It's been over a decade since the first Inlander Restaurant Week. What started as a group of 53 restaurants has over the years more than doubled in size and effort: more than 125 restaurants offering three-course dinners at three fixed prices ($25, $35 and $45).
In those 10 years, six local chefs were considered for James Beard awards, and realtors advertised Spokane as a top new food destination. Yet minimum wage in Washington is increasing, experienced labor is scarce, and the hospitality sector is still reeling from the worst threat to indoor dining in recent history.
A lot has changed since 2013. But while the Inland Northwest emerges as a creative and resilient scene on the national level, it fights to remain stubbornly local. Competing chefs are also comrades. Industry workers take care of one another. And many community members focus on giving their support to independent restaurants instead of national franchises. It's the support that independent creatives desperately need.
Back in 1956, the Lehnertz brothers left Texas, headed north and opened a barbecue joint in Spokane. Almost 70 years later, Erin Everhart is an operator and owner of not one but two LONGHORN BBQ locations, in Airway Heights and Spokane Valley. Although owners changed and decades went, the spirit of the business stayed the same.
"Once you become part of a community, the community takes care of you," Everhart says.
Almost 900 restaurants operate in Spokane County, with over 540 in downtown Spokane alone, according to the Washington Hospitality Association (WHA). Many are independently owned and operated by people who are dedicated to their home. Mike Alverson, owner of REMEDY KITCHEN AND TAVERN on the South Hill, lives just down the street from his business.
"We're all part of the fabric of this community," Alverson says.
Although the regional food industry employs about 19,000 people, insiders and outsiders alike note how close the camaraderie is.
"Spokane has this unique thing that almost no other industry has, which is this sense of community among the operators," says Anthony Anton, president of the Washington Hospitality Association.
"If two operators [were] across the street in Spokane and one of them got shorted lunch rolls, the one across the street would instantly say, 'Here, take mine.'"
That communal support has helped independent restaurateurs survive in a risky industry, plus continual support from local diners. Despite unprecedented challenges in the last 10 years, Spokane County added about 80 restaurants that are still operating today, almost a 10% increase from 2014.
"It's always sad to see long-standing restaurants go away," Everhart says. "But at the same time, I think [Spokane] is becoming somewhat of a foodie town, and the community supports restaurants in the area, especially locally owned and operated."
Not that any restaurant owner is sitting in the lap of luxury. According to Anton, the average yearly revenue of a Spokane restaurant is $1.2 million. If an owner is taking home a 3-4% profit, which is the national average, that's a salary of less than $50,000 a year.
But Everhart and Alverson say that profit margins in Washington are even slimmer. Alverson and his wife live off tips from hosting and bartending themselves, plus a part-time social media job.
"My wife and I work here six days a week, and we have never once taken a paycheck," he says. "My main goal is to keep our employees employed."
Restaurants are all Krista Spencer French has ever known, operating her first restaurant as a high school senior. Today she's sommelier and co-owner of STYLUS WINE & VINYL BAR in Coeur d'Alene. It's a new experience for North Idaho, and not one that everyone understands at first. But she and her husband, Robby, hope education and exposure can help their home grow into a place that embraces change.
"We're pushing the limits a little bit," she says. "We're really trying to build this wine culture here — just continuing to show the other parts of the country that we can make good food and give great service and we have standards, too."
Stylus is participating in Inlander Restaurant Week for the first time this year. Its owners hope to connect with more people who have similar visions for the restaurant scene in the Inland Northwest — connected to its roots, but receptive to new ideas.
Maybe you'll visit a new local chef this Restaurant Week. If you do, pay attention to how hard your servers, cooks and bussers are working to create this unique experience of high-quality dining in the company of neighbors and friends. Don't be afraid to try new things, and be patient. Be a part of helping make the growing culinary scene a good experience for everyone.
"It's a hard team of individuals in this world that are always pushing forward with new concepts," says Robby French. "That's what keeps it exciting and unique." ♦