The Kitchen Back in Business: Farm to Plate Since ‘98

— from Kelly Rose —

The Kitchen is back, and they’re cookin’ with gas. Actually, they’ve been cooking with gas for 18 years, serving organic, locally sourced fare to hungry islanders and visitors, but now with improved facilities and new culinary adventures to explore.

On a blustery December morning I met with co-owners Charles Dalton and Jasmine Townsend to “talk Kitchen.” While I took notes and tasted their bubbly house-made sipping vinegars, they cut potatoes, made lemon bars, served customers, and shared tales of The Kitchen’s history, the challenges and rewards of the recent remodel, their values around providing healthy fresh local food to the community and being good to the planet.

Back in the 1990s, after twelve years of cooking in Seattle and a 3-year internship at George Orser’s farm here on Orcas, Charles was recruited to help start a farm kitchen in New Hampshire. “I was really jazzed about it,” said Charles. “I helped design and worked in the gardens and kitchen. Then my mom called and told me she had bought this building here on Orcas, and that Libby (Geddes) and Yuriko (Bullock) decided to let go of the space.” Pretty quickly he made the decision to come back home, and that fall, in 1998, he launched The Kitchen in the space that was formerly The Garden Café. Jasmine became a partner in 2012, bringing her strong work ethic, lots of cooking experience (she has three kids) and enthusiasm for The Kitchen’s mission.

“It’s Asian style food because I loved The Garden Café. I wanted to continue to do Asian cuisine that was really fresh and farm-based,” said Charles. The Kitchen’s slogan changed from “Fast (enough) Asian Food” to “A Garden Café” — a tip of the hat to its predecessor.

Professional cooking in a roughly 200 sq ft kitchen space with little cross ventilation was challenging. Staff was constantly bumping into each other and forming clusters as they tried to work. As business grew and new partnerships formed, Jasmine and Charles wanted to expand the Kitchen to better meet the needs of the community, stay current with business codes, and provide a comfortable, positive work place for their employees.

It was a nine-month journey. “When we started, we didn’t really understand how much needed to be done in the big picture.” Unexpected necessary structural renovations required more time and money. Delivery accidentally put a forklift through their new industrial range hood. Four months and thousands of dollars later, they finally had a new hood delivered and installed to meet fire codes.

“We had a lot of community support, a lot of people helped. Our contractor, electricians, the Office Cupboard, The Exchange, Tom Meadows, people gave us special pricing, offered supplies or volunteer hours,” Jasmine said. Charles added, “To that point, small cottage industry is very difficult to develop. Even with all the community support, this has been beyond our means. I can see how a lot of places can’t make it, can’t afford to meet all the necessary codes.” Being a small business kitchen with limited income, it’s challenging to comply with all the departments: the health department, the fire marshal, county building codes, American Disabilities Act requirements, the licensing department, and the liquor control board.

But they are happy with the results. Their heritage building is reinforced with new beams, rafters and foundation. There is an ADA accessible bathroom, shiny food prep countertops and multiple sinks, that new range hood, and a legitimate office space. Yet it’s still humble in size, maintaining the intimate community feeling that Jasmine and Charles value. “Still it’s a micro industry. We just made it more professional, easier to clean, and we’re hoping to attract quality employees who would like to be here in the long term,” said Charles.

And what’s new on the menu? A new meal structure allows customers to build their own plate, combining elements from different sections of the menu. Three new sauces offer broader options for the taste buds. There is beer on tap, and Jasmine and Charles are especially excited about their new beverage program: an in-house soda fountain, or soda pole, which allows them to make in-house root beer, ginger beer, and sipping vinegars, or “shrubs” – herbal and fruit infusions with apple cider or balsamic vinegars and fizzy water. All this means they are eliminating cans and bottles, which will help with their efforts to keep waste and even recycling down.

Many patrons to The Kitchen might not be aware of the high standards of sustainability that the eatery upholds. “We don’t have a dumpster,” said Jasmine. “All of our paper goods are composted here on island. We also do chicken and pig compost,” she added, “And then after we sort through everything we have what we call the “no-hope,” two garbage cans full which go to the landfill.” That’s just two garbage cans of waste per week during peak season.

“We try to support as many local businesses as possible. We support probably 18 farms,” said Jasmine. What we can’t get on island we try to order through Orcas Co-op or Island Market,” said Charles. Working with at least 20 vendors instead of having Sysco Corp furnish all their foodservice needs in one delivery takes extra time, but as Charles said, “We like having less corporate and more personal relationships. Your history gets recognized when you work locally.”

Even with the expenses Jasmine and Charles are committed to keeping prices as low as possible. But will all these improvements speed up the process? “A question people want to know is that now since The Kitchen is remodeled and bigger are we going to be any faster. And…. it’s just…no.” We all laughed. Jasmine continued, “We are part of the slow food movement. We make each dish hand made to order,” Charles added. “The order comes in and we put the vegetables in the blanching pot, fire up the pan for the protein, and start building their meal from scratch, for each person.” But now there’s just a little more space for them to do their thing.

When asked what’s next, and if there’s time for a break, they smile. “Work really hard,” said Jasmine. And Charles said, “We have full service, year round catering, and we will bring back special menus and special events. At this point we don’t plan on taking any breaks for perhaps the next two years.”

All that note taking and talk of fresh food was making me hungry, so I ordered some lunch. I sat at the long wooden table, scooping up my flat noodles with veggies and tempeh, and asked my table-mates how they felt about the Kitchen. Grace, who sat across from me was trying the strawberry balsamic shrub. “It’s really good” she said with a big smile and wide eyes, “Try the shrub. Actually, do you want to taste it?” At the other end of the table, Matt Khachadoorian said “I’ve been coming here about four times a week for the past few years. I mean, why bother to cook, when you can come here and have, you know, manna of the gods?” Ian Woolworth gathered his food to go and said, “All I have to say is this: Thank God. Thank God I can eat here every day again.”

“I’d like to think that everyone feels welcome here, that everyone feels included. Like it’s a community kitchen. And we want people to eat really well.” said Charles. Jasmine expressed gratitude for all the encouragement and support from the community. She said, “It makes me feel like we’re doing a service, like okay, I’m here for a reason, and people are happy, because we’ve put in the work.”

The Kitchen is located at 249 Prune Alley, in Eastsound. (360) 376-6958, thekitchen.orcas@gmail.com