Visitors and shoppers in downtown Chehalis got a first peek at the new Northwest Salmon Smokehouse and Artisan Market last weekend as the new business — located at 486 N. Market Blvd. where Bartel’s Clothing and Shoes used to be — hosted a soft opening.
More than a dozen vendors selling local handmade art, yard games, pottery, plants, food, sauces and more filled the market while Northwest Salmon Smokehouse co-owner Frank Pfannes handed out samples of his award-winning smoked salmon spread, smoked salmon chowder and the salmon itself, paired with cheese.
Pfannes is running the business with his wife, Danielle.
“We’re looking at maybe the end of the week for the grand opening of the café, which will offer pulled pork, the potatoes, the brats, the panini press, the mac and cheese, the chili. You know, the full menu,” Pfannes said. “Right now, we’re just kind of slowly opening for everyone to come in to try the fish out.”
Being a café located in the Pacific Northwest, coffee is, of course, available as well.
Also, unlike the artisan market, which will be open only on weekends, the Northwest Salmon Smokehouse café will be open throughout the week.
Days and hours of operation will be Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Additionally, while the café will be rolling out more menu items this weekend besides the smoked salmon, it won’t be the full menu yet.
“Our café starts at 11 a.m., but we open at 9 for grab-and-go stuff and coffee,” Pfannes said. “And when we open this Friday for the market, our menu will be about 75% complete. We’re not going to be rushed with everything right away.”
As for the artisan market, it will be held every Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for as long as Pfannes can keep getting vendors in.
“We will have a rotating door, a couple new vendors tomorrow, then we kind of switch out as we go. Most of them will be here all month long, but some people only do Fridays and some only do Saturdays. We have other people that fill those spots,” Pfannes said. “It’s a big space. We’re happy to open it up to everybody, and they can sell their stuff and help bring people downtown.”
During the grand opening this weekend, he added more vendors will be on hand as they will be utilizing the business’s second floor for vendor space. The space was not used last weekend.
Some of the vendors from this past weekend included Scott Anderson, Chehalis, with his business, Scott’s Games; Renne Terralumina, Chehalis, with her business, Terralumina Gardens; Virginia Rector, Chehalis, with her business, Kombucha Luv; Christopher Leach, Longview, with his business, The Beautiful Pig; Freya Betts, Chehalis, with her business, Gaean Allusions; and Shirley Swenson, Centralia, with her business, Violets by SJS.
Pfannes added any other local vendors or artists in the area are welcomed to contact him for details on securing vendor space at an upcoming weekend market.
To contact Pfannes about vendor space, call Northwest Salmon Smokehouse and Artisan Market at 360-523-0543, or message the business on its Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/yc3cnmnh.
