New Chef at West Sound Café

— from Nanae Nagaoka Fralick —

West Sound Café will open for the 2016 season re-energized by new Chef Dirul Shamsid-Deen.

Dirul is not new to Orcas Island. After training at the Western Culinary Institute (Le Cordon Bleu) in Portland, Oregon, he came to Orcas Island in 2001 to intern at the restaurant at Inn at Ship Bay. He continued his stay on Orcas Island working at the Sunflower Café in Eastsound.

He left Orcas Island in 2003. Although he intuitively felt the pull of Orcas Island, he says, “I was simply too young to settle down on an island then.”

He travelled. He worked for a food truck in Italy; a tourist restaurant in Sydney, Australia; settled into corporate restaurant work–helping to open restaurants, train employees, and travelling where needed most.

Dirul returned to Orcas Island two years ago. Locals will remember him as the chef at the Loft Restaurant and more recently as the chef at Winter Tide, a pop up restaurant at Mia’s in Eastsound.

Asked about West Sound Café, Dirul smiles and answers, “West Sound Café is an island institution where locals gather for a good time and I see an opportunity here–a kind of freedom–to contribute to the local food culture in my own way, producing great food for great value.”

Dirul is introducing a new dinner menu that puts more emphasis on small plates. He envisions a restaurant where guests are greeted at the door with a warm welcome by veteran servers, and while some guests will order signature dishes with steady regularity–West Sound Burger and Fish and Chips like the amazing West Sound views won’t be going away–many others will be tempted to try new menu items. He hopes the restaurant will be a place where guests can get what they like even as the menu changes frequently.

Dirul is a L.A. native. In other phases of his life, Dirul played college basketball, was in the military, and worked as an electronic engineer specializing in micro-processors and robotics.

West Sound Café is located at the corner of Crow Valley Road and Deer Harbor Road. The café will re-open for the season with a “SOFT” opening Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9 (by reservation only). Thereafter, the restaurant will be open for dinners Wednesday thru Saturdays, adding Sunday on May 29.

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