Category Archives: Food & Drink

Bainbridge Bakers ends its online fundraiser

Bainbridge-Bakers_GoFundMe

Bainbridge Bakers has canceled the GoFundMe campaign started by one of its employees, said owner Mike Loudon on the company’s Facebook page Wednesday night.

He said that the business is “putting together a more structured loan option so as to minimize chances wherein they can be subject to companies like moorcroft debt collection company.”

Labor and Industries confirmed it’s investigating five wage complaints lodged against Bainbridge Bakers this year.

The GoFundMe campaign was started last week to help the 29-year-old business, asking for $100,000.

About $6,000 had been donated the day after the campaign launched.

Donors can expect a refund in 2-5 days, according to Loudon’s Facebook post.

The bakery closed around noon today, with a notice posted saying it would remain closed through Sunday for restructuring, said Ben Goldsmith, who started the GoFundMe campaign.

He said owner Mike Loudon sent an email to employees saying he would be having meetings during the temporary closure, and that “the goal for this time is to work out a strategy for the future of the bakery.”

Goldsmith, who has not worked for the past several days and is one of the bakery’s employees who has not received a paycheck in recent weeks, said “Getting the payroll settled I know is his first priority.”

Tim Kelly, editor of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, contributed to this post.

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Housing, hotel, rooftop restaurant coming to Lynwood Center

LynwoodCenterSeattleTimesBanner
Bainbridge Island’s Lynwood Center.

A nearly 5-acre development is being proposed off Lynwood Center Drive for residential and business space, along with a park.

Blue Moon & Roost Land Companies, LLC has plans for multiple homes, town houses, a hotel and rooftop restaurant and bar, along with office, retail and artist space.

While the Lynwood Center buildings have a Tudor style, the developers architect said the project will not be the same style.

INDIGO Architecture & Interiors does not “interpret” the center’s design guidelines require the Tudor style.

The proposal did not say what specific style would be used in the development.

Housing would be the first phase of the project, including five 2,000 square-feet single family houses with 800 square-feet mother-in-law homes, two 1,700-square-feet single family houses and six town house units above commercial space.

The project’s second phase would be three three-story buildings about 9,000 square feet each. These buildings would include a hotel called Hotel Charrette, rooftop restaurant with water views, ground-floor retail with room for working artists and second floor office space.

There also will be six “inn cottages” called Gypsy Wagons by the proposed park and a market plaza along Point White Drive.

An existing brick house on the site will be renovated and used for commercial purposes.

The site was previously a lumber yard and the rest of the property has been used as a pasture for the last 40 years, according to INDIGO’s proposal.

The Larson Lumber building is still on the site.

Developers also said in the proposal that they want to keep as many of the trees as possible, including a pine by the market to use as a holiday tree.

There will be a public meeting Monday night to address questions.

See drawings of the proposed development.

PUBLIC MEETING

WHAT: Public meeting on a development by the Lynwood Center

WHEN: Monday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Pleasant Beach Village Marketplace, 4738 Lynwood Center Road NE, Bainbridge Island

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Help us rank the top 10 Islander stories of 2014

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The tugboat Pacific Knight helps maneuver the state ferry Tacoma to the Bainbridge Island dock after it lost power while making the 12:20 p.m. sailing from Seattle to Bainbridge on July 29, 2014. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

We are asking readers to rank the top Bainbridge Islander stories from this past year in a survey. The top 10 will be posted on this blog.

You can take the survey here.

If you need to refresh your memory on a story,  they are listed below in no particular order with links:

 

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T&C releases remodel design

T&Cremodel

Town & Country Market released an artist’s rendering this week for a proposed remodel of its iconic Winslow store.

The project will bring the market onto a single story and generally modernize the 56-year-old building. The familiar reader board sign on Winslow Way will remain intact.

T&C first announced the proposed remodel in 2012. The company filed an initial project application with the city Thursday, according to a news release. Remodeling work could begin in early 2014 depending on the permit timeline.

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Island architects Devin Johnson and Priscilla Zimmerman are designing the project. Tom Chiado is project manager. Abbott Construction of Seattle is the general contractor.

Company representatives say the extensive remodel signifies T&C’s commitment to staying put in downtown Winslow.

“We feel now is the right time,” T&C Chairman Larry Nakata said in the release. “We are fully committed to downtown and recognize the store’s place in our island’s history. We want to be part of Winslow’s exciting future.”

The Loverich and Nakata families opened the Winslow market in 1957. The store expanded in 1990, adding a cafe and floral department. Town & Country Markets now operates five stores.

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Islander is ‘The People’s Best New Chef’

blog.mcgill2Bainbridge Island’s Brendan McGill beat out chefs from around the nation Tuesday to win the title of “The People’s Best New Chef” from Food & Wine Magazine. McGill is the owner of Hitchcock restaurant on Winslow Way and the accompanying charcuterie and deli.

The Food & Wine competition featured chefs from 10 regions across the United States. Online voting was open March 11-18.

In his Q&A for the contest, McGill credited local farmers with shaping his cooking style:

 “The farmers really drive the menu. I just buy what they give me… It’s of the moment.” Truly, though, “This is more like what Jacques Pépin’s mom did than some kind of revolution.”

We featured Hitchcock in the Islander in 2011. You can read the story below:

Hitchcock — Bainbridge Islander 9.30.11 by tsooter

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Singed and sanctioned, goat creamery carries on

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First there was the yurt fire. Then there was a run in with the city’s code compliance office.

But after a rough first year, the Barclay brothers are carrying on with their dream of opening a goat creamery on Bainbridge Island. The brothers launched a capital campaign this week on Kickstarter.com, aiming to raise $32,000 to cover startup costs for their new dairy.

According to the campaign description, Coyote Farm Creamery will produce Grade A raw goat milk and serve as a teaching farm for families and school groups. Money raised from the campaign will help the Barclays buy milking supplies, purchase commercial refrigerators and upgrade outbuildings on the farm to meet city code. If they can raise an additional $17,000, the Barclays will purchase a small pasteurizer to produce yogurt and cheese.

It doesn’t hurt that this is kidding season and the Barclays have plenty of adorable baby goat photos (see above) to aid their cause. The first 50 donors of $100 or more get to name a newborn goat. The campaign ends March 14.

(Courtesy photo)

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Quick facts on the Bainbridge bag ban

The island’s ban on plastic shopping bags begins Thursday. We’ve posted some of the basics below. Let us know what you think of the bag ban by taking our poll below or leaving a comment.

Why a bag ban?

The City Council unanimously approved the bag ban this spring as a way of reducing litter and unnecessary waste, while promoting reusable bags. Bainbridge is the fifth Washington city to ban plastic bags and the first in Kitsap County. Seattle banned plastic shopping bags in July.

What are the rules?

Starting Thursday, retailers are no longer allowed to provide those thin, single-use plastic bags at checkout. Paper bags will still be available, but the ordinance requires retailers to charge 5 cents for larger paper bags (this doesn’t apply to qualifying low income shoppers).

There are a few exceptions to the ban. Plastic bags are allowed for restaurant take-out food, produce, greeting cards, small hardware items, newspapers, dry cleaning and waste.

What stores does this apply to?

Short answer: All of them. This ban applies to all retailers across the island, not just supermarkets. It also applies to farmers markets and vendors  at festivals. Food banks can still use plastic bags.

Where can I get reusable bags?

Reusable bags are available at island grocery stores and some other retailers. The city is handing out a cloth “Bainbridge Bag” tonight during the Winslow trick-or-treat event from 4-6 p.m, and at the library and City Hall starting Thursday.

Where can I get more information?

The city has more details and links on its Sustainable Practices page. If you’re interested in the nitty gritty, you can read the ordinance here. Watch for a full bag ban story Thursday in the Kitsap Sun.

What do you think of the Bainbridge plastic bag ban?

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Photo credit: Larry Steagall/Staff Photo

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Bainbridge promo video hits airwaves

KPS_Bainbridge FULL // Final from KOMO Production Services on Vimeo.

The Bainbridge Island Tourism Alliance has produced a promotional video with KOMO TV that touts the island an “escape” for city dwellers who want a mix of rural and ritz.

You can see the full three-minute version above.

Shorter 30- and 15-second versions will show during commercial breaks on KOMO’s Channel 4.

Andrea Mackin commissioned the video for the alliance, which includes the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce and three other island groups.

She said the video is aimed at boosting tourism during the off-season.

A Komo videographer spent three days last summer shooting footage of Eagle Harbor, the farmers market, the internment memorial, wineries and downtown shops.

The video is expected to have prime-time showings on KOMO until the end of November.

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Brewery to open on Bainbridge

Poulsbo has four breweries. Bremerton has two and is about to get a third. Kingston has had a brewery for years. Port Orchard’s brewery hasn’t opened yet, but they’ve already broken ground and hosted a mini-brewfest.

And Bainbridge? Not a drop.

Despite its blue-blooded microbrew pedigree (craft beer pioneer Thomas Kemper Brewery started here), Bainbridge has fallen far behind its Kitsap cousins in producing local brews.

Island native Russell Everett is hoping to change that. His Bainbridge Island Brewing Company is set to open this spring in an industrial area along Sportsman Club Road.

He’ll offer a line of five beers to bars and restaurants, and have an on-site taproom for tastings and growler bottle fill-ups.

Everett graduated from law school in 2009 but found there’s more demand for brewing than for lawyering.

“It’s grim right now for law grads,” he said. “But it’s a great time for brewing. We’re in the middle of craft brewing revolution.”

Everett has been brewing at home since 2003 and had a stint as an assistant brewer at a Miami brewery.

He writes about his brewing (and other culinary) adventures at his blog, Everett Cellars.

Bainbridge Island Brewing Company’s initial menu will include a German-style blond, English-style brown, Northwest-style pale ale, India pale and a stout. Everett said the brewery will also include a rotating lineup of experimental and seasonal beers.

Follow the brewery’s progress at its Facebook page.

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Hitchcock plans expansion, lunchtime menu

Despite the economy and the upheaval caused by the Winslow Way reconstruction project, at least one Winslow restaurant is doing well enough to expand.

Hitchcock, a local foods fine-dining restaurant that opened on Winslow Way last year, is in talks to expand into the next-door space recently occupied by a bath supply boutique.

“I’ve got some big plans for a business that would be an extension of Hitchcock, philosophically, but deliver the products we’ve worked so hard to procure over the last year to consumers in a different way,” said owner/chef Brendan McGill.

He said he’ll divulge specifics once a deal for the space is finalized.

McGill is also expanding Hitchcock’s hours to include lunchtime service. The focus will be on traditional Neopolitan pizzas made in the restaurant’s wood-fired oven.

“Lunch is a good excuse to crank the oven up for pizzas – good, fast lunch food,” he said.

Lunch service is offered now on weekends. Once the reconstruction project is done this fall, Hitchcock will begin serving lunch during weekdays.

I profiled Hitchcock last year when three restaurants specializing in local foods opened at the same time in Winslow. One of the restaurants closed a few months after opening. Its space will soon open as a wine bar. Local Harvest is still going strong in the Pavilion. You can read about the little boom in local food restaurants here.

In other Winslow food news, Greg Atkinson (chef, author, regular NPR guest) is opening a French restaurant on Madrone Lane, near Mora ice cream. Read more in Rachel Pritchett’s recent story.

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Bainbridge’s glory days: bacchanal salmon bakes, javelin tosses and pure, clean opium?

No island is safe

I stumbled across Seattle Weekly‘s recent review of the Streamliner Diner. The restaurant gets only a quick (but positive) mention at the bottom.

The rest of the review, as you can read here, ruminates on how Michael Douglas’ 1994 film Disclosure and his depiction of a wealthy dot-com ferry commuter put an end to the island’s drug-fueled, wool-clad, javelin-armed days.

Remember those days? No? Well…lately not everything you read in SW is particularly factual. Case in point: this week’s cover story about King County’s “most dogmatic, bloodthirsty restaurateur.”

Strangely enough, both stories (written by Mike Seely) seem to be set in the same mythic place – a place overflowing with pure, clean drugs, fresh meat and bearded men.

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Bremerton falls under sway of mobile bread pushers. Could Bainbridge be next?

Remember the city’s crackdown on the island’s illicit mobile bread trade?

Well, Bremerton and Port Orchard are now facing their own scourge of roadside baguettes. Thing is, the powers-that-be down in those parts actually appear to welcome four-wheeled bread pushers.

Head over to here to read about a breadmobile that operates with impunity in the county’s south end.

Rather than hide their operation in dark alleyways, the owners of “Loaf and Round” park their brightly-colored bread van along busy streets. And they wear big poofy hats that would be hard for any code enforcement officer to miss.

Everyday, more Kitsap mainlanders get hooked on Loaf and Round’s 40 varieties of bread.

Could Bainbridge be next?

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