By LEAH WEATHERSBY

The Roosevelt neighborhoodıs culinary scene has a new addition: the Blue Onion Bistro, which opened on Dec. 20.

The restaurant, located at 5801 Roosevelt Way NE, features American food with a contemporary touch. It is the creation of owners Scott Simpson and Susan Jensen, both former chefs of a recently closed restaurant in Bellevue called Azaleaıs/22 Fountain Court. Simpson and Jensen are both serving as chefs at the Blue Onion.

Simpson and Jensen have already made their mark on the Northwest restaurant scene. Simpson, 28, and Jensen, 37, have both been in the restaurant business for 15 years each. Simpson got his start at an Italian restaurant in New Jersey at the tender age of 12. He pursued formal training at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona and has worked in both the U.S. and Switzerland.

After interviewing for restaurant jobs in Miami, Sante Fe, N.M., and Seattle, Simpson said he decided the Northwest was the place for him and accepted a job at the Azaleaıs/22 Fountain Court restaurant in Bellevue. Azaleaıs was an upscale French/Pacific Northwest cuisine restaurant that closed in August after 20 years of business.

Jensen is a Washington native who worked at restaurants in Seattle and Everett before joining Azaleaıs as the restaurantıs pastry chef.

Upon meeting at Azaleaıs, Simpson and Jensen struck up a friendship. Simpson says their mutual desire to open a restaurant was one of the first things they talked about. ³Susanıs the yin to my yang,² Simpson remarked.

One of the reasons Simpson says he and his partner chose to locate their new venture in Roosevelt is because they liked the neighborhoodıs diversity and had noticed that there were no restaurants in the area serving the kind of food they planned to offer.

Simpson explained that ³Blue Onion² is an informal phrase that a friend used to describe a plate pattern. He liked the sound of the phrase and suggested it as the name for their new restaurant.

In contrast to Azaleaıs swanky decor which Simpson described as ³kind of stuffy,² he and Jensen wanted their new restaurant to have a casual, neighborhood place kind of feel.

While the Blue Onionıs menu, which includes such standbys as steak and potatoes and pot pie is obviously steeped in Americana, the wine list at least, is specifically northwestern, featuring wines from Washington and Oregon. The restaurant also offers meatless choices, including vegan specials. Dinner entrees run from $10 to $20.

In addition to Simpson and Jensen, the Blue Onion also employs several of the former wait staff from Azaleaıs.

Simpson says most of the money that he and Jensen used to open their restaurant came from both of their personal savings as well as from their respective families. They also spent four months working 18- to 20-hour days renovating the space themselves, with help from Jensenıs father.

Now that the restaurant is finally open, Simpson and Jensen are still putting in long hours. ³I live my whole life doing this,² Simpson said.

Simpson says he and Jensen eventually hope to open two more restaurants in Seattle. He thinks one will be a more upscale enterprise, whereas the other could be a ³funky hamburger place.²