Bremerton Breakfast Blues
June 5th, 2009 by David NelsonAfter hearing a rumor that August Wynn in Manette had closed, I walked over to check. Sure enough, black plastic covers the windows and doors this afternoon and no one was around the renovated Perry Avenue garage. Also, the August Wynn website has been taken down, and I know they had cut dinner service a few weeks ago.
Losing the neighborhood eatery would mark the second closure in as many weeks for a fledgling small business regarded in the Bremerton food culture. Luigi’s Bakery on 15th Street also is no more, after the untimely death of baker Luigi Ferrari on May 22.
My weekend mornings usually included one or both of those places, so I’m sorry to hear the news, especially considering the circumstances surrounding Ferrari.
Breakfast at AW was a treat, and you could say the same for every loaf, roll or pastry that came from Luigi’s oven. Both seemed the offer the quality and friendly service that captured a core following, traits of any good local businesses. But running a small restaurant or bakery is tough, no doubt, and closures are unfortunately common enough that it isn’t big news, no matter how skilled owners may be at their crafts.
Despite that failure rate, it’s also a profession that seems to have an unending supply of hope. We’ll see new places again, and hopefully something in those storefronts someday. And I’d be remiss to not point out some successes (or at least potential successes) in the breakfast game right now.
In Manette The Patio, just off the bridge at 11th Street, celebrated its first anniversary recently and is keepin’ on serving that neighborhood’s brunch crowd. And downtown Bremerton has a new breakfast (and lunch/dinner) spot with the Coffee Club, just open in May in the Park Avenue Diner’s greasy vacated digs at Fifth Street. (It’s less greasy now, though that may not suit all tastes.) And the reigning champ of freaky breakfasts, the 15th Street Hi-Lo Cafe, now has a VW bus dressed up so you can sit in it and enjoy your Moon Biscuits. (And I do enjoy my Moon Biscuits.)
So, maybe this is just a reminder to cherish your favorite little spot, or to help keep the local guys alive. And for the closures, well, you natives have two new additions to the Bremerton parlor game ‘This place used to be …’
— David Nelson
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
June 6th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I was so sorry to see the plastic on the windows on August-Wynne. I had hoped that it was only for a remodel or something, but apparently my worst fears are confirmed. Chris and crew were a real blessing to Manette and will be greatly missed.
June 6th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
That’s too bad. We tried to go there over Memorial Day weekend and it was closed. Our plans to return are clearly moot now.
June 8th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
RV, you have had some real bad timing issues lately trying to dine out in Kitsap. First it was Front Street in Poulsbo and now Manette, what gives?…smile. You know I am just teasing with you.
June 8th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
No kidding, Colleen. Images of “The Langoliers” flash through my mind, as I race through town…everyone disappeared, all stores closed. Do you think maybe it’s me who is the meal? Revenge of the vegetables!
We did end up at The Patio instead, though, so all was not lost.
June 12th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
[...] sad news from the Bremerton Beat blog, August Wynn in Manette apparently has closed its doors and shut down its web [...]
June 15th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
[...] August Wynn, the best place for open-faced Mediterranean omelets, has closed. This. Completely. [...]