New Valley businesses blossoming
- Written by Oliver Lazenby
The Lower Snoqualmie Valley has a handful of new local businesses ranging from restaurants to natural medicine to water filtration systems. The majority of these businesses report doing well and have been busy since they have opened.
Here’s a preview of businesses that have opened in 2011 or hope to open soon in Carnation and Duvall.
Match Coffee & Wine
Jolene Green, co-owner of Match Coffee and Wine, said they wanted to fill a void they saw in the area by providing a fancier place to drink wine and see live music, while still offering affordable wine.
"We’re trying to be more boutique-like," she said. "It’s a balance. But the way the world and the economy are, we need to be able to have the experience without it being really expensive."
Green plans to make wine and coffee tasting events a regular affair at Match. Since opening, the cafe has had music performances every Friday and Saturday, with artists regularly coming from Seattle to play in front of their roaring fireplace.
Match is located on Main Street in Duvall.
Red Pepper Pizza and Pasta
Other local businesses report that Red Pepper Pizza and Pasta, along with its new neighbor across the street – Match Coffee and Wine, are helping to drive customers to established businesses in the area.
Red Pepper Pizza and Pasta’s menu consists of established family pizza and pasta recipes, Lorna Bussing said. Since they opened, they have been busy, despite the time of year. Winter is typically a slower season for restaurants, she said.
The restaurant has been giving out breadsticks for all customers who dine inside, in the restaurant’s bright interior. They also have a special with free wings for any order of a regular size pizza.
Mother and Child Natural Medicine
Upriver from Duvall, Carnation also sports some new businesses. Mother and Child Natural, which opened in October 2009, offers primary health care ranging from natural, preventative medicine to antibiotics and more conventional medicine.
Dr. Kathleen Allen said her patients are 75 percent women and 25 percent children. Allen is also a midwife and lactation consultant, specializing in growth and feeding issues.
"A lot of my visits are mother and children together because they are a unit early in the child’s life," she said. "But I see any women regardless of their reproductive phase."
Allen practiced in Woodinville before moving to Carnation. While she was in Woodinville, many of her patients drove from the Snoqualmie Valley to see her, she said.
Casa Vermillion
One new Carnation business, Casa Vermillion bed and breakfast, caters to tourists and people outside the Valley. The giant cedar house, on 15 acres of forest near the Tolt River, has rooms starting at $75 a night.
Casa Vermillion, which is open to adults only, features themed rooms, private massage and walks in the woods.