Pucker Up with Pickles at Kiss Cafe

KISS Cafe (Keep It Simple, Sucka) has been open sporadically for several weeks but their first official day of "regular hours" was December 1st. This cafe/bar took over the space vacated by Karma Cafe at 2817 NW Market. The owners and their friends spent four months doing the renovation work themselves (one still works construction as his day job.) You'll want to get in there now while you can still get a seat at the bar. You might also want to weigh in on whether the menu should stick with the authentic yellow mustard on the Cuban sandwich or cave to local suggestions that Dijon should be the default.
The husband and wife team behind the place were inspired by the simple sandwich menu and great beer selection of a bar in his home state of Florida. Never fear though - these two are Ballard residents and have given it the local touch. While the Florida bar focused on imported brews to counter the prevalence of Bud, Kiss Cafe focuses on Northwest microbrews (although they do extend the definition of Northwest out to Colorado).
The wine selection is also impressive with 12 reasonably priced wines by the glass and nearly thirty available by the bottle. Columbia Valley winery Jones of Washington is well represented. I sampled their Syrah and was satisfied that it was more than just personal connections between the owners that placed this on the menu.

Summing up the highlights:

• great selection of wine and microbrews, most beers are $4 a pint
• 99 bottles of beer club - beer explorers get a card to work their way through 99 different brews
• dogs are welcome and the house dog is friendly and curious enough but not in your face
• sandwiches come with a jar of pickles on the side so you can choose your own portion. Tim's Cascade Chips are the other tasty accompaniment