Tag Archives: food

Genuine Burgers calls it quits in Silverdale

b0012681623-683837 Silverdale’s Genuine Burgers was a bold culinary experiment.

The restaurant served traditional fast-food fare with a slow-food philosophy, making nearly everything on its menu — the burgers, buns, milkshakes, fries, even ketchup — from scratch each day.

b0012681629-651327 The staff ground grass-fed beef each morning for the fresh burger patties, which were cooked a full 15 minutes on lower heat to avoid drying out the meat.

“We do things a little bit differently here,” owner Stephen Foster-Shaner told the Kitsap Sun’s Terri Gleich in an interview earlier this year.

The experiment didn’t work out in the end.

Foster-Shaner closed Genuine Burgers on Sunday citing a multitude of factors:

You can read our February profile of Genuine Burgers here.

Local food market adding Kingston location

Tad Sooter

kitsapfreshlogo Kitsap Fresh is adding a Kingston location, just in time for the fall harvest.

The local food co-op, which allows members to order online from local farms and pickup produce from a central distribution hub, will celebrate the launch of a new pickup site at Downpour Brewing in Kingston from 4-7 p.m. on Sept. 28.

Prospective members can learn more about Kitsap Fresh at the event, which will also feature live music and specials on beer growlers.

Kingston is the third location for Kitsap Fresh, which also has pickup spots in Poulsbo and Bremerton. More are planned.

Downpour is located at 10991 NE State Hwy 104, next to The Cup & Muffin.

Kingston-based CB’s Nuts featured in WSJ

Tad Sooter

cbnuts3_18377479_ver1.0_640_480 A simple business strategy landed CB’s Nuts in the pages of The Wall Street Journal.

The Kingston-based company’s peanut butter was featured in art accompanying a story about food makers marketing products that incorporate a small number of ingredients.

It’s hard to get simpler than CB’s Nuts peanut butter, which uses just one ingredient. (Spoiler alert: It’s peanuts.)

“That’s part of the beauty of our products,” said CB’s Nuts President Tami Bowen told me during a recent interview. “They’re really simple, they’re low input, they’re fresh, they’re clean, so they have a really broad appeal.”

cbnuts2_18377478_ver1.0_640_480 Much, much larger corporations are adopting a similar philosophy, according to the WSJ’s Anne Marie Chaker.

Industry juggernauts Hershey Co., ConAgra and General Mills are all pushing products with fewer additives, and using slimmed-down ingredients lists as a marketing tool.

“Instead of burying ingredient lists in the fine print on the back of the package, food manufacturers are trumpeting simpler formulas prominently on the label’s front,” Chaker writes. Read the full story here.

In other CB’s Nuts news, you may have noticed a Northwest-themed mural painted on a storage container outside the company’s Bond Road headquarters.

Malolo Design (also based in Kingston) posted a cool time-lapse video showing the creation of the mural earlier this year:

Mora ice cream featured in Starbucks beverage

Tad Sooter

wWB43Uyv-2400-1598 — Starbucks courtesy image

An ambitious Kitsap ice cream company will get a shot of exposure this summer from the biggest name in coffee.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room is featuring scoops from Mora Iced Creamery in a new lineup of Affogato beverages, according to a news release.

Affogato is essentially a scoop of ice cream “drowned” in espresso.

Husband and wife team Ana Orselli and Jerry Perez founded Mora on Bainbridge Island in 2005, after immigrating from Argentina.

Perez said the chance to work with Starbucks was an unbelievable opportunity.

Mora Iced Creamery owner Jerry Perez in the new production facility that is under construction in Poulsbo on Friday, March 27, 2015. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) — Jerry Perez in the Mora production facility in Poulsbo. MEEGAN REID / KITSAP SUN

“When I saw Starbucks had called on the caller ID, my first feeling is that I forgot something at my neighborhood Starbucks store,” Perez said in the news release.

“But when I learned they wanted to work with us, it was very emotional. For us to come to this country as immigrants and now get a call from Starbucks, all I could think was ‘Wow.’”

Mora has shops in Kingston, Poulsbo and on Bainbridge. The company recently opened a production facility on Viking Avenue, with plans to franchise locations across the country.

Moctezuma’s restaurant opening in Kitsap Mall this fall

Tad Sooter

moctezumas45withLady Moctezuma’s will bring its brand of fine Mexican dining to Kitsap Mall this fall.

The family-owned restaurant and tequila bar chain, which has locations in Gig Harbor, South Center and Tacoma, is moving into a 8,000-square-foot space previously occupied by Hale’s Alehouse.

13411826_1196363163730987_5738524364286351673_o Moctezuma’s Director of Operations Michael Goronkin said the company saw Silverdale as a vibrant market to expand into.

“It’s a growing community,” Goronkin said. “Restaurants out there have been really successful.”

The Kitsap Mall restaurant will be Moctezuma’s largest location to date, and will employ more than 100 workers, Goronkin said. Space in the restaurants is evenly divided between the tequila bar and dining room.

Goronkin said Moctezuma’s decor and food set it apart from other Mexican restaurants. Decorations are imported from Mexico. Food is made from scratch, using family recipes.

Amy_Johnson_-9152 “We really focus on execution and make sure every dish pops,” he said “… it’s kind of an over-the-top experience. You feel like you’re in Mexico.”

Moctezuma’s will fully remodel the Kitsap Mall space before moving in. Goronkin said the process will take about five months, meaning the restaurant could open in November.

The previous tenant, Hale’s Ales, left Kitsap Mall but hasn’t departed Kitsap. The brewery recently established a distribution center in Bremerton, and plans to open a tasting room there in July.

You can check the Moctezuma’s Silverdale accounts on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Courtesy images

Graphic: Updated Trails at Silverdale store locations

Tad Sooter

Two more tenants — Purpose Boutique and The Habit Burger Grill — were announced for The Trails at Silverdale shopping center last week.

Here’s an updated graphic showing where the businesses will be located:

Tenants have not been named for seven spaces at the trails, including the grocery store building. These include a couple of very large retail spaces, and a restaurant space in the northwest corner.

Monday tour will connect local food producers and buyers

Tad Sooter

Local Buying Tour & Meetup - OlyKit — Click to see full flyer

The state Department of Agriculture will host a tour in Kitsap and Jefferson counties Monday with the aim of uniting local food producers and food buyers.

The tour bus will visit at farms, a grocery store, restaurants, a brewery and a regional food hub. At each stop, industry professionals will discuss their experiences and offer tips for success.

“It’s an opportunity for buyers to get to know farms, but also farms to get to know the market opportunities available to them,” Raymond said.

Click on the flyer for more event information or check out this website for full details.

Farm Kitchen is phasing out its popular First Saturday breakfasts

Tad Sooter

Farm Kitchen’s First Saturday Breakfast is a monthly tradition for many North Kitsap residents. This spring, that tradition will come to a close.

Farm Kitchen announced this week it will discontinue its popular monthly breakfasts after May.

Co-owner Anne Thatcher said Farm Kitchen’s other ventures are blossoming and they no longer have the energy and resources to keep the breakfasts going.

“It’s just time to close that chapter in our business,” Thatcher said.

Thatcher and co-owner Hollis Fay began offering breakfasts at the Port Gamble Road farmyard 17 years ago. These days the event draws as many as 400 guests each month.

“The hard part is how very much we’ll miss seeing all our regulars on a regular basis,” Thatcher said. “That’s the sad thing to us.”

The final two breakfasts will be held from 8 a.m. to noon, April 2 and May 7. No reservations needed.

Breakfast regulars can still find Farm Kitchen fare at coffee shops and cafés in the area (there’s a listing here). The farm also rents out a commercial kitchen, and hosts weddings and other events.

Thatcher said its possible Farm Kitchen will offer occasional breakfasts in the future. You can check the the business’s page on Facebook for updates.

Read our feature on the Farm Kitchen breakfasts here. Photos by Meegan Reid / Kitsap Sun.

Mora Iced Creamery opening new factory

Tad Sooter

Update: Apparently the ribbon cutting ceremony is invite-only. Apologies to anyone who put it on their calendar.

After 10 years in business, Mora Iced Creamery is ready to go big.

The small-batch, artisnal ice cream maker will debut a new Poulsbo factory on Saturday.

At 10,000-square-feet, the facility isn’t huge. It is, however, a significant step in the evolution of the company.

Mora plans to begin offering franchises this summer, with the aim of creating 40 to 50 new locations over the next five years. The Viking Avenue factory will help Mora keep up with demand from new shops, while supplying wholesale to grocery stores and restaurants.

Mora’s original Bainbridge Island production facility could only meet the needs of the three shops in Poulsbo, Kingston and Winslow.

The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal recently wrote about Mora’s expansion plans. You can find that story here.

Storyville Coffee selling space in Winslow

Tad Sooter

Storyville Coffee is selling its Winslow Way storefront, laying to rest years of speculation it would open a shop there.

The Bainbridge-based coffee company’s space at 240 Winslow Way was listed for sale Monday for $1,885,000. Storyville still maintains its roastery in the Coppertop Park, where it operates a tasting room.

A marketing manager, who asked his name not be used, said Storyville shifted focus to starting stores in Seattle, and decided against opening on Winslow Way. Storyville has three Seattle shops, including one on Pike Place.

The marketing manager declined to comment on whether a Storyville still has plans for a shop in downtown Winlsow.

The 6,350-square-foot 240 Winslow Way building was long home to the town’s hardware store. Winslow Hardware closed its doors in 2005 and was replaced by Port Madison Home, which shut down in 2011.

Storyville bought the property in November 2011 for $1.55 million, according to assessor’s documents. The coffee company put signs in the windows and held “pop-up” shops there, but the cafe many islanders were expecting never materialized.

Storyville recently took a beating from local media outlets for reported connections between its ownership and recently-disbanded Mars Hill Church.

The marketing manager said there are no connections between the coffee company and defunct church, and said the media reports played no role in its decision not to open a shop on Winslow Way.

“We love Bainbridge Island and welcome everyone,” he said.

Photo by Andrea Mackin