribbon-cutting reception will be held on location on December 8th from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to be attended by members of the collaborative, RSIR agents, local elected officials, and members of the industry. To learn more or to RSVP visit https://partiful.com/e/mukp4DldB3PkSOHOFi2V
For more information visit http://www.BobbyMooreRestaurants.com or for special events contact .