PORT ANGELES — A waterfront restaurant at the Port of Port Angeles is being renewed, and the new owners are planning major changes to the way the eatery does business.
Donna’s Fisherman’s Wharf Café at 826 Boat Haven Drive is now open as the Jig and Lure Fish Co., after being sold to Art and Soul Hospitality LLC on March 12.
Current hours are 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays for breakfast and lunch.
Jig and Lure will soon be open for dinner and weekends, and will feature fresh, locally caught seasonal fish, along with the restaurant’s traditional farm-style breakfasts and burger lunches, said Steven Fofanoff, co-owner of Art and Soul.
Dinner hours begin April 18. Reservations for dinner can be made online at www.jigandlure.com. It is recommended diners reserve a table.
Weekend hours — including a fresh seafood weekend brunch — will be available as soon as an interior remodel is complete, likely by Memorial Day weekend, Fofanoff said.
Fofanoff and Chris Warnock own Art and Soul, which also manages Domaine Madeleine Bed and Breakfast, 146 Wildflower Lane east of Port Angeles.
70 years in operation
The restaurant at East Boat Haven Marina has been in continuous operation at the same location for at least 70 years, Fofanoff said.
Donna and Ron Shepherd ran the Fisherman’s Wharf Café for the past 27 years.
Ron Shepherd died in January at the age of 64, and Donna Shepherd put the business up for sale.
Fofanoff, Warnock and their executive chef Brian Lippert discovered the restaurant’s availability by chance.
“She had put it up on Craigslist,” Lippert said.
The team looked at the restaurant and created a $50,000 plan to remodel the building, inside and out. Fofanoff declined to disclose the purchase price.
Shepherd closed the business as usual Friday, March 11, the sale was complete March 12, and when it opened Monday, March 14, it was being run by Art and Soul.
Vintage waterfront
The building will get a new look — a vintage boardwalk waterfront theme harkening back to those that were popular in the mid-20th century, Fofanoff said.
The small cafe’s divided interior will be opened up and expanded to the entire length of the building, with booths and tables to accommodate as many as 100 diners, he said.
Fofanoff said there will be an area that will seat about 40 that can be rented for private events.
Remodeling construction will take place on the weekends until it is complete, and the exterior will be painted with the new theme and design as soon as the weather allows, he said.
The location and availability of the former Fisherman’s Wharf Café were a great opportunity, he said.
Seasonal fish
Part of being on the waterfront is having direct access to fresh fish, Lippert said.
Lippert said he has met local fishermen and developed relationships that allowed him to network until he found suppliers for all kinds of fresh seafood.
He said he has worked out agreements with local fishermen who specialize in salmon, other fish, geoduck, prawns, oysters and live Dungeness crab to be able to serve whatever is in season around the Olympic Peninsula.
“We have to have awareness of specific runs. We’re going to keep it local,” he said.
Fofanoff said he is excited about being part of what he describes as a long-term economic revitalization of Port Angeles, with both city wide investments and rapid changes going on at the Port of Port Angeles.
“It’s a good time to invest in the community,” he said.
He said the port has begun a rehabilitation of the facility around the marina, which is also a factor in growing his business there.
The port is in the midst of improving the parking area, has added a bus shelter and is completing projects to make the port more “walkable” and interesting, he said.
Fofanoff said they have already hired five new employees at the restaurant and plan to hire five more once the remodel is complete. All of the jobs will pay living wages, he said.
No tips
One of the changes Fofanoff plans to implement is the adoption of transparent pricing, including a “no tip” policy, to support living wages for employees and create a more team-focused environment.
“We will pay a professional wage for the work they are doing,” he said.
Tips are taxed at a higher rate than wages, he said, and there are pressures for the wait staff to share their tips with back-room employees, from the cooks to the dish washers.
“They will take home more money at the end of the day and it’s a far better way to operate,” he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
