Next time the speed limit signs force you to slow down through the sleepy little town of Suquamish, be thankful. If you were going any faster, you might miss the Agate Pass Café.
Tucked into Suquamish’s fledgling restaurant row, the Agate Pass Café offers brunch and dinner, showcasing seasonal Northwest products. Opened in April by the experienced restaurant duo of Marty Bracken and Stacy Grega, the new restaurant is dedicated to using local ingredients simply, with delicious results.
From the gleaming open kitchen to the comfortable bar and well-dressed tables, the experience of the Café’s ownership shows. The colors inside are warm and very au courant, and the peek-a-boo view of the water from tables near the front adds to the appeal. There are also a couple of tables out front with clear shot at Puget Sound beyond the parking lot.
But ultimately, it’s all about the food. My first visit to the Café was for Saturday brunch. A glance at the menu gave me great hope; Lummi Island salmon, Persephone Farms greens, Harley Bob’s eggs from Kingston, Mt. Townsend, Port Madison Farm and Quillisascut cheeses, and Uli’s sausage were among the featured attractions. One taste of moist Lummi Island smoked salmon atop grilled Essential Bakery bread with a layer of creamy fromage-fraiche in between removed any doubt. Finally there was a restaurant in Kitsap County that was doing justice to our wonderful local food.
Throughout the month of August, Sharen from Town & Country Market's Culinary Resource Center is teaming up with Sound Food for a series of demonstrations using foods from around Puget Sound. From Lummi Island salmon to Seattle's St. Jude Tuna and Island-grown corn and tomatoes, you’ll discover what local foods are available at Town & Country, and learn how to prepare them. The demonstrations will be on Friday afternoons from 1 pm to 3 pm during the month of August. See the Sound Food Calendar for details.
On Friday August 15 we will set up in the T&C produce department. Sharen will create a fresh tomato brushcetta using local tomatoes -- very simple, just grilling vegetables in extra virgin olive oil and Mediterranean seasonings.
The Tani Creek trio of Max, Amber and Jonah is changing the face of farming on Bainbridge Island. Not only are they fresh-faced young people who have taken up the passion of growing food on our fair isle not known for fostering young farmers, they practice a method of land stewardship that goes way beyond the term organic.
Tani Creek Farm's beautiful produce, after starting from raw ground only last year, is testimony to not only the hard work of double digging all the beds but to the sustainable and regenerative aspects of the farming style they practice. The three met in Eugene and each of them interned at different farms in Oregon, where they were exposed to the concepts of biodynamic farming. All report learning biodynamic principles not in school, but from the mentoring they received from the farmers they worked with. The philosophy of biodynamic farming utilizes a full circle approach that puts back what is taken from the land, planting by the zodiac calendar, and taking cues from nature for nourishing the soil and creating a lush, complimentary growing environment without the use of pesticides.
Max’s parents provide the land on the south end of the island, where the three live and work alongside Max’s parents and brothers. In a very short time Max, his family and Amber and Jonah have created a self sustaining landscape, with ponds that capture the runoff from other areas, including the house roof; pond water is then used for irrigation. There are neat double-dug rows of raised beds and several hoop houses for heat loving crops like tomatoes. The outlying areas are fruit and nut orchards of baby trees, growing amidst companion plants of beneficial weeds and flowers. They make several biodynamic natural potions from animal parts, herbs and minerals to provide the supportive biota which is then sprayed onto the fields and plants and used to inoculate compost heaps. I saw several hand tools probably known to other farmers but not on display in the usual nurseries that make double digging by hand easier than with just a shovel.
I recently discovered scapes in the June 18th issue of The New York Times “Dining In” section. Little did I know that Betsey Wittick from Laughing Crow Farms had been selling them on Bainbridge for about six years. “A friend of mine from San Francisco suggested that I start selling them since they were popular in the Bay Area. We only have them for another couple of weeks,” she continued, “there’s sort of a window when they’re in their prime and then they get woody. I always try to be conscientious to make sure that they are still tender before I harvest them by feeling the stems.”
So what exactly is a scape and why the name I wondered? My husband jokingly guessed that the name scape comes from Escape, since the tops escape from the garlic bulb. Actually scapes are flowering stems, usually leafless, rising from the crown or roots of a plant. From Merriam-Webster: Etymology: Latin scapus shaft of a column, stalk. If you haven’t seen them, garlic scapes look like smooth Chinese long green beans or long tulip stems and they are a delicacy once you cook them.
Lopez Island Farm will be delivering to Bainbridge Island this coming Sunday July 13th. Please plan to be there to pick up your order between 12:00 and 12:30PM.
There will be a full complement of products this week with both lamb and pork available. For a copy of this week's order form, email Bruce Dunlop at
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To order please send your order form back by noon on Thursday July 10 so it can be filled. Bruce leaves Lopez island early Friday morning and need to have everything loaded the afternoon before.
This delivery will be to a NEW location. The home of Clo Copass which is located at 9300 Northtown Dr.
Next time the speed limit signs force you to slow down through the sleepy little town of Suquamish, be thankful. If you were going any faster, you might miss the Agate Pass Café.
