Serving up success
Sample recipes from the restaurant industry
by David A. Czuba

Northwest diners have more choices than ever when it come to eating out in restaurants these days. The region’s growth and increased popularity has gone a long way to developing the restaurant industry, especially in town centers, where lines for a table on Fridays can be a half-hour long. For those entrepreneurs looking to enter the industry, experience is crucial, as is a willingness to receive feedback from customers. In this article, local restauranteurs share their challenges in food service.
“We have very little turnover, which is unusual in this industry,” says Tony Pickering, owner of Max Dales Restaurant in Mount Vernon and the Stanwood Grill in Snohomish County. “We’ve had the same staff for many years, and most of our cooks have been here a long, long time. It’s the people that work here that make us special.”
Max Dales employs more than 60 people with open dining, two banquet facilities, and catering facilities, and another 15 staff the Stanwood Grill. “Our restaurants have a high energy level where everybody’s helping each other. It’s very noticeable to the customer,” he says.
For his ingredients, Pickering uses a number of different suppliers. “We’re very fussy about our meat, and we only use suppliers who do a very good job, always cut to the thickness we want and provide excellent quality,” he said. Max Dales ranks in the top third of SkagitValley.com’s Hot 100 Restaurants.
The Max Dale Restaurant began in 1951 and burned down in 1976, only to be rebuilt. “When it reopened in 1978, I went to work for Max,” said Pickering, who ended up buying the business in 1983. “With small businesses, it’s hard sometimes to make a change in managing and ownership but it’s also important to get some capable new blood in the business if you want it to survive.”
Pickering recently went into partnership with nephew Paul Pickering and son Danny Pickering. “Succession planning has been on my mind for some time, so it was good timing that both decided to buy in,” he said.
The restaurant has not been without challenge. The replacement of a bridge over the Skagit left the Burlington part of the regular lunchtime crowd up the river, and even those from other parts of Mount Vernon. “When they widened Riverside and College Way, that impacted us, but those things happen, and you just get through them,” said Pickering, adding that things are a lot better now.
Pickering also finds the many taxes to the restaurant industry challenging. “They make the margin so tight that any wage increase has an impact,” he said. “But you can’t just automatically raise your menu price because of the competitive nature of this business.”

Nuthouse news
J Young, manages a staff of thirty at the Nuthouse Grill in Lynden, which is owned by Dale Kemps. “When the restaurant first opened, we wanted to attract Canadians coming from across the border,” said Young, who advertised on Canadian radio.
The restaurant also has a sandwich board directing potential diners, and a billboard by the main shopping mall on the Guide. “Members of the Canadian and US border patrol come to the Nuthouse all the time because they like the vibe of our restaurant,” Young said.
Set foot in the Nuthouse Grill and you hear the crunch of peanut shells. “We have a big wagon full of peanuts, and people know us as the place where you crack the peanuts and throw the shells on the floor,” says Young. “There’s a degree of gimmick to that, but the one thing we tell (employees) is to be careful with the food, because that’s what brings people back.”
The Nuthouse Grill’s regular clientele form an extremely loyal local base, and Young often knows the names of diners as he walks through the restaurant.
For Young, a major challenge is getting the servers and the kitchen staff to pull together as a team. “It would be wonderful for them to trade spots once a day, but at the same time, if you put a server in the kitchen for just three shifts, they’ll want to get back on the floor where they’re not in danger of getting burnt, cut, or having a 25 pound box dropped on their toes at every turn,” he said.
The restaurant was named Whatcom County’s Start Up Business Of The Year in 2002, but like any restaurant, it’s had its setbacks. “We’ve experienced everything from the whole Mad Cow disease…to the market price of beef, which fluctuates widely,” Young said.
“We spent a lot of time training our staff to ensure that everything is done right the first time, that the approach is a pre-emptive approach,” he says.
Nuthouse is supplied by a one-stop shop distributor. Products are ordered online via the distributor’s e-commerce portal. Occasionally, this hinders the ability to hear comments on quality, and delivery times can also be an issue. But when you change vendors, you get new headaches, too.

A big learning curve from Germany
This is certainly true of Sensa, a Bellingham waterfront restaurant with great island views, which celebrated its first year in business after a difficult start in 2003. Open just a few days, the business was forced to close in November of 2003 due to one of its owners having a medical emergency. “But now,” said co-owner Anndrea Pruestel, “business is flourishing.
The Pruestels had great success in Germany, opening 12 restaurants in 16 years. Moving to Bellingham with husband and co-owner Mathias, Anndrea found herself in for a big learning curve.
For instance, German customers find it normal to be charged for additional menu items, but American diners expect free bread and butter with their meal. “By billing for bread and butter, I’m absolutely sure we (ticked) a lot of people off. There were a few people who said they’d never come back after they were charged for butter. I had to explain that we were no longer charging for that, and send them a gift certificate to get them to come back,” she said.
Sensa offers dining with a fine bar, but also accommodates children. The restaurant owners wanted to avoid crayons, and opted instead for cellophane sketch pads. “The kids love it,” says Pruestel.
What does it take to be a success? “Great food,” she said. “All our food is made from scratch and it’s superb. Also, it also takes a friendly personnel staff who care, and I’m lucky with my crew, as I have the best people. The attitude of the people working for you is what makes or breaks you.”
Pruetel shares an anecdote about one of her staff experiences. “I had a bartender who was brilliant, but nobody liked working with her because she had a short temper and upset her colleagues. One by one, the other employees came to me and said ‘it’s so hard to work with her.’ In the end, I had to let her go. And when I did, the atmosphere just bloomed.”
The Pruestels wrote a policy into the employee handbook insisting that there be no negative talk. “The minute you allow it in, it’s a cancer,” she said. “It spreads. If employees have a personal problem, I want to hear about it. They must talk to me.”