Agate Pass Cafe, Suquamish, WA

We were looking for a place to eat on Bainbridge Island, and a search on Yelp brought up this place. A quick glance at its excellent reviews made me curious, and we decided to head there for an early dinner (despite being called a “cafe”, it is not open for lunch, except on Sundays).

It is located practically at the edge of the waterfront in Suquamish, and has a view of the water and the green Bainbridge shoreline from the windows and the 8 seats on the porch. We arrived shortly after 5 pm, and about half of the 10 or so tables inside were already taken (there are also seats at the bar).

We ordered 2 appetizers: smoked salmon blini (cornmeal blini and local smoked salmon and creme fraiche); and a braised pork belly with polenta and maple syrup (recipe available ).

The smoked salmon blini came — but they were not really blini, more like 3 round cornmeal cakes with smoked salmon and creme fraiche on top (don’t know why they want to call these blini). Excellent, flavorful, smoked salmon was juicy and the cornmeal provided a good base.
Then the pork belly — crispy on the edges, melt-in-your mouth texture inside, salty with the sweet of maple syrup in the polenta, a collection of strong tastes.
Our entree was the special: wild salmon linguine. Amazing: the fat of the salmon just melting and adding softness to the texture, linguine in its cream sauce, a delicate balance of flavours.
The salmon was so filling that not only was there no room for dessert — but i couldn’t finish my pork belly (i took it home and happily ate it for a tasty lunch a day later).

By 6 or so, people were coming in & putting their names on the waiting list; as well as standing behind the bar and having glasses of wine on the porch; it was crowded. The service slowed down a little by then as well — and the couple a the table next to us were complaining to the waitress about not having gotten their entrees yet. The manager came to apologize, and said that the kitchen was slammed.

Verdict: very good food and pretty views, well worth going there for dinner (and well worth the prices on the menu). Come early (or late) to avoid the crowds!

Bainbridge Organic Distillers, Bainbridge Island, WA

Got to Baindbridge Island on Saturday around 2 pm with a little bit on time to spare, decided to visit the Bainbridge Organic Distillers. Heard of them & saw their ads in the local press, but never tried any of their products. The fact that they are a local, new (since 2009) and organic distillery made it worthy of a stop while on the island.

The location is about 5 mins from the ferry dock, in an office park (next to a pre-school ). The space serves as a spacious tasting room and shop, as well as a distilling, storing and aging location. Keith was working when we came in — he kicked off the next step of the distilling process, and asked whether we wanted a tour. Yes, definitely! He described the process of distilling, their equipment and the challenges of being all-organic in detail. It is clear that he cares about the origin of his supplies (far beyond what’s required by the Craft Distilling laws) — the company uses only WA-grown organic grain, and the casks come from a family business in Arkansas that’s been making them for > 100 years — and that places its own limitations on what they can produce (e.g. no rum yet — sugar cane doesn’t grow in WA state!).

After the informative tour and answers to our questions, it was time for a tasting. We sat around the tall round tables (on each of which there was a bottle of either vodka, whiskey or one of the 2 gins), and Keith poured a taste of each of their products.

Vodka (the Legacy Organic vodka) — at room temperature, smooth, strong, clear; i didn’t find any flaws. A very good product! (Ended up getting a bottle).
Gin — we tried two, the first a very interesting herbal gin, with a nose of a variety of green herbs, paisley, and a smooth taste. A great thing for cocktails, to add interesting flavours. The 2nd gin (the Heritage Organic gin) was a “bigger”, stronger- and cleaner-tasting of the two. Even though i don’t normally drink gin, i liked both of them, and would have bought at least 1 bottle — except it is not approved for sale by the Treasury yet.
Whiskey (Battle Point whiskey) — after the gins, i have to say the whiskey was a bit underwhelming. I would have preferred stronger flavours in the taste (might be because of the wheat, or due to the small 10g casks they use for aging, and the shorter aging process – 13-14 months). A decent product, not worth going out of your way to find, in my opinion.
We also tried a vanilla vodka (their vodka w/ 2 vanilla beans in the bottle) — it smelled like dessert (the aroma of vanilla is associated w/ baking in my head); was a little too sweet for my taste (but then again, i don’t drink vanilla vodka).

As we were leaving at 3pm (closing time on Saturdays), after buying 1 vodka bottle, a group of 4 people was just coming in. Good to see that this place is popular! If you find yourself on Bainbridge, the Baindbridge Organic Distillers is worth a trip, and a taste — and if you like tried new (especially local & organic ) things, it is worth looking for their products int eh stores.