Running Restaurants in the San Juan Islands: Scenic Beauty, Tough Challenges

'This business is for the bold,' says Jay Blackinton, a three-time James Beard Award Rising Star Chef semifinalist and one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2017. 'This isn’t where you come to make money. Up here on Orcas Island, it’s even tougher.'

Blackinton highlights the distinct hurdles of running a restaurant that’s only reachable from Seattle by car and ferry. 'From now until mid-September, we’ll be packed. But after that, it slows down drastically,' he explains. 'You want full-time staff year-round, but it’s not possible, so we create work for them when we can.'

Blackinton owns Hogstone’s Wood Oven, which began as a simple pizzeria in 2013 but quickly expanded to offer creative, ambitious tasting menus driven by local ingredients. The islands’ rich soil supplies most of Hogstone’s food, with produce from farms like Maple Rock, where Blackinton also works. These unique menus attract adventurous diners seeking off-the-grid culinary experiences, though many casual tourists are caught off guard. 'Most island spots cater to what people expect: safe, mediocre food. But we’re not the pizza joint they think they’re getting,' Blackinton quips.

To reduce confusion, Blackinton is relocating Hogstone’s casual dining to the revamped backyard, while transforming the indoor space into Aelder, which will serve four-, seven-, and 12-course experimental menus available mainly by prepaid reservations through Tock. Aelder opens on July 7, offering walk-ins a four-course option or a seat at Hogstone’s outside.

Seattle has been slow to adopt strict reservation policies, but chefs with limited ingredients appreciate the predictability. 'We get plenty of diners who visit just for our food,' Blackinton notes. 'So why wouldn’t reservations work? I’m confident it will be successful.'

Aelder joins the movement of hyper-local, high-concept restaurants, isolated by the waters surrounding Washington’s coast. It follows in the footsteps of notable spots like Willows Inn on Lummi Island and Ursa Minor on Lopez Island, which opened in April. Chef Nick Coffey, who made waves in Seattle, was inspired by the island’s beauty and abundant produce to start Ursa Minor.

Coffey understands the delicate balance between local support and tourism. He launched a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising over $30,000 to sustain Lopez Island’s artisan producers. 'We need visitors for survival during slow periods, but we also want locals to feel proud and dine here regularly,' Coffey says. Kickstarter, beyond funding, built a community invested in the restaurant’s success, turning supporters into advocates.

As a first-time restaurant owner, Coffey is navigating the ups and downs of island life. 'You’ve got about two months of a busy season, so we focus on filling the restaurant during that time and scale back the rest of the year until we’re more established,' he explains. Ursa Minor is open Thursday to Sunday, though Thursdays may be dropped after September, and Coffey plans to close entirely in January and February, the slowest months.

Even the famed Willows Inn, led by two-time James Beard Award-winner Blaine Wetzel, experiences off-seasons. 'We’re mostly booked year-round, but there’s still a clear seasonal drop in business,' Wetzel shares. With experience from Denmark’s Noma, he’s adapted the inn to Lummi Island’s rhythms, staying open just four days a week in winter and early spring.

Wetzel, who oversees the inn’s farm and regularly forages with his team, acknowledges that while winter limits certain ingredients like fish and shellfish due to rough weather, sourcing isn’t the main issue. 'The ingredients are fantastic; we have more than enough,' he says. 'It’s the day-to-day challenges that get tricky.'

Although Lummi Island is just a short ferry ride from the mainland, the ferry is too small for supply deliveries. This forces the inn to operate differently than typical restaurants, without routine deliveries of linens or cleaning supplies. They don’t even have a dumpster, and to emphasize the remote feel, Wetzel’s phone keeps cutting out. 'You also have to contend with the lack of signal. The internet is so unreliable we have four satellites just to provide decent service for guests.'

Staffing remains a challenge for Blackinton, not due to a lack of interest, but because of housing shortages. 'I’ve had plenty of people wanting to work here, but finding them a place to live is nearly impossible,' he says. 'I’m short a cook now, but I have no idea where they would stay since the area is already packed.' One of his long-term goals is to add housing to his operation.

Coffey echoes the struggle with employee housing. 'One of my staff is still couch-surfing, trying to find a place,' he shares. 'For those who are determined, it eventually works out, but more accommodations would help, even something like a hostel. It's a constant issue for the community.'

The Willows Inn benefits from having rooms, attracting people from all over the world eager to intern for experience. However, after being ordered to pay $149,000 in unpaid wages and damages to 19 former interns, they ended their stage program. 'Once I learned this common practice was technically illegal, we stopped it,' says Wetzel, adding it didn’t affect their operations since the interns weren’t essential to the workforce.

Wetzel notes that his team, which can include up to 15 cooks for 30 diners, is well-compensated and enjoys significant off-season bonuses. 'Restaurants like this usually come with grueling schedules, so our yearly breaks offer balance in an industry where that's rare,' he says.

When asked why they remain on the islands, all the chefs share the same sentiment: it’s worth the effort. 'It’s tough to explain without sounding cliché—'Oh, it’s just beautiful'—but it’s home,' says Blackinton. 'If you get the chance to pursue something like this in a place that feels like home, it’s an easy decision for the soul.'

For visitors, the reward is clear. 'Figure it out, and you’ll access some of the best ingredients in one of the most stunning, untamed regions in the country,' says Wetzel. 'These islands are rich with small farms, native tribes that fish, and unique producers. It’s been like this for generations.'

Adam H. Callaghan is the editor of Dinogo Seattle. Suzi Pratt is a Seattle-based photographer.Editor: Hillary Dixler