This month, Marilyn Forever Blonde, opens for a two-week run before heading to New York. In December, Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory will take the stage.

Always heralded for our great historic downtown, some fun new restaurants and specialty stores have joined the retail mix. In April, Green Spoon Eatery started serving their healthy, tasty food for brunch (weekends) lunch and dinner at a sophisticated new spot on Main Street just a few doors from Bright’s Candies. Look for Green Spoon to offer ready-to-go meals sometime this month.

At the end of July, Public House 124 (124 E Main) opened on the block between Colville and Spokane to fans and steady crowds. Everyone’s favorite bartender at the hotel, Matthew Price-Huntington and building owner Jim Sanders put together a great team including chefs David Ponti and Chris Teal, former sous chef at Whitehouse Crawford to create what they are calling “a social dining experience.” What that means is an exciting, casual but seriously good food joint with a dizzying lineup of liquid refreshments, where reservations are unnecessary and you will definitely want to wait for a table on busy nights.

Up Hwy 12, in Waitsburg, Charles Smith opened Anchor Bar on Main Street across jimgermanbar. Look for live entertainment on weekends, including the ‘burg’s resident wine writer and musician, Paul Gregutt.

Vegans rejoice! The Garden Vegan Café opened this summer, next door to Colville Street Patisserie with healthy choices including gluten-free options.

Two new establishments for breakfast are also in the works. Maple Counter Café on Alder next to Marcy’s Bar plans to serve breakfast and lunch, while Bacon & Eggs will be another breakfast option on Main closer to the Whitman Campus. No dates yet for their respective openings.

Over on Spokane Street in the Warehouse District, Stephenson Cellars has morphed into an art gallery with new artists showing every month as well as a pop-up store within the tasting room called Casa Girasol.

If that name sounds familiar, it should. The pop-up pottery shop is a venture from the people who own Girasol Vineyard & Inn and features artisan pottery from Mexico. These rustic, earth-toned clay pots, many belt-high and taller, are crafted by traditional methods in small family compounds.

Next door to Stephenson Cellars, (in Annabelle’s former spot, they closed in June) Lotus, a new import store for clothing and jewelry from Thailand and India has opened. Further up Spokane Street, Charles Smith Wines is a mecca for everything black and white in his stunning new tasting room. If you are in town Thursday nights, don’t miss his Blues & BBQ from 7-10PM.

Several new vintage stores have opened, our fav from last year, DéBouché, next door to Brasserie Four, has great vintage furniture updated with carefully chosen vintage and new accessories.

In July, Door Number Two, a vintage clothing and furnishings store, opened next door to The Garden Vegan Café in a tiny space but some friends have told me what great finds they have uncovered including designer handbags and gently worn cowboy boots.

And in the former location of Cheese Louise, Greg Roybal and Alexa Palmer opened a higher-end recycled clothing store, Blue Mountain Trading Company. If we have their concept right, they canvas the best of the discount and consignment stores on the coast and pick only the most fashionable, highly desirable pieces to bring back to Walla Walla. Some of their finds are repurposed into an entirely different garment, such as taking a fleece hoodie and reinterpreting it into a sexy halter dress.

On the sad news, downtown saw the closing of the only full-time art gallery, Willow in September. And currently, the home decor and accessories shop, By Arrangement, is selling everything as the owner is retiring and closing the store.

You’ll notice that we haven’t even started talking about what’s news in the Walla Walla wine world. We’ll leave that for our Fall Release edition that will come out just before the big weekend in November (4-6).

However, if you are planning a visit, book your stay now. Long-time visitors know that accommodations go quickly and you will want to reserve those dinner reservations as well.

Until then, go drink some Walla Walla wine.

by Guest Blogger Michele Rennie

If Walla Walla was just wine, it would be just half the winning equation, don’t you think? While it has been the wine that brings our valley its most recognition, increasingly, W2 has become renowned for really good food and celebrated food producers. And this chemistry of award-winning wine, great food and an audience that gets excited by the fusion, makes Walla Walla a compelling place for both residents and visitors alike.

April’s Good Food News starts with national recognition for Chef Chris Ainsworth of Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen, when the talented chef made the short list for this year’s James Beard’s Best Chef Northwest nomination. Frequent visitors and food savvy locals have had Island’s number memorized since the restaurant opened in 2007.

Foodies already know Whitehouse Crawford and T. Maccarone’s. Add in Brasserie Four, Someone’s in the Kitchen, Olive Marketplace, Colville St. Patisserie, Backstage Bistro, Crossroads Steak House and Sweet Basil Pizza, and the hunger cravings will be satisfied within a few steps of the downtown tasting rooms.

South of Downtown (SODO), South Fork Grill emerged from the closure of Creektown Café last fall to strong local encouragement. Not only did they keep our favorite C-town dishes on the menu, but recently introduced prime rib on weekends and Sunday night curry specials as part of Chef Nimal Amarasinghe’s culinary influences.

January’s big surprise was the abrupt departure of Executive Chef Bear Ulman from the Marcus Whitman Hotel after nine years.

In their search for new top chef, the hotel interviewed candidates from all over the US, who came to town and auditioned by cooking up a storm for Kyle, Brenda and lucky friends.

By mid-February, the hotel announced that Chef Antonio Campolio, most recently from The Broadmoor, a destination resort in Colorado Springs, had accepted the hotel’s top food job.

With the new year changes, the hotel also stopped serving lunch. Since 1999, after Kyle Mussman restored the hotel, The Marc Restaurant was the venue for a business meal and until a few years ago, one of a few places downtown that offered lunch service. Now, with so many more dining options available in the downtown core, the hotel has shifted focus to their Chef’s Table, The Marc Restaurant, The Vineyard Lounge and their catering and convention business.

Never fear, there are an abundant of great lunch options including Graze (directly across from the Colville Street entrance to Macys), Olive Café & Marketplace, Salumerie Cesario’sWalla Walla Bread Company’s soups and sandwiches in their newly expanded space and Pho Sho on Alder Street.

If you can’t sit down for lunch, grab a sweet onion sausage from Onion World, something tasty from a nearby taco wagon or local favs, Ice-Burg Drive In with great burgers, fries and shakes or Fast Eddies for their awesome pastrami sandwiches, (one is large enough to share_, to get you through the afternoon. You can even go upscale at Andrae’s Kitchen, located most weekdays at the hotel (just off 2nd Avenue from 11-2:30 p.m.) offering gourmet grub from their fully equipped mobile kitchen.

AK’s food truck also serves a more important purpose; it gives owner and Chef Andrae Bopp the ability to deliver great food experiences anywhere– from crush pads to remote vineyard settings.

Chef Bopp is a classically trained chef who operated a fine restaurant in Boise until 2008, when he came to town with the intention of opening a chic upscale restaurant here. While he waited out the downturn, he honed his winemaking skills working with his friends at Dusted Valley Vintners.

He soon uncovered an untapped niche – the opportunity to deliver culinary experiences in extraordinary settings. In March 2101, he launched La Porte Brune’s underground dinners to an enthusiastic following. These fine food extravaganzas included top notch fare paired with exquisite wines in unusual and sometimes hard-to-gain-entry locations, including Corliss Estates, Orchidaceae and in most recently, celebrated his first anniversary of the project at Garrison Creek Cellars. To find out where the next underground dinner will be (Walla Walla of course, but also Seattle and Boise), visit his website and sign up for notifications.

We are also excited that Someone’s in the Kitchen just opened a second location at 13 E Main titled Green Spoon that will offer lunch, dinner and weekend brunches. The original location on Rose & 4th will continue to offer cooking classes and host private events.

There are also changes at Fat Duck Inn. While Chef Charles Maddrey takes a hiatus for family reasons, Chef Greg Schnorr has stepped into the kitchen. Working with Fat Duck’s Alexa Palmer, they have put together a series of winemaker dinners every Friday and Saturday evenings starting this spring and running through the summer.

Chef Schnorr has an extensive culinary background from his baking and pastry chef degree at Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, Calif., to working with Wolfgang Puck and Napa’s Bistro Jeanty. No stranger to Walla Walla, Schnorr attended Whitman College and worked in the local food scene for a number of years, at Whitehouse Crawford and Creektown Café before joining the Walla Walla Community College’s Culinary Program as an instructor.

Passionate about sustainable agriculture, Schnorr has a large organic garden, raises Berkshire pigs and makes wine, specializing in Italian varietals.

This summer, Walla Walla Valley foodies are in for a major culinary happening. On July 13, Monteillet Fromagerie is hosting the only Eastern Washington venue of “Outstanding in the Field” farm-to-table dinner, featuring Whitehouse Crawford Chef Jamie Guerin.

On OITF’s website, they mention that this is the first public event that they have done in Eastern Washington. However, this is not the first time that they have graced Walla Walla with their presence. Last year, they were in town for a private dinner for Figgins Family Wines that showcased Lostine Cattle Company Grass-Fed Beef. At that dinner, they met Pierre-Louis and Joan Monteillet and knew that their first public E. Washington dinner had to feature their farm and story.

While their model has often been imitated, these are the people who started the farm-to-table movement back in early 2000’s with the goal of celebrating outstanding producers. They travel the country in their mobile rig “Outstanding” and do large (up to 200 people) outdoor gourmet dinners in a natural setting. Tickets are on sale through OITF’s website for $200 pp.

Celebrating local producers is a key element of the good food movement here in the valley. This month, Blue Mountain Station in Dayton, will open their doors on an eco-food processing park dedicated to artisan, entrepreneurial food companies.

The sad news is that the go-to-source of pasture-finished proteins, Thundering Hooves, ceased operations in March. Unable to keep up with runaway demand for quality grass-fed beef and other meats, they were forced to purchase from other producers, a move that gobbled up their financial resources. Here’s a link to the recent Seattle Times story for more details.

While restaurants from Walla Walla to Seattle scramble to replace Thundering Hooves, locals loaded up with Spofford Station’s grape pomace-finished Cabernet Cow during a recent event at Harvest Foods, where producer and winemaker Lynne Chamberlain featured not only her beef but also her JLC/Spofford Station wines. Talk about the ultimate food-wine pairing!

Postscript: Chef Bear Ulman has recently taken a position with Cave B in Quincy, WA. We wish him the very best.

PPS: Blue Valley Meats, recently formed by Thundering Hooves management employees, has acquired the balance of TH’s inventory and will be selling from a new retail location later this month. Look for their Grand Opening with their pasture-fed product in early June. For more information on their product and mission, visit their website and do sign up for their newsletter.

Michele Rennie is co-owner of Girasol Vineyard & Inn and Board Chair of Tourism Walla Walla. While she moved to Walla Walla for the wine industry, she stays because of all the great food in the valley.

This is no ordinary taco serving wagon or hash-slinger, as this Labor Day Menu shows.

AK’s Menu~ Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice, Hoisin Thundering Hooves Pork Belly Banh Mi with Pickled Local Cucumbers and Carrots, AK’s Burger, Thundering Hooves Custom Grind, Grilled Local Corn on the Cob with Parmesan Cheese, Grilled Local Watermelon Salad with Heirloom Tomato, Local Greens and Balsamic, Thundering Hooves Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Feta.

Andrae had a French restaurant in Boise, but closed it and moved to Walla Walla a few years ago. Since then, he has been become the chef-in-demand for underground wine dinners in town as well as Seattle and soon, Boise. With his fully-equipped mobile kitchen, he is now capable of serving delectable, gourmet food anywhere.

Presently, AK’s is trying to get a spot on the next season of The Great Food Truck Race. However, at press time, he wasn’t in the top ten. If you are reading this and want to help make it happen, click on the link and cast all 10 votes daily for AK’s! Voting ends soon. Help make this happen!

Check out this recent story about Andrae and his mobile rig.

We are pleased to introduce a new feature for our What’s Up blog ~ a look ahead at upcoming events and news of interest to the wine visitor.

If you follow us on Facebook page or on Twitter, you will have gotten first word of these happenings.

Wineries on the Move:

Trio Vintners are the first of the incubator wineries to leave their airport location. Next month, look for their new tasting room on 2nd between Alder & Poplar Streets. They will use Forgeron Cellars as their wine production facility.

Also moving by late summer, Glen Fiona Winery, which is owned by Washington Wine & Beverage Company of Woodinville, will be relocating their tasting room to downtown. Update: Glen Fiona has not reopened a tasting room in Walla Walla. We’ve heard that they are selling the brand from their Silver Lake property in Woodinville.

Lynne Chamberlain of JLC Winery, recently opened her Spofford Station Foothills Vineyard tasting room, just across Stateline into Oregon – easiest way to get there is via Braden Road (look for the sign at Gifford Hirlinger), then 2 miles down Elliot Road, following the road until you reach the first driveway on your left. Open most Fridays and Saturdays with vineyard tours by reservation.

Doubleback, Drew & Maura Bledsoe’s winery, release their inaugural vintage – 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – this month with by-invitation-only tasting on Saturday, June 5.

The Marcus Whitman Hotel has plans for a tasting room on their corner of 2nd & Rose. For more information, visit our real estate listings page.

Sapolil Cellars have a second tasting room planned for Ellensburg.

Yellow Hawk Cellar are ceasing operations and are closing their 2nd Ave tasting room on July 3rd. Until then, they are discounting their wine inventory to move it out.

Wine Events: June

Friday & Saturday, June 18 & 19: Vintage Walla Walla. The Wine Alliance’s stellar vintage tasting event with scores of other activities for attendees.

Saturday, June 19: The Vintner’s Table presents JLC’s winemaker Lynne Chamberlain at her Spofford Station Foothills Vineyards for a vineyard tasting, followed by a wine dinner and campfire.

Thursday, June 24 ~ Sunday, June 27: Washington and Walla Walla’s wine industry welcome the Wine Bloggers Conference, when bloggers from all over North America experience our brand of wine culture.

Saturday June 26: Chef Andrae Bopp presents La Porte Brune’s 4th Underground Dinner. The true movable feast takes place once again at a new location for this 4th Walla Walla dinner. Enjoy an exquisite five courses paired with wines of the world. The menu with the wine pairings will be posted a few weeks prior to the dinner. Exact location will be emailed just days before. To get on the invite list, visit the website and submit a comment with your name and number of people.

Restaurant & Bar News:

Crossroads Steakhouse are leaving Veterans Memorial Golf Course and opening in the former 26brix location on west Main Street.

Something is happening regarding a new dining venture in downtown Walla Walla by the owners of Whoop’em up Hollow Cafe of Waitsburg. When we know more, we’ll post it here, on Facebook and on Twitter @wwwinenews

Look for Waitsburg’s brew pub, Laht Neppur, to add a second location  at the corner of Spokane & Alder.

The Pita Pit, on the corner of Colville & Alder, in the former Luscious location, are adding a full bar to their services.

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