Second life for Roast

Across the street from Swedish Medical Center, Roast, once a coffee and paninni shop, is going through a face lift and concept change. And how do I know this? Because I happened to see this sign hanging in the front door of the space at 500 East Hampden Avenue.

Now, I don't know whether or not that "2-3 weeks" claim is accurate, because it's been some time since I was last in this neighborhood. But I can say that work is definitely being done inside this space, because a few days ago, it was completely filled with torn-up equipment and displaced coolers -- and yesterday, half of that clutter had been cleared out.

I'm excited to see what Roast will do to "revamp" both the long, narrow room and the what had been sandwich-shop menu. An Italian diner sounds a helluva lot more interesting than yet another coffee and paninni joint.