PORT ANGELES — Let us go straight to the point.
New dark chocolate bars, local hard cider, Raspberry Bliss.
They’re all happening this weekend during three parties at Renaissance, the organic cafe-massage studio perched at 401 E. Front St., in Port Angeles.
Lynn Keenan, formerly a professor of social work from the University of Washington in Seattle, turned what was a legal office, and then an adoption agency, into Renaissance four years ago.
She had no experience running a business, but she had several loves. They include, but are not limited to, massage, good coffee and chocolate.
Since opening her doors — and her sun deck above the waterfront — Keenan has been bringing in more of what she adores.
The 53-year-old says she’s learned, through living in this rural place, that one can’t be too much of a specialist; to make a living — and a life — here, you must be able to do more than a few things.
So Renaissance began in summer 2006, with tea and coffee and four employees, three of whom were massage therapists like Keenan.
They kept the coffee quiet, using French presses instead of rackety espresso machines, so people could have their massages in peace.
From yoga to toast
Next Renaissance introduced yoga and other fitness classes, tea tastings, movies about coffee and tea — and then toast.
The simple food was part of an experiment in which the cafe offered patrons breads and jam from within a 100-mile radius of Port Angeles.
The toast venture proved a success, so Keenan added another local specialty: cheeses and butters “from the Salish Sea region,” as the card on the counter says.
Renaissance serves some two dozen cheeses from eight creameries, including Mount Townsend, Black Sheep and Willapa Hills.
Locally made chocolate bars arrived too, with fanfare.
Dungeness chocolatier Yvonne Yokota collaborated with Port Angeles photographer Pat O’Hara to fold dark chocolate confections into wrappers bearing photos of Olympic Peninsula splendor.
The six bars, each with a special flavor, debuted about 18 months ago, yet Keenan wanted more. This spring, she got it.
“I sent Lynn some samples of ideas I had worked up, which she and some of her chocoholic friends-customers tested,” Yokota said.
Seventh chocolate bar
For Renaissance’s seventh bar, the tasters chose a salt-caramel-dark chocolate creation, whose appeal, Yokota believes, “is that balance of salt-sweet that works in so many food applications. And how could one go wrong with the addition of dark chocolate?”
Tonight at Renaissance, Keenan and her crew — which has grown from four to 10 employees — will unveil and dish out the new bar, in the first of three fourth-anniversary parties.
Starting at 7 p.m., guests can taste chocolate and toast Yokota and O’Hara, whose photo of an Olympic National Park beach is on the caramel salt bar’s label.
Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., samplings continue — of the local wines, beers and hard apple ciders Renaissance has just added to its repertoire.
The cafe is now licensed as a beer and wine specialty shop, which means it can offer 1- and 2-ounce samples and “flights,” aka samples of several wines.
The Port Townsend area’s three cideries — Wildfire, Eaglemount and Finnriver — will also be celebrated Saturday.
Nancy and Steve “Bear” Bishop of Wildfire Cider plan to pour their organic beverage, Keenan added.
By reservation this Sunday
Renaissance isn’t usually open on Sunday, but this weekend, Keenan and Harbinger Winery owner Sara Gagnon will pair wines and cheeses during one more fete at 4 p.m.
Harbinger, just west of Port Angeles, will provide a wine made entirely from local grapes, as well as its local Raspberry Bliss vintage, Keenan promised.
The Sunday pairing is reservations-only, with tickets at $20, so participants must call Renaissance in advance at 360-565-1199.
For Keenan, these pleasures are interconnected, and all in line with her stated values: good health for people and for the community.
She said she’s gratified that, after four years, her business has continued to grow as an employer and promoter of the local food economy.
Of course, with all of the chocolate, cider, beer and wine, moderation is another value.
The 2-ounce sample rule helps with that, while Yokota the chocolate maker has her methods for offsetting calories.
“I love to swim as much as I like to eat chocolate,” she said, “and then there is my favorite mode of transportation: my bicycle.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
