Eastside Elite Event @ Your Local Market

I’m a Unilocal **gold star** elite now, that means I’ve been around the Unilocal block… as far as elite events go. I’ve been elite in San Francisco, Portland, and Los Angeles before hitting the Seattle scene for the first time this year. What a great way to experience Seattle elite-​age with the Eastside event at Your Local Market!
This event was really unique. When I found that it was to be held at a supermarket, I assumed we’d walk around and get Costco-​style samples. Boy, was I wrong. We arrived a bit late, assuming that the 7−9pm was a suggested arrival time-​range. However, the event actually began at 7pm and spanned the full 2 hours. That meant 2 hours of great food and good drink.
It went like so:
Everyone was seated in the front area of the supermarket, where customers regularly eat their prepared food selections. The area was dressed up nicely, restaurant-​style! We were served several dishes, including appetizer of crab cakes, main course of chicken and pasta (HUGE servings), a cheese platter, and macaroons for desert. Everything was excellent, restaurant quality. I was blown away.
Perhaps my favorite part of the night was the supermarket tour by one of the owners. He did a great job of engaging us, telling us all about his specialty (read: yuppie) selections, and getting us excited to shop there.
I had a great time. Everyone treated us like royalty. Thank you Your Local Market and Elite director, Katy!

The EEE Eastside Elite Event was a small and personal event. For who ever was invited to it was blessed with a wonderful dining and shopping experience.
The owners Jason and Chef Michael shared their concept of a neighborhood grocery store that puts service and quality of goods ahead of profit. They mentioned that they have workers who are experts at their areas in the departments. They support local businesses and farmers as much as possible. Providing the freshest meats and vegetables. Also acquiring the most hard to find merchandise. If you don’t find it they will. I also love that you can taste the items by trying them out. They literally open the product in front of you for you to sample. QFC eat your heart out. Gluten FREE items through out the store.
The store tour was a wonderful venture to see the experts at work. Chef Michael led the group through it’s abundant goodies of gourmet edibles. From Katie the floral designer to Sylvia the cheese expert, they took the time to explain there departments service commitments. We strolled through aisles and found obscure brands of foods from far away lands. Choice cuts of meat that were from central Washington. Freshly squeezed orange juice was enjoyed by all. They produce it right in front of you and fill up a gallon. As the tour ended we were led back to out private part of the restaurant.
As we all became comfortable on our tables. Glorious smells of food was illuminating from the pans that were set in front of us. Chef Michael and his staff proceeded feed us a full gourmet dinner with wine. The dinner ended with a full international cheese spread. Kristine our resident cheese connoisseur was explaining all the different type of cheeses on our table. And one of the Unilocalers wanted to try some $ 8 potato ice cream that they opened and passed that around. My table of Riss, Alvin, and Kristine was stuffed to the tilt.
They handed us $ 10 coupons off $ 40 purchase and sent everyone home with a smile. Unilocalers were shopping using the coupons right after the event.
Every Sunday they have a FREE sausage and pancake breakfast 9−11am.
FREE cooking classes on Weds and Thurs from Chef Michael. FREE home delivery. FREE in store samplings on select days. They also have a FREE dinner once a month to feed the community. Call for more info.
They listen to their shoppers and support the neighborhood. The Eastside has a wonderful gem in their backyard. I hope more people discover it.
Your local Market gets my business when I am in the area.

Food was great, the tour was fun & informative and the staff was organized. They even accommodated late comers. Had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the event! The staff recognized me when i went in next! How awesome!

As always, Katy delivered an amazing elite event.
The food, drinks, and tour were all great. The hosts from the market did an amazing job of taking care of us.
Although the market is a little far for me, this was such a great event that I will definitely be returning as often as I can.
Great job and thanks for a great evening!!!

Great event! I was hesitant that it was a grocery store, but was pleasantly surprised. Everyone was very friendly. It was well organized and started promptly. They were very generous with the portion sizes and took the time to tell us each course. It was first Unilocal elite event and I will definitely attend others now :) Thank you!

Best Unilocal even ever~!
I was so full that night. They served us some really good food and wine. Thank you Katy and Mike, from Your Local Market!
I really like this market, it’s so much better than Whole Foods. Like the name implied, they really try to create a sense of community here in Bellevue. Isn’t it bold to open a market right next to the newly renovated Safeway? I was so pleased that this is not an ordinary market. I can really feel their MIssion and Values when talking to its employees there. It’s amazing they support the local communities and bring many great local product to the market. You gotta check out the cheese section, it’s really well put together.
The food they served that night was off the chart. I had the best Macaroon ever; tasty chunky chocolate bits that melt in your mouth. The Crab cake was really good too.

Hooray for east side events.
I too like most was a little skeptical about an event at a grocery store but this isn’t your typcial grocery store.
The event was in a little café area they have and my evening started out with the owner coming right over and talking about the store and how it got started.
Then came the great eats. Crab cakes, cheesy biscuits, coq o vin, cheeses, and wines to go with each course.
We also got personal tour from their head chef and the store is amazing. If they dont have something you want the will get it for you. You want to try something, just call an employee over and they will open up the box for you to sample. Its the type of service you should expect form a Local Market and the prices really weren’t a premium either.
We got to wander the store and they had lots of samples to try. The staff at YLM is very passionate about their business and it showed during the event. Everything was top notch from the food to the service.
Thanks Katy!

This was an awesome elite event. Sadly I went 1.5 hour late and made it there at 8:30 instead of 7:00 due to work, but that didn’t take away from the experience. Sure I didn’t get to taste the crab cakes there, but I got to taste many other treats there.
I quickly made friends with Sylvia and Michael who introduced me to a lot of great food. I was very impressed by the macaroons that they had there. I was a super big fan of the passion fruit macaroons. They were served with a Framboise, which was a kind of raspberry type of sparking wine.
I also enjoyed the cheese session they had at the end. I think there were 10 different types of cheese, ranging from blue, goat, aged balsamic, and other yummy ones. I think my favorite cheese was one that had cacao powder and some type of chili.
Katy did an amazing job putting this even together. I was skeptical in the beginning because how could you have an awesome event a grocery store, but I was proven wrong, by the amazingly warm staff, wonderful, and the energy in the store. I will be back to shop around for Opal apples, french pastries and other delicious food.

The Eastside Elite Event at Your Local Market was cray cray. Crazy good.
When this event was announced, I was thinking this was going to be similar to the Metropolitan Market Kirkland Elite Event a couple years back. Tons of food and grocery shopping afterwards. Thus I was thrilled to score an invite to this event, especially since YLM is in Bellevue where I live.
Although I was expecting some great food, I was not expecting a full dinner. Color me surprised I was attending a «Winner Winner Chicken Dinner» party. The event was set up in the grocery store’s dining area where there were tables with real silverware, dinnerware and place settings.
It was nice to hear the staff at YLM talk about the story of the store. It was very clear that they are very passionate about what they do and are dedicated to listening to the feedback of their customers to create a better store. While I have done the trek around the store, I found it refreshing during the group store tour that I got the FYI regarding a few of the products in the store. It communicated to me that there is a great relationship between the store and the product producers.
The dinner menu for the event was not your ordinary grocery store deli fare. Gourmet all the way. Beecher’s gougeres (cheese pastry), gourmet olive app, crab cake, coq au vin with green beans and egg noodles, a selection of cheeses and a couple macarons with wine pairings to complement each dish. All of the food was great.
The main entrée, coq au vin is particularly of note. I haven’t seen this offered as a deli offering at any other store. It is a change from the standard grocery offering of rotisserie chicken (YLM has this too). It serves notice that this store is striving to differentiate themselves from their competition and making a statement that they are not your typical grocery store.
Enjoyed this Elite Event very much. It is nice to learn a little more than I already knew about my local grocer. I am glad YLM is in Bellevue!

This is *not* your mama’s grocery store!
So much thanks for the entire staff for being so welcoming, so attentive, so gracious and spoiling us all with an amazing full dinner. From appetizer through dessert… so much food, so so good. And each course paired so well with the 3 wine/​1 beer ounce tastings offered.
The tour was nice, though sometimes hard to here our guide if we lingered by an interesting item or a sample and got spread out from the group.
Your local market is definitely *all* about service and are passionate about food and their products.
The lady at my chiropractor’s office has been going on and on about this store, and now I see why.
Whole Food and a few Farmer’s market had an illicit rendezvous and this store is the grand result.
They have free evening «parties» for the general community one Friday a month, so check it out and live Elite style.

Thank you, Katy, for introducing me to my new favorite grocery store! Actually, to call it just a grocery store might be a bit of an insult.
The event was small and intimate. The owners really made us Unilocalers feel welcome and I felt like I was in someone’s home and not a «grocery store». They went through their vision for the store and what they were looking to accomplish. On our mini tour, I made mental notes of things I wanted to go back and purchase — things in the deli/​bakery, the freshly squeezed orange juice, and snacks.
The food served was delicious. It was an entire dinner — appetizer, entrée, dessert, cheese platter, and wine pairings. I was not expecting so much food! Chef Michael and his team really pulled out all the stops. Olives and Beechers gougeres with prosecco to start, coq au vin/​buttered noodles/​green beans with red wine (huge portions!), chocolate and passion fruit macarons, and what seemed like a smörgåsbord of cheese! There were probably about 16 different varieties with accompaniments. If I wasn’t so full from the main course, I would have eaten more cheese.
I’m glad I was able to make it to this event. I will definitely be back to Your Local Market.

What an amazing event!!! I’m so glad I had the privilege of attending this spectacular event. I don’t want to reiterate what everyone else has said, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.
The food was sooo delicious! The gougeres, crab cakes, coq au vin (I’ve never had it before!), buttered egg noodles (is it weird that this was my favorite?), and even macarons for dessert! And the wine – yum! They even served Lindemans Lambic Framboise at the end (raspberry beer, which my guy friends scoff at – «It’s not beer!»), one of my favorites.
I’m so glad we got to tour the whole supermarket, because we could see all the special goodies they sell that you can’t find elsewhere!

I have to admit I was a little uncertain how an event like this would work at a grocery store, but Katy and the team from Your Local Market pulled together something very special. In fact, this event was so unique and awesome it deserves a review!
The ‘Elite’ dinner menu Your Local Market prepared was nothing short of a feast! Beecher’s Gougeres, Crab Cakes, Coq Au Vin, and then some! (I was literally drunk on cheese!) The main chef Michael gave a fantastic tour of the market, which is full of specialty local items and organic fare. The evening was educational, fun, and original. I feel like I have «insider» knowledge to this place now, and I got to mingle with some fellow foodies in the process. Good times!

Thanks Katy! This is a great event.
This was a small, intimate. and warm event. There were only about 40 of Unilocalers. A corner of Your Local Market, they block a section for customer to chill/​hang out. You can enjoy your food their. There’s also WIFI in the store. If feels like the dining room of your home.
We were greeted by the owner, Jason and the chef, Michael. Jason gave us a brief introduction of the store and what they do to help the community. And, Chef Michael gave us a mini tour in the store. I really like the interaction between the event host and Unilocalers. We tried 3 – 5 different wine, had olives and cheese puffs, crab cake salad, chicken, macaroon for dessert, and ended the night with cheese and crackers. It was really nice.
After the tour, Katy let us switch seats. Therefore, all the Unilocalers can get to know each other better. I didn’t switch because I just meet my new friend Sandy L and her plus one Guy. :-) I really like Katy’s initiation thou.
Thanks Katy!

in the six years that i’ve been Unilocaling, this is the first time where i wanted to come home and Unilocal about this event, because it was spectacular.
i’m not just talking about, «oh that was fun! the food was great the drinks were good! yay five stars!» i’m talking about, «wow. i have found my soul mate.» sort of thing.
your local market is phenomenal. it’s what i’ve been waiting for in bellevue the entire time i’ve lived here. it is what was needed. here are the reasons why:
1. their prices are about $ 1-​$ 2 cheaper than wholefoods or trader joes. yup. WHOLE FOODS AND TRADER JOES.
2. they have a better selection of goods. i kept on gasping that they had a product i was looking for… ever for. (humbolt fog blue cheese! squeeeeel!!! and for my friend cocowater in a non-​communist size! squeeeeeel!!!
3. Their produce is fresh and 90%organic. omfg their fresh squeezed orange juice… shivers. so good.
4. While Michael was giving us a tour, i was grocery shopping, and i just went to top foods yesterday. hello, caffe vita coffee? yes please. Flax Waffles? YES PLEASE! Almond Butter? Yes!!! BBQ sauce that i only found in an apple orchard near canada but i found at Your Local Market? YESSSSSSSSSSS. (you get the idea.)
5. Their pasteries. oh my gawd. their pasteries. I ended up going grocery shopping after the meal and their pasteries were heavenly! i bought five different baked goods for mis padres and they were consumed almost if not more quickly than the goods of crème pan. The crust was perfect on the rasberry tart and the éclair’s cream was… ethereal.
6. the meal. it was so delicious. i’m probably going to be coming back next week to buy the ribs for my father (which i know he’ll love). the whole meal was fantastic and the wine pairing was perfect!
7. The company. michael, the staff of your local market and the new Unilocalers i met today were amazing. it was so much fun getting to know a new group and awesome seeing jon l do the cray cray hands with attitude. The middle table rocked and really, katy, there couldn’t have been a better event. i now have a store that i love. thank you so much for introducing the Unilocal community to this gem.
so for all you bellevuians. so there, like now. because your wallet and your tastebuds will thank me. and i like being thanked.
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okay, i just tried the last pastery (the financier?) and i didn’t know the chocolate was a ganache. omfg. i’m going there tomorrow to pick up more to share with my friends.