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Exciting New Concept from Trophy Cupcakes & Party
Beloved Trophy Cupcakes & Party has a new concept in Bellevue: a grown-up bakery-cafe-champagne bar that offers sweet and savory treats from morning till night. They’ve moved from their small shop on the second floor of The Bravern and relocated into the beautiful new location in the southwest corner of the first floor.
Cafe Trophy is open Monday through Saturday from 7am until 9pm, and from 8am to 7pm on Sundays. Chef Chuck Dugo, who was the executive pastry chef at San Francisco’s acclaimed Slanted Door for thirteen years, helms the cafe’s kitchen. He brings a thorough knowledge of classic European techniques, combined with a love for bright seasonal ingredients.
The cafe offers Trophy’s award-winning cupcakes, of course, as well as a gorgeous array of French-style pastries like macarons (available in 10+ flavors daily, including lavender latte, PB&J, and citrus Earl Grey), cannelles, and croissants. Standouts in the pastry case include a milk chocolate malt passion fruit torte, buttermilk Bavaroise with guava gelée, and playful lemon olive oil “twinkies.” There are also sablés and American-style cookies.
The morning menu includes housemade granola and yogurt parfaits with Ellenos yogurt, as well as quiches. Lunch brings savory puff pastries and spreads with grilled flatbread, plus the quiches stick around. There are sandwiches too, like a croissant BLT, a turkey sandwich with old-school pimiento cheese, and The Frenchy, a classic ham sandwich with cornichons on a buttered baguette. Salads too: a Kale Caesar with croissant croutons, the Trophy Cobb, and owner Jennifer Shea’s favorite beet salad.
At night, bountiful cheese and charcuterie platters are served on handmade olivewood boards and some additional small plates make an appearance.
The wine and beer list, curated by Marc Papineau of Bar Ferd’nand, highlights family-owned domains, leaning toward a more natural style of production with a special attention to grower/producer Champagnes. There’s even Prosecco on tap!
There’s also a market section of the cafe, complete with an impressive wine selection as well as Jennifer’s favorite baking ingredients, grab-and-go lunch items, and a lovely selection of gourmet picnic items like chocolate, cheese, charcuterie, and olives.
The 2,000-square-foot space is gorgeous and bright, with marble countertops contrasted against a lacquered cement floor and dark, warm wood. Gold accents adorn the shop, from the railings up to an elevated seating area to the chair legs and drawer pulls. There’s seating for 40 at a mix of tables, bar stools, and even a few cozy couches in a perfect lounging corner. The classic Trophy blue shows up in the chic new pastry boxes and little details here and there.
Jennifer Shea, Trophy Cupcake’s founder, believes that every day should be a celebration, and has guided her company in that joyful direction since day one. Cafe Trophy expands on that belief, providing a lovely gathering space for guests from morning till night.
“The cafe is an exciting evolution of Trophy,” says Shea. “We’ve been testing macarons for ages, getting them and the rest of the pastries to perfection. Bringing Chuck Dugo on board launched my big dreams for the cafe even further into the stratosphere, and I can’t wait to welcome guests new and old into the gorgeous, lively space.”
Cafe Trophy is located at 700 110th Avenue Northeast, Suite 195 in The Shops at The Bravern in Bellevue, Washington. For more information or large party reservations call 425.361.0033 or visit www.cafetrophy.com.
In 2007, Jennifer Shea and her husband Michael Williamson flipped on the vintage schoolhouse lights at the first Trophy Cupcakes & Party in the Wallingford Center, and Seattleites seeking a premier dessert destination lined up. Customers and press praised Shea’s cupcakes, and Martha Stewart lauded them as “utterly delicious.” Never one to slow down, festive locations at University Village, Pacific Place, and The Bravern in Bellevue soon followed. Trophy Cupcakes & Party has been voted “Best Cupcake Shop” by Seattle Magazine five years in a row, and crowned “Best Dessert” by Seattle Bride in 2012 and 2013. To learn more, visit www.trophycupcakes.com.