5 reasons to 'Eat at Gary's'

D-Tom's gift to Crown Hill

With more than 20 restaurants downtown, you had to wonder when Doug Tomlinson would open up a place outside of the gentrified core. Afterall, he's been a Blue Ridge resident and could be spotted at places like Burrito Loco (RIP 2014) and Louie's (RIP 2014) as he'd make his way home from work.

And as it was with his Sunaka Tan location, D-Tom is partnering with a former staffer to concoct a specialty location that will please both Seattle-ites and out-of-towners alike. Together with local food writer and astronomer, Gary Meeker, Tomlinson will be opening Eat at Gary's at the end of April, with a friends and family breakfast slated for Sunday, April 31^st. Meeker was the former editor of D-Tom's monthly newsletter.

"Gary has a lot of great ideas about pairing foods that I'd never considered before. He's kind of strange, but that's what makes it work," said Tomlinson as we snap back lattes inside the Holy Grounds Coffee shop on Holman Road, which just happens to be across from the new Eat at Gary's location (formerly 3GI's sporting goods).

Meeker steps in from the build-out across the parking lot and sits down with us. "Isn't it great, D-Tom is finally gonna have a restaurant with parking!," he elates.

When Eat at Gary's opens it will just be breakfast and lunch, but plans are afoot to morph that into special wine dinners and eventually full dinner service.

The restaurant will pair menu items from around town in an effort to bring together the best of the Northwest under one roof. The 'Mighty Pro' breakfast entrée consists of a Mighty O doughnut paired with Skagit Farms Bacon and Rainier Orchards Honey Crisp apple slices. "Basically, for me to have a dish like this at home, I had to go to Herkimer Coffee, Ken's Market and Central Market to acquire all the ingredients. Here, it's all in one place," says Meeker.

And what about the coffee? Tomlinson says there will be a standard five local labels available at all times and rotating roasters being featured each month. Vivace, Café Appassianato, Café Vita, Herkimer, and Slate will be the opening labels. When I ask if they'd consider Stumptown, the pair shriek in unison, "THAT'S PORTLAND, FOR GOD'S SAKE" (not to mention it was sold out to The Man).

If the coffee and local food pairings aren't enough to get you in the door, D-Tom promises some unique specials as well. Forming a sort of consortium with other chefs from around the Pacific Northwest, a recipe swap has ensued amongst the group. And while they are swapping recipes, the only rule is you must alter the other's recipe if you use it. Tomlinson explains - "So what this means is if I want to work with the pork chop recipe from the Silver Grill in Silverton Oregon, I'll turn it into a pork sandwich or something." Fair enough for this writer's taste buds. He's never let me down before.

If you've got a sweet tooth, Tomlinson promises no less than one would expect from his empire. The Coconut Cream Pie, so popular at his downtown Allium Lounge location, gets an upgrade with a Vivace espresso infusion for the Crown Hill outlet.

Meeker's background in astronomy will play a role as well. "I've got an entire algorithm devised. Daily specials will be determined depending on what stars in the galaxy are lined up on any given day. My hope is that this will encourage customers to learn more about astronomy and in doing so will be able to guess the daily specials before they ever walk in the door." This tells us that every day will be different when we 'Eat at Gary's'.

The concepts are tough for most locals to digest shall we say, but with the power of D-Tom behind Meeker, it's a sure bet we'll all want to 'Eat at Gary's' sooner than later.

SD!/April 2016

To see Gary's opening menu, click here.